steel shot vs full choke?
- Thread starter seanross
- Start date
i have steel remington target loads as i inherited A LOT of them...... just assumed all target loads were steel... doesnt look like my winchester universals are steel. my bad lol
the remingtons are 1 ounce so probably wont be puttin those through the full choke.
the remingtons are 1 ounce so probably wont be puttin those through the full choke.
- Location
- Ft. Mac. Alberta
If you have screw in chokes use an open choke for la or a full choke designed for steel.
Cat
OK, I gotcha.
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Steel is steel, velocity is not really the main issue. When the pellets get to the choke, the choke becomes an obstruction and the pellets at the front start to slow down while the pellets at the rear are still at speed. The pellets at the front can't absorb the energy like lead will. The pellets try to move sideways which can cause damage to the choke and/or barrel.
Smaller pellets are easier on the barrel than larger pellets. Chokes with a more open constriction can handle the pressure better than those with a tighter constriction.
The plus side to steel pellets is that they don't deform and patterns can be tighter than with lead pellets.
If your barrel has interchangeable chokes you have it made. Just use a choke that is more open than Full, Improved Cylinder or Modified work well. Be sure to use lube on the choke tube.
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Steel is steel, velocity is not really the main issue. When the pellets get to the choke, the choke becomes an obstruction and the pellets at the front start to slow down while the pellets at the rear are still at speed. The pellets at the front can't absorb the energy like lead will. The pellets try to move sideways which can cause damage to the choke and/or barrel.
Smaller pellets are easier on the barrel than larger pellets. Chokes with a more open constriction can handle the pressure better than those with a tighter constriction.
The plus side to steel pellets is that they don't deform and patterns can be tighter than with lead pellets.
If your barrel has interchangeable chokes you have it made. Just use a choke that is more open than Full, Improved Cylinder or Modified work well. Be sure to use lube on the choke tube.
Only a very small minority of target loads are steel. The vast majority are lead.
When dealing with new chokes, you need to look closely at the choke labels, as some come with both ratings for lead, and ratings for steel. The same choke can have different ratings for lead and steel.
Or Bismuth or Tungsten or maybe some other form of non-toxic shot approved for migratory game bird hunting .
IIRC there are some areas in Canada where a local bylaw prohibits the use of lead for the shooting clays sports, hence the target loads ( steel commercial loads) available.
Use an open choke of at least one size from full when using steel shot .
Then again these are my observations and opinions,
others will vary.
Open Chokes and Crushed Birds,
Rob
