[Terry Koupe]

Because of Hevi-shot, I have regressed, meaning I now shoot a 20ga.(Citori) oever decoys for ducks(#6 and 71/2) and #4 for geese. I have never recovered a shot in a duck or goose, even on shots to 45yrds. If I need to shoot farther than 40yrds., maybe I need to be a better hunter. Anybody else feel this way? I don't handload Hevi-shot, although I do have a Lee Loader in 20ga. I wonder how difficult it is to reload this stuff?

 

[Sandman1]

I use a 20ga. regardless of whether it is hevi shot or steel shot. Never had a problem and no plans to change.

 

[Shawn Crea]

I don't do a lot of waterfowling, but when I do, Hevishot is what I like to use. It just seems to really kill well, and that's with a 12 gauge 2 3/4" shells; #6's for ducks, #4's or #3's for geese. It's hard on the wallet, but hard on the fowl too. There are certain shoots I go on where it is really close and I use steel then. No sense burning those $$ for the up close stuff.

 

[Terry Koupe]

A few years ago, we went to west Texas(Lubbock area) for a Crane hunt. We hunted over stuffers, coolest hunt I've ever been on. Anyway, I used #6 for first shot(head shot, maybe 10yrds.) and #4 for second shot. Clean kills to 35yrds. Hevishot is great! Anyway, does anybody reload the stuff. Maybe I could knock down on the cost a little.

 

[[email protected]]

One of the magazines (maybe Outdoor Life???) polled some waterfowl guides about their clients. One point that was unanimously voiced was that they wished the clients would use one of the "heavy" shells. One other was to open up the choke.

 

[Terry Koupe]

I use Patternmaster chokes in one or sometimes both tubes. 25in. pattern at 40yrds. with 1.25oz. #4. But what about reloading this stuff? Thoughts? Helpful hints??

 

[Shawn Crea]

I did a little looking out on the 'nothing-but-truth' web...... and the consensus seems to be that if you are a high-volume shooter, and you don't value your time all that highly (for reloading), then you can make reloading HS work. The high volume part has a sidenote in that YOU by yourself don't need to order up bulk supplies of HS, but can get together with a group of other hunters to order in bulk and save on shipping costs.

Some have stated being able to load them at $1-$1.50/round, which sure beats buying them in 10-round boxes for $25 or so (and that's 2 3/4" 12 ga). So. if you're a die-hard that's going waterfowling 5 times/wk throughout the season, I'd maybe be looking at reloading it. However, being practical, if I was missing 50% or more of my shots, I'd be wondering whether I should be missing much more cheaply with steel!

I'm fortunate if I go through 25 rounds in a season, so I suck it up and pay the factory to load it.

Your web searches or experience may yield a different answer.

 

[mgrace]

Just make sure you use the cheaper steel shells for the misses.


Michael Grace