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- Thread starter coldblood
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You can dust a clay with just about anything. Look at them the wrong way and they shatter. Steel has a lot less energy, usually you sacrifice pellet count and move up to a bigger size in steel than you used to with lead. 5s or 6s used to be good for ducks in lead, now I wouldn't bother with anything less than 4s and usually shoot 2s. Even still I find a wound a lot more birds with 3" magnum 2s than I did back in the day with 2 3/4" 4s in lead.
You also have to be careful not to shoot high # steel through a full choked barrel.
You also have to be careful not to shoot high # steel through a full choked barrel.
Density and malleability are the answers.
Think of steel as a ping pong ball and lead as a golf ball. The two balls are about the same size but the golf ball is much denser. As such it maintains its momentum better and is more difficult to stop thus maintains its energy out to longer distances. Think about being hit by a ping pong ball thrown at your head as hard as possible. After about 5 yards it will do little other than annoy you. Not so for the golf ball.
With malleability, steel is very hard and doesn't deform on impact with bone. As such it can be deflected more easily than lead, which will deform and impart more energy to the bones before deflecting. Lead therefore breaks the wing bones of ducks better than steel. Steel may still kill the bird, but without breaking bones as often, the bird may not die until it has flown a few hundred yards and is typically lost.
Steel shot shooters have compensated for its shortcomings by boosting the velocity (hence energy) and increasing the shot size they use. They shoot closer than they did before. The 3.5 inch shell is one of the responses to steel shot. Black cloud another. All those $100-200 extended choke tubes help too. Still not as good as lead or the premium high density shot but if you use it right it will kill birds.
Think of steel as a ping pong ball and lead as a golf ball. The two balls are about the same size but the golf ball is much denser. As such it maintains its momentum better and is more difficult to stop thus maintains its energy out to longer distances. Think about being hit by a ping pong ball thrown at your head as hard as possible. After about 5 yards it will do little other than annoy you. Not so for the golf ball.
With malleability, steel is very hard and doesn't deform on impact with bone. As such it can be deflected more easily than lead, which will deform and impart more energy to the bones before deflecting. Lead therefore breaks the wing bones of ducks better than steel. Steel may still kill the bird, but without breaking bones as often, the bird may not die until it has flown a few hundred yards and is typically lost.
Steel shot shooters have compensated for its shortcomings by boosting the velocity (hence energy) and increasing the shot size they use. They shoot closer than they did before. The 3.5 inch shell is one of the responses to steel shot. Black cloud another. All those $100-200 extended choke tubes help too. Still not as good as lead or the premium high density shot but if you use it right it will kill birds.
awesome writeup sjemac!
as for lethality, checking for pattern i found the lead shot will penetrate the rubber banding used for holding targets, while the steel will only go halfway in
althou ive never shot a duck with lead, i can remember going hunting with a buddies dad when i was young and he could shoot birds at a longer distance (tighter choke) and they would fall to the ground when hit
my hunting experience this year is not so great for shooting birds out of the air, yesterday i shot two birds with dead hits that would have turned a clay to dust and one nearly hit the ground before regaining flight while the other dropped about 10' and kept flying with the flock, amazing how many piles of feathers ive seen around too which i can only assume have kept mangy coyote populations well fed, out of the air 3/5 dropped and ended up in my belly
imho steel shot is inhumane
but apparently it keeps the waterfowl from "eating the lead shot" :S
as for lethality, checking for pattern i found the lead shot will penetrate the rubber banding used for holding targets, while the steel will only go halfway in
althou ive never shot a duck with lead, i can remember going hunting with a buddies dad when i was young and he could shoot birds at a longer distance (tighter choke) and they would fall to the ground when hit
my hunting experience this year is not so great for shooting birds out of the air, yesterday i shot two birds with dead hits that would have turned a clay to dust and one nearly hit the ground before regaining flight while the other dropped about 10' and kept flying with the flock, amazing how many piles of feathers ive seen around too which i can only assume have kept mangy coyote populations well fed, out of the air 3/5 dropped and ended up in my belly
imho steel shot is inhumane
but apparently it keeps the waterfowl from "eating the lead shot" :S
M12shooter
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- East St. Paul, mb
awesome writeup sjemac!
as for lethality, checking for pattern i found the lead shot will penetrate the rubber banding used for holding targets, while the steel will only go halfway in
althou ive never shot a duck with lead, i can remember going hunting with a buddies dad when i was young and he could shoot birds at a longer distance (tighter choke) and they would fall to the ground when hit
my hunting experience this year is not so great for shooting birds out of the air, yesterday i shot two birds with dead hits that would have turned a clay to dust and one nearly hit the ground before regaining flight while the other dropped about 10' and kept flying with the flock, amazing how many piles of feathers ive seen around too which i can only assume have kept mangy coyote populations well fed, out of the air 3/5 dropped and ended up in my belly
imho steel shot is inhumane
There is a whole generation of new waterfowl hunters that have likely never fired a lead shotshell at ducks and geese. Nothing dropped greenheads like 1 1/4 ounce of chilled 5's
That is an old myth that came around when everything went non-toxic shot for waterfoul. I wish this myth would just go away and die. There is absolutley nothing wrong with shooting steel waterfoul loads thru a full choke. I have been shooting 3.5" #2 goose loads thru a full choke with my 870 for the past 11 years with no issues.
There is a whole generation of new waterfowl hunters that have likely never fired a lead shotshell at ducks and geese. Nothing dropped greenheads like 1 1/4 ounce of chilled 5's
Agreed. If you want the old lead experience use bismuth. Very close to lead in terms of density and fomability. One issue with bismuth is that it is expensive.
M12shooter
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- East St. Paul, mb
Yup, bought a box (10) #4 - 1 3/8 oz. Bismuth few years ago. Might as well have left my first born there for the price of them. Hanging on to those puppy's for a late season mallard shoot some day.
A friend of mine bought a box of them when the non-toxic shot thing came around (1998 I do recall). I remember he paid $50 for 2 3/4" #2s (box of 25 I think it was). What are they going for now? I havn't checked since then what the cost was for bismuth.
I find BB steel to be the best of the steel shot sizes to hammer ducks and geese the only problem is there is not very many pellets in a 3in shell and range is limited to 40 yds.It does blow some big holes in ducks.But you do need a mod. choke and a good after market one (extended) because the larger pellets put a load on the flush type.I had a problem taking one out the first time using BB steel.Has for BB lead this would be for jackrabbits or coytoes I never had to go that heavy for waterfowl.For ducks the best load
I found was federal no.4 1 3/8 1300fps light mag. I made kilsl out to 60yd with full choke
with no problem.For killing game LEAD is king!!!.If you only have a fixed full choke gun then go to a #2 steel but make sure its going 1500 fps anything slower in # 2 or smaller is only good as a finisher.
I found was federal no.4 1 3/8 1300fps light mag. I made kilsl out to 60yd with full choke
with no problem.For killing game LEAD is king!!!.If you only have a fixed full choke gun then go to a #2 steel but make sure its going 1500 fps anything slower in # 2 or smaller is only good as a finisher.
Fixed full chokes will eventualy get damaged by steel shot. The Full choke in your 870 super mag was certianly designed to bear the strains of large steel pellets. I grew up shooting steel at waterfowl, but remember seeing my father shoot them with lead and have used bismuth on occasion myself, Steel doesn't preform the same. But with the cost of the lead like alternatives I'll continue to shoot steel shot 2 sizes larger then i would lead at 1450fps or faster. Want to know how many shots I take at 45+ yards? almost none. Want to know how often I come home without birds? Never, those long hailmarry shots aren't required.
If you shoot half as many shots you might get value out of harder hitting stuff like Hevi-Shot. It is heavier than lead. So if you shoot smaller shot of the heavy stuff and and your kill to shot ratio is really good you might just pay for it. I've hit birds 3 times to bring them down with steel. If one of the hevi would do it then great. I'm planning on picking up a couple of boxes.
I started on lead at 12 and by 16 I was taking my legal limit of 6 ducks on PEI with less than a box of shells. In 1992 I believe, our specific marsh (heavily hunted) was one of the first to go steel. Wow. The steel shot of the day was attrocious. Opening day sounded like a battle with the Taliban. It took me nearly 4 boxes to kill 6 ducks. I practiced and practiced and the results weren't much better. As the years went on I nearly quit altogether. Then Bismuth appeared and I bought some. Killed ducks like crazy.
Went strictly Bismuth for a few years until I moved to AB and my 60 ducks per year went to about 260. Can't afford $3.00 a shell at that rate.
Went back to steel and was pleased to see that it improved immensely. I eventually stumbled across my black magic combo of #6 steel and an Xtra Full extended choke tube along with leads that put the pellets on the head. #4 as the season gets older and #2 for geese. My goal now is to get a CNS hit and the head is my target. Small steel at closer ranges actually does a better job of breaking bones than the larger stuff. Think jabbing a pool cue tip at a piece of plywood versus a baseball bat.
Hevishot is far and away better than lead though. I keep a pocket of 3 inch 6's and 4's for killing crips out past 60 yards. It sounds like an axe biting into wood when you crack an injured bird with it. But at 3-4 bucks a shot I won't be shooting many limits with it. I keep it for backup in case a rookie I hunt with wingtips something and it keeps going. If I could afford it, Hevishot and the other Tungsten based shells would be the only thing I'd shoot -- even over lead.
Went strictly Bismuth for a few years until I moved to AB and my 60 ducks per year went to about 260. Can't afford $3.00 a shell at that rate.
Went back to steel and was pleased to see that it improved immensely. I eventually stumbled across my black magic combo of #6 steel and an Xtra Full extended choke tube along with leads that put the pellets on the head. #4 as the season gets older and #2 for geese. My goal now is to get a CNS hit and the head is my target. Small steel at closer ranges actually does a better job of breaking bones than the larger stuff. Think jabbing a pool cue tip at a piece of plywood versus a baseball bat.
Hevishot is far and away better than lead though. I keep a pocket of 3 inch 6's and 4's for killing crips out past 60 yards. It sounds like an axe biting into wood when you crack an injured bird with it. But at 3-4 bucks a shot I won't be shooting many limits with it. I keep it for backup in case a rookie I hunt with wingtips something and it keeps going. If I could afford it, Hevishot and the other Tungsten based shells would be the only thing I'd shoot -- even over lead.
Sometimes I think the gun shops say "oh, you will buldge or bust your barrel with steel" such that you will buy a new shotgun from them.
I agree. It does bust the meat up.
Nice post. Tells a bit of a story with good informative info on transitioning to steel.
I too found that the original steel shot that came out with the non-toxic regs in the late 1990s was really poor. Ducks and geese would laugh at it or just wound them. It seems now that with the evolution of steel shot it seems to have more killing power.
