Steel Sucks!
- Thread starter Jericho
- Start date
Yup, most were definitely one shot and the ones thatweren't could likely be traced to poor shooting and not poor shot performance. Hit them in the head/chest at under 30 yards with a shotgun that patterns well and they fall down....plain and simple.
All one shot DRT kills here......
Chocolate chip?
Yup you'll never kill geese with steel.
Funny all the nay sayers have never mentioned patterning, and load evaluation?
Handloaded 12ga, 2-3/4" 1-1/8oz. #2's @ 1475, and hanloaded 3", 1-1/4oz B's @ 1475, and honest to god full choke patterns at 40yds.
Also Win. Xpert 3", 1-1/8oz 2's @ 1550, will smack the heck outta honkes all the way to the 50yd. mark. Did I mention I patterend that load first?
Funny all the nay sayers have never mentioned patterning, and load evaluation?
Handloaded 12ga, 2-3/4" 1-1/8oz. #2's @ 1475, and hanloaded 3", 1-1/4oz B's @ 1475, and honest to god full choke patterns at 40yds.
Also Win. Xpert 3", 1-1/8oz 2's @ 1550, will smack the heck outta honkes all the way to the 50yd. mark. Did I mention I patterend that load first?
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Well of course steel will kill under 30 yards. So would a load of wood chips. The point being made is that steel is inferior to lead (bismuth, Hevishot, TM etc.) when it comes to killing birds dead. I can throw up tons of pics showing that birds die with steel too.
You shoot them this close and SAND will kill them
Plain and simple though steel is the worst of the bunch for reliably killing birds at any range. I shoot it because I shoot a lot of birds and really can't afford the extra $2000 premium shot would cost me every year. That said I pass up a lot of shots I could make with lead or hevishot and have to put "finishers" into birds more often than I do with other high density loads.
You shoot them this close and SAND will kill them
Plain and simple though steel is the worst of the bunch for reliably killing birds at any range. I shoot it because I shoot a lot of birds and really can't afford the extra $2000 premium shot would cost me every year. That said I pass up a lot of shots I could make with lead or hevishot and have to put "finishers" into birds more often than I do with other high density loads.
canadian hunter312
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Brant County
i tried , but because ive only killed 40 birds with steel, i have on clue what im talking about
i guess i should have mentioned that ive killed twice that many with kent matrix and hevi shot. i simply cant afford that good stuff anymore, thanks to buying a house, so i had to switch to steel.the only time ive had trouble with steel is when i was using likely the cheapest shells i could find and didnt pattern first. wouldnt even put a squirrel down at 30 yards.
btw sjemac, ive never lost a bird and most are DOA. obviously im not a pro, but i sure as hell know that load testing, patterning, and practice are essential to any shotgunning. if i was using a load that required 5 shots (or in your case, 5-8) to put a little duck down, id be asking what other loads might be better than what im using rather than #####ing about something that will never change. dont be so cheap and buy primo steel loads.
i guess those of us that only require 1 or sometimes 2 shots to kill a bird are the only ones that have the "good" steel loads
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i tried , but because ive only killed 40 birds with steel, i have on clue what im talking about
the only time ive had trouble with steel is when i was using likely the cheapest shells i could find and didnt pattern first. wouldnt even put a squirrel down at 30 yards.
btw sjemac, ive never lost a bird and most are DOA. obviously im not a pro, but i sure as hell know that load testing, patterning, and practice are essential to any shotgunning. if i was using a load that required 5 shots (or in your case, 5-8) to put a little duck down, id be asking what other loads might be better than what im using rather than #####ing about something that will never change. dont be so cheap and buy primo steel loads.
i guess those of us that only require 1 or sometimes 2 shots to kill a bird are the only ones that have the "good" steel loads
When you've shot a few thousand, get back to me about the 5-8 shots on a bird and the lost birds. It happens. More with steel than the others.
Wow, with that post I officially get "Big Mouth" status. How does it look?
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- Location
- Back in the Peace Country
Well I can certainly tell you that steel is indeed the most inferior shot out there.
I get a kick out of guys who seem to think that people make up this stuff, or not patterning etc. Perhaps a few vids need be posted to get an assesment from the experts.
Who remembers pass shooting? I would not even attempt it with the steel shot shells of many manufacturers.
If you're decoying and the birds are in with the landing gear down, fine.
But if their flying high, or away, good luck.
I can post hundreds of birds killed with Steel shot. Doesn't mean it did the job efficiently each time though.
I have lost many birds to steel shot. I have shot birds at 25 yrds 3 times that needed their neck wrung.
Next time you shoot a goose, bring it home and shake it on your kitchen floor. Count how many shot fall out, and then compare it to the shot count in the shells you are using.
I get a kick out of guys who seem to think that people make up this stuff, or not patterning etc. Perhaps a few vids need be posted to get an assesment from the experts.
Who remembers pass shooting? I would not even attempt it with the steel shot shells of many manufacturers.
If you're decoying and the birds are in with the landing gear down, fine.
But if their flying high, or away, good luck.
I can post hundreds of birds killed with Steel shot. Doesn't mean it did the job efficiently each time though.
I have lost many birds to steel shot. I have shot birds at 25 yrds 3 times that needed their neck wrung.
Next time you shoot a goose, bring it home and shake it on your kitchen floor. Count how many shot fall out, and then compare it to the shot count in the shells you are using.
Luckily I only hunt birds a few times a season, so I use the 5$ a shot Kent Tungsten Matrix. By far the best shotgun ammo I have ever used, but obviously not for the high volume shooter...The price certainly makes you pick your shots carefully!
You always get the scattered jackass that has to swindle a thread away from what it was originally directed at.
I've killed with steel. I prefer lead. Lead is hands down better and not one person here can tell me otherwise.
And, I certainly expected to hear all the "I've never had a cripple, I shoot out to 50m blah blah" crap. Same crap you hear people talk in gunshops and at shoots (I shot a moose at 2500yards last year, ironsights between the eyes BS).
This 30yard bit... that's super close. I'd expect my bean farts to knock down the ducks at that distance.
Bottom line, steel sucks.
- Location
- Back in the Peace Country
So steel is a fact of life and I can't see that changing any time soon. Some of us have learned to use it effectively and others continue to whine about the good old days and apparently shoot it very unethically.............you pick the category you fit into!
Lead isn't coming back...get used to it!
Lead isn't coming back...get used to it!
Shake it and shot falls out? Huh?
The fact is that steel passes through more often than it stays in the bird so not sure what you are getting at but even with lead, I'm pretty sure you couldn't shake it out of the bird. Am I missing something here? Oh well, one more for the ever growing list.
The worst part is the use of steel makes zero sense. They say that the possibility of ducks ingesting pellets in the water could give them lead poisioning. I see a couple things wrong with this.
I can go out in the middle of a field tommorow and hunt pheasants with good old lead shot. Then the next day return and shoot geese in the same spot but with steel shot only. So will the geese leave the lead pellets in the field and eat only the steel pellets? And hey since were on the topic, won't that evil lead seep into the crops that you and I eat? Is that any worse than all the chemicals they put into the food we eat as preservatives and such?
And last I checked, steel rusts. Lead sitting on the bottom of a pond, to my thinking pretty much just sit's there unless it's disturbed. Does rust not bleed into the surrounding water? Does a duck ingesting rusty steel pellets stand a better chance of not getting sick from rust? Or do all the pellets from pheasant hunters around ponds disappear before they hit the water? What did tornadoes hit before there were trailer parks? Why does 7-11 have locks on their doors if their open 24 hours?
I can go out in the middle of a field tommorow and hunt pheasants with good old lead shot. Then the next day return and shoot geese in the same spot but with steel shot only. So will the geese leave the lead pellets in the field and eat only the steel pellets? And hey since were on the topic, won't that evil lead seep into the crops that you and I eat? Is that any worse than all the chemicals they put into the food we eat as preservatives and such?
And last I checked, steel rusts. Lead sitting on the bottom of a pond, to my thinking pretty much just sit's there unless it's disturbed. Does rust not bleed into the surrounding water? Does a duck ingesting rusty steel pellets stand a better chance of not getting sick from rust? Or do all the pellets from pheasant hunters around ponds disappear before they hit the water? What did tornadoes hit before there were trailer parks? Why does 7-11 have locks on their doors if their open 24 hours?
You may be right but it's still a fact of life that there's no sense whining about.
