Steel shot, whats the difference?

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  • GUNSnROTORS

    nude member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 7, 2013
    3,620
    hic sunt dracones
    Most hunters went nutz when lead shot was banned for waterfowl hunting, but most quickly learned to hunt effectively with steel. It's hard to argue the merits of steel shot at longer ranges, especially in terms of its terminal ballistics. But there have been ways to compensate since the beginning.

    The heavier shot alternatives are superior terminally at longer ranges, but at great price. Like Fabs said, if you make a solid hit with steel, they'll usually drop dead and precipitate feathers for quite some time. Hunters just need to be a touch more accurate, estimate range a bit better, and have the discipline to not fire at birds beyond the effective range of their ammo and shooting ability.

    Link includes some history, pros and cons of steel vs. lead shot. Oh, and personally, I believe the hazards attributed to lead poisoning are overblown ... by at least 3%. ;)

    https://www.ammunitiontogo.com/lodge/lead-vs-steel-shot/
     

    pbharvey

    Habitual Testifier
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    30,158
    The writer forgot to mention the health hazards of humans biting into a steel pellet.

    That has soured my wife from eating waterfowl. She got two BBs in one meal once. After the first one I told her it was a fluke and to not worry about the rest of the meal because I had carefully checked the meat. Two bites later and there was another clink on the plate lol.
     

    engineerbrian

    JMB fan club
    Sep 3, 2010
    10,148
    Fredneck
    That has soured my wife from eating waterfowl. She got two BBs in one meal once. After the first one I told her it was a fluke and to not worry about the rest of the meal because I had carefully checked the meat. Two bites later was another clink on the plate lol.

    I always forewarn my family to chew slowly when earing waterfowl lol
     

    Doco Overboard

    Ultimate Member
    That has soured my wife from eating waterfowl. She got two BBs in one meal once. After the first one I told her it was a fluke and to not worry about the rest of the meal because I had carefully checked the meat. Two bites later and there was another clink on the plate lol.

    I don't blame her, lucky she didn't break a tooth or other expensive dental work. That'll discourage folks real fast of worrying about any environmental impacts.
     

    fabsroman

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 14, 2009
    35,852
    Winfield/Taylorsville in Carroll
    I just wish someone would tell Walmart to stock 1-1/4 or 1-3/8 oz steel loads instead of 1-1/8.
    I bet if someone boiled down all the numbers you’d find that a ton of birds are crippled simply because people buy the only thing available to them off the shelf at Walmart.

    The vast majority of cripples are because people cannot shoot followed by people taking shots way out of the lethal range of the load they are using. Then again, maybe it is all because people have a hard time judging distance. If a hunter judges range incorrectly, they are already off for the shot and whether the bird is within lethal range of the load. Huge difference if you think the bird is at 40 yards but it is at 60 yards.

    Shot load doesn't really matter that much. Kind of like why a 3.5" shells does not matter that much compared to a 3" shell when both are of the same gauge. When you compare a 10 gauge to a 12 gauge, the 10 gauge isn't more lethal because of the length of the shot string, but because of the diameter of the bore that results in a denser shot string. If Benelli or Beretta made a 10 gauge, I would be using it for waterfowling.

    So, 1 1/8 oz shot in BB in a 12 gauge doesn't make much difference when compared to 1 1/4 oz shot in BB in a 12 gauge. The taller the shot column, the longer the shot string, but not necessarily the denser the shot pattern.

    Shooting a turkey in the head is a lot different than shooting a bird flying through the air. A bird flying through the air is essentially going to fly through the shot string. To see what that would look like, you essentially have to pattern a shotgun on a target that is spinning to see how the shot string hits over time. Almost nobody does that. Hell, almost nobody does the research to understand how shot columns and shot strings work.
     

    fabsroman

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 14, 2009
    35,852
    Winfield/Taylorsville in Carroll
    I’ve shredded goose for tacos and still missed BBs. I should probably use a magnet lol.

    I have yet to find a pellet in a piece of jerky. I usually find a pellet here or there while slicing up the breasts for jerky.

    Then again, using Hevi-Shot for those long shots might result in pass through pellets with nothing left in the bird. lol

    Definitely sucks to bite down on a pellet. I have bitten down on quite a few while eating doves and pheasant as a kid. Luckily, that has not happened to my wife yet, so she still eats the goose jerky and duck kabobs. Probably just jinxed myself. Don't have to worry too much about pellets in venison.
     

    Biggfoot44

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 2, 2009
    32,884
    More Pellets ( in the shell ) don't necessarily mean more chances to hit . More Pellets ( within a suitable pattern, at relevant distance) mean more chances to hit .
     

    Doco Overboard

    Ultimate Member
    The vast majority of cripples are because people cannot shoot followed by people taking shots way out of the lethal range of the load they are using. Then again, maybe it is all because people have a hard time judging distance. If a hunter judges range incorrectly, they are already off for the shot and whether the bird is within lethal range of the load. Huge difference if you think the bird is at 40 yards but it is at 60 yards.

    Shot load doesn't really matter that much. Kind of like why a 3.5" shells does not matter that much compared to a 3" shell when both are of the same gauge. When you compare a 10 gauge to a 12 gauge, the 10 gauge isn't more lethal because of the length of the shot string, but because of the diameter of the bore that results in a denser shot string. If Benelli or Beretta made a 10 gauge, I would be using it for waterfowling.

    So, 1 1/8 oz shot in BB in a 12 gauge doesn't make much difference when compared to 1 1/4 oz shot in BB in a 12 gauge. The taller the shot column, the longer the shot string, but not necessarily the denser the shot pattern.

    Shooting a turkey in the head is a lot different than shooting a bird flying through the air. A bird flying through the air is essentially going to fly through the shot string. To see what that would look like, you essentially have to pattern a shotgun on a target that is spinning to see how the shot string hits over time. Almost nobody does that. Hell, almost nobody does the research to understand how shot columns and shot strings work.

    I was taught what kills geese is a shotgun that will place about 5 #2 pellets into an area of about 12" long and six" high while it fly's by somewhere around sometimes a right angle. Thats 72 square inches. Throw that over the average 30" patterning circle which is a little more than 700 square inches and what do you see? This is not including a lucky head shot or hits to the neck or through the wings. Theirs people who do this sort of thing and a few of the old time gunners still around here that can give a lesson or two to learn from.

    I agree that most judge distance poorly when using steel and using a 4x4 piece of paper takes the best advantage of the circumstances. A string of shot can catch up to a target pretty quick and does not allow for deformed pellets or fliers that some think can catch up to a honker traveling by at 85fps at 40 yards. All that time and leade that has to be mentally computed in an instant with a swish of errant light ass pellets that may not bust a pinion feather.
     
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