Are these STS loads okay for quail and dove?

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Lone Star

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I bought a few boxes of Remington's Premier STS Light Target load, mainly thinking it would hurt my shoulder less in range use, and probably would blow a burgler away at the ranges likely in my apartment.

We're talking 12 ga. here. 2.75" shells. 2.75 drams equiv., 1 and one-eighth oz of No. 7.5 shot. Velocity is 1145 FPS.

Does that sound okay to use on quail and dove and similar birds to maybe 25-30 yards? Figure that I'd use the IC or Mod. choke tubes in my Remington M-870 Wingmaster.

I thought this might be a good bunny buster at similar ranges, too. Not sure about squirrels, which can be pretty tough for their size. I'd sort of prefer No. 6 shot and maybe more powder for them. Your thoughts?

I'm hoping for feedback from experiencd hunters who have tried this or very similar loads.

Remington says that this is premium hard shot from their own tower. It should hold a tighter pattern than their promotional "game" loads?


Thanks,

Lone Star
 
Yes!

That is the standard skeet load, and has hard shot.
(Trap loads are the same except have 3 dr equiv.)

I suggest patterning the IC barrel, as my gut and experience says that load should do very well for the distances you shared.

I have used the same load with a skeet barrel, which is a more open choke, and felled many a dove, and quail.

On quail, if you get on them fast, don't shoot too close, with that shot size, let them get a few more yards out.
Quail are beautiful birds and the idea is not tearing them up shooting too close *smile*

That same loading in # 8 is bit better for quail, still the # 7.5 will give you and advantage if the wind is kicking up, or you have to shoot out to 30 yards and then some.


Save the hulls.
Even if you do not reload, someone can reload those for you to use again.

Good luck and have fun.
 
They'll work, it doesn't take much for dove or quail. I usually look for 3 1/4 dram equivalent loads and 1 1/4 oz. of shot. But it's difficult to find the 1 1/4 oz loads, so I settle for 1 1/8 oz. Of course this is when I don't have any 1 3/8 oz handloads on hand.

Wyman
 
Thanks, guys.

Wyman, isn't that a little more than needed, unless you're pass shooting the doves? The 1.25 oz. loads, I mean...

Lone Star
 
Dove and Quail do not take much to fell , just one has to hit them.

I am convinced Dove season was invented by Shotgun shell manufacturers.
Folks go through so many boxes of shells to get so few birds.

I actually prefer to dove and quail hunt with 3/4 oz loads from a 28 ga.
The guns are easy to tote, hold , shoot and are more effective with payload to bore.

In more recent years most 12 ga shooters are using 1oz and 7/8 ounce loads from a 12 ga.
Most target shooters, especially skeet shooters will use a 28 ga, or use a 12 ga with the target load of 1oz or 7/8 oz. Many will dove and quail hunt with Skeet guns, some will use a pump, or drag out that Stevens 311 for old times sake.

Not all semi's will run the 1oz and 7/8 oz loads, so these 1 1/8 oz skeet loads with hard shot will run the gun and be soft on the shoulder.

The old standard for Skeet, was the 1 1/8 oz.
I shot a slew of this over the years.

Felt recoil will cause fatigue and flinching and missing birds.
So a lot of folks did not believe me and others when we had them shoot the lighter loads in their guns, to first see if would run the gun, and of course pattern the gun.

Many were using too much payload and too tight a choke

The paper does does not lie, and these folks did in fact shoot better and fell more birds with less shells with more open chokes and lighter payloads.


Me and mine had some fun with doves. The limit was 15, so we tossed money in a cigar box, and were only allowed 15 shells to hunt doves.

The person whom felled the most birds, with fewest shells , got the cigar box.

I have used the STS shells mentioned in OP, using a '74 SX1, with a 28" barrel I sent to Nu-Line in '75 and had external knurled chokes installed and used the choke ".735".
[Pretty open choke, still with some poc's].

15 doves, felled with 12 of those shells.
I like cigar boxes...*grin*
 
For tiny birds such as grouse, woodcock, etc. my favorite in 12 is Olympic trap shells -- 24 grams of copper plated #7.5 shot at 1,400 fps.
 
STS shells will work great. They pattern really well, of course.

Just don't bite down too hard.
 
Check out the International

Another vote for the "International" load. The shot weight is about 7/8 oz. I'm not a big advocate of a 12 gauge for quail, but when I do this is the load I use. A word of caution though, they will not run in my Remington 1100, so stick with a manually operated gun like your 870.

Nothing against your STS load, it's just a bit much for dove and quail in my opinion. Remington makes a STS in an one ounce. Try that with #8 shot...sweet!.
 
I don't like 12 for quail either, but I've seldom rendered one inedible. Most 12 Gauge guns are just too slow for quail (meaning Valley or California, not Bobwhite).

Back to the OP re bunnies... I have shot one with 8's. 3 times. Then, as I recall, I reloaded the plugged 1100 and fired at least oncce more.

I won't shoot bunnies with less than 6's again. It's unethical unless you're right on top of them, IMO.
 
And *somebody* has to mention to the OP that a #7.5 load is not a particularly good HD load....

Might as well be me.
 
Yo Oneouncer,

Ever since I saw Phil Harris and Bing Crosby shoot doves in Africa many years ago on the ABC show 'American Sportsman', I've been in love with the 28. Harris was using a Model 12 in 28 gauge. Model 12's in 28 are like gold bars, but I was able to afford a Browning Lightning in 28 and a Remington 870LW also in 28.

I use the 870 when the weather forecast is iffy and leave the Browning at home. It's light, 25" barrel, nice walnut, and polished blue. I do a lot of preserve hunting here in Missouri, and use it for everything including pheasants.

Off topic I know, but when someone brings up the 28, I just can't help myself!
 
You got that right ShowMe....that little 28, stoked with the right stuff, will do the job if you and your dogs do theirs......(and it's nice being able to carry a full sporting clay course amount of shells in just two pockets!)
 
rbernie, I saw a Personal Defense TV episode where a Gunsite instructor shot bird shot at a target 10 yards away and the pattern opened maybe a 1/2 inch in diameter. Basicially made a 1 inch hole in the target. He concluded by saying that at HD ranges, bird shot can be very effective.
 
I saw a Personal Defense TV episode where a Gunsite instructor shot bird shot at a target 10 yards away and the pattern opened maybe a 1/2 inch in diameter. Basicially made a 1 inch hole in the target. He concluded by saying that at HD ranges, bird shot can be very effective.
Click to expand...
Part of my preparation for critical situations does not include developing the necessary patience to let a threat get that close if I can avoid it. I want the option of a longer shot if one presents itself.

FWIW, my close range testing showed significantly larger patterns at 10 yards than one inch. YMMV.
 
I saw a Personal Defense TV episode where a Gunsite instructor shot bird shot at a target 10 yards away and the pattern opened maybe a 1/2 inch in diameter. Basicially made a 1 inch hole in the target. He concluded by saying that at HD ranges, bird shot can be very effective.
Part of my preparation for critical situations does not include developing the necessary patience to let a threat get that close if I can avoid it. I want the option of a longer shot if one presents itself.
Click to expand...

FWIW, my close range testing showed significantly larger patterns at 10 yards than one inch. YMMV.
Click to expand...

typical pattern spread is once inch per yard. Ten yards would mean a 10" pattern. At ten feet, the pattern won't be much larger than the diameter of the shot charge when it left the barrel. A 12 gauge loaded with birdshot will remove flesh and bone at that distance. Farther out, nope.
 
I saw a Personal Defense TV episode where a Gunsite instructor shot bird shot at a target 10 yards away and the pattern opened maybe a 1/2 inch in diameter. Basicially made a 1 inch hole in the target. He concluded by saying that at HD ranges, bird shot can be very effective.
Click to expand...
Less than six inches of pellet penetration in ballistic gel tells me that, no matter the pattern size, the pellets cannot be expected to reliably stop a human attacker.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=381023
 
What one has to remember is that shot hits the target one pellet at a time. Each pellet carries about 1 ft-lb. of energy, and energy is highly overrated. If you want penetration, you need momentum.

When you watch a bullet go right through a buffalo and keep on flying, with energy numbers that some deer hunters consider marginal, you realize that said deer hunters have some real misconceptions. Heavy bullets penetrate flesh, even when they're not going fast. Tiny little pellets don't, even when they are.

At relatively close range, you can drop a dove, far smaller than a human, with little or no damage to the meat, using birdshot. That's why birdshot is used -- that and because it's safer for nearby hunters, which ought to tell you someting also.

I know a bastard who stabbed his ex-wife to death, shot her with a skeet gun for good measure, then turned the gun on himself.

He was AT THE MUZZLE. The SOB is still alive. Screwed up beyond repair, with hundreds of tiny pellets in him, but still alive, after months.

If it doesn't work at 1 inch, it sure won't work at 10 feet.
 
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