0.25 stainless shot.

[Bob K]

Novice question: I have a 12 ga New Englander that I normally shoot lead shot. A friend gave me a bag of 0.25 stainless balls used for slingshots. I’m wondering that if I shoot these in my NE without choke would I damage the barrel??

 

[hawkeye2]

Yes you would! Lead shot only.

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

YES. You can shoot lead and bismuth shot ONLY. Why would you want to shoot quarter inch ball bearings? Save 'em for your slingshot.

 

[Bob K]

Thanks for the feedback, appreciate it.

 

[2 shots]

 

[Felonious]

I know that there's people out there who shoot steel shot using a plastic shot cup to protect the bore. Personally, it's not worth the risk to my gun. Potentially ruining the barrel to save a few dollars on shot (that doesn't even perform as well as lead or bismuth) doesn't seem prudent.

Check out slingshots with a flat band. They're cheap, powerful, and a lot of fun to shoot steel bearings with.

 

[William Lincoln]

People come up with the darndest solutions for the "anti lead" crowd.
The few lead pellets left by shot guns does not pollute. Remember
the lead came from the Earth- millions of tons of it are residing everywhere
in the Earth's crust. YOU SIMPLY MUST AVOID EATING LEAD.
Stop knawing on that lead painted door frame. Shoot lead and do not
consume it for supper. Danger removed.

 

[sheriff john]

If you're talking about shooting ANYTHING in a barrel fitted with screw-in choke tubes without a screw-in tube in place --never, ever do that. Once the threads are buggered, you've screwed the pup.

If you're talking about a cylinder bore barrel - no choke restriction at all - won't hurt the muzzle end unless the steel shot charge "bridges" (steel shot charge at some point comes together in a way that they jam up) because steel shot cannot compress as does lead shot. Which is why tiny granulated filler is used with steel shot by some companies and waterfowlers.

"Unmentionable" steel shot caution - discard any steel shot shells that have gotten wet. Damp/wet steel shot can rust together inside the shotgun shell. When fired, the now-solid charge cannot compress normally and bridges are more likely to occur. A bridge will ruin your gun, your day, and mebbe you as well.

Steel shot will score bores, but to a lesser extent if plastic shot cups which fully contain the shot charge are used. So - honestly, a person can shoot anything you can get down the bore. I don't/wouldn't, but that's just me.

 

[Bob K]

If you're talking about shooting ANYTHING in a barrel fitted with screw-in choke tubes without a screw-in tube in place --never, ever do that. Once the threads are buggered, you've screwed the pup.

If you're talking about a cylinder bore barrel - no choke restriction at all - won't hurt the muzzle end unless the steel shot charge "bridges" (steel shot charge at some point comes together in a way that they jam up) because steel shot cannot compress as does lead shot. Which is why tiny granulated filler is used with steel shot by some companies and waterfowlers.

"Unmentionable" steel shot caution - discard any steel shot shells that have gotten wet. Damp/wet steel shot can rust together inside the shotgun shell. When fired, the now-solid charge cannot compress normally and bridges are more likely to occur. A bridge will ruin your gun, your day, and mebbe you as well.

Steel shot will score bores, but to a lesser extent if plastic shot cups which fully contain the shot charge are used. So - honestly, a person can shoot anything you can get down the bore. I don't/wouldn't, but that's just me.

Makes a lot of sense, thanks!

 

[Felonious]

People come up with the darndest solutions for the "anti lead" crowd.
The few lead pellets left by shot guns does not pollute. Remember
the lead came from the Earth- millions of tons of it are residing everywhere
in the Earth's crust.

It's also spread out in lead ore, not concentrated pellets that can be eaten.

YOU SIMPLY MUST AVOID EATING LEAD.

Yes, and eating things that have eaten things that have et lead in the past.

Stop knawing on that lead painted door frame. Shoot lead and do not
consume it for supper. Danger removed.

There's an old car battery way back in the woods on one of the properties that I hunt on, for some reason, the lead terminals have been knawed on by rodents. They're clearly attracted to the lead for some reason. Squirrels eat lead, we eat the squirrels. Definitely enough to make me wonder. My chickens eat plastic airsoft pellets, and steel BB's all the time. I'm sure they would eat lead pellets if they found them.

I would imagine part of the issue with lead shot is that smaller animals (like fish around duck blinds) eat it, get it into their bloodstream, and then larger animals up the food chain eat those small animals, and levels of lead start to measurably increase.

Personally, as an adult, I'm not super concerned with it. But I do have kids, and I try to avoid presenting them with food that has any sort of lead contamination.

 

[Notchy Bob]

Damage to the bore was pretty well covered above.

Not to flog the proverbial horse, but I have two additional concerns regarding the use of 0.25” steel shot.

First, what would you shoot with it? It’s too big for birds or squirrels and too small for buckshot. It would lose energy a lot faster than lead, so it would be for short range only.

Second, if steel shot impacts a hard surface, it will bounce back. Lead just flattens out, more or less, and drops. The potential for rebound an ricochet should be considered with any hard projectile.

Safety first, my friend.

Notchy Bob

 

[1BadDart]

Buy a flipper!

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

There is lead everywhere in the environment. Trying to remove it would be impossible. A few years back, it was a common additive to gasoline as an anti-knock measure. Leaded glass is still commonly found for sale. The amount of lead used in ammunition is tiny compared to the amount already out there and makes no difference really. The so-called "study" done to justify banning lead for waterfowl hunting was so flawed as to be absolutely useless for anything other than political agenda support.

Some of the non-lead products have their own merits, but the purpose of banning lead in ammunition has nothing to do with environmental issues except for the Stalinian "useful *****" foot-soldiers of the so-called "environmentalists". The people pulling the marionette strings are after one goal: the total disarmament of the American public.

Sorry.... sometimes I rant in my old age.

 

[ZUG]

People come up with the darndest solutions for the "anti lead" crowd.
The few lead pellets left by shot guns does not pollute. Remember
the lead came from the Earth- millions of tons of it are residing everywhere
in the Earth's crust. YOU SIMPLY MUST AVOID EATING LEAD.
Stop knawing on that lead painted door frame. Shoot lead and do not
consume it for supper. Danger removed.

It's not the pollution factor it's the lead poising of the game that is the issue. I personally think the ECO crowd is full of "it". I would rather use lead shot for a clean kill than to wound an animal and have it suffer and die in the bushes or woods.