Hi Guys,
Haven't been posting on the CGN much these last couple years. Kinda got busy with life and all that, but for the Holidays I acquired a new-to-me 16 gauge Bayard hammer gun (proofed for modern smokeless). I'm curious about the intricacies of loading steel shot in a shotgun for upland purposes, but I want to note a few points first before getting any further:
- Firstly, I realize that any chokes tighter than modified are a no-no. Makes sense to me, as steel doesn't like to compress in comparison with lead or other softer shot.
- Secondly, why am I using steel for upland? Because I have a 16 gauge (ammo can be hard to find) and because I like to reload my own low(er) pressure shells. Finding a source of lead shot to purchase is seemingly impossible in my neck of the woods, where-as with steel, I have easily-sourced local options.
- Thirdly, in all my reading I understand that modern shot cups for steel protect the barrel from scratches and/or bridging issues.
So with that out of the way, I'm curious about the details of hunting upland game with steel shot. I've been going over the regular forums trying to soak up what I can, and came up with the following generalities, but I'd like the more experienced shooters to lend their voices to validate or toss out the points:
1. Steel is lighter than lead. Therefore an equivalent-weight/equivalent-size load of steel shot will contain more pellets than a lead load. Or in simpler terms: a pounds of bricks vs. a pound of feathers: they both still weigh a pound, but you're gonna need a heck of a lot of feathers...
2. With steel being lighter than lead, it also sheds velocity faster. Similar to throwing a pingpong ball: you can throw it really fast, but as soon as it leaves your hand it slows down incredibly quickly. My understanding is to remedy this, shooters will load "two shot sizes larger" in order to get an equivalent weight in steel. In other words, load steel #4's in place of lead #6's. My thoughts are that with a load of steel #4's vs. lead #6's, your steel pattern is going to have less pellets, reducing the effectiveness of the load, all things being equal?
3. How does steel retain velocity in relation to lead in the above scenario? Thinking out loud, but if a #4 steel shot ball vs. a #6 lead shot ball both have similar "weights", I want to think that the two balls will retain similar velocities through their travel.
4. Terminal ballistics. My understanding is steel will never equal lead (or hevi shot/bismuth/nice shot etc) in terms of terminal ballistics. I've heard that a shot at the back on a big pheasant rooster flying away from you is a bugger with steel, and that some guys have resorted to using #2 steel to mitigate this. What I don't know is how well lead shot compared for those raking-away shots? Does lead simply negate this issue, or is that rooster in that scenario just as tough to whack with lead?
5. Lastly, with regards to chokes, my understanding is that steel shot doesn't need as much choke to pattern the same way as a lead load. I guess another way to say this is that if you want lead to pattern like a full choke, you get a full choke - if you want steel to pattern like a full choke, you can use a modified choke. This leads me to wonder how birds fair on those short shots, especially with a load of #4 (or even #2 as described about) at 10-15 yards. With the steel patterning "tighter", and using larger shot, I would think that close up shots on upland with steel would really make a mess of the bird.
6. I'm told that with steel, you want velocity. With my limited understanding of ballastics mainly stemming from rifles, if you want more velocity, you wind up increasing both pressures and recoil. I believe this is an issue in older guns, as a slim, straight-stocked hammer gun is not typically built to withstand crazy recoil. Additionally, increasing pressures is not something I want to do on an older gun either, not necessarily because the gun can't withstand "modern loads", but more-so a personal choice: if I can fire two loads, both sending the shot out at 1200fps, one doing it at 6000psi and the other at 10,000psi, I will choose the 6k one every time. So with that being said, I guess my question is can steel shot leaving the barrel at around 1200-1300psi still be "effective" at 35 yards, or not so much?
Okay guys there's my long-winded Friday morning pontificating. Again, I'd like to point out that I'm new to upland hunting and am pretty green, so if I've erred anywhere please let me know. I am not however new to shotgun reloading (some may remember the slug loads I developed a few years ago) or rifle reloading, so feel free to bust out the technical jargon if necessary. Thanks and Merry Christmas -Hansol
Haven't been posting on the CGN much these last couple years. Kinda got busy with life and all that, but for the Holidays I acquired a new-to-me 16 gauge Bayard hammer gun (proofed for modern smokeless). I'm curious about the intricacies of loading steel shot in a shotgun for upland purposes, but I want to note a few points first before getting any further:
- Firstly, I realize that any chokes tighter than modified are a no-no. Makes sense to me, as steel doesn't like to compress in comparison with lead or other softer shot.
- Secondly, why am I using steel for upland? Because I have a 16 gauge (ammo can be hard to find) and because I like to reload my own low(er) pressure shells. Finding a source of lead shot to purchase is seemingly impossible in my neck of the woods, where-as with steel, I have easily-sourced local options.
- Thirdly, in all my reading I understand that modern shot cups for steel protect the barrel from scratches and/or bridging issues.
So with that out of the way, I'm curious about the details of hunting upland game with steel shot. I've been going over the regular forums trying to soak up what I can, and came up with the following generalities, but I'd like the more experienced shooters to lend their voices to validate or toss out the points:
1. Steel is lighter than lead. Therefore an equivalent-weight/equivalent-size load of steel shot will contain more pellets than a lead load. Or in simpler terms: a pounds of bricks vs. a pound of feathers: they both still weigh a pound, but you're gonna need a heck of a lot of feathers...
2. With steel being lighter than lead, it also sheds velocity faster. Similar to throwing a pingpong ball: you can throw it really fast, but as soon as it leaves your hand it slows down incredibly quickly. My understanding is to remedy this, shooters will load "two shot sizes larger" in order to get an equivalent weight in steel. In other words, load steel #4's in place of lead #6's. My thoughts are that with a load of steel #4's vs. lead #6's, your steel pattern is going to have less pellets, reducing the effectiveness of the load, all things being equal?
3. How does steel retain velocity in relation to lead in the above scenario? Thinking out loud, but if a #4 steel shot ball vs. a #6 lead shot ball both have similar "weights", I want to think that the two balls will retain similar velocities through their travel.
4. Terminal ballistics. My understanding is steel will never equal lead (or hevi shot/bismuth/nice shot etc) in terms of terminal ballistics. I've heard that a shot at the back on a big pheasant rooster flying away from you is a bugger with steel, and that some guys have resorted to using #2 steel to mitigate this. What I don't know is how well lead shot compared for those raking-away shots? Does lead simply negate this issue, or is that rooster in that scenario just as tough to whack with lead?
5. Lastly, with regards to chokes, my understanding is that steel shot doesn't need as much choke to pattern the same way as a lead load. I guess another way to say this is that if you want lead to pattern like a full choke, you get a full choke - if you want steel to pattern like a full choke, you can use a modified choke. This leads me to wonder how birds fair on those short shots, especially with a load of #4 (or even #2 as described about) at 10-15 yards. With the steel patterning "tighter", and using larger shot, I would think that close up shots on upland with steel would really make a mess of the bird.
6. I'm told that with steel, you want velocity. With my limited understanding of ballastics mainly stemming from rifles, if you want more velocity, you wind up increasing both pressures and recoil. I believe this is an issue in older guns, as a slim, straight-stocked hammer gun is not typically built to withstand crazy recoil. Additionally, increasing pressures is not something I want to do on an older gun either, not necessarily because the gun can't withstand "modern loads", but more-so a personal choice: if I can fire two loads, both sending the shot out at 1200fps, one doing it at 6000psi and the other at 10,000psi, I will choose the 6k one every time. So with that being said, I guess my question is can steel shot leaving the barrel at around 1200-1300psi still be "effective" at 35 yards, or not so much?
Okay guys there's my long-winded Friday morning pontificating. Again, I'd like to point out that I'm new to upland hunting and am pretty green, so if I've erred anywhere please let me know. I am not however new to shotgun reloading (some may remember the slug loads I developed a few years ago) or rifle reloading, so feel free to bust out the technical jargon if necessary. Thanks and Merry Christmas -Hansol
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