Has anybody ever tried these shells?

No, but I think it's snake oil. The theory makes no sense to me. You get a few bismuth pellets whose effective range outreaches the steel. Pattern density of the bismuth at long range is crap. I don't get it. Pick one, steel or bismuth, and use an appropriate load weight & shot size.

For long range roosters (45-50 yds plus), assuming appropriate pattern density is achieved, my opinion is that a person should use AT LEAST:
7/8 oz lead 5's at 1200 fps.
1 oz bismuth 4's at 1200 fps.
1-1/8 oz steel 2's at 1400 fps.
 
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I think it’s just marketing. Copper is about 9 grams I think too . When federal use too sell copperplate steel I don’t ever remember them claiming that it had better range or penetration because of the minute weight difference.
The heavy shot steel -bismuth duplex loads are kind of interesting to me. I think they may be useful on a mixed bag pheasant quail hunt. Right now I’ll shoot quail with #3s which really isn’t that big of deal,,, occasionally the dog will have to track a downed one that only took a pellet or two but that’s half the fun
 
I haven't tried the shells. I don't think duplexing a hard shot with a brittle shot is a good idea. Hopefully they're using a lot of buffer..
 
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I just saw these shells in stock and was thinking about buying them for a buddy, but agree they probably suck, or I should say a gimmick. Thanks everyone for the honest advice.
 
Shoot some and then form your opinion. My wife got me some in 10 ga for geese a few years ago. The stuff is wicked and the range far exceeds that of lead. I have not used any upland hunting, but using it in both 10 and 12, I am a believer.
 
I shoot Heavy-Metal for ducks and late season pheasant. It has knock down energy at long distance. I like the ammo a lot.
 
I'm guessing at least one person has had success with every load to ever hit the market. And if you love it, by all means shoot it.
But facts are indisputable. For one type of spherical shot to have greater effective range than another, given similar shot size, somewhat similar muzzle velocity, & sufficient pattern density, the material itself has to be more dense, in order to retain enough downrange energy to penetrate. As such, to my knowledge, the only offerings Hevi has that could be said to have "greater range than lead", are straight HeviShot (12 g/cc) and Hevi-18 TSS (18 g/cc). It can't possibly be said of any bismuth or steel load, or any bismuth/steel duplex load, since their densities are both significantly less than lead. I surely don't understand the logic behind the Hevi Metal (30% bismuth; 70% steel) or Hevi Hammer (15% bismuth; 85% steel) duplex loads. Why would I want a small percentage (15-30) of my load to outperform the vast majority of it, which loses oomph 20 yards sooner? Not saying those gimmicks can't kill in some circumstances, but they can't possibly be the best of both worlds when pattern density of the more dense (longer performing) shot becomes so incredibly terrible at long range.
 
I saw the most sensible advice a couple of posts ago ("Shoot some and then form your opinion"). Everyone hunts with a different gun, maybe a different choke, probably a different breed of dog, trained to a different level of competency and hunting more or fewer days than yours truly. And of course the shooters' skills vary widely as well. The shells that hit like the hammer of Hell for one guy may not work as well for another, given the different circumstances above. I'll bet there isn't one hunter out of 50 who really takes the time to take his "favorite" shell, cut two or 3 open to get an idea of the "average" number of pellets, and then takes the trouble to shoot 3 or 4 of the favorite at a pattern board at 25, 30, or whatever number of yards most of his birds are shot at. That's really the factual way to determine the "best" load---in YOUR individual gun.
 
If you use A5's facts it will help you weed out the marketing hype and you will find that perfect load for your shotgun, with less effort and money.
Ok... now how long do we have before we can shoot birds again?:ROFLMAO:
 
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mschnip said:
Shoot some and then form your opinion. My wife got me some in 10 ga for geese a few years ago. The stuff is wicked and the range far exceeds that of lead. I have not used any upland hunting, but using it in both 10 and 12, I am a believer.
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If you had actually clicked on the link you'd know that the range does not exceed lead, because the two metals in the shell are steel and bismuth, which are both less dense than lead. I got back into shotshell research and answered my own question. The shell I linked I'm sure is good at shorter ranges (as most all are), but at mid to farther distances the steel would slow down much faster than the bismuth, thus leaving a ragged pattern along with excessive shot stringing. Two attributes of a terrible load.
 
Bob Peters said:
but at mid to farther distances the steel would slow down much faster than the bismuth, thus leaving a ragged pattern along with excessive shot stringing. Two attributes of a terrible load.
Click to expand...
Great point on shot string. Consider the Hevi-Hammer Upland load of 3s at 1350 fps. Simply due the difference in densities of steel & bismuth, the leading bismuth pellets will have travelled 45.2 yds in 0.15 seconds, while the leading steel pellets will have only travelled 42.9 yds, adding 7 feet to the shot string. It's likely that the slower steel shot string is already 10' long, making the entire thing at least 17' long. Not to mention that the bismuth pellets will retain 47% more energy at that point. A bird flying 35 mph will have travelled about 1.5' in the time it takes the last pellets to get there. You just missed, or hit the bird with an extremely ragged portion of the pattern/string, whether it be the mighty bismuth leading edge or quickly fading steel trailing edge. Miserable.
 
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Am I missing something as I read the steel is bismuth plated. Not steel pellets with bismuth pellets mixed in.
 
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