Morning all
Have you guys seen any in your neck of the woods, specifically 28 gauge? I have seen 20 gauge and 16 gauge so far. All major manufacturers make non toxic for them now, so surely there is something out there.
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Morning all
Have you guys seen any in your neck of the woods, specifically 28 gauge? I have seen 20 gauge and 16 gauge so far. All major manufacturers make non toxic for them now, so surely there is something out there.
Follow up to this thread, Giles at Taihape sports was able to source a slab of 28 gauge Federal speedshok, 5/8 oz, no.6 steelshot for me. By the sounds of it a small amount was brought in by the wholesalers, so expect to maybe see some in the bigger shops but not alot.
?Where did you see the 16Gauge
The 16 gauge was at H&F palmerston North. They only had one packet
$280 a slab or $28 a packet.
#6 steel will be interesting......personally havent seen .12ga in anything less than #4 other than some sample packs of 7.5 which were still only 1100fps so were hopeless.
Yeah it'll be a nice dense pattern. I'll use it on small streams and ponds in the evening when they're nice and close. Have used no.5 steel in 12ga which was great on decoying birds sub 30yds.
I've got Mec 28ga, 20, & 12 press, plus the gear to adapt to 16ga, in Bell block, keep your hull's, and 5g of wads, and sum 20lbs bismuth and ITX shot,
Looking like I may sell, and be back in NZ, by mid 2022, so keep your old 28, 16 ga hulls, As long as bismuth, remains sum what resalable in price, I can build up non tox shot shells, for anyone dropping in.
I have not had much luck, with steel shot, in the smaller gauges, smaller pellets, have less mass, and bleed off speed quickly, hand loading too large steel can cause bridging, in smaller bores, Speed is everything with steel shot,
The Federal 16ga steel shot, is quite slow, 1200fps, better is 1500 or more.
Hopefully importers will bring in sum more sub gauge options.
bismuth, I also was not wanting to run steel in the sub gauge, but have done some research! Here's my conclusion.
If you hammer lead it flatten's, hannner bismuth and it dusts up or blows into particles. The advise I received was, it cannot be driven at speed and therefore is a short range mix. In the same way you would be better shooting 3" with 7s 71/2 steel close in with more affect and 3s and 4s steel for 35yards and greater.
This is the advice form a Olympic and International shooter.
KH
hopefully we will see some heavishot arrive on shore...I would buy it in a heartbeat if price was even semi reasonable......Ive been known to pull 12ga rounds apart to get shot for the 410........heavishot loads would be ideal to do this.
I've loaded quite a bit of non toxic shot, I liked "nice shot" the best, but its no longer made,, same weight as lead,
I bought two 7lb bags of heavy shot, ten years ago, for $175 bag, now at $350 plus, so too expensive,
Been getting bismuth from BPI, its ok, but defiantly inferia to the above, sum new bismuth out now, that's coated in tin, I am told its better, still expensive, $250 for 7lbs,
ITX =-10 and ITX-13, I've used quite a bit, the -13,(denser and heaver) is way more expensive than the 10, bought 5 bag of ITX-10 many years ago, for $140, burned threw most of it, Now, $300 bucks a bag, But at least you can push it fast, 1450fps with 7/8oz in my 16ga.
I am complete out of non Toxic, now, Think will try and sneek a couple bags ITX, threw the business as supplies,
Got a fair bit of non tox in NZ, as most of my duck shooting and hunting supplies, went back in the 2015 oil field slow down, the few decoys and shotgun reloading supplies I had here, were lost in the 2016 Fort Mac fire, mates garage burnt.
There is no getting around, the cost having gone up for sub gauges,
Getting geared up, to chase more birds again, I've bought a ten foot, Jon boat, mate and I are getting a dozen decoys each, got lots 16ga wads,
Shooting mate up here blew up, his custom fair 16ga, (double charge), he gave me his hydraulic Mec 9000 loader and shopping bags of wad, hulls.
Huge numbers of ducks up here, the Parries have been very wet, last three years, previous was in a ten year drought,
Besides, ducks and geese are far more fun, than deer, at least you get a bit off shooting in, before the work starts.
I reload for 12 and 20 and am keen to try some Bismith. Will have to track some down.
Gunworks have Bismuth for sale I have some on the way to try for a couple of old Belgium Browning A5 20ga I have.
Don't mean to jack the main thought of the post.
I've been a fan of the classic browning in 20g! wanted to get hold of one at one point.
But ended up with the benelli M1 which is okay now that I have it! because of the 3" factor.
Post a picture of it or email me with a picture please. Year's ago there was one in 16g on tm, one of the should of.
KH
I have one that’s a light 20 so 2 3/4 and a Magnum 20 in 3”Attachment 160629Attachment 160630
has falcon come up with that bismuth load yet??
Quote:
We do have some bismuth coming our way quite soon. For reloading it can be ordered via Gunworks in Christchurch or any other reseller of reloading gear you could approach depending where you are. Looks like it’s being sold for $55.00 a kilo at retail which is a pretty fair price considering what it costs. It’s just one size #4 at this stage we will have available and it will be tin plated bismuth shot. We are considering a 12 gauge bismuth waterfowl cartridge of around 34-36 grams a bit like our SP 36 lead load equivalent but things are still being worked on so nothing finalised right at the moment. It has a different density to lead of course so we have to start with the basics and learn a bit about it. It will be more expensive but that’s the nature of the cost of bismuth which I think everyone already knows. It will be a Falcon brand cartridge loaded by us in Timaru. No idea at the moment when the first production will be run but things might happen quite quickly before opening day
Will be good when they do. Hopefully it’s a bit less than the Eley I got from H&F at $99. Would be nice to shoot my Grandfather’s old A5 a bit more. At $55 a kg for the shot I don’t think loading anything more than 7/8oz 20ga would be viable from what I can work out.
Well I've just got current prices for Non toxic,
ITX #4 7lbs is CAD $292.41
Bismuth #6 7lbs shot is 246.98,
Nickel plated lead shot #6 $94.98
lead shot #9 25lbs is $75
Ouch, last time I bought the CAD, was higher than the US dollar, now 30c less, brutal.
I've got #4 Itx and #6 bismuth as well as the nickel ordered, last of the supplies in Canada, supplier not sure if/when any more coming given the USA gun buying spree,
He said last order was 40% of requested items.
debating on a bag of #2 ITX for geese, almost work out cheaper to by a new 12ga, and shoot steel instead.
Hulls are just straight wall 2 3/4 trap load pickups. Powder is Winchester 540 but when that is gone will be using Hodgdon HS6 which is equivalent. Wads are just what Brian Thompson (who is now down your way) supplied me. Its not the fastest load in the world but well led ducks fall down. Make sure you pattern your load as shot sizes above 5 will often not pattern well though a 20g.
Gun is a Browning Gold Fusion.
Well I still have a few wads for reloading if a good alternative can be had.
Or just 12g steel and I don't like the thought of the shoulders being abused.
Rock and a hard place for me, or move away from the ducks.
KH
.12ga steel isnt all bad and loads of 30-32grms do kill ducks ok.....falcon and winchester both put out good loads in that weight.the winchester is better for me.....
taken more than a few big canadas with steel now too,#2s work well for just about anything,smaller shot sizes might have denser pattern...but #3s are a good option for us...jump or lake shooting...tried lots of different steel #4s and cant say Im a fan.
No just mostly bad, and "OK" is hardly a ringing endorsement. Density always wins.Quote:
Originally Posted by Micky Duck;1124351[B
hallelujah your preaching to the already converted if thier loads are half as good as stated bring them on
if they,d been available id a kept my 20 gauge.
bye the bye i patterned gamebores 12 gauge 30 gram steel 2.s at about 30 feet on the f&g mallard drake target.
oops
the wad went thru the middle and the steel 2.s tore holes everywhere else lol looked like a buckshot strike.
hope falcon has the sence to go for the new plated bismuth for thier loads and not repeat the mistakes others have found with it.
im usein12 bore eley vip 3.s on parries and am so far not impressed out of twin imp/cyl chokes patterns great kills not so.
This is the Bismuth shot I got, I’m no expert but not sure on the plating.Attachment 160903
At that price you should be making jewelry out of it not shotgun loads. Be interesting to see how it patterns.
the only bismuth ive seen was much darker
so fingers crossed thats the plated stuff
if we were economists instead of bird hunters waterfowling/upland bird hunting would have died long ago:yaeh am not durnk:Quote:
At that price you should be making jewelry out of it not shotgun loads. Be interesting to see how it patterns.
Yip which is why I still do it. Shot my first duck at 10 years old and now nearly 40 years later I have never missed an Opening. Numbers up here are nothing what they used to be though. the lower Waikato used to be called the duck factory of NZ, that has not been the case since the late ninety's.
Which reminds me, time to go spray the pond.
Picked up the slab today hopefully get out to pattern it through all the chokes soon. Giles has another slab in stock currently, $35 a packet or $270 a slab.
shippment of reloading supplies arrived.Attachment 162361Attachment 162362