[fishane]

Does anyone really know the difference between the expensive steel shot and the less expensive brands. I am paying about $10 a box . Is it worth paying more? Also, where have you found the least expensive shells?

 

[dkhntrdstn]

i realy dont know. but what i have heard is the more money they hit harder. other then that i dont know. i dont think it worth spending 20 to 30 bucks for a box of ten shells. I have no proublom killing ducks with my winchsters.I would not mind trying some of hevi shoot on geese. i just cant pull my self to buy them. when i can do as good with my winchsters.

 

[huntducksordietrying]

I saw my brother in law slam a drake mallard this year at 40 yards with a mod choke in his benelli nova with the Remington Hevi shot. There was a huge plume of feathers where the duck once flew. I couldnt believe how hard it hit. I personaly shoot the cheap old winchesters. I think if I was going on a goose hunt I would buy some of the Hevi shot, but just for general duck and a lucky goose I like Winchester 2 shot 3".

 

[Duurty1]

i used to shoot winchester xperts untill i cut one apart, shot isn't round and it has pits on it. i know shoot remington sportsmans or kent fasteel. I am only paying 10.99 a box for the kents right now and it is worth the 2 dollars a box more. i shoot some of the hevi-shot stuff. i didn't like it, the shoot was like the winchesters and it didn't pattern very well in my nova and at almost 3 dollars a shell its pretty spendy. if i were to shoot that expensive stuff it would be the remington tungstin matrix stuff.

 

[Riverrat77]

Kent makes Tungsten Matrix... and its like 40 per box. I've seen it in action though and its definitely powerful. Kent and Remi's are all I shoot as well. Doesn't mean I hit anything, but when I do, its usually a no doubter. I also was not happy with Xperts out of my 870.... so I went back to what I used to shoot. Now that I have a good dog, I suppose I could get away with shooting cheapo shells but the confidence I have in my shells is worth two bucks to me. Bottom line... the stuff costs more because its more dense so it packs more of a punch further out than steel which on the surface would make it more effective at longer ranges..... you also have to factor in the price of the material used to create the shot in the shell.... and last I heard the raw price was through the roof. I'll throw this out there.... if you can't hit ducks in close (this would be me) then shooting slower, heavier shot at further distances isn't going to make any difference for you. I'd say shoot steel all the time unless you're shooting something big, like exclusively geese and swans or something like that. 8)

 

[duck jerky]

winchester size 3 has been perfect for me. i tried heavy shot for geese it does the job but at $3.00 or more per shoot. :shock: i went with rems 3and half in bb and have done just great.

 

[ntrl_brn_rebel]

i used to shoot winchester xperts untill i cut one apart, shot isn't round and it has pits on it. i know shoot remington sportsmans or kent fasteel. I am only paying 10.99 a box for the kents right now and it is worth the 2 dollars a box more. i shoot some of the hevi-shot stuff. i didn't like it, the shoot was like the winchesters and it didn't pattern very well in my nova and at almost 3 dollars a shell its pretty spendy. if i were to shoot that expensive stuff it would be the remington tungstin matrix stuff.

I also cut one apart after seeing large gaps in my pattern, I was blown away at what junk was in there, oblong, small, large, pits, shot stuck together, etc, etc. after seeing this I never bought another box of winchester.

Kent so far has me stoked. I have shot it for the past few years and am very pleased at the performance and price. It patterns great out of every gun I have shot it through.

When I switched I bet I shot 50% better and a whole lot less cripples. Birds actually folded when I pulled the trigger, not just a few feathers coming out. I have also had great luck with remington and federal.

 

[winghunter19]

I shoot the winchester Xpert shells. It really doesnt matter what kind of shells you shoot just try out a couple of different ones and pattern them with your gun. Every gun shoots different so just try them out.

 

[TagmBagm]

Good to know!!! I just went through my last box of wolf. Which I have done very well with. I used to get it at Cabela's but cannot find it anymore. I shot the winchester on Monday after I ran out and I could not hit crap. Plus at forty yards I had no kill power. I tried to water swat a cripple after three of us had put at least one round into him and it did not do anything at forty yards. Kinda made me mad. We ended up loosing that bird in the reeds and my dog could not find him even after we looked for about 10 minutes. I just know I will not buy that junk again. It was horrible. How is that new black cloud stuff? I have seen it advertised and seen it at Cabela's but don't know if I should trust it.

 

[utmarshman]

I agree that the expensive stuff is good but not 2 or 3 dollars a shell good. If anyone has tried the new black cloud stuff I would like to know what you thought of it.

 

[waterproof]

Well, we all have different opinions and we all shoot different guns and ammo too. I will never use the Xperts no matter what the price but I do like the Winchester Supremes-big difference in performance and price. Me and my nova shot a couple of boxes of Hevi Steel #4's last year with incredible results: great knock down and clean kills. Pricey yes, but worth it. I just have a hard time affording it for each trip especially since my son is back this year and his 1187 has a huge appetite. I bought a case of Estate 3", #2 and we have had good results with them. (I have a streak of 11 ducks with 12 shells going at this time.) Kents are good shells too but I have never gotten them to pattern very well out of my gun.(maybe too fast?)

I did buy a box of the black cloud 3.5",BB for a trial run as a goose shell. My son dropped two on the opener and both were good hard kills at close range. I have not been using them because of the PM choke I sometimes use.

I guess what this rambling is all about is that I would shoot Hevi Steel for ducks and Hevi Shot for geese if I had nothing more to spend my money on. They are by far the best shells that I have shot but like the rest of us I still have to buy gas and groceries and pay the power bill.
Hunting is too fun to have to worry about what I can and cannot afford so we shoot what we can when we can.
WP

 

[Mojo1]

I like kent's, but use whatever's cheap to shoot; I recently picked a few boxes of PMC shells down at Gallensons and I'm really impressed with their preformance. I tend to find that it doesn't matter what I use when shooting ducks over decoys. I will move up to heavier loads and bigger shot sizes when shooting late season birds or pass shooting. I do like to use the pricer loads when goose hunting.

 

[Riverrat77]

Good to know!!! I just went through my last box of wolf. Which I have done very well with. I used to get it at Cabela's but cannot find it anymore.

Cheaperthandirt.com and I believe Cabelas might have it online. You might also check Gunbroker.com since I've seen a lot of offbrand ammo on there.

 

[dkhntrdstn]

i shot a couple shells of the new black cloud from fed. it did alright. i could not see any thing differnt from them and my winchster shells. A guy that hunted with me that day was shooting them and like i said i could not see any thing differnt between them and kent that i have shot in th post and my winchesters now. he was going to save some and try them on geese to see how they work. i have not heard yeat on that.

 

[hairy1]

When I patterned my gun the xperts would shoot good 2 times and then they would blow the pattern. Very inconsistent!

I have switched to Kents and couldn't be happier. I honestly feel my shooting has increased dramatically.

The only time I would buy the heavy stuff is if I was pass shooting Swans.

We shot kent 3" #2's all week in Canada(shooting geese) with very few cripples.

Bottom line is: Kent's are worth the minimal cost difference.
Xpert's suck (I will never buy another box)
Black Clouds work nicely..But are not worth the extra money!

Take the time to pattern your gun!