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ADVICE FROM DUCKHUNTER PLEASE

orca44magorca44mag Member Posts: 690 ✭✭✭✭
edited June 2003 in Ask the Experts
My son and I will begin waterfowl hunting this fall. He has a winchester 1400 with 28" full choke barrel, and I have an 870 with 30" full choke. We're not planning on buying new barrels and want your advise on the type of shot we should use. Bismuth or Tungsten?
I've ruled out steel because I've heard it bulges a full choke barrel.
Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge.
-orca
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Comments

  • laxcoachlaxcoach Member Posts: 1,296 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Either bismuth or tungsten will work, but consider hevi-shot also, assuming it is legal in your state.
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  • MrGnAMrGnA Member Posts: 76 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    O44M,

    Yeah and I heard you get enough water simply from the food we eat...but I ain't buying that philosophy either.

    There is absolutely no reason not to shoot steel shot out of a properly functioning shotgun of any choke configuration.

    Steel has been mandatory for over 20 years now and there is no proof it poses a risk being shot out of a full choked tube. The new stuff with buffers and improved plastic wads should put your mind at ease.

    What you may find is a poor pattern due to the steel not deforming like softer metals. But then again...an oblong pellet is more apt to veer off course than a round one. Buy box, pattern it and see for yourself.

    From a 25 year duck hunter.

    "...there is no spoon"
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  • duckhunterduckhunter Member Posts: 7,687 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    STEEL WILL NOT HARM YOU GUNS. YOU WILL FIND THAT WITH A FULL CHOKE YOU WILL SHOOT "DONUTS" ANY OF THE OTHER THREE PELLET TYPES WILL WORK FINE. I WOULD ASK YOU TO CONSIDER HAVING YOUR GUNSMITH OPEN THE CHOKES FOR YOU. MUCH LESS MONEY THAN A NEW BARREL. YOU COULD ALSO HAVE YOU SMITH INSTALL SCREW-IN CHOKES FOR YOU, AGAIN MUCH LESS THAN NEW BARRELS. HOPE THIS HELPS. ONLY BEEN CHASING "EM" DUCK 53 YEARS AND IF YOU GET TO MANY TO SHOOT GIVE ME A CALL. GOOD LUCK.

    I WOULD RATHER BE DUCK HUNTING.
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  • only winchestersonly winchesters Member Posts: 1,580 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I've been shooting "at" ducks now for almost 40 years, grew up shooting lead, and when we had to start using "steel" shot in 1987 in my state, I almost gave up the sport. When Bismuth came out, I started using it in 1995, and wow I started killing ducks like the old days. Never tried Tungsten. What I like about Bismuth is it patterns almost like lead, it has a shot string simalar to lead. ( the shot string on steel is about half what lead is, or so I've been told) What load to shoot is the big question, I don't know if you hunt over decoys, pass shoot, or jump shoot your ducks. Over decoys for me I like the 2 3/4 in 1 3/8 oz load. from 25 -45 yards it will stone those greenheads and bulls, (Sprig). I do shoot a modified choke however unless it's windy, 20mph or above I go to a full choke. My only comment on steel shot through a full choke, the smaller shot 4-1 size should be ok, when you start with bb,bbb, t, or f, I've seen it "open" up some full chokes. Good Luck to you and your son this fall.
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  • orca44magorca44mag Member Posts: 690 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Thank you all for you help. Now all we gotta do is get OUT THERE!!!
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  • 11echo11echo Member Posts: 1,008 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I use to LIVE to duck hunt, but when they outlawed lead I just parked my 20 Ga. in the closet (Yeah that was some time ago!). NOW I've relocated to a part of the country that has ducks all over it! Been thinking about getting back into it ...maybe buying a new shotgun to handle the "damn" steel shot. BUT now after reading "only winchesters"
    post, and old spark has started up again! WITH this Bismuth stuff, can I use my old favorite 20 Ga. again ...effectively?? And where do I get this stuff? ...are the shot sizes the same? THX! ...Mark

    "FEAR the Goverment, that fears your ARMS"
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  • toocarztoocarz Member Posts: 174 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Two things, first, if you plan on shooting bizmuth or tungsten to avoid the cost of a barrel mod. or a new barrel, do a cost trade-off of the cost of buying a new barrel (and shooting some steel) versus buying expensive ammo to shoot....it all depends on how much shooting you and your son plan to do.

    Second, on the bismuth versus tungsten choice, here is my personal experience. Several years ago I read something about bismuth shot pellets breaking apart on impact when the ammo was fired when cold...I dismissed it as propaganda and bought a few boxes of BB at an end of season sale. The folowing season, I shot 2 geese on cold morning at about 20 yards...both were clean kills. Had one at thanksgiving and found several halves of pellets in the bird...some of the pellets had broken in two. Since then, I have been shooting mostly Kent Tungsten Matrix and have been very happy with it.
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  • IconoclastIconoclast Member Posts: 10,515 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    orca, steel won't damage a modern barrel, but as a hunting load it sucks (sorry for the language, but that's the nicest thing I can say in this forum). End of story. I've used both bismuth and various tungsten types. My personal opinion is that the tungsten performs better, approximately the same as lead. But the key is to pattern the firearms at the proper distances so you know what works best at the ranges you shoot with the scatterguns you use. No substitute for that.
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