Dove and SD Practice load, Best of the Val Packs?

[Lawyerman]

Thinking about stocking up on 8 shot for SD practice and also dove hunting. Walmart carries Federal, Winchester and Rem. Value packs. Which seem to be the most trouble free? Or, would it be better to step up to the heavy dove or AA loads they carry?

 

[Fred Fuller]

Early season doves hereabouts seem less skittish and more lightly feathered, so shots are closer. I like to start with lighter loads of smaller shot (some folks here like #9s early along, even). For later season birds I prefer a bit heavier charges of somewhat larger shot (#7 1/2s in my case).

As to which brand, Winchester seems to have been the most troublesome in recent years. But the best idea IMHO is to try a single box of various brands first and see if your gun objects to any of them, before backing up the truck.

Hope you have a good season,

lpl/nc (who is very happy that the 69-acre field of corn behind the house is doing well this year, it means I can dove hunt in my own pasture for another season)

 

[Lawyerman]

I am not enough of a shotgunner to care all that much about shot sizes between 7.5 and 9, 8's is good enough! Last year I went white wing hunting and used up a bunch of old shells-5's, pheasant loads. Limited out three days in a row and averaged about 3 shells a bird or a little less. Just figured I needed something a little smaller if I was going to do it again this year-larger patterns and less bird damage, those pheasant loads are a little warmish!

I won't go to the trouble of patterning my guns- I have too many and I don't really care that much about hunting little birds. It's more of a social event with me than a passion. For HD practice, the ranges are close and the barrels IC so one is about as good as another.

I had heard the Winchesters were not all that great and a buddy was using the Remington Shur Shot last year and they would not always cycle his auto. I was leaning toward Federals or Gander Mountain carries the Estate stuff at $16/100. Have had good luck with Estate buck, the new stuff isn't as good as the old but it's not as bad as some others either.

 

[ArmedBear]

Avoid the Winchesters. I've had a lot of trouble with them being sized wrong and jamming even a pump gun.

Federals seem to be the highest-pressure rounds; they cycle my 3" 1100 pretty reliably even though they're not supposed to. They feed a lot better than the Winchesters.

Remingtons are a bit softer-shooting, and the best-feeding rounds in my experience (except for the 3" autoloader). They hulls are good for a lot of reloads, and they're compatible with a reloader that's set up for STS hulls. I reload them with STS shot, various quality wads, and Winchester primers, and they shoot like high-end loads.

My personal, prejudiced opinion:

If you have a finicky autoloader that wants a harder-shooting round to cycle properly, get the Federals. Some people do reload them; others say "don't." My Mec is set up for Remington hulls which are excellent for reloading, and it's a bit of a PITA to change.

If you have a gun with a tight chamber like my 870, and/or want softer recoil, or you reload, get the Remingtons. They seem to be sized best, and reload best.

If you don't reload, and the other stuff doesn't apply, get either Remington or Federal, depending on whether Wally World has the loads in stock that you want. Just don't get the Winchesters unless you have a break-action gun with a loose chamber. My BT-99 doesn't give a crap WHAT I stuff into it, for example.

Oh, and get a box or two of the heavy dove loads. If the doves are too hard to ground with the bulk stuff, maybe another few FPS will help. But I don't think doves are worth a few more bucks a box unless you're having trouble that day with them. If a .410 or 28 works fine, and they do in the right hands, anything in 12 should work.

 

[ball3006]

Do like I have been doing for....

50 years, buy the cheap ammo.......you will burn alot shooting at doves.......chris3

 

[TaxPhd]

What is STS shot, and where do you get it?

 

[Lawyerman]

I dunno about the shot but Remington makes a mid price shell called the STS. It is out of their bulk line but still reasonably priced-$5 a box or so I think.

 

[Roadwild17]

I've got an old mossy pump and I shoot whatever is in 7 1/2 and on sale that day. Its dove, your gona burn up atleast 2 or 3 boxes.

 

[ArmedBear]

STS is Remington's high-end target ammunition (Skeet-Trap-Sporting). AA is Winchester's.

At Wal-Mart, you can get either for $5.50 a box, which is a really good deal. The hulls from STS and AA reload many times; they are smooth hard plastic rather than ribbed softer plastic. The components in the factory rounds are high-quality, with hard shot and clean-burning powder. Hunting rounds are often more expensive because they have more powder, more shot, high brass , etc., but for a low-to-mid velocity 1-1 1/8 oz. factory load in a low-brass plastic hull, STS and AA are about as much as you can expect to pay.

Remington STS shot is 6% Antimony hard shot, consistent and round, again for target and competition use. I get it from a guy who sells it out of a trailer at the range. Remington might be able to tell you where to get it.

I know a guy, with a lot of patience and spare time, who miked 100 pellets from an STS round and 100 from a AA round. The STS pellets were MUCH more consistent. This could have changed over time, but when he did it, it was enough to get him to shoot nothing but STS for target use.

 

[sm]

Value pack : Federal

Great Practice / Dove loads : MY reloads, Fiocchi, Federal.

Hard shot is the key, pattern the gun , tweak load to gun to task ( early / late season, close in shots, or long shots needing to fell in the road, not field, lake, river...etc.

Passion: Serious Southern Tradition. We have a 15 bird limit, you step out with 15 shells, person felling the most doves, using fewest shells wins.
28 ga, 11 Fiochhi shells felled me 15 birds and a C note.
I likes them doubles ....

We have other fun stuff for kids, and all, still we do have some Serious Passion for fun.

Real popular is the .410 single shot only event - again, only 15 of them 2.5" shells...hehehe.

It was "said" Dove season was invented by shot shell mfgs...

We Southern Gents and our Southern Belles...we were raised learning to shoot, we pass that forward.

Sorry mfgs - as we say down here " that dog won't hunt"...

 

[TaxPhd]

Remington STS shot is 6% Antimony hard shot, consistent and round, again for target and competition use.

How does it compare to West Coast or some of the other brands of shot? What does it cost?

 

[Technosavant]

I've used both Federal and Remington Value Packs. The Fed is about $1 cheaper around here, so that's what I've used lately.

The only differences I've noted are that the Federal has a stranger, more pungent, smell to it after you've touched it off, and it also has caused a couple failures to cycle completely in my 1100 (the shell ejects, but the bolt doesn't close). I probably just need to do a more thorough job on cleaning it- time to pull out and clean the trigger group real good.

Honestly, I don't know that it matters much.

 

[ArmedBear]

Honestly, I don't know that it matters much.

I do believe that the Remington bases are sized a few thousandths smaller than the Federals. I don't have any that haven't been through my sizer at the moment, or I'd go check. Hence, the Remingtons feed the best in precise chambers, followed by the Federals. The Winchesters don't feed well at all.

I'm not sure about West Coast shot vs. STS. I paid $20 flat per bag, cash and carry, for mine, but that was a month ago. It's more now due to the insane lead price fluctuations. But it's comparable in price to other hard shot. I don't have the patience to take a micrometer to shot pellets, though. It certainly appears round and consistent to the naked eye, and it is very hard and rolls straight. I dropped a few pounds on a hardwood floor and spent the rest of the night cleaning it up. It rolls and bounces like ball bearing balls, 20 feet into the next room!

 

[sm]

TaxPhd,
Been some time since actually used West Coast due to my location.

As you recall "magnum" is sometimes used to denote "hard shot" . For a long time I used Winchester Hard shot, then Fiochhi [ we bought 2 pallets]. Then source got a bit odd, with distribututers and Lawrence was used a quite a bit as all the Remington shot was "chilled" [said so on the bag].

Now on purpose I use chilled shot for some things, same thing we did back before screw in chokes.

Recall Brister's "Plier Test" ?
Just take a pair of pliers and "squish" a pellet and compare. It does give an idea as to amount of antimony.

I'm still using up part of some Shot now going on 15 years old, we again went in and bought 4 pallets of Lawrence.

My concerns are with metal prices if the antimony is less percent or the quality of copper/ nickel plating has been lowered.

IF you ever find some Fiocchi Nickel shot , get it! I do not see it on their site as being offered, may need to call Fiocchi in Missouri.
Ficocchi nickel shot , as they use in loadings, is high quality, high antimony, shot, then nickel plated . I have reloaded #8.5, #8 , #7.5, #5 , and buckshot...and some others I forget...the #5 was what I used for Ducks before we had to use non-toxic.

In fact I used to use Fiocchi reloading components in AA and Fiocchi hulls, primers, shot and wad at the time.

Harder than woodpecker lips.

 

[Dave McCracken]

West Coast Magnum shot runs 6% antimony. I use it here,mostly in 8.5 size. Good stuff.

The other shot available is Star, which is softer and has more off spec pellets, IMO. Since most of my reloads are 7/8 oz, I like alll the pellets in the pattern.

That's why I use West Coast. Less loss due to flyers, more consistent results.

 

[ArmedBear]

STS is also 6% Antimony. Great patterns from my BT-99 34" Invector barrel; haven't patterned these loads on anything else.

The only flyers I've seen in patterns have been from a choke that was slotted by someone with a file, in an attempt to replicate straight rifling. The "flyers" correspond to the grooves, even out at 30 yards or so.

It's good shot. Probably same as West Coast.

Hey Dave-

What do you shoot with 7/8 oz. of 8.5 shot? I've been using 1 oz. of 7.5 because my trap club is in love with progressives and other such things. It seems that the 7.5 load I've been using gives nice, consistent breaks from 16 to 27. But I haven't tried 8.5, and with the price of lead, I'd love to be able to drop to 7/8 oz. and get the same pellet count.

 

[Dave McCracken]

7/8 oz of 8.5 shot works for me at trap singles, doubles, wobble, skeet, etc. I am not that good at the 27 yard line but do as well with 8.5 as 7.5. I have run them at the 23 with 8.5 but not often.

My winter load of 7/8 oz of 7.5 is a bit skimpy but works for singles and doubles if I do my part.

If I shot all the games, I'd probably use 8.5 shot for anything inside 35 yards except wabbits. There I like bigger pellets.

Going to 7/8 oz gives 50 more loads per bag of shot.

IIRC, pellet count is a tad higher with 7/8 oz of 8.5s vs 1 oz of 7/5s.