squodged Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 Due to the fact that normal lead carts have gone past £140 a 1000 i think everyone will be looking at the steel alternative @ £120 a 1000. Though like everyone i'm worried about steel being harder than lead. With this in mind will i be able to shoot steel carts through my Beretta 682 gold without the barrels blowing up in my face? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shootingmike Posted December 12, 2007 Report Share Posted December 12, 2007 I'll try and keep this simple as it can get very confusing! If you only want to shoot 2 and 3/4 inch steel cartridges then they can be used in any gun that bears standard nitro proof and has the right length chambers. If you want to shoot 3 inch steel for widlfowling then your gun MUST bear the fleur de lys symbol (if your not sure what that looks like, google it!) or be stamped with words along the lines of "superior steel shot proof" "steel shot" or something like that. As I say, that's it in it's simple form. It's because all 3 inch steel in this country is classes as high performance steel and requires specific steel proof testing due to the higher pressures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oly Posted December 12, 2007 Report Share Posted December 12, 2007 Alter your chokes accordingly too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlight32 Posted December 12, 2007 Report Share Posted December 12, 2007 Early steel loads were **** with a very poor wad which caused scoring in the barrels. Theyare a lot better now and you will be ok. clay loads are now 99 quid a thousand in steel at my local so they may be worth a look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry d Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 Lead kills and it was used for that criteria, if cheap cartridges for clays is your need then fine, if it`s for live shooting then NO !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squodged Posted December 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 Alter your chokes accordingly too What do you mean? Tighten or loosen them, extended or flush? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatingisbest Posted December 19, 2007 Report Share Posted December 19, 2007 Alter your chokes accordingly too What do you mean? Tighten or loosen them, extended or flush? For steel you need a choke of 1/2 or less Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mungler Posted December 19, 2007 Report Share Posted December 19, 2007 Simple answer : Yes. Don't do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Posted December 19, 2007 Report Share Posted December 19, 2007 I'll try and keep this simple as it can get very confusing! If you only want to shoot 2 and 3/4 inch steel cartridges then they can be used in any gun that bears standard nitro proof and has the right length chambers. If you want to shoot 3 inch steel for widlfowling then your gun MUST bear the fleur de lys symbol (if your not sure what that looks like, google it!) or be stamped with words along the lines of "superior steel shot proof" "steel shot" or something like that. As I say, that's it in it's simple form. It's because all 3 inch steel in this country is classes as high performance steel and requires specific steel proof testing due to the higher pressures. I completely disagree with this and personally think it is very bad advice to be posting. NO steel shot cartridges should be fired in a gun not proofed for steel, high performance or not. And certainly not with a choke tighter than half. If your gun is not steel proofed then don't use steel, if in doubt ring GMK and ask them please don't just assume. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highlander Posted December 19, 2007 Report Share Posted December 19, 2007 I'll try and keep this simple as it can get very confusing! If you only want to shoot 2 and 3/4 inch steel cartridges then they can be used in any gun that bears standard nitro proof and has the right length chambers. If you want to shoot 3 inch steel for widlfowling then your gun MUST bear the fleur de lys symbol (if your not sure what that looks like, google it!) or be stamped with words along the lines of "superior steel shot proof" "steel shot" or something like that. As I say, that's it in it's simple form. It's because all 3 inch steel in this country is classes as high performance steel and requires specific steel proof testing due to the higher pressures. I completely disagree with this and personally think it is very bad advice to be posting. NO steel shot cartridges should be fired in a gun not proofed for steel, high performance or not. And certainly not with a choke tighter than half. If your gun is not steel proofed then don't use steel, if in doubt ring GMK and ask them please don't just assume. and I'd also add that despite the cost I don't use steel carts. Steel was developed as a military round to wound NOT kill the enemy in order to tie down troops looking after the wounded and that's about what it does to wildfowl. Chichester Wildfowlers did extensive tests on all types of non-toxic carts even before they became the only ones you could use and their comprehensive report makes for some interesting reading (if you're that way inclined). It might be interesting to see in future reports about wounded wildfowl mention of what steel shot actually does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squodged Posted December 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 I contacted GMK with regard to this subject and they told me the following........... You can use steel through your Beretta, just don’t use anymore than ½ choke. The proof pressure is 1200kg or 1176 BAR so don’t exceed the pressure. I've got a mate that shoots them through his Beretta silver pigeon, but he's of the opinion that there okay for close stuff but if you've got a bit of distance to deal with they've not got the power to do the job. But as he says at £110 a thou who cares!! I'm still unsure, will wait to see how much lead carts go up in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted January 4, 2008 Report Share Posted January 4, 2008 Its time a lot of the myths about steel were dispelled. The early steel shells were rubbish , but in recent years they have improved in leaps and bounds. Most of my shooting is at wildfowl and i used to hate the stuff , but this year i got a 3 1\2 inch chambered auto and steel in fast loads kill just as well as lead in ranges up to 45 yards. The main thing to remember when useing steel is go at least 2 or 3 sizes ( I use US size 3s ( 2s UK size ) for medium size duck and 2s for mallard if I think they are going to be rangy ) and use fast loads of between 1350 and 1550 fps. I never use less than 1 1\4 oz loads for duck and often up to 1 9\16 oz loads for geese. To get the best out of steel you need the right gun for the job. On the down side i fired about 1,000 steel ( Express 1 1\8 oz loads ) through a AYA no 3 70 mm chambered gun and they shook the gun to peices. With such light loads range was limited to less than 40 yards. , but within range they did the bussness. I have shot pigeons over decoys with light steel loads and they were ok , but the patten is very tight even in IC barrels there is little aiming error. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlaserF3 Posted January 13, 2008 Report Share Posted January 13, 2008 I will be staying with lead after reading articles like this http://www.chuckhawks.com/steel_shot.htm Is it correct that cartridge manufacturers are running a cartel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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