max choke for hevi shot

[roughshooter]

I am quite happy to use the sintered Hevishot through any choke constriction and in any gun with the correct chambers. I have happily put it through an SRM .675 terror choke and would be quite happy to use it in an English 8 bore. All the above would be with a suitable wad of course.

I have the RSI Hevishot manual which should be used for loading it. There is also plenty of info in the Lyman and Ballistic products manuals.

 

Whether it is the old or new hevishot the loading should be treated the same

[roughshooter]

As I recall the 3" 36g were the old hevishot and the 3" 34g were sintered.

In 2 3/4" the 32g were old type and the 31g were new type

[motty]

 

Well, you can but why would you when the box states specifically what sort of barrel the cartridges will be suitable for?

 

This isn't steel we're talking about and it's not the same question as "can I put standard / high performance steel through X or Y gun?".

 

The issue with hevi-shot is not only that it's (marginally) harder than lead, but also that it's denser. It's going to come out of the barrel at the same speed as lead, but with more momentum and less tendency to deform, which means if you put it down a barrel with a very tight choke, you'll probably send the choke along with the shot reasonably regularly, hence the prohibition on the box.

 

You can sometimes get away with tight chokes and large steel shot - it's 1/3 less dense than lead, ergo has 1/3 less momentum and this rescues "fine English guns" somewhat from the hardness issue. Doesn't completely prevent it, but reduces the effect. Put the density back up to 12g/cm³ and you're asking for trouble - ballooned muzzles, lost multichokes and the like.

 

I would strongly advise the OP to follow the advice on the box. If you don't like / don't agree with the technical argument, think about it this way: hevi-shot is a rare case of advertisers' claims that "this shot hits harder than lead" actually being true. It's going to hit the birds harder and it'll do the same with your chokes.

 

Edit - As most of us are aware, harder shot patterns better because of reduced pellet deformation. Hevi-shot is harder than lead and should pattern better, so the need for a tighter-than-½ choke is reduced.

I don't really get what the density of the shot has to do with anything. Going with your logic, like for like load speed would be more damaging to chokes using lead as opposed to steel! The larger the steel/old hevi pellets and the faster it's pushed, the more likely it is to damage a barrel. I don't think density comes into the equation. No steel or hevishot should come into contact with the barrel.

 

Thanks for your reply but the only recipes I can find for heavy weight shot are RSI vol 3 and ballistic products manuals but these refer to the old miss shaped heavy shot not the lighter softer hevi referred too by the OP. these recipes also use components un-available here, C&G do a version of sintered shot is that comparable to the express shot ?

The different types of hevi can be used with the same recipes. I use heavyweight 13 and old hevi shot and load to the same recipes.

[neutron619]

I don't really get what the density of the shot has to do with anything. Going with your logic, like for like load speed would be more damaging to chokes using lead as opposed to steel! The larger the steel/old hevi pellets and the faster it's pushed, the more likely it is to damage a barrel. I don't think density comes into the equation. No steel or hevishot should come into contact with the barrel.

 

Well we covered all this above - my point is based on individual pellet energies which are higher with hevi-shot due to increased density for a particular pellet diameter.

 

No, they shouldn't come into contact with a barrel, but they sometimes do, and even through a thick(ish) plastic wad, they still impact the choke to some degree. Regardless of all of that, they're also incompressible - the wad might help reduce the consequences of that, but won't cure all of it.

 

I think cats_by_fly and I probably covered all of the salient points relating to whether or not density is important above. In the end, it's up to you and what you want to put through your guns. I can have an opinion, but it's of no relevance to you and I'm not saying it should be - only giving my own take on it.

 

Ultimately, none of us are inside the barrel looking at what happens in slow-motion when the gun is fired, so we'll never know for sure.

[figgy]

So what's the final verdict on what choke to use?

 

Figgy

[islandgun]

I am quite happy to use the sintered Hevishot through any choke constriction and in any gun with the correct chambers. I have happily put it through an SRM .675 terror choke and would be quite happy to use it in an English 8 bore. All the above would be with a suitable wad of course.

I have the RSI Hevishot manual which should be used for loading it. There is also plenty of info in the Lyman and Ballistic products manuals.

 

Whether it is the old or new hevishot the loading should be treated the same

I failed to mention im loading for 10g, both the rsi and bp recipes specify federal and fiochi cases not available in uk, my point is that given the sintered is very similar to lead, suitable for older English guns and choke and given you could use a wad to minimise contact with the barrel such as a multi metal, would it be possible to load recipes intended for lead. sorry to labour this point but I have 3kg of hevi and limited loading components. cheers IG

[neutron619]

Well, to reiterate, my take is that if the manufacturer advises ½ or less, to go with that. They'll have fired a lot more cartridges in a lot more guns than I ever will.

 

After that, go according to the ranges you shoot. With steel, ½ choke in my semi shoots like a Full choke does with lead and the ¼ choke with steel is more like ½ with lead. If it were me, I'd use that as my guide. If I wanted ½ choke performance with hevi-shot, I'd probably start by trying the choke marked "¼" and if I wanted full choke performance, I'd start with the one marked "½".

 

Up to you in the end though - best if you can test whatever you're going to use on sheet of cardboard. Avoid an actual pattern plate - you may find that hevi-shot bounces in much the same way steel does - anyone who's done that experiment will tell you how uncomfortable it is.

[roughshooter]

I failed to mention im loading for 10g, both the rsi and bp recipes specify federal and fiochi cases not available in uk, my point is that given the sintered is very similar to lead, suitable for older English guns and choke and given you could use a wad to minimise contact with the barrel such as a multi metal, would it be possible to load recipes intended for lead. sorry to labour this point but I have 3kg of hevi and limited loading components. cheers IG

I would have no issue in swapping fed cases for cheddite - esp if you are roll finishing them. But if you are worrying then John Morrish at shotgun reloading is having some new 10g federal cases in the next few weeks but I don't expect they will be cheap!

Edited August 29, 2014 by roughshooter

[islandgun]

I would have no issue in swapping fed cases for cheddite - esp if you are roll finishing them. But if you are worrying then John Morrish at shotgun reloading is having some new 10g federal cases in the next few weeks but I don't expect they will be cheap!

That's good to know thanks for that roughshooter I can source cheddite OK, Gaep or c&g, I still wish I could find a recipe for sintered rather than the old heavy or even heavyweight 13 as mentioned by motty, I just looked up 13 and in a test hitting it with a hammer dented it, If you hit the hevi I have it would be dust, Im increasingly being drawn to loading it as bismuth or lead,

sorry to those who are reading this expecting something interesting

[Big Mat]

That's good to know thanks for that roughshooter I can source cheddite OK, Gaep or c&g, I still wish I could find a recipe for sintered rather than the old heavy or even heavyweight 13 as mentioned by motty, I just looked up 13 and in a test hitting it with a hammer dented it, If you hit the hevi I have it would be dust, Im increasingly being drawn to loading it as bismuth or lead,

sorry to those who are reading this expecting something interesting

 

If it is hevi shot, use any available hevi shot data and it will be fine.

[islandgun]

the shot came from the same carts as the OP cheers

[motty]

I patterned hevi through 1/2 choke in my guns. It was simply not tight enough for high geese. That's why I use an IM Briley (not patterned yet, but probably not as tight as I would like) and a .655 Terror in my 12 and a .705 Terror in my 10.