Steel shot acceptible in Older guns?

Turkeyslayer 1300

Turkeyslayer 1300

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I was wondering how steel shot affects fixed choke particularly in double guns. How much or how liitle choke is required to prevent damage? Many of the people I talked to shoot steel out of their older guns and never say a word. Is less damage caused by say 6's than bb's? Any help would be appreciated.I want to buy a double but I mostly hunt geese so steel is basicly a must as I am also a student and broke most of the time.

P.s. By older i am refering to about 1970 and on.
 
The smaller the steel shot , the less affect it has on older guns . If the wall thickness allows and it should, the left barrel of a sxs, can be opened to light modified and the right barrel can be measured and a bit of choke taken out of it as well.As far as max shot size in steel for older guns, IMHO nothing larger than #2.
 
Grouse Man said:
I wouldn't run steel through an old side by side. A single barrel is one thing, but causing the rib to separate is a big deal.
Click to expand...

I had this happen on an over under I had. Choke was opened to IC/M from F/F and it shot #3, 2, and BB just fine, that is until I was shooting some crappy Fiocchi shells with no crimp seal. They had gotten wet in my pocket (probably the previous season) and when I took a shot at a big northern green-head one day, I noticed a substantial increase in recoil. Each shot after that seemed to make a funny noise. A couple of days later I noticed the rib had let go from the muzzle to about 1/2 way back.

That load of shot must have rusted to become a solid steel slug. Needless to say, the choke was measured at Cyl/Skeet1 when I took the gun in to get fixed. FYI, the patterns with steel BB's were awesome after that. 2 3/4" BB would hammer decoying geese out to 35 yards.

Now I shoot better quality steel shells and make sure they do not get soaked in my pocket.

Ian
 
I bought a 1966-68 remington wingmaster with a ful choke. I emailed remington to find out the age of the gun and to ask about steel shot. They said it was fine to shoot the steel shot but nothing bigger than #2 as it may damage the choke.
 
If you shoot steel through an old shotgun that has a full choke, in time the choke will swell like a doughnut and split the end of the barrel. the steel shot will not compress like lead as it passes through the choke. seen one that this had happened to and it aint pretty.:eek: For those who are in the central alberta area go into Bashaw sports and ask to see what happens when you do this, Pud has a sample for ya's all to see. :cool::wave:
 
Unless a gun was made to shoot steel through, dont do it. You might get away with it for a time if the pellets are small and the choke is imp cyl or so. But if you keep it up eventually you get this:

Browning_bulge.jpg


Jeff
 
I guess a new old shot gun isn't a good idea, I just have to get a new new one. Thanks for the info guys. P.S. I once saw a rusted steel shell fired through a turkey choke the steel slug tore out the choke and destroyed the threads. Needless to say It won't be tried again.
 
A question for those in the know...

Say you cut the choke off and now you have a basic cylinder bore. How far can you shoot an open choke gun on ducks with steel shot in 2 3/4" 12 gauge loads? (I have heard repeatedly steel keeps tighter patterns than lead.) Is it useable for goose too or will just not pattern dense enough at reasonable ranges?
 
The rule of thumb is one up in choke. So a cyn should in theory i/c. I don't know anyone that shoots i/c at ducks. Maybe 20 yards?
 
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