#4 Heavy shot on larger game

Have a Savage 24 20gauge/ 30-30 that I use for woods walking. A few days back I was walking in an area that is over run with feral pigs. The owner says if you see them, shoot them. Anyway several cooking size pigs came out of the palmettos at 15-20 yards and I shot 1 with the 30/30(31141 over 15gr 2400) and the next one with a #4 Heavy Shot factory load. Figured the shot load would kill the 100lb pig, however most of the shot exited the off side. Is it normal to get that much penetration with #4 shot or was it the Heavy Shot.(gun is full choke and it looked like the whole load impacted on the ribcage) - Talked to the friend that loaded the shotshells - 1and5/8 oz Hevi-shot brand #4 shot ,sieved for the largest size in the bottle. The shot may be larger than #4, steel shot wads, 3 inch 20 gauge, 1250 fps@ 10 feet. The only shot that fully penetrated hit no bones. At the time I did not think to take pictures, however went back to the spot and the 20 gauge shot was 34 feet from my foot prints to where the pig fell.

#4 birdshot, no not normal at all. That is extraordinary if it really exited the far side. #4 buckshot, that would be more in line with what I have seen.

Is the heavy shot made out of tungsten?

The hevi shot is made from tungsten & nickel & is about twice as dense as lead. It is very hard, penetrates deep & holds tight patterns. https://www.hevishot.com/about-us/the-hevi-shot-story/

That's what I thought and that's why he got the penetration.

True original Hevi-Shot is not twice as dense as lead. Density of steel shot is 7.8 g/cc, bismuth is around 9.8 g/cc, hard magnum lead shot 11 g/cc, soft lead shot maybe up to 11.5 g/cc... and original Hevi-Shot is a whopping 12 g/cc.

Hevi-Shot is a Ponzi scheme for shotguns. The real stuff works, and being hard, patterns quite well. The problem is the company slips in mystery shot. Ever cut open a Hevi-Metal shell? There is like 90% steel shot in those. Hevi-Steel is nothing but steel shot. For years they advertised Hevi-Shot ammo that turned out to be anything but. They were called out on it by private testers, and denied it. I don't know if they ever went to court because of it, but they eventually ended up apologizing. Even now, they continue to be as confusing as possible. The ONLY ammo they make with true Hevi-Shot, says "Hevi-Shot" right on the box, and cost around $5 PER SHELL. This would be Hevi-Shot Duck, and Hevi-Shot Goose. Just about everything else is bogus stuff. They do make a special turkey shell with 13 g/cc shot.

All that said, Hevi-Shot definitely penetrates more than a same sized lead shot, but it isn't that dramatic. Passing through a 100 pound animal is impressive for #4 buckshot size, but unheard of for #4 birdshot of any density.

P.S. The densest shot currently available to anyone in the world is TSS at 18 g/cc, which is around 60% denser than lead. Not even close to twice as dense.

https://www.fieldandstream.com/ammo-...ff%20to%20have.

Regular 4 shot will make some nice hole at 15 yards. I would not want to get hit by it. But its sound like TSS (Tungsten Super Shot) they kill turkeys at long distance with 7 and 8 shot.

11 yards with full choke, I don't care what kind of load its gonna most likely kill whatever get hit.
what was the shot spread on the hog at that 34 feet? I don't know about heavy shot, but last time I tested out home made #4 lead shot loads in a full choke 2 3/4" 12 gauge I was good to go at 45 to 50 yards for turkey hunting.

1 5/8 oz 20 gauge loads ? Something is off. That's the same payload as my 3.5 inch 12 gauge goose loads

ive never ever got more than an ounce of shot in any 20 gauge shell

/\ /\ /\ What these last 2 posts say....

https://www.luckygunner.com/20-gauge...t-tss-5-rounds

20 Gauge - 3" 1-5/8oz. #7/9 Shot - Federal Heavyweight TSS - 5 Rounds

https://www.americanhunter.org/artic...0at%20distance.

1 - 5/16 lead loads a available also. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/2900133403

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Earl54

- Talked to the friend that loaded the shotshells - 1and5/8 oz Hevi-shot brand #4 shot ,sieved for the largest size in the bottle. The shot may be larger than #4, steel shot wads, 3 inch 20 gauge, 1250 fps@ 10 feet. The only shot that fully penetrated hit no bones. At the time I did not think to take pictures, however went back to the spot and the 20 gauge shot was 34 feet from my foot prints to where the pig fell.

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I'd like to know what size holes in the sieve? Hevi is random sized at best. I'd bet it's quite a bit larger than #4 birdshot.

I still want to know the size of the spread on the hog at 11 yards, could not be all that big, but the hog went down, mission accomplished.
have no reloading experience with new fangled hevi shot, but somewhere got a case of em for duck hunting.