Waterfowl Shells - who makes good stuff

[300magman]

In my youth I was quite a duck and goose hunter, with my trusty Rem 870 wingmaster at my side and a belt full of LEAD I could down anything I could see. But as steel shot became the new norm I gave up the sport, having only a 2 3/4" chamber my old wingmaster couldn't kill a damn thing unless I was standing on top of it, with steel shells.
Now I've got a new 870 waterfowl gun (3.5" chamber) and a set of various chocks and I'm wanting to put a hurting into the local bird populations once more....mmm mmm tasty!

What loads should I be firing for medium/big ducks and geese and who makes a good shell at a half decent price?
I've heard the new heavier than lead alternatives are the best, but they cost way too much, its like $3 or $4 a shell!!!! There is a lot of "Black Cloud" on the shelves around here, how does that fare?, perhaps a box of 3.5" mag #2 for ducks and 3.5" mag BBB for geese? (I want maximum distance as most of my shots will be on the longer side, especially for geese, some ducks I might get closer too)

I've also heard that a full chock might not be the way to go with steel shot, should I step down to the next tightest chock?

[hogdogs]

"HEVI-SHOT" is one and here is another... I use neither as I do not waterfowl hunt but these claim to be top notch...
http://www.hevishot.com/home.html
http://www.blackcloudammo.com/
Good luck...
Brent

[Dr. Strangelove]

What do these "various chocks" that came with your new shotgun do? Keep your truck from rolling off into the water?

[hogdogs]

Never run a steel thru a choke that is marked FULL or LEAD without cotacting manufacturer to see if it is safe. There are FULL-STEEL but they are not as tight IIRC as a regular full choke. I would think more open chokes would be safe but having no experience in steel shot I would never consider what I say as "advise"... I don't wanna be responsible for dangerous info.
Brent

[300magman]

Quote "What do these "various chocks" that came with your new shotgun do? Keep your truck from rolling off into the water?" End Quote

Are you being a smart ass or do you really not know what a choke is? LOL

As for what they are, its the usual selection of Rem Chokes that come with an new Remington 870. Without looking I would guess, Imp, Mod, Full

[Dr. Strangelove]

Just having fun.

Spell-check is nice, but proofreading is your friend.

[hogdogs]

Yeah I poofreed eber post too make shure I downt have arrears....

[crowbeaner]

I looked at the 3.5 inch Hevi Shot at Dick's and it was $42.95 for 10 rounds! Darned expensive quackers to me; I shoot the WW 2 3/4 inch Drylock steel myself. Kent Fasteel is supposed to be good, but I haven't seen the need to change brands. Just keep them away from humidity to avoid corrosion in the pellets.

[nutty ned]

medium/big ducks

Winchester drylok 3",
1&1/4 oz #1 steel shot.

[300magman]

The Winchester Drylock is actually the only kind of Steel I've ever tried. I went from 40 yard shorts being sure things with lead to 25 yards being the usual max with the Drylocks when I made the switch to steal in my little 2 3/4" chamber......POed me big time.
Especially since the lead did a good job at medium and long range without too much meet distruction and the Drylocks failed to kill at long range yet caused ducks to expload on the rare close up shots. I guess that will still be a problem as long as I'm shooting steel but if I step up to 3" or 3.5" perhaps I will get some of my range back.
I have NEVER killed a goose with it, I blasted half a box of BBB shot out of my usual setup thinking I must be having a bad day and missing until I noticed some of the geese wobbling slightly or loosing a few feathers as the shot hit them...then I realized how truely useless 2 3/4" steel shells are at longer ranges.

[RamSlammer]

Velocity is more important with steel in my opinion. This season I like Winchester's XPert line 3.5" 1.25 oz. #2 shot at 1625 FPS. (wear lots of clothes or use a good recoil pad though )

[sargenv]

I'm really partial to Kent's line of Fast Steel. They make it in all lengths.. I'm partial to the 3" - 1 1/8 of either BB's, 2, or 3's. They claim 1550 fps but I chrono'd some of their stuff out of my 28" Browning Gold and it clocked at a Min of 1560 and a max of 1602 fps. I have not tried the 3.5" stuff since I do not own or use a 3.5" gun.

[Death from Afar]

I dont know if its still made, but I used the federal premium tungsten stuff ( i know it is expensive as sin, but it was free from a deceased estate) with great sucess. Awesome ammo, best non lead shot i have ever used, and vastly superior to poxy normal steel.

[Dave McC]

Hevishot is not quite as expensive as Pharmaceutical grade Cocaine, but it's up there.

It also, at least in 2 shot,kills geese as good as lead or better.

[globemaster3]

Call me old fashioned, but using 2-3/4", 1-1/4 oz, max dram steel in either BB or #2 is all I've ever used on geese and ducks hunting them in FL for pinners, widgeon, teal, ringbill, mottled, fulvous whistiling, the occaisional merganser, in WA state for Greater and Lesser Canadians, mallards, teal, widgeon, and on OK for specks, snows, mallards, widgeon, gadwall, and teal. I take my shots over the dekes, limit myself to shots inside 40 yards, refrain from skybusting and hate those who do, and I've had great success.

I've got a couple shotguns that can handle the 3" stuff, to include a nice over-under, but I like my old, beat up, 30% finish Ted Williams model 300. You can step on it, cover it in mud, use it as a boat paddle, throw deeks on top of it, have the dog step on it with its muddy feet, etc and not worry that they just desecrated a $1400 Benneli SBE.

No offense intended to SBE owners, just giving an example of POS, ugly-as-all-getup-and-only-spent-$80-on-it-but-works gun vs high dollar, pretty, and works gun.

[300magman]

If thats what you call old fashioned I'm not sure your old enough. LOL Real old fashioned is that beautiful substance called lead
Besides being a better duck/goose killer it has the additional benefits of adding superior flavor to the meat if you miss a pellet when cleaning and being soft enough to only chip your teeth half as often as the harder steel pellets when you bite down on said missed pellet.

[globemaster3]

300Mag, I did shoot a lot of lead prior to the ban and probably have a few chips on the enamel from the unfound pellets (well, I guess I did find them, just too late!). In fact, I had a case of just purchased Active 2-3/4 lead when the ban went into effect.

That's my point, when everyone went to 3" to make up for the performance of steel, I just stayed at 2-3/4. Yeah, I cannot make those 60-70 yard shots, but then I found that I really never took those anyways and enjoyed the challenge of getting them in close with good decoy spreads and good calling. Even over big water and 200 deke spreads.

Call me crazy. I tried the 3" in my other guns, but just never saw the need for it. Nothing wrong with using it and I am definitely not bashing anyone who does. Just realize that its not mandatory or written in the "duck hunter's almanac" that "thou shalt use 3" steel minimum".

[300magman]

LOL, of course of course...to each thier own. But do you honestly make 40 yard shots Consistently with 2 3/4" #2 high velocity steel?
If so your old shotgun must pattern it considerably better than my old 870 wingmaster (full choke) I've only fired winchester drylocks but I couldn't get consistent hits/kills past 25-30 yards with them, even less on geese with BBB.

[Ron T. B.]

I am an avid waterfowler and hunt almost every weekend. I shoot both 2 3/4
and 3 inch. I cut open a few different brands of shells, here is what I found.

Federal Steel 11/8 # 2; the shot is round and uniform in size.

Kent Faststeel 11/16 #2 ; the shot is round and uniform in size.

Estate 3" 1/14 #2: the shot is round uniform in size, and shiny, the surface is very smooth, looks like small ball bearings.

Winchester Xpert HV 1/16 #2; the shot is mishapen, some were actually cup shapped. The size of the pellets varied widely. I have not patterned this shot, but you may be sure I have not purchased another box

[globemaster3]

Honestly? Yes, I can make those shots, but I've got a lot of time behind that gun. I used to take "Betsy" to the skeet range on base since I lived pretty close to it at Fairchild AFB and would go through several rounds/week. It seemed to transition over shooting the 1-1/8 oz lead on the range vs the 1-1/4 steel.

Now Ron there, he's got the place I'd almost call heaven. On my move from Fairchild to Cannon, I stopped in Portland OR to visit inlaws, then took I-5 south out of there. Northern-Central CA along I-5 had some absolutely ducky looking places. Almost ran off the road several times looking at flocks! If only it wasn't in Kalifornia!

[skeeter1]

"If thats what you call old fashioned I'm not sure your old enough. LOL Real old fashioned is that beautiful substance called lead"

I used to love hunting with lead. #2 for geese, #4 for duck. Unfortunately, here in the Atlantic flyway, it's illegal. Steel shot is not a choice for my S/S double. HeviShot, as expensive as it might be, is my only choice.

Much easier (and cheaper) to just roast a chicken. The political do-gooders have ruined hunting for me.

[Dave McC]

I started goose hunting as a participant in the 50s. There's still some lead 2s, short magnums, here in the shell stash.

Used to like the old Western load of 1 3/8 oz of 3s when I could find them. Had to settle for 2s most of the time.

Now, after asking a good dozen Eastern Shore Goose Guides on the best load, I use the Hevi 2s. They work for me, though they wreak havoc on my discretionary income.

[300magman]

Dave McC - Hevi #2 You must mean for geese? That stuff is supposed to hit as hard if not harder than lead. So you wouldn't need #2 for ducks as you do with steel....correct

[Dave McC]

Correct. Hevishot 2s was the UNANIMOUS choice of a dozen goose guides. My personal track record with it is very close to 100%. Even did a Scotch double with one round on giant Canadas.

For ducks, which I rarely do, I'd go with Hevi 4s or even Hevi 6s for teal.

There's other good choices these days, but for sheer effect Hevishot is hard to beat.

[SmithMP]

i am going to go looking for this hevishot sounds good never heard of it before but for ducks its number 1 to huh?