Interesting steel shot observation

[megasupermagnum]

I'm a duck hunter before all else, and I've always had an interest in ballistics of shotguns. Where most just see holes, I like to take note of how the pellets performed. Where most only choose ammo that "kills" to whatever their satisfaction is, I like to figure out each component.

Today I noticed something I have never seen before. I was hunting a private slough, and there were other hunters 1-2 miles away on a local lake I could hear shooting, same as always. I rather quickly got my limit of ducks, and went in. Upon dressing the birds, I noticed a pellet under a breast of a greenhead mallard. Odd, I thought, as the shot was only 35ish yards. At that range, all of my #4 bismuth pellets should easily pass clean through the bird. Then I noticed it was quite large, bigger than #4. I took note, and saved it. Today I confirmed it is magnetic, it is a steel/iron pellet. It is .150", #2 size. It did not come from me, I have not shot steel shot in a few years now.

What I think happened, is the hunters on the lake had either taken a shot at a bird too far, or this was a far one that was accidentally hit. It happens more than you would think. Numerous times I've tried to shoot a bird, only to have one 3 back in the flock go down. This stray pellet was the only one to hit the duck as far as I could tell (besides a number of my own #4 shot). It passed through only the guts in the back half of the bird, and was certainly a fatal wound. It entered the right side, went through the breast (which is quite thin in the back), through the chest plate, through the guts, just barely through the chest plate on the other side, and was resting against the inside of the breast on the far side.

So what does this tell us about that shot? Not much. I don't know how far it was shot, I don't know what ammo was used. It could have been a poor patterning load, or it could have just as likely been an accidental hit. What it does do is make you wonder just how many ducks fly off wounded. I had one sunday. A duck I know I hit, I saw the feathers, yet it flew off as far as i could see. The problem there was due to a goose call, I had my 10 gauge with B shot in my hands. I did not have the pattern density I needed to make the shot on a medium size duck, which was on the long end, about 50-60 yards. If I had my #4 shot loads, that bird likely would have had pellets land in the vitals at that range.

It also makes me really appreciate my decoy spread, which is apparently good enough fool ducks that were shot only minutes before.

[Hogtamer]

I believe that steel shot is a travesty and I am certain, from my own experience, that it yielded more fatally wounded waterfowl than any amount of ingested lead shot ever. I hunted with 1 1/2 oz of #4s or 6s throughout the 70's and 80's (2 3/4") with scarcely a duck killed that I didn't retreive. I danged near gave it up in the 90's when we started getting checked for lead shot. Now I was in Arkansas last year and killed the limit 3 days in a row with a 20 ga 3" pump using 1 1/4 oz of #4 bismuth @1400 fps with a box of shells. Gadwall, mallards, shovelers and teal. $34 a box, ouch! I did get some cleanly killed speckled geese with a 3 1/2 12 ga benelli but was using those "stacked" geometric pellets in 1 7/8 oz at 1600 fps. It takes an absolute cloud of steel to equal what I could do with a load of lead 50 yrs ago.

[megasupermagnum]

1 1/4 ounce of bismuth in a 20 gauge? At 1400 fps? My 12 gauge load is a real thumper in a 12 gauge, and it is 1 1/2 ounce at 1300 fps.

[centershot]

I believe that steel shot is a travesty and I am certain, from my own experience, that it yielded more fatally wounded waterfowl than any amount of ingested lead shot ever. I hunted with 1 1/2 oz of #4s or 6s throughout the 70's and 80's (2 3/4") with scarcely a duck killed that I didn't retreive. I danged near gave it up in the 90's when we started getting checked for lead shot. Now I was in Arkansas last year and killed the limit 3 days in a row with a 20 ga 3" pump using 1 1/4 oz of #4 bismuth @1400 fps with a box of shells. Gadwall, mallards, shovelers and teal. $34 a box, ouch! I did get some cleanly killed speckled geese with a 3 1/2 12 ga benelli but was using those "stacked" geometric pellets in 1 7/8 oz at 1600 fps. It takes an absolute cloud of steel to equal what I could do with a load of lead 50 yrs ago.

You Betcha'!! My family's home was on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in western NY back in the years "pre-steel". I learned to hunt ducks and geese right there in front of the house with my 12 ga. M37 and 1-7/8 oz. loads of BB's. Once I figured out how to lead the bird it was bang-splash! DRT! I've never been able to equal the performance of that load with steel shot and within a few years after the lead ban I quit hunting waterfowl. Maybe the bismuth shot is the "new" lead shot in performance, I hope so for those who pursue this sport. My Irish frugality prevents me from finding out. I do miss it.

[Hogtamer]

You are right, I double checked and they are 1 1/8 oz aka hevi bismuth
https://www.mackspw.com/Hevi-Bismuth...3-1-1-8-Oz-Box

[megasupermagnum]

You Betcha'!! My family's home was on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in western NY back in the years "pre-steel". I learned to hunt ducks and geese right there in front of the house with my 12 ga. M37 and 1-7/8 oz. loads of BB's. Once I figured out how to lead the bird it was bang-splash! DRT! I've never been able to equal the performance of that load with steel shot and within a few years after the lead ban I quit hunting waterfowl. Maybe the bismuth shot is the "new" lead shot in performance, I hope so for those who pursue this sport. My Irish frugality prevents me from finding out. I do miss it.

Unfortunately, bismuth is still not lead shot. It is a significant step above steel though, and also a significant step up in price. The good news is if you are a good shooter, your shells per bird ratio will go way down compared to steel. In the past, it wasn't unusual for me to blow an entire box of shells for a limit of ducks. With bismuth, it has approximately cut my number in half. It's always hard to tell, because you do get a cripples, everyone does eventually. A bird on the water is a tough target, and what should have been a perfect 6/6 suddenly turns into 10 shots wasted on one duck. I would say on average, I can expect 6 ducks with 10 shots. I go out with 20 rounds, and I've never used them all yet. I've only ever done a perfect 6/6 a couple times.

My family all used to duck hunt. Minnesota banned lead early, 1987 I believe. Great grandpa never went again. My grandpa was always a "speed kills" guy, so he ended up loading his own ammo. He made usable ammo, although after a few years, gave it up, as it was not worth it. His loads were 7/8 and 1 ounce loads, up at 1700-1800 fps. This was at a time, when a lot of ammo was only loaded 1000-1200 fps, and they didn't realize they needed to go up in shot 3-4 sizes. A #4 steel pellet at 1000 fps is rather pathetic. Eventually people realized going up in shot size was the only answer. Suddenly #2 and BB were popular for ducks, and a lot of people were trying to make T and F work for geese. Ammo manufacturers eventually developed loads that were both faster, and carried a decent payload. Despite what many claim, steel shot ammo peaked early to mid 2000's. There has been nothing ground breaking since. The Remington Hypersteel's have issues, often don't pattern well, and they are running over SAMMI pressure specs. Federal's Blackcloud introduced their flitecontrol wad, which in some instances helped patterns, but that has been out at least 15 years.

The problem with steel is that you can only get so much out of it. You can launch it faster, but that requires less shot, and you no longer have an adequate pattern for the range that they can now penetrate. The same is true of larger shot. You can use more shot for denser patterns, but now you might not have adequate penetration. The same is true of smaller shot. I loaded steel shot since a little after Alliant Steel powder came out. I tried my best to eek out that last little bit. With 3 1/2" 12 gauge loads, I could get real close to an honest 45 yard shell, but the recoil was so severe, that I began flinching. I eventually came to really like 1 1/4 ounce of #3 steel at around 1350 fps. I found this load patterned so tightly, that it could kill at 40 yards. The recoil of such a load is much more manageable too.

Going to bismuth, I first started with #5. This worked ok, but I found at 45-50 yards that the pellets were at the limits of penetration for the speeds I'm shooting. Often they would be inside the chest cavity. I switched to a #4 size, and they go clean through most ducks at 50-55 yards. That's great, as the pattern is dense enough to about 55 yards. I find bismuth behaves a lol like lead as far as patterns. Buffer is a good thing, and tighter chokes compared to steel is a good thing. I'm shooting a turkey choke in my Benelli Nova. My Ithaca Mag 10 has a fixed extra-full choke.

Geese are a whole other matter from ducks. While the right steel loads are adequate for a lot of close in shooting for ducks, I've never got geese to come in so close consistently. It has also been rare for a goose to be killed clean with steel shot. Nearly all the geese I saw shot as a kid were brought down with broken wings. Once in a while someone would catch the head. The same was true for me. As many have, I tried large shot, BBB, T, and TT. I just couldn't get the patterns I needed in 12 gauge. Later on, I found a T load that worked in 10 gauge, but only shot a few geese with it. In 12 gauge, I found BB to be about the best compromise. Based on what I saw, it was a 35 yard load at best. Beyond that, BB couldn't penetrate through the organs of a goose. It would break wings at longer ranges, and sometimes get the head though, so it "killed".

Going to bismuth, I already was into 10 gauge. I immediately went to B size shot, the largest they sold. I did shoot a goose with my #4 bismuth loads, and it killed it, but it was head shots that did it. I had to chew that one carefully, lots of shot in the breasts. I've tried a few loads, but all were more or less 2 ounce buffered loads at 1250-1300 fps. This has proven to be an incredibly lethal combo. These penetrate to the organs to about 60 yards, which is about where the patterns are limited to. What used to be a flopping goose chase to finish it off, is now BANG, and feet flipping in the air. I've never seen anything like it with steel shot. I honestly believe steel shot is unethical for geese beyond 35 yards.

Some will argue that 40-60 yard shots are unethical. Like it or not, these are the shots most people take, even if they do not know it. Ducks look a lot close over water. You still have to practice a lot, and pick your shots. I'm not going to be shooting a duck straight overhead 50 yards up. The only time I take those shots is nice smooth gliding crossing shots, which is pretty common. It's rare to get ducks landing right in your face at 15 yards as some claim. I don't even see ducks landing into groups of live ducks like that! They come by sailing. If they like what they see, they might come in, or they might make another (higher) pass or three and fly off. This is for open water hunting anyway. If I was hunting a small creek or pothole, my approach would be completely different. I would be grabbing the 16 gauge, and shots would be close and quick.

Speaking of hunting open water, I'd like to share the decoy spread I've been using. I had noticed ducks would often skirt decoys, and even live ducks by a good margin. I decided to essentially make a runway. I set a series of decoys real close to the reeds in a long stretch. None were more than about 10 yards from the reeds. I left the area right in front of the boat more bare. I then set another row of decoys out in open water, parallel with the reeds, but way out 80 or so yards. Just about all my decoys are canadian geese. I had about 10 next to shore, 20 out in the open, and about 6 ducks mixed in on the shore side. Goose decoys work great for ducks, and seem to have the draw power of at least 3-4 duck decoys. Even though I only set out about three dozen decoys, I would estimate the results as though I had set out 125 individual duck decoys. That's a lot of work saved when you hunt alone. On dead calm days, I'll also set out a jerk rig, 4 ducks on one line, connected to a bungee cord. This motion seems more effective than spinner decoys. This left a huge runway, and ducks would zip right through. Since they seemed to skirt the decoys on the inside, they were actually closer than before. Early in the morning, ducks would often zip by dang near close enough to club with the push pole. Later on they seemed to cruise right through the middle, providing perfect 40 yard crossing shots. It is a bit of an odd spread, but has worked 2 weeks in a row now. It even fooled a duck that was already shot.

[GhostHawk]

#1 I agree with hogtamer.
Steel shot is one of the reasons I quit hunting waterfowl.

#2 I happened to have some #4 steel loaded one day for Mallards when a flock of Canadian Honkers came into range.
I dropped 3, all 3 head shots. My buddy shooting buckshot was rocking them and watching the pellets shake out of the feathers.
He turned about 3 shades of green and asked me howtheheckdidyoudothat?

I told him to pick up my emptys, all were #4's.

Convinced both of us, but you do have to lead them enough and hit them in the head.
Bismuth would I'm sure be much more deadly overall.

[megasupermagnum]

How far were you shooting, that buckshot was stopping in the feathers? 4 buck would penetrate to kill at an insane range 80+ yards for sure. The problem is with 4 buck, the pattern isn't there for a sure kill at range. The problem with your #4 steel, is that a lot of shot would be in the meat. I know people who swear by small shot, and head shots, It works to a certain degree, but I never could get it to work for me. I don't like to chew so gingerly.

[tomme boy]

I usually only ever used about 9-10 decoys when hunting on the Mississippi River. I killed just as many or more ducks and geese than the guys that put out 100 or more. But I also hunted alone. And my boat was a custom wood and fiberglass layout type of boat. I built and designed it off of looking at the Devlin Scaup. It ran 30mph with a 2 stroke Merc 15hp. Most of my shots were 20-25 yds. They just did not see me is why. But speed kills with steel. You just have to play with the chokes to get them to work right.

We also grew up with lead. The first stuff that came out was horrible as you all remember. We reloaded our steel at first as none of the loads from the factory would kill consistently. We did a lot of loading at about 1450fps. That was all we were able to get to before STEEL powder came out. Then the factory loads caught up to the way we were loading at around the 1450 mark. They always worked so well we started to use PMC 1.25 at the 1450 area. They killed awesome but we did not have to load so that was the route we took for a long while.

[Cap'n Morgan]

My steel-experience matches you guys'. Steel became mandatory in Denmark in 1996 and the first factory loads were absolutely useless but improved some later on. For many years I shot nothing but 1-1/8 with #2 shot when hunting everything from teals to eiders. They worked alright, but you had to accept that those 45 to 50 yards shots were a thing of the past. These days I shoot high velocity 1-1/8 #3 (1525 fps) and they will kill pheasants and mallards cleanly out to 40 yards from a modified choke. As for geese I use 3-1/2" shells in #1 or #2, but actually prefer to snipe them on the ground with my 6mm PPC.

The idea of shooting for the head of the goose using smaller shot has some merit - especially if the birds are close, but unless you're an expert it will lead to an awful lot of crippled birds. As I recall, some years ago Sweden (where you can still use lead shot) made shot #6 mandatory for shooting geese, believing head- and neckshots with the smaller shot would be more efficient! It was, of course, a disaster and they had to go back to the larger size.

[Harter66]

Steel .
I shot a ton of ducks and a few geese with 112 1s or 105 Bs in a 1-1/16 oz load over 4756 and a CSD 118 in a 2-3/4 case via my BPS Field Special Steel . The Bs landed 98-101 inside 27" at 40 yd that leaves 4-7 pellets outside of that the advertised velocity for the load was 1470 MV . With a 4.5-4.6 gr pellet and a BC of like .12 I had just over 1# per gr at 40 yd .
Fed 3" BB 1-1/2 oz and 5 good hits on a <40 yd honker straight into the wind ,so I had lots of time to shuck the other 2 rounds in , made me really look at what it took to make a clean kill .

First off an 1-1/8 oz of steel has the same pellet count as 1-3/4 oz of lead size for size . By weight you have to step up 2 shot sizes . Then wind resistance comes in and you have to really walk the line here . The old 1-1/4 of #6-2 shot 27.5 gr of Unique at 1300-+ throwing 95% in a 30" 40yd circle killed probably 1000 or more birds out of Dad's old 32" can't get a dime in the full choke M12 Win . My Steel Special Browning actually shot tighter patterns with a denser pattern in more or less a tight modified . The recoil was lower also . I really don't have a bird count for it but I can tell you it's a bunch . One season I had 104 days of season , traditionally 10/12 to 1/15 via the closest Saturday to open and Sunday to close , I had 72 possible non-working days , and hunted 68 of those with an average harvest of 5 ......one day was 7 ducks , 2 geese , 2 cottontail , another was a single coyote killed dead with 1-1/16 oz of steel Bs at about 40 yd (probably just a damned unlucky dog) .

With steel speed kills has a different meaning , you can drive it as hard as you like but you reach a shot size where there's not enough weight to push the pellet through the feathers . I killed a goose once that had BBB,T&F shot in the breast and balls of feathers under the skin . My own experience validates even at reasonable ranges BB and up will do this unless held to short range .
1s and Bs were my mainstay after I started loading my own . I hunted big water mostly and set my last dek 45 paces down the beach both ways and 1 straight out about 30 yd depending on which blind I was in . One set up had a just submerged island at about 65 yd out . Inside the deks dead birds about 85% .
Small water I set 12 deks, 8 in the "J" and a rogue pair at 40 ish left and right where the set allowed .
I doubled often on flushes late season , likely by mistake as often as skill . I tripped mallards once .

Back in the lead days Dad killed a swan at 80 yd in a snow storm by mistake the snows were thick , honest mistake . I killed a snow at about 70 yd with 5s and a legal swan at 50 the same day .

Yes I picked up a lot of cripples , I dropped off a lot of birds full of gang green and ate around more healed broken wings than I care to count too . I had to change my mindset some , I let more than a few birds go , and I stayed hunkered down and shot a bunch on the rise out of the blocks .

I never understood outside of pass shooting where there was less than a mile between roost and feed why anyone would need to shoot fowl past about 50-55 yd I mean if you hold just a few seconds more they will often as not get closer in deks if you're jumping canals maybe you need to work on your sneak I mean it's not as if you're 8,000 ft surrounded by white granite flagstone .

[megasupermagnum]

Steel .
I shot a ton of ducks and a few geese with 112 1s or 105 Bs in a 1-1/16 oz load over 4756 and a CSD 118 in a 2-3/4 case via my BPS Field Special Steel . The Bs landed 98-101 inside 27" at 40 yd that leaves 4-7 pellets outside of that the advertised velocity for the load was 1470 MV . With a 4.5-4.6 gr pellet and a BC of like .12 I had just over 1# per gr at 40 yd .
Fed 3" BB 1-1/2 oz and 5 good hits on a <40 yd honker straight into the wind ,so I had lots of time to shuck the other 2 rounds in , made me really look at what it took to make a clean kill .

First off an 1-1/8 oz of steel has the same pellet count as 1-3/4 oz of lead size for size . By weight you have to step up 2 shot sizes . Then wind resistance comes in and you have to really walk the line here . The old 1-1/4 of #6-2 shot 27.5 gr of Unique at 1300-+ throwing 95% in a 30" 40yd circle killed probably 1000 or more birds out of Dad's old 32" can't get a dime in the full choke M12 Win . My Steel Special Browning actually shot tighter patterns with a denser pattern in more or less a tight modified . The recoil was lower also . I really don't have a bird count for it but I can tell you it's a bunch . One season I had 104 days of season , traditionally 10/12 to 1/15 via the closest Saturday to open and Sunday to close , I had 72 possible non-working days , and hunted 68 of those with an average harvest of 5 ......one day was 7 ducks , 2 geese , 2 cottontail , another was a single coyote killed dead with 1-1/16 oz of steel Bs at about 40 yd (probably just a damned unlucky dog) .

With steel speed kills has a different meaning , you can drive it as hard as you like but you reach a shot size where there's not enough weight to push the pellet through the feathers . I killed a goose once that had BBB,T&F shot in the breast and balls of feathers under the skin . My own experience validates even at reasonable ranges BB and up will do this unless held to short range .
1s and Bs were my mainstay after I started loading my own . I hunted big water mostly and set my last dek 45 paces down the beach both ways and 1 straight out about 30 yd depending on which blind I was in . One set up had a just submerged island at about 65 yd out . Inside the deks dead birds about 85% .
Small water I set 12 deks, 8 in the "J" and a rogue pair at 40 ish left and right where the set allowed .
I doubled often on flushes late season , likely by mistake as often as skill . I tripped mallards once .

Back in the lead days Dad killed a swan at 80 yd in a snow storm by mistake the snows were thick , honest mistake . I killed a snow at about 70 yd with 5s and a legal swan at 50 the same day .

Yes I picked up a lot of cripples , I dropped off a lot of birds full of gang green and ate around more healed broken wings than I care to count too . I had to change my mindset some , I let more than a few birds go , and I stayed hunkered down and shot a bunch on the rise out of the blocks .

I never understood outside of pass shooting where there was less than a mile between roost and feed why anyone would need to shoot fowl past about 50-55 yd I mean if you hold just a few seconds more they will often as not get closer in deks if you're jumping canals maybe you need to work on your sneak I mean it's not as if you're 8,000 ft surrounded by white granite flagstone .

Wow. I always used a 30" circle, and I have never been able to get 100% patterns at 40 yards, not even close. I spent 10 years loading steel, and the very best I ever got was around 85%. Most loads were closer to 70%, which isn't that bad. For the most part, I found more open chokes worked great with steel. Modified was always a mainstay. The very best I ever got was my above mentioned 1 1/4 ounce load of #3 steel, and I shot that from my Benelli Nova with a Carlsons full choke. Modified was not that far behind, but the IC choke left a lot to be deisred. I never did try an IM. That gun never did shoot B's well. For whatever reason, the 870 absolutely loved B's, although it was still a long shot from a 100% pattern. There's no doubt those tight patterns helped you out with that big shot. 105 pellets is not a lot, and even with those tight patterns, you are getting to the limits of of a sure hit on a duck at 40 yards. Even though my own load patterned wider, with #3 shot, I still had 165ish pellets in that circle.

I never did have problems with penetration with the big BBB and T shot, I certainly didn't find shot stuck in the feathers. I do not know why that would happen. I never saw anything to indicate a smaller pellet would penetrate better. You state you don't see why anyone would need to shoot past 50-55 yards. For the most part I agree. The problem is no steel shot is going to be bringing ducks down every single time at 50-55 yards. You either get the pattern, or the penetration from steel, you don't get both past about 45 yards. I think that is where some guys fudge a bit. They choose a bigger size like #1, and accept a certain number of "misses" at longer range which in reality is inadequate pattern. It might even result in a gut shot duck that flys to a guy 2 miles away.

[Harter66]

I didn't have a 30" compass .

The bit about range was more a jab at all of those that can't imagine why anyone would shoot a deer 300 yd away that have never hunted above the tree line .

Like I said you have to reimagine how you hunt with steel in as much as you would to hunt deer in the Rockies with a 30-30 .

Impasse reached . Shoot what you think is right .

[megasupermagnum]

I didn't have a 30" compass .

The bit about range was more a jab at all of those that can't imagine why anyone would shoot a deer 300 yd away that have never hunted above the tree line .

Like I said you have to reimagine how you hunt with steel in as much as you would to hunt deer in the Rockies with a 30-30 .

Impasse reached . Shoot what you think is right .

Absolutely, and with steel shot, I found ways to make it happen. Unfortunately it meant more poor days, and lots of ducks passing by. A great hunter should be able to figure out which hole they like to sit in, and set up there. I'm not so great apparently, and I miss the X more often than not. Now I'm able to set up on good traffic zones, which means lots of ducks, but also means lots of 40-60 yard shots. If I could shoot lead, I would.

Hunting is such a diverse subject. Even here in Minnesota, deer hunting can range from creek and swamp bottoms, to open farm fields, to clear cuts. While there is a point of ridiculousness, I never could understand why some look down at longer shots at game. I just don't see why you would carry a scoped bolt action rifle, and not expect to be able to take animals at 300 yards. To each his own, as long as they leave me be.

[Rally]

I believe that steel shot is a travesty and I am certain, from my own experience, that it yielded more fatally wounded waterfowl than any amount of ingested lead shot ever. I hunted with 1 1/2 oz of #4s or 6s throughout the 70's and 80's (2 3/4") with scarcely a duck killed that I didn't retreive. I danged near gave it up in the 90's when we started getting checked for lead shot. Now I was in Arkansas last year and killed the limit 3 days in a row with a 20 ga 3" pump using 1 1/4 oz of #4 bismuth @1400 fps with a box of shells. Gadwall, mallards, shovelers and teal. $34 a box, ouch! I did get some cleanly killed speckled geese with a 3 1/2 12 ga benelli but was using those "stacked" geometric pellets in 1 7/8 oz at 1600 fps. It takes an absolute cloud of steel to equal what I could do with a load of lead 50 yrs ago.

Couldn't agree more. The effects of steel's poor ability shows in the pheasant fields in SD also. It's rare my dogs don't find crippled birds in WMA's or WPA with nasty remnants of steel in them.

[centershot]

Is non-toxic shot required for pheasant hunting in South Dakota?

[megasupermagnum]

Is non-toxic shot required for pheasant hunting in South Dakota?

Only GPA and WPA public lands. It also happens that those two types make up a significant bulk of public land in eastern SD. The other thing is a lot of hunters jump pheasants while duck or goose hunting.

At least they don't require it for turkeys. Minnesota requires non-toxic shot for a number of public lands for turkey hunting. I've known two people to shoot turkeys with #4 steel shot. Both ended in hand to beak combat.

[megasupermagnum]

This thread finally got me to try out my Mossberg with my favorite load. I was so surprised by the result, I tried again at 50 yards. It again surpassed expectations.

Warning the following is not to be considered load data. Use at your own risk.

12 gauge Federal 3" .090" plastic base (hunting) hull
Federal 209A
34.5 gr Bluedot
Federal 12S4
1 1/2 ounce bismuth
PSB buffer
fold crimp

Pressure unknown
1275-1300 fps

I've been shooting this load for a few years now, and it has never failed to amaze. I had been using it in my Benelli, but after today, I'm going to give my Mossberg 500 a try, with a 30" fixed full choke barrel. Using #4 shot, it shot 75%-80% (depending on counting holes on the outline) in a 30" circle at 50 yards! I've never got these kinds of results with steel shot.

[Hogtamer]

Msm, if you would try an equal or couple of grains lesser amount of steel powder you will never load blue dot again. Higher velocity, less pressure. You can test it yourself and see.

[megasupermagnum]

Msm, if you would try an equal or couple of grains lesser amount of steel powder you will never load blue dot again. Higher velocity, less pressure. You can test it yourself and see.

I loaded STEEL powder since around 2005ish when I first got into reloading. It was the latest and greatest at the time. I loaded plenty of it for about 10 years with good satisfaction with steel shot. I do not like STEEL much anymore. Sure, it can throw shot fast. I never found it to be that consistent, it is the worst metering powder I've ever tried by far, and load data is non-existent outside of steel shot. In these longer barrels it does not matter, but in a shorter barrel say 26" and under, STEEL is horrendous with noise and muzzle flash. STEEL powder is a one trick pony, it works great for steel shot. Outside of that, it is not that impressive. I did see one guy, possibly yourself, had great accuracy with it in a slug load. That hasn't been my experience, and I've found it to be very poor for slugs.

I tried some bismuth loads with STEEL powder a couple years ago, using RSI data in their SAM1 wad. It patterned ok, nothing amazing. Velocity was not that much faster than my above load. I do not put the value on speed that some do. I haven't loaded STEEL in anything since that time. I still have 2 or 3 pounds of it, but I don't have any interest in ever using it again. I sure don't miss having to weigh powder for each shell. I may even try to sell it.