Tungsten Polymer

[JB in SC]

Has anyone shot ducks with any of the tungsten polymer Federal loads? I sure would like to use my 20 gauge on small ducks.
Regards,
JB

[Dave McC]

Nope, but some of the folks over on the Shooting Sportsman BB talk about these shells like they're lightning in a hull. You may want to ask over there....

I've been keeping an eye on the non lead alternatives to steel with great interest. In days of yore, I got better results with a skimpy pattern of lead 2s or 3s on big geese in a 16 ga than I ever have with the best steel load in a 3" 12 ga.

Trouble is,one can go through one's discretionary income PDQ with these or the Bismuth loads. I hope the price comes down before Md's late snow goose season....

[Poodleshooter]

I'm waiting till Federal starts loading pellets made of gold before I spend my life's earnings to hunt ducks on the James.

[Kingcreek]

I've not tried them on ducks but I have shot pheasant with very satisfactory results. Range and pattern are real good IMO. If the price came down I would shoot it in place of steel for waterfowl.
I can't say the same about Bismuth- it sucked when I tried it. inconsistent patterns and horrible fragmentation. I gave 2 birds to the barn cats because it left silvery smears and slivers thru the meat. I switched to TungPoly and haven't shot Bismuth since.
Anybody want to buy some partial boxes of Bismuth shot shells?
I think I even saw where Kent offers the TungPoly in 16g now.

[Dave McC]

Kingcreek, this isn't the first time I've heard of trouble with Bismuth. Inconsistent patterns was one thing.

One secondhand report of Bismuth clumping had a goose killed by several shot together severing its neck, effectively decapitating it.

Too bad, I hope they can fix the glitches. I'm not a steel shot fan, tho I recognise the need for non-toxic..

[Kobra]

A buddy here at work swears by the tungsten-polymer loads. This year I am going to try some of them to see how they play out. Tungsten has the density of lead and the deformability of steel - best of both worlds (range and pattern).

The US Army recently announced that .223 and .30 rounds are going to tungsten to help fight the lead contamination of its rifle ranges.