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Rdg
PostPosted: Sat Feb 15, 2020 10:32 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 10 Jan 2018
Posts: 23

Savage16 wrote:
Yesterday at Phez fest, saw Federal is coming out with new ammo in the Prairie storm line in both 28 gauge and 16gauge.


Yeah and at 1450fps.... they can keep it that 16G shell
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tramroad28
PostPosted: Sat Feb 15, 2020 10:45 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 20 Jul 2011
Posts: 625
Location: Ohio..where ruffed grouse were

Newtonian_Guy wrote:
#5 shot in 1 to 1 1/8 oz. seems to be the best for 16 ga. loads.

Surprisingly, my 870 Wingmaster in 12 ga. loves 5s at 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 oz.

#4 shot is more troublesome but can scratch-down a long flier if I have done my sighting right in a 12 bore. Not so much the 16. They don't seem to like #4s as well.

So I use #6 in the improved modified and #5 in the full. Works like a champ. In my Zavasta SxS 16 Ga. I was never one for the more expensive guns. I could not afford them. So I found guns that would FIT and shoot decently.

Antonio Zoli Field Grade O/U 12 Ga. 5s and 4s.

Franchi Falconet O/U 12 Ga. 5s and 6s.

Remington 870 Wingmaster 12Ga. 3.5lb. trigger, slicked action, cross-cut recoil pad. 6s, 5s and then 4s.

Thompson Contender Pistol 8in. 45LC / 410 for road sitters or runners. 6s.

S&W Model 41 for cripples or runners. 22LR.

I normally carry three to four weapons with me. Two hunting, third to reduce to bag, and my everyday carry. EDC can be anything from 380 ACP, 357 Mag., 9MM, or 45 ACP.

I don't worry about predators of the four or two legged type. Haven't had to draw on a two-legged since 1999.

Tried to state he and his buddies shot the pheasant that I clearly shot AFTER they blew their tubes out after. 16 has a much muted and sharper bark than a 12.

Once they saw I was not going to roll-over and give them the bird, I drew the 45ACP and pointed it at the ground in front of them. They got all nice and friendly-like. Grabbed the bird, while watching my back, and never went back to that public hunting area.



Twisted Evil

I now go to farms or preserves because of the pressure. I hate having to pay for my birds, but at least I know they are there and I don't have some idiot trying to claim my kill. I go during the week so I have no other hunters in the area. Very nice. But artificial. The problem with game farms.

But I live in the Northeast where you have no choice.


Your valuing of a pheasant is terribly, terribly skewed.....and personally, I would fear for any birddogs in the vicinity of such a incident.
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WyoChukar
PostPosted: Mon Feb 17, 2020 11:29 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 16 Jul 2015
Posts: 2124
Location: Hudson,Wy

Okay. Non round pellets? Total B.S. Seriously. Prairie Storm would be twice the load if they filled that special wad with only round shot instead. Think about it, you're buying a load with 30% of the shot already deformed and paying more to do it.

High velocity? More sales B.S. that has been repeated so often that people believe it.

Pattern efficiency is what kills birds. As evidence to back up my attempt to help people and verify that I may actually know something about this, look at this pattern. Here is a standard velocity 1 1/8 oz. charge of buffered high antimony #5 West Coast Magnum lead (not copper or nickel plate) fired through a Fox 16 ga. full choke barrel at...60 yards! Pattern paper is 36".

Why didn't I use copper or nickel plated shot? So far, the stuff I have tested has not been as hard as WC Mag lead. Ponder this. While copper and nickel are harder than lead, the thickness of plating is literally measured in microns; there just isn't sufficient thickness to make up for a lower antimony content.

Knowing what I have learned from folks like Tom Roster and also from conducting my own tests, if I didn't reload, I would be buying RST.
[[URL=https://www.jpgbox.com/page/57947_980x768/] [/URL]][/img]

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fn16ga
PostPosted: Tue Feb 18, 2020 6:45 am  Reply with quote
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Location: Florida

WyoChukar , What is the constriction of your full choke barrel ?
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WyoChukar
PostPosted: Tue Feb 18, 2020 9:38 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 16 Jul 2015
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Location: Hudson,Wy

Best I recall, .026".

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fn16ga
PostPosted: Tue Feb 18, 2020 10:26 am  Reply with quote
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Thanks . that's a great 60 yard pattern. That should be a killer turkey load out to about 40 or so .
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John Singer
PostPosted: Tue Feb 18, 2020 1:35 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 03 Sep 2014
Posts: 398
Location: Rochester, MN

WyoChukar wrote:
Why didn't I use copper or nickel plated shot? So far, the stuff I have tested has not been as hard as WC Mag lead. Ponder this. While copper and nickel are harder than lead, the thickness of plating is literally measured in microns; there just isn't sufficient thickness to make up for a lower antimony content.


I had the same experience. Several years ago, I purchased 10 lbs of nickel plated 7 1/2 lead. Paid about $10 for it.

My testing showed no pattern improvement over magnum lead shot. I was hoping to develop a turkey load with it. I ended up mixing it with other shot and using it in target loads.

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Two Pipe Shoot
PostPosted: Thu May 28, 2020 12:19 pm  Reply with quote
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Joined: 25 Jun 2008
Posts: 1863
Location: Wisconsin

I like twice barreled guns with 9’s in a cylinder choke and 5’s in a modified. If he gets up within 20yards he gets the nines to the head, 20+ gets the 5’s. Two triggers make for quick load choices. A previous poster stated that focusing on the head is key and I agree; your brain uses your eyes to tell your hands what to do and 9’s will kill a rooster dead and his feathers will prevent most pellets from getting to the meat.

Reno

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Savage16
PostPosted: Thu May 28, 2020 4:46 pm  Reply with quote
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Reading this thread again has made me wonder if anywhere there is a comparison of the different brands available magnum lead shot. Who's is hardest and truest to round and if there's enough difference to matter to a game bird.

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MSM2019
PostPosted: Thu May 28, 2020 8:19 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 04 Mar 2019
Posts: 1819
Location: Central ND

The two brands that are best are Lawrence Magnum and West Coast Magnum. They are made by the same folks. If you can find some Remington Magnum, that is quite possibly the best, but it is no longer made. Someone might have a little left in stock.

As with anything, individual lots can vary.

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df
PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2020 6:24 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 01 Oct 2007
Posts: 962
Location: Minnesota

I have some of the Remington magnum shot, and I save it for pheasants only.
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Savage16
PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2020 8:17 am  Reply with quote
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Is there a study that says some kind of test has shown X amount of hardness/roundness. I've read before that Lawrence is supposedly best but never seen any documentation to back it up.

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MSM2019
PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2020 6:50 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 04 Mar 2019
Posts: 1819
Location: Central ND

The only study I know of that is reliable is to buy a few brands of lead shot and pattern it. There were comparisons done years ago but they are kind of irrelevant now because a lot are no longer available. However West Coast and Lawrence have always been near or at the top.

Currently Lawrence/West Coast just simply patterns tighter than the other brands, regardless of whether you buffer it of not.

You really don't have a big choice right now. Eagle, copper plated, nickle plated, etc. basically pattern about the same, just OK. Plated shot hasn't patterned better than Magnum Lawrence/West Coast for the last 20 years.

I have never bought in to the feather draw comments, associated with plated shot.

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BWW
PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2020 3:35 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 14 Apr 2020
Posts: 144
Location: Boise,Idaho

I usually use Fiocchi Golden Pheasant #5. Like the Prarie Storm ammo, but it is extremely dirty ammo. I just bought some Bismuth as one of the places I hunt is close to a waterfowl area. Then if I take a diuck onn the sloughs I am legal.
I will say my gun and ammo have never missed a shot. I, on the other hand, have had some misses. My field lab scolds me for that.

Bob
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T-Bird
PostPosted: Sun Jun 07, 2020 5:45 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 27 Sep 2015
Posts: 177
Location: Alabama

I was under the impression that the attraction for the nickle plated shot was that is was slicker and had less feather pull and thus penetrated better. Not that it was harder.
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