oscarflytyer
Well-Known Member
Good advice. These are the first hunting loads I have done. A ton of skeet loads, but first for hunting. Assume you are making your felt wads? Or buying them?
Bismuth - and no, NOT bullets, but shot!
- Thread starter oscarflytyer
- Start date
fiver
Well-Known Member
yeah those factory loads got down to some reasonable prices, and if you sorted the good out from the meh things wrked well.
I liked the Fiocchi 3" number 1's at 1450 fps. they matched my home made stuff and at about 90$ a flat it was just barely more than what it cost to put them together myself.
I liked the Fiocchi 3" number 1's at 1450 fps. they matched my home made stuff and at about 90$ a flat it was just barely more than what it cost to put them together myself.
richhodg66
Well-Known Member
I'm glad I read this, I had always thought one just substituted bismuth shot in lead load data.
I bought ten pounds of Bismuth 7 1/2s to try doves on public land that requires non-toxic shot, I want to use 16 gauge Stevens 5100 and an older Ithaca 37. Looks like I'll have to research this a little more closely.
I bought ten pounds of Bismuth 7 1/2s to try doves on public land that requires non-toxic shot, I want to use 16 gauge Stevens 5100 and an older Ithaca 37. Looks like I'll have to research this a little more closely.
oscarflytyer
Well-Known Member
DEF specific load data for Bismuth. And the real starting point for 16 ga is the hulls. I am trying to get set up for 16 ga. Unless you have 'legacy' hulls, you are mostly stuck with cheddite or fiochi, least from what I can find.
(I have some factory once fired that are cheddite) - but then the hard part is finding the recipe that you can actually find ingredients for! I am good on 12s and 28s, but the 16 is a challenge (mostly in the wad dept, it seems)
Alibi - imo, the online Hodgdon reloading site is the best right now for recipes. May have to go to BPI for ingredients, but I much prefer the Hodgdon recipes.
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richhodg66
Well-Known Member
There is a huge Excel spreadsheet of 16 gauge load data on 24-hour campfire. I'll see if I can post a link.
oscarflytyer
Well-Known Member
THANX!
richhodg66
Well-Known Member
This is the download from 24-hour campfire.
oscarflytyer
Well-Known Member
Thanx Fiver and Rich. Appreciate it!
oscarflytyer
Well-Known Member
I have some 16 hulls. Cheddite. And found some wads to fit a recipe. But eventually will prob get more hulls.
I also scored an 8lb jug of Unique (had about 3 lbs, but I use it a lot for cast loads) and managed to find data and components to use Unique for my 12/16/28 ga lead loads. VERY happy about that!
I also scored an 8lb jug of Unique (had about 3 lbs, but I use it a lot for cast loads) and managed to find data and components to use Unique for my 12/16/28 ga lead loads. VERY happy about that!
L Ross
Well-Known Member
As I am getting ready for a Texas waterfowl hunt in December I decided to take a look at the bismuth thread here. I was assuming, (there I go again), Oscar would be loading bismuth for some vintage thin barreled classic shotgun that could not handle steel. I doubt anyone beside my brother hated the switch to steel more than I did. I hate change and when I had worked up my ultimate waterfowl load with lead I thought I was set. Silly me.
The first factory steel stuff I shot indeed sucked, it sucked so bad I quit waterfowl hunting. I have alway figured that is the ancillary benefit the anti's achieve every time they make hunting more difficult and or expensive, hunters quit. With modern farming our upland game hunting has disappeared. With the advent of State wide turkey infestation, our grouse population has plummeted. I refuse to diddle around to shoot a stupid turkey when I see them almost daily and watch them walk though my yard. Besides, what the hell is a one shot and done season on birds, silly.
Then I stumbled across Duck Hunting Chat dot com. I started reading about high performance steel shot loads, Precision Reloading, and the Lightning Steel loads and techniques. I had been invited to go along to North Dakota for a number of years and to my ever lasting regret did not take those guys up on the offer until about 10 or 11 years ago. Now several of those old timers are deceased and while I got to hunt with them for a few seasons, I wish I had not been so stubborn.
I shoot a Remington 11-87 with a modified Rem-Choke. I use Federal Top Gun hulls, and Federal 209A primers. I use Precision's wads and I slightly hybridized a load by splitting the difference between their 7/8 oz. data and their 1 oz. data. I shoot plated #3 shot and use 411 grains of shot. I measure the shot with two empty primer trays. One holds 100 pellets and I tape off the holes on a second tray to hold 40 pellets. I use TUBL #28 wad designed to hold 1 oz. of shot and snip the center post in the wad to allow it to collapse better. I measure my 37 grains of Alliant Steel with an old Belding and Mull measure and assemble the resultant mess with a Mec 600 jr. I use the 1 oz. wad and snip the post in order to get tidy looking loads with nice crimps and not have the hulls buckle right above the head. Even so I end up having to cut apart about 6 out of a hundred to salvage the components when I do suffer a collapse.
Is this a lot of dicking around to get non-tox ammo? Well hell yes, but look at all the time we waste on these keyboards bloviating about our hobby. Oh, and the best part? I no longer miss my old lead National Lawrence high antimony 1 3/8 oz. AA hull lead loads with 30 grains of Alcan AL-7, because these high speed steel loads flat out kill ducks in a burst of chopped up feathers. I especially enjoy getting checked by Federal Wardens when we were in the Dakotas. They ask to see your ammo and pull out a handful of titty pink low base shells and the look on their faces is precious.
My other use for non-tox ammo is to blast running raccoons, at night, with a light held along side the forearm of the 11-87. I use steel so some Bald Eagle or Turkey Vulture doesn't end up being autopsied to find lead pellets in its gizzard. I throw the deceased out in my prairie and the eagles, red tails, and vultures enjoy the greasy remains. I keep a box or two of T shot or BBB's on hand for that rough work. If i ever find myself in the extremis of having to defend the fort from an invader what would look more convincing to the medical examiner? A blast of double aught man killers or 65 steel T's or 75 steel BBB's launched from the shotgun used to protect the bird feeder? The 22" barrel with sights and screw in chokes makes the 11-87 a bit more handy in the non waterfowl season. Again modified seems very effective on coons.
The first factory steel stuff I shot indeed sucked, it sucked so bad I quit waterfowl hunting. I have alway figured that is the ancillary benefit the anti's achieve every time they make hunting more difficult and or expensive, hunters quit. With modern farming our upland game hunting has disappeared. With the advent of State wide turkey infestation, our grouse population has plummeted. I refuse to diddle around to shoot a stupid turkey when I see them almost daily and watch them walk though my yard. Besides, what the hell is a one shot and done season on birds, silly.
Then I stumbled across Duck Hunting Chat dot com. I started reading about high performance steel shot loads, Precision Reloading, and the Lightning Steel loads and techniques. I had been invited to go along to North Dakota for a number of years and to my ever lasting regret did not take those guys up on the offer until about 10 or 11 years ago. Now several of those old timers are deceased and while I got to hunt with them for a few seasons, I wish I had not been so stubborn.
I shoot a Remington 11-87 with a modified Rem-Choke. I use Federal Top Gun hulls, and Federal 209A primers. I use Precision's wads and I slightly hybridized a load by splitting the difference between their 7/8 oz. data and their 1 oz. data. I shoot plated #3 shot and use 411 grains of shot. I measure the shot with two empty primer trays. One holds 100 pellets and I tape off the holes on a second tray to hold 40 pellets. I use TUBL #28 wad designed to hold 1 oz. of shot and snip the center post in the wad to allow it to collapse better. I measure my 37 grains of Alliant Steel with an old Belding and Mull measure and assemble the resultant mess with a Mec 600 jr. I use the 1 oz. wad and snip the post in order to get tidy looking loads with nice crimps and not have the hulls buckle right above the head. Even so I end up having to cut apart about 6 out of a hundred to salvage the components when I do suffer a collapse.
Is this a lot of dicking around to get non-tox ammo? Well hell yes, but look at all the time we waste on these keyboards bloviating about our hobby. Oh, and the best part? I no longer miss my old lead National Lawrence high antimony 1 3/8 oz. AA hull lead loads with 30 grains of Alcan AL-7, because these high speed steel loads flat out kill ducks in a burst of chopped up feathers. I especially enjoy getting checked by Federal Wardens when we were in the Dakotas. They ask to see your ammo and pull out a handful of titty pink low base shells and the look on their faces is precious.
My other use for non-tox ammo is to blast running raccoons, at night, with a light held along side the forearm of the 11-87. I use steel so some Bald Eagle or Turkey Vulture doesn't end up being autopsied to find lead pellets in its gizzard. I throw the deceased out in my prairie and the eagles, red tails, and vultures enjoy the greasy remains. I keep a box or two of T shot or BBB's on hand for that rough work. If i ever find myself in the extremis of having to defend the fort from an invader what would look more convincing to the medical examiner? A blast of double aught man killers or 65 steel T's or 75 steel BBB's launched from the shotgun used to protect the bird feeder? The 22" barrel with sights and screw in chokes makes the 11-87 a bit more handy in the non waterfowl season. Again modified seems very effective on coons.