Steel for ducks and pheasants

H

Hockeybob

Active member
Shotgun shells have been nothing short of difficult to find right now. All of my online vendors are sold out as quickly as they can put up the few cases that they have online.
I was lucky enough to score a case of Fiocci 12 Ga 3” Steel 1-1/5 oz #3 shot 1550 FPS
I think this will be a good shell for both ducks and pheasants.
 
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I am a steel #2 guy myself, but if I have to choose (and there has been some choosing as of late) between #1's and #3's, I'll go threes all day long. I switch between 1 1/8 oz and 1 1/4 oz, preferring the latter, but I would be happy shoot the shells you indicated.
 
All but the very best steel loads suck in my opinion; they have probably crippled more ducks than lead has killed through ingestion--but that's moot since steel is the law in a growing number of places. My favorite nontoxic loads are Winchester Blindside 1 3/8 oz. loads of #2 and #3, or if i really feel flush, the Boss loads --3" #4. Black Cloud loads are ok too; 1 1/4 oz. #3. The old Bismuth loads--3" 1 1/2 oz. #2's are good for ducks, pheasants and geese, when you can find them, and of course they are costly.
 
Hockey -- That shell should take care of any duck or pheasant, IF you can put the pattern on their front end!

When using steel on pheasants, it is best to go with loads that contain #2 or #3 steel pellets. Steel shot lethality research conducted on pheasants by Tom Roster showed #2 steel to be more effective (at all ranges) than either #6 or #4 steel. Yes, #4 or #6 steel loads will kill'em too, but a little extra pellet energy is a good thing on wild pheasants where shots are often taken at longer going-away angles. The research also showed #2 steel resulted in fewer cripples than both #6 and #4 steel; and Roster speculated that the #3 steel pellet would be a good compromise between pellet count and downrange energy. His steel shot lethality research on waterfowl also showed steel #3s to exhibit the best all-round performance for taking ducks.

That said, here are a few of my 12-gauge steel shot load pattern numbers to give you an idea of the kind of performance you might get from some commonly used steel loads.

Patterning results from a 12-gauge 3-inch Remington 870 Special Purpose with a 28-inch barrel and factory flush Rem-chokes (pattern average of five, 30-inch 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 (old) 3" 1 1/4 oz #3 steel (186 pellets) pattern 128 (69%)
Remington Sportsman 3" 1 1/4 oz #3 steel (193 pellets) pattern 146 (76%)
Winchester Xpert 3" 1 1/4 oz #3 steel (195 pellets) pattern 131 (67%)

Federal Speed-Shok (old) 3" 1 1/4 oz #2 steel (154 pellets) pattern 115 (75%)
Federal Ultra-Shok 3" 1 1/4 oz #2 steel (147 pellets) pattern 109 (74%)
Federal Black Cloud (old) 3" 1 1/4 oz #2 steel (144 pellets) pattern 92 (64%)
Hevi-Metal 3" 1 1/4 oz #2 / #5 (164 pellets) pattern 93 (58%)
HEVI-STEEL 3" 1 1/4 oz #2 steel (148 pellets) pattern 100 (68%)
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%)
Remington Nitro Steel 3" 1 1/4 oz #2 steel (151 pellets) pattern 117 (77%)
Winchester Xpert 3" 1 1/4 oz #2 steel (146 pellets) pattern 106 (73%)
Winchester Drylok Super-X 3" 1 1/4 oz #2 steel (162 pellets) pattern 121 (75%)
Winchester Blind Side 3" 1 3/8 oz #2 steel (176 pellets) pattern 104 (59%)

Hope this helps, good luck!
 
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