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Joined: 08 Feb 2009 Posts: 1310 Location: Western WA

We just took delivery of 21 1/2 tons of heper shot 6% antimony from Turkey. Much will be parceled out to our sister clubs in the area but it’s $48 here. I took 50 lbs of #9 for skeet. California is clamoring for some but we declined.

B.

Joined: 09 Mar 2016 Posts: 756 Location: Mn.

Super jealous wish I was closer. Or could get a couple of guys to go in on some here.

First used it last winter got 8 bags to try out. Shipping was a bear but worth it.

Lawrence and West Coast isn't what it used to be. Found that out in the winter when it got cold and 7.5 would dust blackout targets in the cold. Until I went to Heper shot.

Recently got 2 more bags 8.5 this time. Worth every penny.

Hmmm purple, blue and red 16 ga. hulls. Have more green than any other color though.

Joined: 30 Jul 2012 Posts: 318 Location: Central, ND

Cold Iron,

Where are you in MN? I know a few around Bismarck ND that would buy some

My club got this brand for the last shipment, 8’s & 9’s. Great shot, we may get some 8.5 next shipment. Only problem I have is sometimes bag and/or liner pieces get into the bottle and can cause a clog during reloading, but that’s minor and I mitigate it by slow pouring into plastic containers and removing the pieces as I find them. The containers are easier to pour from into the bottles than the bag.

Joined: 09 Mar 2016 Posts: 756 Location: Mn.

win7stw I am in SE Mn. Long ways away. Several around me have expressed interest but it is like trying to herd cats. Main issue is to get the reduced shipping rates you need a commercial loading dock which has proven difficult here.

Been using here in western NY for a while , no complaints !

Joined: 04 Mar 2019 Posts: 1844 Location: Central ND

I have heard about Heper shot being so wonderful, maybe, maybe not.

Has anyone here actually taken the time to compare it, as in patterning. Knowing the pellet count of West Coast and Heper and then patterning and getting the actual pattern percentages?

Or is this just well 6% anitmony (we are assuming that it is 6%) is better than 4 - 5% antimony. I know how West Coast/Lawrence patterns in my shotgun, 80% @ 40 yards with a full choke.

It sounds like a lot of time and effort is involved to get it delivered, so is it actually worth it?

You can break targets a long way off with Top Gun and Gun Club loads, so whether you can break targets or not, isn't a good measuring stick.

Good point, I have not patterned any loads yet this summer (and am woefully behind on my hunting load development/patterning schedule Shocked

). What I can say is the drops have been very consistent over about 7 bags. I only use it for target loads and my scores are still creeping up at the same rate (shot a 24 yesterday, choked on the last shot Embarassed

).

I’ll be sure to check a few target loads once I get the hunting loads ready for the paper.

Joined: 04 Mar 2019 Posts: 1844 Location: Central ND

Thanks that would be a big help and interesting.

Joined: 15 Jun 2010 Posts: 1358 Location: Twin Cities, MN

There are several postings on Trapshooters.com where they have tested Heper shot for hardness and it is hard (squish test) and at least 5% antimony. The current West Coast/Lawrence is not as hard as it was 5 years ago. I do shoot some longer targets, even with small bore guns, and hard shot helps. For the average 30 hard sporting clays target almost anything works. Until Covid I always loaded the best shot I could buy because it cost very little extra and I liked knowing my loads were good. I have to figure out how to get some Heper shot as well.

Joined: 09 Mar 2016 Posts: 756 Location: Mn.

JNW nailed it. And we do need to figure out how to get some Heper and split it. By the way he won the Duluth Double Gun shoot this year. As in the whole thing congrats Jeff!

Neil Winston built an apparatus to test hardness of shot based on indentation by a weight dropped at a set fixed height. He would buy shells at the Grand each year and test them. Before he passed away he gave it and other equipment to Timb99 who is at the Grand right now buying shells to continue the testing. Tim was on here a few years ago looking for 16 ga. data to reload.

The scale is
22 and less = Hard
23-24 = Medium-Hard
25-26 = Medium
27-28 = Medium-Soft
29-39 = Soft
40 and above = CRAP!

STS, AA, Federal GM and even Top Gun are Hard with STS bagged shot always having been the hardest. Until Heper shot showed up. West Coast at one time was right behind STS bagged shot.

Then in 2019 thanks to Mayco making both Lawrence and West Coast they both have gotten soft, very soft.

West Coast 29 and 31
Lawrence 27-28 medium-soft

Gun Clubs have always been close to the bottom at 29-31. Now West Coast and Lawrence are right down there with them. Clever and Challenger are the softest shot at 34-37.

I used to pattern using Shotgun Insight before Java killed it after Windows 98 when Java was removed. Have done into the thousands of patterns. To count pellets from 3-5 drops then shoot them and analysis using the software to count pellets in the pattern took 4-5 hours for each 10 shots. And you have to do at least 10 shots when patterning. 2 shots one right after another can vary by more than 10% that is a full choke size difference. It's just how shotgun patterns work, in all guns and shells, 2-3 shots don't tell you anything at all.

And then you you have to make sense of them and average the 10 shots to find your percentage.

Not going to do pattern counts by hand now that Shotgun Insight no longer works. But there really isn't a need to. The harder the shot the tighter the pattern is, across the board. It has been proven time and time again by many people.

STS the previous king of the hill

Same load with Gun Club shot

Or any other method of hard vs. soft shot testing you can come up with

Joined: 04 Mar 2019 Posts: 1844 Location: Central ND

With all due respect, it is good information, but I don't see Heper shot in any of those tests.

Joined: 01 Oct 2007 Posts: 962 Location: Minnesota

If there’s a Minnesota group buy, I’d be interested in 4-5 bags of 7.5 or 8.

Joined: 16 Jul 2015 Posts: 2126 Location: Hudson,Wy

I'm with Mark on this one. I'd like to see a comparison. Yes, 6% is great...but it must be round too. Adding antimony adds difficulty to the formation of perfectly spherical pellets.

Case in point: a few years ago Sportsman's Warehouse marketed their own brand of shot, made by a company known as Hot Shot. It was indeed hard, as hard as the good West Coast mag lead from the Carson City, Nev. facility. However, there was a noticeable difference in sphericity. It was hard to find many pellets that weren't nice and round with West Coast, but the Sportsman's Warehouse shot contained a minimum of 15% out of round pellets.

I would at least like to get my hands on a bag, preferably in a larger size like #6 or #5, to compare hardness and sphericity. If it is as hard, and as round, then it certainly is as good.

Joined: 04 Mar 2019 Posts: 1844 Location: Central ND

Thumbs up Garhart.

I am going to pattern some Lawrence magnum 8's I just bought. I'll post it tomorrow. Years ago (mid 90's) I was getting 86% at 40 yards in a Browning Citori trap gun with Lawrence #7.5 magnum shot. I have patterned a lot over the years since then, but not with a full choke. I haven't had a full choke in any of my shotguns in years (at least 20) unless it was for checking POI.