Rick wrote:jehler wrote:Rick wrote:I thought the discussion was steel vs Hevishot in a 20. But I might argue much the same for 12 vs 20 "over the decoys," regardless of the bird in question "over the decoys". Lots of variables there, though.
yeah, it was you're right. Jr was shooting a 1 1/4 ounce of hevi 6 through his twenty, gave him like 300 pellets compared to 118 or so of steel 3's (I'm guessing at pellet numbers) that's a fair shake if advantage if your choked properly
But if he were shooting 1 1/4oz of steel 6s, he'd have even more pellets which would be just as effective at "over the decoys" range.
(Fwiw, I once took a fit of 20ga alternative non-tox shot testing, and when Hevi-shot was the subject, I shot nothing but 3" 4s for 100 rounds and couldn't wait to get back to 3" 4 steel, because I was missing or just chipping so many more birds at the ranges O normally shoot than I was accustomed to with steel. Presumably do to tighter patterns through the same IC choke. Kent Tungsten Matrix was my favorite premium non-tox, but not remotely worth the price premium to me.)
to a guy with your experience and the area you hunt i don't see any value in the hevi stuff Rick, but, for the guys, gals or kids that are an ok shot and deal with more sudden and passing shots it can be a real help. i was blown away at the Marsh in LA, I swear the world is bigger down there, seems you can watch the birds come in forever. when we hunt puddlers here, specially the woody's and teal we hunt little holes were they surprise you from behind a knoll or tree line. when you tried the 3" 4's that was a terrible load for ducks, only having 150ish pellets(less than a 7/8 ounce of steel 4's), that load of hevi 4's will kill a large canada out to 60 yards if you put the pattern on it, the hevi shines with small guages because you can use so much smaller pellets and still have the energy. your example of 1 1/4 of steel 6's doesnt work in the 20 as to get any kind of velocity at all you're limited to 7/8 ounce of shot before you physically run out of room in the hull. below is a chart, i ran the numbers on a 7/8 load of fast steel 4's (jrs most productive killer) as well as 1 1/4 of hevi 7.5's (effective but hell on your teeth) and 1 1/4 hevi 6's. note the energy and gel penetration, the stuff is quite amazing. another factor is choking. don't know what you were using when you tried the hevi but the stuff patterns a LOT tighter than steel or lead, a cylinder or lm for goose is what we used for jr, with the 7.5's we used a spreader insert that made for quite an impressive 48" pattern at 20 yards
Posted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 12:59 pm
