Federal Shells

M

mgorvi

Active member
Got a little gift card from the kids so of course I had to run over to Gander and blow it. Bought one box of Federal Hi-Shock Magnums for my 16ga just to have them. 11/4 oz of 4s. 170bb count probably a little light. $35 bucks a box. Thought maybe good for late season windy days. Was that impulsive, or what? I won't do that again. Can't return that stuff, either.
 
Supply and demand. It is a complete joke the doe they are charging for good ammo now. Time to boycott the high end stuff till the supply is back, then the price will drop. 100% increase is robbery. I used to by my 12g 1500fps's for $8 just a few years ago. Now 20$? WTF. We all know who to thank for that BS. But we cant get in to that.:rolleyes: I will be shooting the cheapest stuff I can find and let them keep it on their shelf's.
 
Fiochii GP

I've been shooting Fiochii GP in my Sweet 16 and now I read on 16ga.com that the plating on the shot is too hard for the barrel and it's risky to use it. The post also claims the Fiochii rep concurred with this and could not recommend using it. Geez, could life get any more complicated? I've had good luck shooting 5s and 6s with this ammo, and it's easy for me to find, but now I'm wondering about it.
 
Here's the post

Member



Joined: 21 Mar 2013
Posts: 153
Location: South Dakota
I would be careful with Fiocchi golden pheasant nickel plated #5 in vintage guns. Fiocchi advised me to not use them in my vintage A5s. They are not as hard as steel but still harder than the barrel and can cause damage. I initially called Browning and they referred me to Fiocchi.

_________________
1936 Very Sweet Sixteen, 1937 Sweet Sixteen 3 Shot, 1938 Sweet Sixteen 3 Shot, 1947 Sweet Sixteen
1947 A5 16ga Three Shot
1911 Stevens 520 16
1935 Superposed 3 inch chambered, 16ga conversion
 
mgorvi said:
Member



Joined: 21 Mar 2013
Posts: 153
Location: South Dakota
I would be careful with Fiocchi golden pheasant nickel plated #5 in vintage guns. Fiocchi advised me to not use them in my vintage A5s. They are not as hard as steel but still harder than the barrel and can cause damage. I initially called Browning and they referred me to Fiocchi.

_________________
1936 Very Sweet Sixteen, 1937 Sweet Sixteen 3 Shot, 1938 Sweet Sixteen 3 Shot, 1947 Sweet Sixteen
1947 A5 16ga Three Shot
1911 Stevens 520 16
1935 Superposed 3 inch chambered, 16ga conversion
Click to expand...

I will respectfully disagree with the poster. Nickle plated lead harder then gun steel. Not likely.
 
Glad to hear that

I have a case of Fiochii GP sitting in my basement so I'm glad to hear that.
 
Reload 16 ga

In my world $35.00 per box is way to much for 16 ga. I just bought a die set to convert one of my presses to 16 ga. I'll be rolling my own!

MG :D
 
I've been reloading for 20 plus years and can get custom high quality loads for under $5.00 a box. It is a bit of a scramble to find powder these days. It is worth the effort.
 
Shells

Should have never bought them. I got an itch to reload again. Kinda a fun hobby, and with a 16ga I think you can save some money. Fiochii GPs in 5s or 6s for $18 is the way I have been going. One $35 box is enough.
 
Mark, you don't need 1 1/4 oz. #4's to kill pheasants even in the late season. Especially with a pointing dog. You really got hosed at Gander. But then Gander is really good at doing that. So much of their merchandise is grossly over priced. If you get through Aberdeen, SD check out SoDak Sport & Bait. They usually have a good supply of 16 ga. field loads for around $15/box. I've had good luck with the Federal's in the blue box. Another place to check in Aberdeen is Kessler's supermarket. They used to have 16 ga. Or if you get through Madison, SD try the BP station at the intersection of Hwys. 81 and 14. They usually have some 16's at real decent prices.

I'm having a difficult time believing that the Fiocchi GP's are bad for our Sweet's. I've been shooting them for the past 3 years and certainly haven't noticed any issues. I still have 4 boxes of the GP's and plan to use them this coming season.
 
Gander

I knew it the minute I got into my truck. Really a waste of money. Maybe I can use a few turkey hunting. I shot about 25 birds out there last year and almost everyone of them were really close, most of them over points. I had some cripples with 6s, so of course I went overboard and got the nuclear load. Fiochii GP in 5s are going to give me the best bang for my buck for about $18 a box, and I can live with that. I should have spent the money on some Kent TM, if I can ever find any. Oh well, live and learn I guess. I gotta remember, I'm not going to the Ukraine, I'm going to SD for pheasants.
 
Hi, as said before shot hardness with plated lead will not harm your bbl. Steel, Hevi-shot may. I'm a 16ga fan and the 16ga Mags (the load you bought) generally do not pattern well with that payload and shot size. At moderate ranges you'll be fine, but anything over 30/35yds and you may have problems. The 16ga works very well with 1 to 1 1/8oz payload, due to the bore diameter in relation to the amount/payload of shot.

That being said, each gun is different, yours may pattern very well with that load, only one way to find out and that's to shoot them.

Good Luck!

Greg
 
16ga.com

I wish I would have read the article on that site about the history of the 16 gauge before I bought shells, because that's exactly what it says. Shot load of 1 oz. is optimum for the 16. I'm gonna try and take them back, but I know it won't happen.
 
You should be able to get a store credit; just don't criticize the store or the product or the service. Most of those folks want to oblige, from what I've seen.

Good luck.
 
mgorvi said:
I've been shooting Fiochii GP in my Sweet 16 and now I read on 16ga.com that the plating on the shot is too hard for the barrel and it's risky to use it. The post also claims the Fiochii rep concurred with this and could not recommend using it. Geez, could life get any more complicated? I've had good luck shooting 5s and 6s with this ammo, and it's easy for me to find, but now I'm wondering about it.
Click to expand...

I posted this question out on the 16 ga.com forum and they feel the same as most of us. No problem shooting the GP's in vintage guns. Pretty difficult to believe the thin nickel plating on the shot would be harder than the barrel steel on any gun. And if Fiocchi thought it was a problem they would state something on the box of shells or maybe the internet. I find no such warning.
 
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