What do you think of Federal speed-Shock shotshells?

MD

MD

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I went to my local sporting goods store looking for more of the budget -priced Winchester Xpert shotshells (thanks for all the advice last week by the way) but they were sold out. They are very popular, both my local sport stores were sold out.

So was talked into getting some Federal Speed-Shock shells for my 2 3/4 inch shotgun.

They have 1 1/8 oz. of steel and go 1375 fps.

Looking at the info on the Federal web-site I see that is at slower than the 3-inch shotshells send their loads, but I would like to ask how you find them if you shoot them in your 2 3/4 inch shotguns.

I've got 'em now, so I have to use them, though there's only 5 days left in the season and I can't get any time off this week.

We went out yesterday (public foreshore on the Pacific coast) but the best spot for a blind on the point was taken. There were very few birds flying anyway and the other guys were skybusting at 60 yards.

So I'll pattern these in the off-season as I have never used them before, but how do you like 'em?

Is the price difference between them and budget shells really worth it?

The Xperts are faster, but guys say the shot is very rough.
 
With steel the faster the better! I've shot lots of geese with 2 3/4 shells. For big honkers I'd like 3" but again go as fast as you can. I don't use bigger than BB shot.
 
The xperts are a very rough shot. Some pellets are hollow and some are solid with sharp points, a few are normal lol. With steel I wouldn't use anything slower then 1550FPs. I use the slower stuff for my goose cripples. :D

Here's the Xpert pellets.
P1040014.JPG
 
Don't worry FS,

I'm heading out for our February goose season with Faststeel BBs.

Those Feds will just have to wait for next duck season.

But I want to get some Faststeel #2 loads to pattern in the off-season.
 
I patterned Win expert, Fed steel shock and Kent Fast-steel in my 500 Mossberg. They were all 3" BB loads, 1-1/8oz Win, 1-1/4oz Fed, 1-3/8oz Kent. The Win loads made a textbook perfect pattern, the Feds and Kents didn't pattern as well, but still a decent useable pattern. Also patterned Rem Nitro steel (or something like that) in 3" 1-3/8oz BB and the patterns were brutal, I wouldn't even use them for cripple loads. I bought the Win and Fed loads to test, the Kent and Rem loads were "donated" by guys who swore by them because they patterned so well in their guns. The bottom line is, the only way to find out what shoots well in your gun is to pattern various shells in your gun till you find what works. Ask your buddies for a few rounds of what they are shooting, instead of buying a full box.
 
Agree with Workin Man. Try whatever some of your other buddies are using so you dont have to spend the coin on 25 rounds at a time. With being said before about the pellets not being perfectly round, neither is hevi shot, but people swear by that stuff. I hear ya on not being able to find mass quantity of the stuff due to being sold out, so the experts must be doing something right!;)
 
LeePeterson said:
Yea there cheap!
Click to expand...
Stands to reason, who would spend about 25 bucks give or take, when you can spend on average about 10 dollars less per box, and have the exact same performance. Those who shoot a few boxes a year, can save a few bucks.
 
The 3" Expert shells cost me $11.50 at Canadian Tire, I think the Speed Shok were around $15. Have you patterned them in your gun to see how they compare to the Kent shells? Don't assume that because they pattern poorly or great in one gun, that they will have the same performance in yours.
 
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3 1/2 inch experts, 1 3/8 going at 1550 fps, 14 bucks a box. Lee, I see that you are using Kent 1625 fps stuff, what ounce of shot is that, perhaps something I could look into as well! But as stated before, for me is the price (and somewhat decent performance) that sells me. I have used Kent Fasteel and Experts with no real differance in birds falling, but its the price thing again. I know its only 6 bucks or so differance but to me it adds up in the long run. HOWEVER it does kind of boil down to what is available on the shelf when one goes shopping. A buddy I hunt birds with uses a 10 gauge and swears by winchester supreme shotshells, he gets no more birds than my megre 12 gauge, I dont see a need to spend upwards of 30 bones per box. Perhaps I may check into the 1625 stuff you were mentioning before though. I am a fan of the speed thing.
 
my gun prefers the x-pert 1550 fps shells. I shot the fed and it sucked. Price is an issue because some might say you only save 5-6$ per box but I want to shoot 100 boxes in the fall. Last year i bet i spent 600-700 dollars in shotgun shells.
 
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