steel shot in shotguns

[backwoodzboy]

A buddy and I want to do some duck hunting this year. I was going to to just pick up or trade for another Mossberg 500 so he could borrow it from me. Do you have to have a special barrel for shooting steel shot or can any of the non damascus made barrells shoot steel shot.

 

[foghornl]

Anything made after 1984 or so SHOULD be OK for steel shot...I don't remember what year we had to start using the 'un-leaded' shot for waterfowl.

Now, if you pick up a 'previously owned' with the swappable choke tubes, a call to the manufacturer's customer service line in in order. SOME choke tubes are for leaded shot only.

 

[skieer1]

Where I shoot we have to use steel and are forewarned that anything that does not have screw in chokes will over time be "shot out", meaning the choke will open up since steel doesn't cooperate like lead does during the choking process.

 

[mgkdrgn]

Where I shoot we have to use steel and are forewarned that anything that does not have screw in chokes will over time be "shot out", meaning the choke will open up since steel doesn't cooperate like lead does during the choking process.

Thats when you cut down the barrel to 18.5" for HD use.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Where I shoot we have to use steel and are forewarned that anything that does not have screw in chokes will over time be "shot out", meaning the choke will open up since steel doesn't cooperate like lead does during the choking process.

So a factory fixed full choke barrel will open up, but a screw-in choke is stronger, OR will they open up over time as well?

LD

 

[WardenWolf]

No, more like a screw-in choke is replaceable very cheaply.

 

[chas08]

I've shot a lot of steel over the last 25 + years and have never experienced any "shooting out" of a choke with either a fixed or screw in choke. While there are parameters you should stay within with steel shot. Your barrel and choke should last a lifetime or more. A lot of bad press earned by early steel shot loads simply don't exist in modern steel shot loads. I do agree that thin walled barrels and tight chokes should be avoided with steel. Remington recomends nothing over #2 steel in their steel rated Full chokes and everything all the way up to T shot in modified or looser chokes. And as far as the myth of "opening up" a screw in choke to the point it has to be replaced. The threaded portion of the barrel would be opened up also, making replacement and maybe even removal of the choke by normal means impossible. I've patterened many shotguns with steel and the one thing that has stayed consistent is: usually you have to go one choke looser than lead for the same pattern density. Modified lead = Full steel, I/C lead = Modified steel...etc. Larger shot such as BBB or T shot respond more like buckshot than bird shot and tend to pattern better with a looser choke such as I/C or L/M. Steel of today is not the "Trash" it was of yesteryear.

 

[rcmodel]

Modern barrels are about twice as thick at the muzzle, heavier, and made of harder steel then the old classic shotguns of bygone years.

Plus, you don't use full-choke tubes with steel shot, ever!

Steel shot will pattern about one choke tighter then lead shot, so anything over an Imp Cyl or Modified tube is too tight for steel anyway.

rcmodel

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Plus, you don't use full-choke tubes with steel shot, ever!

Actually, that's not correct. When steel shot came along, they discovered that it didn't spread in a similar manner as the lead shot it was replacing. At an equal distance it had a smaller pattern, which is true. The idea was to please the hunter who bought ammo so they would buy the new shot. They discovered that the old, lead, modified choke shooting steel gave a very similar pattern to the old lead full choke when shooting lead. Shooters also found they had to adjust their lead on the bird as the steel shot was lighter, pellet for pellet, and the old lead-distances caused the hunter to shoot ahead of the bird. Finally they discovered that to equal the penetration, larger sized steel shot pellets were needed to do the job, which brought up the weight per pellet, and lead-distances began to be as they were before.

anything over an Imp Cyl or Modified tube is too tight for steel anyway

That depends on the shooter. If you are a person who was very used to shooting with lead shot, then yes you might've had a problem. If you have adjusted to steel, then "too tight" simply isn't true. I have been shooting a full choke and steel for many years (hence my previous question). I have found that I down more geese than with a modified choke, and I also found the choke on the barrel on my 870 has not "opened up".

LD

 

[rcmodel]

The fact remains that most all screw-in Full & Modified choke tubes that come with the guns we buy today are marked "Not for Steel Shot" or something to that effect.

That would be especially true in an old Browning A-5, Model 12 Winchester, or other fixed full-choke barrel!

rcmodel