Help! What's with steel shot?!!

[TooTaxed]

I'll be going Canadian goose hunting soon (resident farm pests in NE Alabama)...and I'm not familiar with the steel shot. (Which lets you know how long it's been since I've hunted!)

In the good old days in California I was highly successful with #2 lead shot in 2-3/4" 12-ga full choked guns. I have available some 2-3/4" skeet and full choked guns in 12 and 20-ga...and my trusty 20-ga double in IC/M. I don't have any longer chambered guns. Here in Columbus, GA, the largest shot I've been able to find for 2-3/4" chambers is #2 steel, which I understand is a bit small for geese.

Questions: Is the steel shot OK in full-choked guns, or is a more open choke recommended? About hom many steel shot are there in a shell as compared to lead? What are the effective shooting ranges? Will the steel shot damage good barrels, or is the plastic wad sufficient protection?

Thanks for the benefit of your experience!

 

[Polishrifleman]

Steel shot = less lead in the water. You can still shoot lead shot for upland game in most places. It is fine in most modern shotguns, some older models don't want you shooting steel out of them. My old model 12 is one of them.

It won't ruin your gun immediately but will eventually hurt the barrel. What are you shooting out of?

 

[ArmedBear]

If you have an old 2 3/4" gun, it probably should NOT be used with steel shot! It was built before anyone thought of using anything but lead, so the barrel isn't made for hard shot like steel or the other newer non-toxic alloys like Hevi-shot.

Full chokes also should not be used with steel shot, unless they're specifically rated for steel, and even then, it's not usually what you want to use. Modified patterns with steel are like Full with lead; steel through IC is like lead through Modified. Steel or Hevi-shot are not as compressible, and it can destroy barrels not designed for steel.

While you might get away with using an open choke for a while, if you don't care much about what happens to your bore, I'd say that old fixed-choke lead shot barrels with full constriction are a no-no with steel!

There is some (expensive) new "high-tech" polymer/metal shot ammo designed for use with old lead-shot guns, for those who want to shoot a classic and don't care what it costs to do so. Some of the newfangled non-toxic alloy shot is heavier than lead, too, so a 2 3/4" shell can be sufficient. However, this stuff can be silly expensive, and except for a couple of the special polymer composites, it's intended for a steel-rated barrel, not a lead barrel.

You'd probably be better off just grabbing a cheap 870 or something for your hunt.

I guess that depends on what guns you now have, and how much you love to shoot them.

 

[Kingcreek]

You could just go with a bismuth load and not worry about barrel damage (then you can concentrate on bird damage)
bismuth is soft like lead, safe in older guns, and also non-tox as required for waterfowl.
don't use steel or hevi shot in that older full choke barrel.

 

[MCgunner]

Unfortunately, Bismuth is out of business. Kent tungsten matrix is old gun friendly, but it's not cheap.

Most likely, steel will not pattern well out of a full choke, never has for me. I shoot modified in my Mossberg 500 and get full choke type patterns with steel BB loads for geese. Acutally, I prefer using hevi shot for geese no more often than I hunt 'em, but I've been hearing that Kent Fasteel or Winchester High Velocity Xpert is a decent alternative to hevi shot and now there's the new Remington "hevi steel" that I've not tried. I shoot BB in steel and hevi shot. Brings 'em down, especially the hevi shot. That stuff is worth what it costs on big, heavy birds like geese. I shoot steel on ducks, though.

 

[macFarlaine]

Do not use steel in full choked barrels,tunsten works well.I never use steel I am not convinced it is a clean killer.

 

[TooTaxed]

I certainly appreciate your comments. My tried and true duck and goose gun is Browning Humpback Ser. #263, latest patent date on the receiver 1903 (!), made in Ogden Utah...and yes, the steel is high-strength. However, I won't be shooting steel shot through that rather tight full choke. Ditto with my fine Ithaca/SKB Model 700 O/U skeet gun. Seems all of my 12-ga guns are either trap or skeet, except for an old single-shot from my youthful days.

Guess I'll be shopping for a 12-ga field gun with vari-chokes tomorrow...I should have one anyway. My trusty SKB 20-ga SxS IC/M is a bit small for geese, though it's been fine for ducks, phesant and small game.

Shopping...Fun, fun!