Steel shot for waterfowl in TC

[bigbore442001]

To make a long story short I want to do some waterfowling with my Black Mountain magnum.I had a crazy idea and went with it. I bought a box of the new Black Cloud steel shot in 12 guage and cut open ten shells. They have a mix of regular no 2 steel shot and then these black steel shot pieces with a ring around it. Sort of like a mini Saturn. Anyways. I was wondering how well this would work on ducks and geese? Any comments would be welcomed.

 

[paulvallandigham]

The best way to know about any new shot, and gun is to pattern the load and the shot on paper. Have you done that??

Since NO TWO guns shoot exactly alike, and you don't indicate if your gun is choked, you are asking for a lot of people to guess about a lot of factors.

How close do you expect to get the ducks or geese to you before you shoot? Do you know what the range of your shotgun is with black Powder, and steel shot of any kind?

If your gun is choked, what choke are you using? Have you tested other choke diameters in the gun with this new shot?

I hear of lots of new hunters using these duplex loads, but don't know any older, more experienced shooters who use them.HINT! They work in some situations out of some guns, but are not a universally pattern producer. If they were, No hunter would load anything but duplex shot loads for hunting. HINT!

I think #2 steel shot is large enough for Ducks, out to maybe 30 yards in a modified choke barrel, FWIW, but I don't think I would want to be shooting ducks with any larger shot, and certainly not the big shot with the rims around each pellet that you describe. I really like duck, and want something left to eat! I think #2 shot, conversely is a bit small for Canada geese. You don't really give the size of the rimmed pellets.

You need special plastic wads to shoot steel shot in a Mler shotgun, and that means you also need a good plastic solvent( or Acetone) to dissolve the plastic in the bore, and then a black Powder cleaner to get the BP residue out of the gun. Sounds to me like more work than just using a straight load of some shot size, steel, or osme other non-toxic shot, for hunting ducks and geese.

You can make up thick walled paper shotcups to protect the barrel, from the lead, and avoid the problems associated with using the special Plastic shotcups available for modern gunners.

 

[AJFedak]

I was going to wait and see what happened with this post before I jumped in the conversation.

Black Cloud ammunition is another attempt at "long range" waterfowl hunting (shooting) with the modern firearms. The magic behind the performance is the design of the wad. It holds the shot pattern tighter for tighter patterns down range. The "spherical" shot is designed to provide a "cutting edge" to open the wound channel therefore dispatching the waterfowl better. All of this hype was to sell something.

Steel shot in our smoothbores creates new issues for us.

1.) Steel shot is much lighter than its lead counterpart, therefore we must use a larger shot size for hunting.
2.) Modern steel loads are designed for higher velocities. Most shells are in the 1400-1600 f.p.s.. This is to compensate for less mass.
3.) The maximum effective ranges have decreased, although you will still find those who claim extreme ranges.
4.) Steel shot can / will damage older barrels. The steel shot will not compress when the inital charge goes off, and can cause bulging barrels. Steel shot is harder and will damage the barrel. The modern wad for steel is thicker and will help with barrel scoring, but only if the shot is contained in the wad.

For use with smooth bores there are options much better than steel, but also more expensive. Bismuth is a good choice. Shoots like lead and with our lower velocities, it is a good choice. You can pattern with less expensive lead and then switch to the bismuth.

Another option is the "Classic Doubles" from Hevi-shot. They do not sell loose shot so you would have to purchase a 10-shot pack (~$30.00), take them apart and use the components. This is advertised as safe in "older" classic double guns. I haven't tried that route yet, but in time I may have no choice.

As for me, I am fortunite to have bismuth left. I use #5 bismuth over duck decoys, #2 for pass shooting ducks and BB's for geese. I keep my shots under 35 yds with my choked gun and 25 yds with the others. It is more challenging, but you should find that your shot-to-harvest-ratio-will be higher than most modern gunners.

 

[roundball]

Ecotugnsten(Niceshot) patterns are outstanding for me in a .62cal...loads and shoots exactly like lead, no shotcup needed at all...but is very, very expensive.

Its some consolation that 99% of pattern testing / load development can be done using the matching regular lead shot, then run a few of the more expensive equivalent Ecotungeten loads to double check