Ducks and Cast Shot

[Johnch]

Today is opening day of Ohio's Marsh duck season ( Ohio has 3 zones )

A couple of us all felt like going Old School for the morning hunt at the Marsh
I used a Winchester 1897 ,30" full plain barrel
There was also a Winchester SxS and a J C Higgens bolt action shotgun

All 3 were 2 3/4" 12 gau guns

I bought some Bismuth / Tin alloy from Rotometals a while back
I have cast 2 sizes of shot .... about #4 and about #1 , the pellets ended up a little smaller than I wanted ... Oh Well LOL
I made up the molds to make a stack of shot like the Lee Buck shot molds
The #4 is for ducks and the #1 was for Canada Geese
Ducks were willing to decoy , but we only saw 1 flock of geese and they were 1/2 mile away

Ducks are not to smart yeat
So the Mallards decoyed well and the Wood Ducks slowed down and gave us a chance

No great shooting skills , as non of the shotguns were our normal choice
But we were out to have fun

We ended up with 9 wood ducks and 2 mallards for the 3 of us

I loaded the shells that all 3 of us used
I made up a load of almost 1 1/4 oz of the #4 pellets at 1280 FPS using Bluedot powder

I will admit all 3 of us missed ducks that we should have hit
But we backed each other up and we didn't loose any cripples

The only bad part about the hunt
Was the mostly cloud free sky
So a lot of the wood ducks came through early before shooting time
Also we only had 3 mallards come close .... only 2 of them decoyed

I will be heading back out again with the Winchester 1897 in the morning
But we plan on field hunting for geese

John

[Eddie Southgate]

Got pictures of the mold and shot ??

[quilbilly]

What is the melting temp. of your bismuth alloy and how does it effect the furnace? Have you tried any boolits with that alloy? IF the California disease spreads, this is an interesting concept.

[garandsrus]

We got 4 woodies between two of us today, which is the MI limit. We saw a lot more. We didn’t see a Mallard!

[buckwheatpaul]

Glad you and your friends had a great hunt.....I love the old guns and I have a 1929 Win. Mod 12 that I love to use.....

WHERE ARE THE PICTURES!

[richhodg66]

I love this! Not that much of a shotgunner, but I like the old ones and on the public land I hunt, it's mandated non-toxic shot for everything now. That pretty much relegates all the grandpa guns to wall hanger status unless you shoot Bismuth.

How long does it take to cast an ounce of #4 shot? That is a labor of love.

[robinsroost]

Congratulations on a successful hunt. I also like the old shotguns, I have an old Fox BSE, bored Mod and Full and my dad's old 870 Remington bored full. For upland birds, I prefer over/under's in 12 or 20ga...……..robin

[pls1911]

Few things get me pumped up like the first frost, old guns, and old friends.... and we're ALL a little grey at the muzzle.

[Markopolo]

our season opened oct 1 but there were no birds in sight, only seaguls eating up the last of the dying salmon.. i been scouting at least 2 times per week, about an 8 mile or more walk.. day before yesterday saw about 150 mallards and around 40 duskys and lessers.. so they are trickling in. i have seen several very large flocks moving south along the coast the the weather is driving them south for the last couple days at least on the west coastal zone...

so far, only a couple teal have fallen...

marko

PS... winter is comming

[SSGOldfart]

Marko they haven't gotten this far south Yet, only saw two yesterday we have a good crop of woodies again this year I haven't seen a greenhead in the last two year's??

[Johnch]

Got pictures of the mold and shot ??

Sorry , my camera took a swim this summer and is DOA

John

[Johnch]

Also the geese in our fields have not wanted to decoy

So ... as of now I have only shot 1 Canada Goose
And it was a lone goose that took a look at my mallard decoys after I called in close
Also #1 steel shot was used .... so not a cast kill

John

[white eagle]

doing way better than me been out twice so far
nothing flying nothing close
need a cesna to get them

[chaos]

Today is opening day of Ohio's Marsh duck season ( Ohio has 3 zones )

A couple of us all felt like going Old School for the morning hunt at the Marsh
I used a Winchester 1897 ,30" full plain barrel
There was also a Winchester SxS and a J C Higgens bolt action shotgun

All 3 were 2 3/4" 12 gau guns

I bought some Bismuth / Tin alloy from Rotometals a while back
I have cast 2 sizes of shot .... about #4 and about #1 , the pellets ended up a little smaller than I wanted ... Oh Well LOL
I made up the molds to make a stack of shot like the Lee Buck shot molds
The #4 is for ducks and the #1 was for Canada Geese
Ducks were willing to decoy , but we only saw 1 flock of geese and they were 1/2 mile away

Ducks are not to smart yeat
So the Mallards decoyed well and the Wood Ducks slowed down and gave us a chance

No great shooting skills , as non of the shotguns were our normal choice
But we were out to have fun

We ended up with 9 wood ducks and 2 mallards for the 3 of us

I loaded the shells that all 3 of us used
I made up a load of almost 1 1/4 oz of the #4 pellets at 1280 FPS using Bluedot powder

I will admit all 3 of us missed ducks that we should have hit
But we backed each other up and we didn't loose any cripples

The only bad part about the hunt
Was the mostly cloud free sky
So a lot of the wood ducks came through early before shooting time
Also we only had 3 mallards come close .... only 2 of them decoyed

I will be heading back out again with the Winchester 1897 in the morning
But we plan on field hunting for geese

John

I need a mould to make BB or BBB lead shot.