steel target shotshells - Ottawa?

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Kdub77

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My gun club allows only steel loads for clays, and finding shotshells has always been tricky.

Anyone know of a dealer that keeps them in stock in the Ottawa area? I've bought out the inventory at Sail a few times now, which wasn't much.

tks.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone.

Correct, I am looking for 12ga. I can't believe someone found 20ga shells let alone 12s...

I buy out Sail whenever they have anything. No Kent or Challenger target left.

Eastern Ontario Shooting Club has the steel shells rule.

I'll contact Kent, thanks for the contact.
 
Jo Mcrow said:
Call Kent cartridge in Markham talk to Dan Banting he will no the closest retailer.
Kent 7 steel are very good.
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Success! Thanks for the heads up on Kent. Contacted their office, and went with one of their recommended dealers, "The Hunting Store" and couldn't be happier with the service.

Happy shooting everyone
 
I was talking to a federal rep, recently. He said steel shot is on the way and will likely phase out lead as a target load. He said when it becomes more popular it will be cheaper than lead. He said most of the shooters that have been using it say "after a while you forget you shooting steel". Lead is expensive and not terribly environmentally friendly. Sounds like change is on the way
 
Kenny said:
I was talking to a federal rep, recently. He said steel shot is on the way and will likely phase out lead as a target load. He said when it becomes more popular it will be cheaper than lead. He said most of the shooters that have been using it say "after a while you forget you shooting steel". Lead is expensive and not terribly environmentally friendly. Sounds like change is on the way
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Well I respectfully disagree with the Federal rep. I haven't checked in a while, but last time I did there were no steel options in target loads for 28ga or .410, and it is further complicated by the smallest steel shot available being #7.

Anybody shooting subgauge tubes cannot shoot steel.

I can't imagine our friends South of the border would be eager to change, and as we are merely a drop in the bucket volume wise in Canada, it will likely follow the trends in the US.
 
I attended a fundraiser sporting clays shoot a couple years ago and as part of the shoot the ammo was supplied. I kept thinking to myself I was hearing things as I would have sworn I could hear the pellets striking the clay targets. About 2/3 of the way through the shoot I happened to actually look at the ammo in my shell bag while awaiting my turn to shoot as the hull colour wasn’t the usual “red” I was accustomed to seeing. I was surprised to see we were using Kent steel target loads. They had just been given out to us in a bag as loose rounds and I hadn’t bothered to look at what they were until the sound of pellets striking the clays had finally gotten the better of my curiosity and made me check to see what we were using. I have shot steel target loads on a few occasions before and since and you can definitely hear the pellets hit the clays.
 
bmcrae said:
Well I respectfully disagree with the Federal rep. I haven't checked in a while, but last time I did there were no steel options in target loads for 28ga or .410, and it is further complicated by the smallest steel shot available being #7.

Anybody shooting subgauge tubes cannot shoot steel.

I can't imagine our friends South of the border would be eager to change, and as we are merely a drop in the bucket volume wise in Canada, it will likely follow the trends in the US.
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The trends in the US are moving away from lead.

Asides from cost of the ammo, is there any reason not to use steel shot for target shooting?

This is something I might try my hand at. Is steel just expensive, or is there another reason why people don't like it?
 
Cameron SS said:
The trends in the US are moving away from lead.

Asides from cost of the ammo, is there any reason not to use steel shot for target shooting?

This is something I might try my hand at. Is steel just expensive, or is there another reason why people don't like it?
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Please expand on what is trending towards steel.

Subgauge tubes (those that generally fit inside of a 12ga bbl) are not steel safe and not currently an option.

Last I checked, the smallest commercially available steel shot size is #7. The accepted shot size for skeet is #9, the legal sizes being defined as 7.5 to 9.

Last I checked, there was no commercially available target loads in 28ga and .410.

Steel is lighter than lead which results in the shot payload volume being larger. This results in issues getting the desired shot payload weight into current hulls.

Steel shot patterns tighter than lead. The effective distance is shorter. (Talk with the waterfoul hunters about lead vs steel)

Reloading is a bit of an issue with many existing presses. Sometimes modifications are available which allow for utilization of steel.

I've shot steel target loads in 12ga (skeet). The hits were impressive due to the the larger shot and effective tighter patterns. Those same properties put me at a disadvantage vs someone using lead. And then as you touched on, there is the extra cost.

In some cases, I think steel could be a viable alternative, in other cases it is a non-starter.
 
bmcrae said:
Please expand on what is trending towards steel.

Subgauge tubes (those that generally fit inside of a 12ga bbl) are not steel safe and not currently an option.

Last I checked, the smallest commercially available steel shot size is #7. The accepted shot size for skeet is #9, the legal sizes being defined as 7.5 to 9.

Last I checked, there was no commercially available target loads in 28ga and .410.

Steel is lighter than lead which results in the shot payload volume being larger. This results in issues getting the desired shot payload weight into current hulls.

Steel shot patterns tighter than lead. The effective distance is shorter. (Talk with the waterfoul hunters about lead vs steel)

Reloading is a bit of an issue with many existing presses. Sometimes modifications are available which allow for utilization of steel.

I've shot steel target loads in 12ga (skeet). The hits were impressive due to the the larger shot and effective tighter patterns. Those same properties put me at a disadvantage vs someone using lead. And then as you touched on, there is the extra cost.

In some cases, I think steel could be a viable alternative, in other cases it is a non-starter.
Click to expand...

I was more talking of the environmental trends where by more states are banning or contemplating banning all lead ammo for hunting purposes, as I well as banning lead ammo everywhere that isn't a shooting range. I think California is the only state currently with a state wide no shooting lead into the ground ban, but there are more talking about it.
 
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