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Shot size for inland duck shooting


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The best shot size will depend on what non toxic cartridges you use. Steel is much less dence than tungstone or hevi shot so you need to step up a size or two in steel. Steel pattens very tight so the lower pellet count is counteracted by the shot being much closer togeather than say bismuth.

 

In steel I use 3" 3s US size for flighting mallard going down to 4s for teal and wigeon. In bismuth and Tungstone I use 6s or 5s and if shooting a flightline where the birds are going to be highish Hevi shot 5s.

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When non toxic shot was first made a legal requirement we all had a play with different things. I saw a lot of ducks crippled with steel, luckily I started on Bismuth 4s and 5s which is where I still am today. Hevi shot also works well but is very expensive. Expensive yes but only a small fraction of the overall cost of the sport.

 

I mainly use Bismuth 5s on inland duck but have taken an odd goose with them.

 

A

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When non toxic shot was first made a legal requirement we all had a play with different things. I saw a lot of ducks crippled with steel, luckily I started on Bismuth 4s and 5s which is where I still am today. Hevi shot also works well but is very expensive. Expensive yes but only a small fraction of the overall cost of the sport.

I mainly use Bismuth 5s on inland duck but have taken an odd goose with them.

A

 

A fellow practicioner. Chichester Wildfowlers did extensive field tests on all non toxic shot available at the time (a while before the requirement became law) and steel was I believe regarded with disdain. The report was and maybe still is available from the Chichester Club. They might have even updated it by now. Unless used at short ranges it wounds more than it kills. I started using Bismuth, again before it became a legal requirement, and have stuck with it ever since as I didn't notice any difference (a shot size larger) than with lead. I know it's more expensive than everything else but how many does a wildfowler put through his gun/s in a season...not enough to break the bank I'll bet. There you stand with a gun in your hand that cost what £100's maybe £1000's dressed in a shooting finery that set you back £100's with boots on that cost again £100's and decoys thjat set you back a tidy sum AND you're gonna complain about spending a £1 a cartridge. Think on!

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This is potentially more difficult than it appears as there is no easy answer, as far as cleanly doing the job the most effective medium is most likely Hevi-shot but few can afford it so most of us will look to use the most effective means our pocket can purchase and that will differ for all of us, I suspect the most important discussion I have each year is with guns who confuse pellet count/size with cartridge weight.

 

Remember, density (weight relative to size) is the key in down range energy (effective killing range) in simple terms the less the pellet weighs the shorter distance it will kill at as it runs out of steam so to speak.

 

Steel whilst being light (relative to lead) is effective as long as you use a larger pellet, for Geese I load 5mm steel shot and get about 80 in a 10 bore 3.5 inch cart I have test fired at 50 yards and they pass right through a 6mm board !

 

For general duck/Geese flighting I load 4mm (BB) and get 160 pellets in a 10 bore cart the pellet weight is 42 grams, if I load 3mm I get more pellets and more weight in the cart as there is of course less wasted space between the pellets, however it’s a mistake to assume that a 48 gram load of 3mm is better than 42 grams of 4mm!

 

In summery its better to throw 80 bricks than 320 ping pong balls

 

Inland duck/steel/ not less than 3’s however some nobbers will doubtless say they can hit one at 75 yards with a dart ???

Edited by pavman
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Also depends on your guns capability and if that is your main quarry.

 

I have 3 type of possible wildfowl flighting, and use 3 differnet carts for this.

 

1) Wildfowling on the foreshore I will use 3.5" steel 1's loaded into my berreta extrema.

2) Duck flighting on the flight ponds. Will use 3" steel 3's loaded into my berreta extrema.

3) Whilst walking up to ponds on a general rough shoot will load 2.75" tungsten matrix into my game gun.

 

So depends on where and when I will be getting the shot depends on the carts / gun ect.

 

Trev

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