A question from someone who doesn't know anything about shotguns

Slipery

Slipery

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Hey guys!

So I recently bought a shotgun, and it is currently on the way from NB in a Canada Post truck. I am going to my friend's place this Sunday, so I am hoping to be able to try it out then.

The shotgun I bought is an Ithaca M37 (12 gauge and 2 3/4 inch), which has some sort of multi-choke system. This Ithaca was the one on sale in the EE.

My question is: I know that certain game can only be taken with steel shot. Is steel shot OK to use in any shotgun? If so, do I need to have a particular choke for steel shot? I am planning on buying an assortment of shotgun ammo and slugs, so I wanted to ask this before I started firing away and ruining my new shotgun.. well, new to me.

Anything else I should know?

Thanks a bunch
 
I don't think the ithica will be rated for steel. Most of the older guns are not steel rated. You may damage the choke if you try steel. Steel or one of the substitutes such as bismuth is mandatory for migratory birds. Lead can be used for upland birds, although there may be certain restrictions in certain parts of your area. How much duck and goose hunting are you planning on doing?
 
While the gun may not be rated for steel, I personally would have no issues shooting steel shot smaller than #2 with the choke set for Modified or improved cylinder.
Lots of people use them with larger shot size as well.

In fact I am fixing up a Savage pump, 2 3/4" with adjustable choke for my 13 y/o cousin for this coming duck season.
 
I've never seen any evidence that steel shot causes any damage in older guns with a choke of modified or less. I've shot steel through a 1948 ithaca 37 in a light modified with no problems. As bill c68 says , keep the shot size #2 or smaller.
 
he has the poly choke on the gun... do you guys feel steel may cause him issues? I searched the EE to be sure, and it does have some sort of a poly choke on it. No choke tubes.
 
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A few notes about steel.

Steel is less dense than lead. In general you need to move two shot sizes larger to get equivalent performance. E.g. for #4 lead, use #2 steel as a substitute.

Steel is much harder than lead. Generally what this means is the patterns are much tighter for steel. E.g. modified choke with steel often gives about a full choke lead pattern. Going tighter than modified with steel often blows patterns, not to mention the risk of damage.

Remember there are other non-toxic shot alternatives out there too. This requires a bit of research because some are just as hard or harder than steel, but some like Bismuth and Kent Tungsten Matrix are soft like lead and safe to use in lead-only guns. But you pay through the nose for them.
 
That Poly Choke will take all the steel you can feed it. Extended use of LARGE steel loads ie: T, F or BBB may score the barrel but will not hurt the poly choke. My best patterns in my Poly Choked 37 were Winchester #2 steel at 1550 fps with the poly set at FULL. You may get different results. I don't worry what the exact measurement of the Poly is at FULL setting but it threw the best patterns. I expect that it measures a loose full or possibly Improved modified. the Ithaca 37 is a GOOD shotgun, I have three.

cheers Darryl
 
madtrapper143 said:
That Poly Choke will take all the steel you can feed it. Extended use of LARGE steel loads ie: T, F or BBB may score the barrel but will not hurt the poly choke. My best patterns in my Poly Choked 37 were Winchester #2 steel at 1550 fps with the poly set at FULL. You may get different results. I don't worry what the exact measurement of the Poly is at FULL setting but it threw the best patterns. I expect that it measures a loose full or possibly Improved modified. the Ithaca 37 is a GOOD shotgun, I have three.

cheers Darryl
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Agree . The poly choke will take steel easily. Steels patterns best in sizes 2,3,4 even set at full.The 37 is a great shotgun , I have 3 as well even tho i don't need them. # 4 steel with the choke set at modified will drop ducks over decoys easily out to 30 yards. There is bismuth, tungsten matrix, which are great loads, but very expensive. Steel is not the villan it was originally made out to be.I'm sorry , but most of the bad mouthing about steel shot was done by people who didn't take the time to pattern and experiment with it IMHO.It's not lead, but you have to work with it a bit..I've yet to see a mallard centered in the pattern who got up and flew away when hit with steel shot. at a reasonable range.
 
I have Remington Sportsman Hi-Speed Steel.. It's shot#2, so from what you guys have said, I assume that will be ok.. This is my first shotgun, so I tried to be a bit creative.. I also bought some rifled slugs, some buckshot, some magnum loads, and various others.. I assume these will all be fine as long as I use the right choke? I do have an adjustable choke system or polychoke I guess it is called? I guess I should have bought a $200 shotgun that could take a bit of abuse as my first one, but I liked the Ithaca too much :D
 
Pud at Bashaw Sports in Bashaw AB showed me what happens when you try to shoot steel through a full choke, it splits it in two like peeling a banana. Was not a pretty sight! The steel dont compress like lead. thus causing abulge, then the split.:runaway:
 
poly with steel

Polychokes were the hot setup in the 50's and 60's, as anyone reading old sporting magazines knows from the ads. If you bought the Ithaca with polychoke and 'nicely figured wood', I wouldn't risk shooting steel or slugs through it. Back when Polys were king, they'd never heard of steel shot, it was all nice soft lead. You actually have quite a versatile setup, you could hunt upland birds or shoot trap or skeet using lead shot, and dialing in your poly for the optimum choke for the distances you'll be shooting at. If you wanted to shoot waterfowl, you could buy yourself some of the new non-steel Hevishot or the like, and go after ducks or geese. As for hunting deer with slugs, you should probably get yourself another dedicated shotgun for that.
 
deerwood said:
Polychokes were the hot setup in the 50's and 60's, as anyone reading old sporting magazines knows from the ads. If you bought the Ithaca with polychoke and 'nicely figured wood', I wouldn't risk shooting steel or slugs through it. Back when Polys were king, they'd never heard of steel shot, it was all nice soft lead. You actually have quite a versatile setup, you could hunt upland birds or shoot trap or skeet using lead shot, and dialing in your poly for the optimum choke for the distances you'll be shooting at. If you wanted to shoot waterfowl, you could buy yourself some of the new non-steel Hevishot or the like, and go after ducks or geese. As for hunting deer with slugs, you should probably get yourself another dedicated shotgun for that.
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Hevi- Shot is harder than steel, but Tungsten and Bismuth are fine.
Now having said that, I have used and know of many who have used steel in a poly-choke, just keep it mod or wider.

Hevi- Shot however should only be used in modern guns.
 
Use lead shot only in any Polychoked shotgun, no matter what the setting. If you need to shoot steel shot purchase a (modern) shotgun approved for same.
 
yeah or use an open cylinder, steel keeps a tight pattern and is ok without choking it, using 2 3/4" you're going to have to get a good hit on a duck to properly drop it anyway.
here in nz we wont use anything less than 3" #2 shot on ducks. steel just isnt good enough. use alternate heavy shot if u can find/afford it
 
Hevi, oh no-

Yikes!,
My Bad, as they say. But I stand by the rest of the post. I would actualy get a Rem 870 or Mossberg 500 to shoot anything but lead; heck, it's only $250 bucks for peace of mind, and having a chuck-in-the-pickup gun that's good for everything except the finesse work.:cool:
 
Alright, thanks everyone for the advice..

I was looking at getting a Benelli SuperNova as my next gun, so it looks like that will be my goose gun as opposed to my Ithaca.

Just a question, someone suggested not to use slugs in my Ithaca. For this coming fall I was planning in the Ithaca being my deer gun for the shotgun-only zones. I shouldn't need to make a shot with the slugs past 75 yards, so I think it should be fine without getting a rifle slug barrel on a different gun. Is it actually harmful to shoot slugs out of the polychoke?

It has a 'slug' setting on it in fact. It is one of the chokes.

Thank you
 
Slipery said:
Alright, thanks everyone for the advice..

I was looking at getting a Benelli SuperNova as my next gun, so it looks like that will be my goose gun as opposed to my Ithaca.

Just a question, someone suggested not to use slugs in my Ithaca. For this coming fall I was planning in the Ithaca being my deer gun for the shotgun-only zones. I shouldn't need to make a shot with the slugs past 75 yards, so I think it should be fine without getting a rifle slug barrel on a different gun. Is it actually harmful to shoot slugs out of the polychoke?

It has a 'slug' setting on it in fact. It is one of the chokes.

Thank you
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i dont see how shooting FOSTER style slugs out of it should be a problem -- their 'rifling' is designed to let the slug swage down through the choke. you can technically shoot them through a full choke if you wanted to.
 
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