3 1/2" shot shells, anyone?

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I'm using Beretta Xtrema 2 for waterfowls. I didn't get many geese last year. My 3" shot shells seems didn't do much harm on the hunkers. Planning to do more geese hunt this year. I'm going to buy a Patternmaster choke for my Xtrema, and planning to try out some 3 1/2". Hopefully, my shoulder can handle it. Which brand of 3 1/2" did you have the most success and would recommend for geese?
 
How far away are these birds? I'd say work your hunting technique instead to get them closer. Even 2-3/4" shells can kill geese pretty well to 40 yards.
 
I agree, If you can't knock them down with three inch shells, you doing something wrong. I have tried them all and see no big advantage to 3.5 "mag shells . Hit the range pattern your shells ,get some practice.
 
Pattering is a critical element in choosing a shell. I pattern at the max distance I expect to shoot and have found no single shell that will do well in all guns. My Mossberg 935 likes 3.5" Blackcloud BB's and my Beretta A303 likes Kent 3" number 1 shot, and my buddy's SBEII patterns best with Winchester superX 3.5" BB's. You will find a shell that your gun likes and then I suggest you buy a flat or two and you should be good to go. I also set up rocks or clumps of straw inside my max range which makes choosing a shot a bit easier.
 
I only shoot the 3.5 inch shells for turkeys .three inch shells help you get back on target faster as the 3.5 inch kick bad .you should get some large pieces of cardboard and shoot at them from 30 yards and see what kind of pattern you are getting .I have seen some guns and shell combos the a goose could fly right thru the holes in the pattern .try a few different kinds of ammo and chokes and you will soon see what your gun likes Dutch
 
I've been using Kent 3" BB and #2 for the ducks. I got quite a few ducks last year, just had difficulties with geese. They were all passing shots. Maybe I should try different chokes that came with the shotgun to pattern out on card boards to see which choke works the best. Any of you used extension tube like Patternmaster before? Does it make any difference?
 
Well - There is a good chance the geese were farther away than you thought - their size relative to ducks can trick you. The net result is more prudent shooting, and a greater lead when you do shoot.
 
cosmic said:
Well - There is a good chance the geese were farther away than you thought - their size relative to ducks can trick you. The net result is more prudent shooting, and a greater lead when you do shoot.
Click to expand...

You probably are right about distance miscalculation. I will try give extra lead this season for geese. I never thought about should give extra lead, just assumed it's the same for ducks. Don't you think ducks sometimes can fly even faster than geese? They do seem that way.
 
If you want to kill more geese, shoot skeet or sporting clays during the summer.Even a 10 gauge won't kill geese, if you can't place the pattern where it needs to be.
 
Like the guys have eluded too - learn to judge distance, practice with your shotgun - trap and skeet are good. If you are having problems with distance, try putting out a stake at 40 yards. My 12 gauge load is a 3 inch Kent Fasteel in either BBs or 3s, both loads killed lots of geese last season.
 
I have a floater at Longpoint and have killed my share of geese and large divers over the past 30yrs. When steel first came out I think 1998 or 99 guys cursed the stuff because they didn't understand the logistics. Your shot string with steel is about 3ft , with lead about 8ft, so that means steel shot is not as forgiving as lead is. Don't buy into faster steel is better. The faster the shot especially steel, the more it can result in blown patterns and flyers. I would rather have 4 slower pellets hit the bird than 1 fast pellet. Learn how to snap shoot not follow thru lead like in skeet and that will help you kill birds. Personally I like bismuth but when shooting steel you cant go wrong with Remington Nitro Mags #3's 1175ft/sec (slow but lots of pellets- and great patterns). Good Luck
 
I use Winchester Xpert & Remington Sportsman 3.5 inch shells with #2 shot going 1550fps and it kills geese just fine with a Improved Cylinder choke. The guys have made some great suggestions, practise & patterning your gun with the shot you are using.

Cheers
Jay
 
Before you do anything you must pattern that gun. I find many today don't impact where they are pointed and I have to fit them
I have a browning semi here that was off feet not inches ( high and to the right). Some stock shims and it is fine now
Once you are sure that is correct then work on the rest
 
As already mentioned check the point of impact of your shotgun on a large piece of cardboard. If its not hitting where you think you are pointing you are not going to kill many birds. The next thing is to shoot some different shells to check the pattern. Steel shot is not very forgiving. The tightest choke you want is a modified and improved cylinder will often pattern better with BB and larger shot.
Since steel shot came on the market there has been some radical changes. The original steel shot was quite slow and did not have a very long effective range compared to the lead we were used to. Part of the problem is the steel pellet slows down quicker than a lead pellet of the same size and quickly losses the kinetic energy required to penetrate a bird. So you have to use larger sized shot. (usually about 2 sizes up) So if you used # 2 lead for geese two sizes larger would be BBB. Now you have trouble getting enough pellets into a case to produce an effective pattern at say 40 yds. So they made the case longer and the 12 ga 3 1/2 inch was born. OK now we can load enough pellets in a 3 1/2 in case to throw an effective pattern but the larger pellets are slowed down because they displace more air than a smaller lead pellet of the same weight. They slow down enough that their kinetic energy is not enough to penetrate at 40 yds. So now the ammunition makers solve this with 2 solutions. First they start making steel shells with higher velocities. The early steel was in the 1300 fps range then it went to 1400fps. Much of the new ammunition is in the 1500 to 1550 fps range with hi-velocity loads in the 1625 fps range and Remington has a 1700 fps load. Higher velocity is achieved partly with higher pressures and higher pressures OFTEN hurts the pattern. The other way to make non toxic ammo effective to longer ranges is to find a material that is denser (heavier) than steel. Tungsten, tungsten matrix, ITX, Hevi shot etc. Some of this stuff is heavier than lead so you can go back to same size shot as you used to use in lead or even one size smaller. This stuff really works IF you learn how much to lead the birds. Biggest problem is this ammo is expensive. So if you are going to be pass shooting I would strongly suggest you1/ check point of impact of your gun 2/ pattern your gun with some different ammo ( maybe get a couple buddies to each buy a different brand of shells and all of you trade 5 shells or so to try patterning.) You may want to try an IC choke tube. I have found them to pattern better than a modified tube in most guns with the larger shot and the higher velocity shells.3/ If you are going to be doing some long range pass shooting buy some hevi-shot. Hope that helps
 
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