Steel Shot, Older Gun...

It ain't so.
Most double guns are unsuitable for steel shot, for a start.
Of course, if you have a throw away gun you don't care about, charge ahead.
There are lots of things that you "might" get away with that wise man would avoid .
 
As has already been stated by numerous knowledgeable posters here, modern steel shot, no matter what size, will not mark or score the barrel interior. It will also not blow up your gun unless it is old, shaky and basically unsafe to shoot with any modern ammo. You are risking damaging your choke area if you use any steel shot ammo larger than about # 6 if your choke constriction is tighter than IC although many use Mod choke and have no problems and this constriction is commonly used in modern guns with choke tubes maked STEEL. Larger steel shot is much harder than lead and will not compress when it reaches the choke, putting tremendous outward pressure on the barrel at this point. On many barrels and on many older choke tubes that means the metal at the choke area needs to expand to let the shot through ( it WILL go through), resulting in a bulged or burst barrel at this area. No choke (cylinder) or minimum choke ( skeet or IC) will normally allow the shot through with no damage but sometimes degraded patterns. OP's old cylinder bored Cooey should not suffer any bore marking or muzzle damage and although patterns won'y likely be optimal the gun and shooter will survive. If you enjoy the sport you will graduate to a more efficient gun that is more versatile and suitable as soon as you can.
 
.........Some days you should just smile and shake your head !!!!!
But hey, the advice is free,. Take it for what its worth OR buy an inexpensive MAVRICK88 / MOSSBERG 500 with mod.fixed or screw in chokes and enjoy a wet ,cold duck blind or goose pit...........But whatever you do,be safe and do it right !!!
 
Mike Webb said:
I don't think the Cooey with absolutely no choke will be much good for waterfowl. Safe to shoot with steel for sure but patterns may be wide open. All you can do is get a large piece of cardboard, mark an aiming point on it and see if your patterns are any good at all. What percentage of the shotgun pellets fall inside a 30 inch diameter circle and are there any big holes in the pattern. Usually patterning is done at 40 yards range. My 2 cents.
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My wife shoots a Beretta A400 Xplore 20ga and runs a CYL bore choke in it, not IC but CYL meaning zero constriction and she wallops ducks and geese cleanly over the decoys to 30 yards no problem with 7/8oz 2's.
 
The youtube channel the gun shop hosted some guy whoes name i cannot recall at the moment. They set to prove right or wrong the effects of steel. They used a double barrel thru a number of waterfowling seasons and kept accurate measurements. They also used felt wadded shells so the steel had no shotcup. Interesting series for anyone who wishes to watch. There are 4 or 5 segments
 
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