Remington Nitro Pheasant

I have used Kent FastLead #4, Rem Nitro #4, Fed WingShok #6, and Win Super-Pheasant #5 on tough to kill late season birds. Of all these "high-velocity" wonder loads, they all worked well but the Win SP. The Rem Nitro probably took the most birds.

Will likely switch from a Benelli SBE II to a Browning Maxus for the heavy loads this fall. The gas guns just cut the recoil more, which this older hunter is starting to appreciate.
 
CRP--I've been using an Browning A-5 and Browning Evolve with the Nitros.
There was a definite difference in recoil compared to using Nitros with my over and under. Still, even with the gas operated shot guns the kick was very hard compared to the other loads.

Also, I don't know if you noticed or not, but I was in Gander MTN a few days ago. I Wanted to buy a box of 3in. Nitro lead #5's. The cost went up to $35.00 a box:eek: I think I may run with another brand this year. :)--1Pheas4
 
Yes, those 3" jobs will let you know when you fire them. But, those 3" 4's coupled with a IM or Full will crumple those late season tough birds. Hopefully, you will only need to fire a few to get a limit, or wear a THICK coat!

Regarding price, all of the high-velocity or specialty ammo is going through the roof.
 
You can't use gander mountain prices as an indicator of average--for ammo at least they are ridiculously high priced. Shop around. I routinely buy remington nitros at $15-$17 a box at most, sometimes a tad cheaper on sale.

And you don't need 3" shells for pheasants! The 2 3/4" ones work just as well, and in my experience often pattern better too.
 
tmrichardson said:
You can't use gander mountain prices as an indicator of average--for ammo at least they are ridiculously high priced. Shop around. I routinely buy remington nitros at $15-$17 a box at most, sometimes a tad cheaper on sale.

And you don't need 3" shells for pheasants! The 2 3/4" ones work just as well, and in my experience often pattern better too.
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Tmricharson, I've seen Nitros for around that price too ($15-$17) but they're not the same grade as the Nitros in the green and yellow box. It's thoughs' guys that cost more. There's differant grades of Nitro shells.
I'll shop around for some better prices too. Thanks for the tip:cheers:
 
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I only use the 3" shells on a windy day when its hard to get closer shots on birds hunted hard all season. It's the difference between going home without birds or a limit of birds.
 
CRP said:
I only use the 3" shells on a windy day when its hard to get closer shots on birds hunted hard all season. It's the difference between going home without birds or a limit of birds.
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I've never tryed 3" lead before. One hunting buddy uses them (3") and recommended giving them a try. I'm looking forward to givning them a run this season.

When shooting lead I've always used 2 3/4 in. Steel I use fast steel 3" 1,550fps and have good success with those all season long.
 
For most of the season the standard 2 3/4" 12GA load (1 1/4 oz x 1330fps) does just fine. Many moons ago this load was called the "Duck and Pheasant" load and was usually on sale at most gunshops or Mart's etc right before the season opened.
 
bobeyerite said:
I'm no physics major, so I cannot really tell you. I only know what my reading has told me. As I understand that it is simply your shot get going so fast that the shot creates holes in your pattern to where a bird can fly through it. That is why they say put them on a pattern board and you will see if your gun makes holes or the shot holds together. Every gun is different some take the speed, some don't.

Speaking from my 55 years of shooting experience. I have always found shells that are made close to the gauge standard. Perform the best for me. Most of my trap load are 1200 fps and slower. My best load is actually 1187, which is made with WSF powder. My 20 gauge hunting loads are all standard 1220fps with 1 ounce of shot high base pheasant loads. If you want 12 gauge, the standard 1330fps with 1 1/4 ounce of shot. For many years that was all you could buy. You did your varying with shot size and choke. That is why 2 barreled guns were so popular. It was common in those days to load a pump for example 6, 5, 4, shot. Anyway enough of this.........Bob
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i really have thought lots about what you said bob even before you typed this i shoot fiocchi 5s i think the 1485 fps and i miss tons of close shots with them im going to buy some slower loads like you have 12 to 1300 i really think there is holes in the pattern also with close shots and i have exellent eyes but i have made a few long shots with them but 80percent are close and im missing and i know im on them
 
Only A Pointer, What choke are you using on those close shots with the 1485FPS shells? If your choke is not an open one, you could be going by those close shots like a bullet. If you notice in the example I stated 6,5,4, for pumps and auto's. I shoot mainly O/U's. I'm usually open IC in the bottom with 7 shot and Modified in the top with 6 shot. I hope this helps.........Bob
 
bobeyerite said:
Only A Pointer, What choke are you using on those close shots with the 1485FPS shells? If your choke is not an open one, you could be going by those close shots like a bullet. If you notice in the example I stated 6,5,4, for pumps and auto's. I shoot mainly O/U's. I'm usually open IC in the bottom with 7 shot and Modified in the top with 6 shot. I hope this helps.........Bob
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5s in a mod 20 to 30 yard shots 12 guage auto i just kind remember when i was a kid i bought pheasant loads that just had a pic of a pheasant on there never even read fps or anything just bought 6s and called it good and hardly ever missed like i do now once i bought the high priced fast shells just gets in my head
 
Every load can pattern a bit differently in different guns and the with different chokes in different guns, as well.

In the patterning I have done, the really fast loads that achieve that speed with quality components and REDUCED weights of shot have always patterned better, i.e. with few to no holes in the pattern. More is not always better!

There's a point where you can have too few pellets for longer shots at pheasants, but you aren't likely to encounter that in a 12 gauge or even 16 gauge factory load.
 
1pheas4 said:
Tmricharson, I've seen Nitros for around that price too ($15-$17) but they're not the same grade as the Nitros in the green and yellow box. It's thoughs' guys that cost more. There's differant grades of Nitro shells.
I'll shop around for some better prices too. Thanks for the tip:cheers:
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Not sure where my head was when I typed that, but I had a lot of things turned around!

I was thinking Nitro Steel's--which I find at $15 a box or so. The nitro pheasant lead leads I think I have been buying at a buck or two cheaper. They have two other lead loads with pheasants on the box--a plain pheasant load and a sure shot load that are a bit cheaper yet.

I don't see much of the stuff I think you are talking about--which I think is not labelled nitro but is called xpress extra long range--in the green and yellow box.

That IS expensive, but I see that at $22 a box or so.

Nitro steel is really good stuff for me and I'd buy that for all my pheasant use before I'd pay 6 to 7 bucks more for a lead load!

For a few years or so now good to excellent steel loads have been cheaper than some of the premium lead loads, the old price of steel issue isn't an issue anymore....
 
I have never been a fan of it. Nothing bad to say about it but it just did not work as well as my Federal ammo
 
kgpcr said:
I have never been a fan of it. Nothing bad to say about it but it just did not work as well as my Federal ammo
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Federal has some great loads too. I tried their Prairie Storm shells this past week in SD. They put a good dent in some birds. I was very pleased with them.

For the public land I switched to Rem. Hypersonic steel. They really made a huge differance with killing the birds using steel shot. Give them a try next time you need to use steel shot. Let me know what you think. :)--1pheas4
 
I'll second the Hyper Sonic. The best steel shot I have ever used
 
Going way back to the original posting question, I would rate (IMHO) the premium loads as follows:

1. Fiocchi Golden Pheasant/Fed. Wing-Shok
2. Rem. Nitro Pheasant
3. Kent FastLead
4. Win. Supreme HV
5. Win. Super-Pheasant

While the first three loads have all patterned OK and are very lethal, I have not had the same level of performance with either of the Win loads. Also, while these loads are great for late-season wild birds, they are really overkill for the earlier parts of the season.
 
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