new for 2020 waterfowling~

[snow1]

Since we're in a lull this time of year duck wise,locals either got shot up or pushed out,so waiting for the migration to start which may be soon as snow up north is forcasted and cooler temps in to canada and border region.

Sooo,took the new benelli SBE4 for a spin,as I'm not liking my beretta A400,which is a darn good shotgun but after 17 years shooting benelli the change to a different manufacturer has few quirks this old timer either can't or won't adjust to as he's to stubborn.

this new benelli shoots 100% high at 30 yds which I perfer for rising targets,beretta shoots flat 50/50 at 30yds so this means shooter needs to cover the target on rising  shot,meaning target is outof sight at that moment you pull the trigger,that split second the bird could dip ,flare in the wind or anything resulting in a miss.

Then  shot some new waterfowl ammo by Hevi shot,out of the benelli and my A400 to check patterns,using Briley ported extended chokes,test loads were 3" duces and #4's.

Hevi shot is the premium waterfowl ammo today,performance may be better than the old days of lead(100% hevi shot pellets) but dang expensive ammo,BUT if the indian does his job shooting I found you shoot less and have less crippels if any.

this year Hevi phased out a  less expensive load called " hevi metal" ,this ammo competes price wise with other premium steel loads from federal and winchester only a step up because hevi metal was 50% steel and 50% hevi shot pellets in smaller diameter pellets,so if you shoot #2's  for example you get 50% #2 steel pellets and 50% #4 pellets in hevi shot ,the smaller pellets gives each shot shell 20% more pellets and more pellets on target,This year the new hevi metal is the same concept only they use bismuth instead of hevi shot,still this ammo will perform better than 100% steel pellets no matter the make and patterns nicely outof both shotguns using I/C and a more dense pattern in IM(improved modified)

The reason why is pellet weight and density with hevi shot pellets and bismuth

example.steel pellets weigh 7 gr,bismuth is 9g hevi shot (tungsen iron ,nickel and tin hence the price tag) 12g,leads weighs 10g.

Example why density and weight is important;

take a whiffle ball and a basball,which one will travel further when thrown?of course the baseball more dense,heavier...same with shot pellets,the more dense adds weight,more weight add's longer kill range.

SO my take over decoys shots inside 40yds any steel loads work just fine no matter the make,But for guyz like me who no longer hunt ducks over water and pass shoot geese ,shots exceeding 50yds I'm all in on the heavier pellet loads such as hevi shot for the down range kinetic energy plus using smaller diameter shot rather than shooting 12ga 3.5" ammo (which pattern suck)in BBB or T shot size which often results in more cripples at longer distances.This is my PO only guyz,as I'm in the field from sept to mid april,bangin ducks/geese,whew that was a long winded thread....

[Bobberineyes]

Thats a pretty good read snow. I'm all about patterning a new shotgun,  but its been lots of years since  I needed to do that.  I hear ya , shot changes with manufacturs over the years which one should pattern again. It used to be cut and dried you went goose hunting one grabbed BBB, T's and F's. Now its a head scratcher on what you think works. I'm old school and still have old school shells laying around with plenty of knock down power. Shot speed,  now that's came a long way over the years..  To me its pull the trigger and go from there.

[snow1]

Thanx for the note,another kinda new shot that's out is call "TSS" (tungsen super shot) it weighs 18grs/cc( almost twice as heavy as lead) right now its the rave for turkey hunters over lead but damn spendy shot sizes are #7 and #9,

But the plus size with smaller pellets is more pellets on target,

Example 3" #9 of TSS shell has 637 pellets common lead #4 3" shell has 235 pelletsBUT  hold on to your wallet,a 5 lack of TSS  cost is $40,federal boasts 25rd box $72.00,I'll stick to copper plated lead myself making head shots,has worked for the last 20+ years.

Agreed,few folks pattern they're shotgun,today's ammo paired with a good high end after market choke makes a huge difference in performance,even after a couple years things change,invector chokes get blown out with large steel pellet sizes in tighter constriction chokes,so the serious shooters check the pattern board every year with new ammo that comes out...

I shoot for a darn good shotgun accessory company call "Briley" they are well known for gunsmithing,and shotgun chokes,carlson shotgun chokes is another dandy company,we waterfowlers have herd of "pattern master chokes" way over rated in my opinion after test patterns and different brands of ammo,I  mic'd pattern master "long range ported choke" years back before  I signed with briley, for $90 this choke was an I/C (improved cyclinder) built for large diameter shot shell pellets,not worth noting using pellet sizes smaller than #2's beyond 35yards,so it boils down to what company can promote the best,I'm all about perfornance

FYI.