shot size

cvenne

cvenne

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Looking to get a case of Winchester Xpert Steel shot. I have always used :
#3 , 3" 1 1/8 shells but of course lebaron is sold out. They do have the same but in a #4. I have found the #3 very effective, will i take much of a performance hit if i switch to the #4?

Thx
 
I have always liked #3 steel for ducks but there are a lot of teal in the early season where I hunt so I use #4 for them but when the big northerns come down or there are geese in the air I switch to #2
 
So the majority of ducks we shoot is woods and mallards in early season and then ringnecks, hooded mergs, goldeneyes and bluebills. So with that being said would #2's be better than #3's? if i have to wait a bit to get what i normally shoot that's fine, i just don't want to move to #2's and be dissapointed.

Thx
 
With steel shot you won't be disappointed with #2 shot, if I could only use one size of shot for ducks it would be #2. In the old days of lead shot for ducks #4 was deadly on them at some pretty long ranges. Most folks in the industry recommended using a size two sizes bigger when using steel instead of lead.
 
Thx for the info guys... Now i always shot the Winchester Xpert Steel 1550fps and had great luck with them. Since lebaron has none of what i want can you tell me how the Remington Sportsman ones match up? They have them in the exact size i want and they are 1550fps and cheaper....

Comments?
 
Depends on the type of shooting. Smaller ducks over deeks..gadwall, widgeons, teal, can be killed very cleanly with #4 steel. In the early days of steel when marsh hunting I would pack some #6 1 oz. steel loads for dispatching the many cripples. Tryed them on decoying birds and found 6 steel to kill like lightining inside of thirty yards. Of coarse if one is shooting at late heavy feathered big ducks at longer range much larger shot would be needed.
 
I personally hate the sportsman loads as I have problem killing anything with it. Xpert #2s are fine for ducks and geese, #4 are good if you're only shooting woodies and greenheads.
 
After trying various different brands and shot sizes on Geese, I'm pretty much settled on #3, 3" Winchester xpert Steel. Cheap and available.

Why so small when all of the industry claims #BB and up? From personal experience shooting Geese at reasonable hunting ranges from a familiar, practised and patterned gun, I experience that the only truly clean/humane kills come from pellets striking the neck and head.
I prefer pellet count to blast this exposed and unprotected area, instead of hoping that a lucky BB will hit the vitals.

Look up pellet count in the different steel shot sizes and then actually pattern your gun. Its pretty sobering.
 
Thx 1Shot. Problem is that they are not all that readily available. Lebaron has the best price by far but never have any in stock (same old story) and TSC carries them but they are like $5 more per box and i am looking to get a case... Any other good spots (cheap) to buy them? Lots of places have the remington stuff but many people don't like the way it performs. Kent is not in the same price point and i can't find anywhere that sells Challenger.

Ideas?

Thx
 
My 20 gauge O/U kills with #2's REALLY well when it comes to geese and ducks!:)
I used a lot of Fasteel 3" last year and found it easy on the shoulder and a very clean killing round.
As was stated , swinging on the head of the bird will greatly increase kills....
Cat
 
I have found the two shot sizes larger rule is now somewhat less reliable due to the new speed of the latest loads. When I first started shooting steel ( a long time ago) I found I had to go to #1's to get any positive performance. Those Federal loads lumbered along at 1330 fps. Now I am shooting Kent Fast steel loads of #4 at 1580fps. If I can hit them any duck within 40 to 45 yards is dead. The fastload coupled with denser patterns (more pellets in the #4 load) results in more hits in the head neck area of the birds. Of course geese can require larger shot. I shoot geese over decoys and #4 fast steel knocks them down solid. Aim head and neck, most shots at 30 yards or less and #4's are devastating. Just my two cents.....

regards, Darryl
 
I have killed geese with a little of everything, I even used #71/2 hevi-shot once. A friend of mine was GM for DU for a few years and kills a whole pile of ducks every year, he like 4's, he used 6's before and said that the current high-velocity 4's are analogous. I shoot 3's because most of my ducks are late season mallards. I shoot 1's for geese, I found 2's for geese to not work reliably, the loads I used where the super cheap stuff a premium ammo like fasteel might work better.
 
cvenne said:
Thx for the info guys... Now i always shot the Winchester Xpert Steel 1550fps and had great luck with them. Since lebaron has none of what i want can you tell me how the Remington Sportsman ones match up? They have them in the exact size i want and they are 1550fps and cheaper....

Comments?
Click to expand...


My hunting partner has been using Sportsman for the past 10 years or so. If he does his part the ducks die!

FWIW, he uses #4 shot. I also prefer #4 but I use Kent Fasteel. Last year I fired 6 shots and had 5 ducks in the blind opening morning. So Kent in #4 definitely works!
 
Thanks everyone. It looks like it will be Kent #3 3" for me unless the others come in soon, by some miracle... :)
 
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