[Bill B]

Im new too this sight just got on a few days ago.I do some goose hunting but ive only hunted ducks a few times. I havent been very successful in killing ducks though geese i have.What are some good steel duck loads and what size shot should i be using. thanks

 

[jbee]

High Velocity Steel #1 - #3 for the ducks. Some people use steel #1-T on both ducks and geese. Snow geese people use BB/BBB/F (.22 caliper balls).

I have to get to a new gun range because the current one does not allow birdshot indoors anymore, but, the T shot is "suppose to" dump about 1/2 it's 65 pellets (3" Winchester T) within 12" circle at 50 yards on a cyl. bore?

Much depends on choke size, choke type, distance to target, and if you are using steel, lead, or a heavy metal substitute for the shot. I will leave all those guesstimates to an expert.

From my limited use of #4 lead, it is probably not much good after 25 yards for a large duck, if that.

 

[Bill B]

thanks JB ive used bbb abd t on geeses with good success but cant seem to hit a duck with it

 

[Bill B]

Thanks JB ive used bbb and t for geese with good success but cant seem to hit a duck with it.

 

[O'Connersun]

I've been hunting ducks most of my life and have never cared for steel's preformance on ducks or geese but I have shot a whole lot of it. For me, I like #3-BB's for ducks but more importantly is the question; What does YOUR gun like? Mine patterns #2 and #1 DryLoks, 1 1/4oz, the best so that is what I use in my 12ga 3" gun but of late I have used my 20ga with HeavyShot and not been disappointed.

As near as I can tell, the bigger the pellet and the faster it moves, the better, with steel. I bought some of the new HyperSonic Remington loads this year to test but never used them in the field. If they rock a bird like they rocked me, they will be the Cat's Meow! A friend and I were shooting together this season and he's a Black Cloud fan. He and his 3" Black Clouds were slamming ducks but they kept going until they ran into an ounce or so of #4 HS from my 20 gauge. He was looking for close-out deals on HS after the season closed.

 

[hunter177]

Duck Shot Size

I use Winchester X-Pert 12 ga., 3", #2s for all my Canada goose and Mallard duck hunting. They leave the muzzle at 1550 fps., pattern well in my gun, anbd are priced right. Hope this helps!

 

[Sandman1]

I use 3" #4 shot for ducks. Never had a problem and duck hunting is my main vice.

 

[Irv S]

I liked #2 steel for ducks. The higher velocity shells with lower payload seemed to work better. I generally used BBB for geese. Haven't hunted ducks or geese in the last few years because of conflicts with my big game hunting, but I have over 3 flats of steel shotshells still remaining and may adjust my hunting schedule to get back at it because hordes of geese are taking over the northern front range of Colorado.

 

[unclepaddy]

I liked #2 steel for ducks. The higher velocity shells with lower payload seemed to work better. I generally used BBB for geese. Haven't hunted ducks or geese in the last few years because of conflicts with my big game hunting, but I have over 3 flats of steel shotshells still remaining and may adjust my hunting schedule to get back at it because hordes of geese are taking over the northern front range of Colorado.

Roger that on less shot and more velocity for steel loads. Also, remember to use a modified or improved cylinder choke for steel, particularly in larger shot sizes. If you look at charts describing pellet-counts per ounce of both steel and lead, you will discover that if you go up two sizes from what you would have use in a lead load, the pellet count will be fairly close to the same between lead and steel for a given weight. Look here:

http://shotshell.drundel.com/pelletcount.htm

Look at the pellet count, for instance, in a 1-1/8 oz lead # 6 load, which would be a common load from the days of lead for waterfowl. Now look at the #4 load in steel, which would be a common high-speed steel load for ducks. Not a lot of difference in count, and that load can be sent out at 1600 fps with some proper handloading, and even heavier charges of bigger shot are commercially available like 1-1/4 oz of #2 steel at 1700 fps in the "Hypersonic" loads. I guess my point here is that if the pattern density was high enough to be effective back in the days of lead, it ought to be good enough now, and if so, that only leaves velocity to do the job, and you won't get velocity with high weights of shot. I think BPI has a pretty good article on this on their site.