Upland Shogun Shells Good for Both Public and Private

NC IA Tail Chaser

NC IA Tail Chaser

New member
I have been looking for some time for steel shot that I can shoot with the confidence I have in lead so I don't have to switch back a forth between public and private ground and I found it this year. A year ago while at Sportsman Warehouse I ran across the Kent Upland Fast Steel. I picked up a couple of boxes of the 2 3/4", 7/8 load, 6 shot. I carry an O/U 20 gauge and I found these shells to be very effective. I only lost one bird this year and almost all the rest brought down (dead) on the first shot. Up until now I carried two vests one with lead and one with steel. I don't know how many times I would be out in the middle of public ground posted non-toxic shot and realize I was wearing the wrong vest. For me a very bad feeling.

Kent makes two versions of the fast steel shell a Duck version in 3"shell and an Upland version in 2 3/4". I have found the 2 3/4" shells are all that is needed for pheasant. The only place I have seen the Upland shells is at Sportsman's Warehouse. They cost me about $13.00 a box. They come in 4, 5, 6, and 7 shot although I have not found them in 6 shot the last two times I have shopped there. If you are looking for a shotgun shell with steel shot that you can shoot with the same confidence you have with lead try a box or two of these. I know this sounds like a commercial but I assure you I am just sharing information with people I share a common interest with.
 
I have used the same shell in 5's in kent upland 7/8 ounce shot at 1500 fps in my Ic Barrel ans #3 Hevi-metal in my mod barrel good stuff !!!
 
I have gone totally Non-Tox as far as my shells are concerned.
It keeps you safe on wherever you are hunting. I do like
steel so I opt for a shell like Hevishot.
 
I appreciate you sharing your opinion on that. I've switched fully to no-tox also, so I can feed the pheasant's heart, liver, head/neck and some other bits to my hawk. I did very little gun hunting last season so didn't fully get to fully test a lot of steel upland options. Thanks for sharing your experience.:thumbsup:
 
My dilemma is I do not know if a rooster or a quail is coming up next. I'll use 6 steel in November. 5 seems too big for quail. 7 too small for pheasant.

Don't know what I'll do in Dec/Jan. Probably not use non-toxic unless I have to.
 
Joe Hunter said:
Given those steel shot sizes, I would opt for the #5 steel pellet and limit my shots to 30-35 yards.

Good luck.
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See, I just don't want to limit myself in anyway. I know the
non-tox offerings are more expensive but when I look at the
number of days that I am in the field, I just cannot justify
NOT spending a little more
 
Crossing shot said:
My dilemma is I do not know if a rooster or a quail is coming up next. I'll use 6 steel in November. 5 seems too big for quail. 7 too small for pheasant.

Don't know what I'll do in Dec/Jan. Probably not use non-toxic unless I have to.
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You might try Kent Bismuth. I use 5's w/ my 16 ga. for pheasants pretty exclusively on public land & they work great, but you might try 6's. You won't have huge punch out to 45 yds on a rooster, but it'll do for almost all situations. And won't be hard on quail.
 
Have you looked at Hevi-Metal?

I have no experience with this but just the idea of having steel mixed with smaller Tungsten pellets to increase pattern density. Seems like an interesting idea. Kind of the best of both worlds?? Probably priced somewhere between all steel and all tungsten ammo.

https://www.hevishot.com/catalog/hevi-metal/
 
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Thanks. Look like two good choices. Looks like will run into more quail than pheasants. Have to go with 6. Been buying Kent's steel. Looks like the Bismuth would be an upgrade.

Hevishot looks good too. Looks like half 4 shot and half 6. Looks like a good shell to keep in the gun for maybe a longer shot. If working singles, put in a six shot.

I wonder if you ask Hevishot for a couple shells to check patterning, if they would comply.
 
birdshooter said:
Have you looked at Hevi-Metal?

I have no experience with this but just the idea of having steel mixed with smaller Tungsten pellets to increase pattern density. Seems like an interesting idea. Kind of the best of both worlds??
Click to expand...

Maybe... Maybe not!

After doing a good bit of waterfowl load pattern testing, the Hevi-Metal load did have a few more pellets in the shell but it didn't put more in the pattern than several cheaper spherical steel loads. Here are some of my pattern numbers to give you an idea of how they performed, in my gun anyway!

Patterning results from a 12-gauge 3" Remington 870 Special Purpose with a 28" barrel and factory flush Rem-chokes (pattern average of five, 30" post-shot scribed circle, yardage taped muzzle to target, in-shell pellet count average of five, and true choke constriction from bore gauge).

40 YARDS Mod. (.018" const.)
Federal Speed-Shok 3" 1 1/4 oz #2 steel (154 pellets) pattern 115 (75%)
Hevi-Metal 3" 1 1/4 oz #2 / #5 (164 pellets) pattern 93 (58%)
Kent Fasteel 3" 1 1/4 oz #2 steel (155 pellets) pattern 103 (66%)
Remington Sportsman 3" 1 1/4 oz #2 steel (152 pellets) pattern 110 (72%)
Winchester Xpert 3" 1 1/4 oz #2 steel (146 pellets) pattern 106 (73%)

Don't be fooled by all the marketing hype put out on the numerous designer loads out there (Black Cloud, Blind Side, Hyper Sonic, Hevi-Metal, etc.).

Good luck.
 
Marketing hype is nothing new. All ammo manufactures like to make you think there's is the best. Like I said I have no personal experience with hevi-metal. However, I have read some quite favorable reviews on some well known publications with some detailing their pattern testing. As is with any gun, load and choke combination , your mileage may vary.
 
bird -- Yes, marketing has always been around. However, the only way to cut through the marketing hype and really know how a load/choke is performing is to take the time and effort to properly pattern them with your gun to confirm performance.

And yes, different barrels/chokes can perform differently with the same load so I welcome anyone that has other pattern results relevant to this discussion to post them.

If you are interested in ready other opinions on Hevi-Metal you should go to duckhuntingchat.com or Shotgun World web site and do a search.

Good luck.
 
theuplandlife said:
See, I just don't want to limit myself in anyway. I know the
non-tox offerings are more expensive but when I look at the
number of days that I am in the field, I just cannot justify
NOT spending a little more
Click to expand...

We are always limited with shotguns. Gauge, choke, load, pellet size, pellet type, etc. are some factors that determine equipment limitations. Of course, for most of us our biggest limitation is our own ability to consistently put the pattern on the bird!

Good luck.
 
Great discussion here, guys. I used to do a HUGE amount of patterning, chronographing, data collecting & analysis w/ my reloads. I'd have dreams of hammering geese or roosters at 100 yds & my buddies would be simply awestruck that anyone could develop such a fine load & use it so effectively. But alas, time prohibits this sort of enjoyment in my life these days. However, it was amazing the variety of reactions different loads had to different gun/barrel/choke combinations. Then you throw a slight tweak into the load itself & a whole new set of results becomes available. I think what we can take from this is to never judge a book by its cover. The only real way to know how a load patterns is to pattern it. Interestingly (but not surprisingly), in the data Joe presented for 1-1/4 oz. 3" loads of steel 2's, the best 3 percentages came from loads claiming 1,400 fps. Kent jacks theirs up a little to 1,425 & then Hevi-Metal comes in at 1,500. You have to do something to hold fast loads together, and if you're shooting factory loads, the tweak has to be at the gun. Looks like Joe was using MOD. Some fast loads respond better to more choke; some to less. My experience w/ fast steel (in particular) was that more choke usually correlated to tighter patterns at typical hunting type ranges. (at least with most of my loads, on the day I patterned them, with my guns, shot at a bench, yada, yada, yada, disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer)
 
Steelio

I have tried them all and dollar for doughnuts I would use and do use Hevi-Pheasant in all my non-tox situations with that being said I would always shoot lead if it is allowable, there is nothing comparable out there. I use Fiocchi Golden Pheasants for lead. I think a lot of guys had real good luck with Kent Tungsten Matrix but it is tough to find.
 
PTM said:
I have tried them all and dollar for doughnuts I would use and do use Hevi-Pheasant in all my non-tox situations with that being said I would always shoot lead if it is allowable, there is nothing comparable out there. I use Fiocchi Golden Pheasants for lead. I think a lot of guys had real good luck with Kent Tungsten Matrix but it is tough to find.
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I'm a 16 gauge shooter & used Tungsten Matrix 5's for years on public until they discontinued it in 16 gauge. It was great. Switched back to bismuth last year & it's pretty good. Not Tungsten matrix, but very effective. I, too, shoot lead whenever I can. Tried Golden Pheasant several years ago & they didn't pattern worth a damn out of my gun & simply had a tough time bringing birds down. It really was fabulously bad. Also tried Federal Wing-Shok, 1-1/8 oz. at 1,425. Not worth a damn in my gun. My tried & true lead loads for my Sweet 16 are Fiocchi High Velocity (1-1/8 oz of 5's at 1,300) & Federal Wing-Shok (1-1/4 oz of 4's at 1,260). The 1-1/4 oz Wing-Shoks are the same thing as their old Premium Magnums. They're really hard to find (may be discontinued), but they really smack pheasants.

Also, if anyone's considering Kent Bismuth for 16 gauge, I'd highly recommend it. BUT....lots of places you'll see it advertised as 1,200 fps. That's wrong. They're 1,300. Fiocchi had it listed wrong for a while on their website & lots of online retailers took the info right from there & haven't changed it yet. Fiocchi, however, did correct it promptly after I emailed them. How did I know?? The boxes say 1,300 so I chrono'd them. Pretty dang close, so I figured the box was right & the website wrong, which they then confirmed for me.
 
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PTM said:
I have tried them all and dollar for doughnuts I would use and do use Hevi-Pheasant in all my non-tox situations with that being said I would always shoot lead if it is allowable, there is nothing comparable out there. I use Fiocchi Golden Pheasants for lead. I think a lot of guys had real good luck with Kent Tungsten Matrix but it is tough to find.
Click to expand...

I also like the Hevishot Duck loads for not only waterfowl but upland game as well.
I have had great success with them as well as Hevimetal.
 
A5 Sweet 16 said:
I'm a 16 gauge shooter & used Tungsten Matrix 5's for years on public until they discontinued it in 16 gauge. It was great. Switched back to bismuth last year & it's pretty good. Not Tungsten matrix, but very effective. I, too, shoot lead whenever I can. Tried Golden Pheasant several years ago & they didn't pattern worth a damn out of my gun & simply had a tough time bringing birds down. It really was fabulously bad. Also tried Federal Wing-Shok, 1-1/8 oz. at 1,425. Not worth a damn in my gun. My tried & true lead loads for my Sweet 16 are Fiocchi High Velocity (1-1/8 oz of 5's at 1,300) & Federal Wing-Shok (1-1/4 oz of 4's at 1,260). The 1-1/4 oz Wing-Shoks are the same thing as their old Premium Magnums. They're really hard to find (may be discontinued), but they really smack pheasants.

Also, if anyone's considering Kent Bismuth for 16 gauge, I'd highly recommend it. BUT....lots of places you'll see it advertised as 1,200 fps. That's wrong. They're 1,300. Fiocchi had it listed wrong for a while on their website & lots of online retailers took the info right from there & haven't changed it yet. Fiocchi, however, did correct it promptly after I emailed them. How did I know?? The boxes say 1,300 so I chrono'd them. Pretty dang close, so I figured the box was right & the website wrong, which they then confirmed for me.
Click to expand...

Once you speed lead up over 1300 fps the patterns are not very good. Much better to stay between 1250 to 1300.
 
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