I’ve always used regular lead 6 shot with high brass, but there are so many steel and bismuth combinations and copper plated shot available now that I wonder if they are worth the added expense.

What are your thoughts/recommendations?

Thanks.

BH63

I always used high brass # 6s myself when I would visit relatives in the winter in Ohio. However, that was in the late 60s + then that is all we had available but the performance was just fine. I have not priced the Bismuth #6s but they can't be that much more for a couple of boxes to experiment with.

First off, unless you are forced to by economics and law, steel is NEVER the answer.

As far as other choices...

It really depends on conditions.

Assuming you are shooting a 12 ga.

Early season birds over dogs, the old fashioned duck and pheasant load is hard to beat- 1 1/4 oz of #6 lead shot at any old velocity. (1200 FPS +)

Later season birds over flushing dogs or if you are walking a field, I'd use the same load but step up to #5 plain lead, and move up a bit with velocity (1250'ish).

End of the season birds... well, then you have some options. These will be getting up far and fast. If you have a good pointer, your early season loads will work OK. I usually use 1 1/2 oz of plated #4 or 5 lead at around 1300 FPS. If you shoot factory, one of the best ones would be Fiocchi Golden pheasant GPX. Its 1 3/8 oz Nickel plated shot at 1450 or so FPS. Some go to 3" shells late, but I don't really see the point- unless you have to use steel.

If you have to use nontoxic, and don't shoot a lot, bismuth is the best lead shot replacement for upland game. It works about like lead, and won't damage your teeth.

Steel, only if you have to, but remember that speed is more important than shot weight.

Hevi shot and other tungsten shot is probably way overkill for pheasant. Too much money, and the shots really aren't that long.

Sub gauge shells-

16- I'd stick with the same shot size as the 12 ga. I use #6 "whatever" with 1 oz early and go to CP #5 1 1/8 oz late. Unless you handload, 16 puts you really at the mercy of what you can find...

Bismuth is really the only viable nontox in 16.

20- This gets to be a lot like the 12 ga, in that standard field loads work fine early with close/dumb birds. 7/8 oz in #6.

Mid season I go to 7/8 oz CP #6.

Late, if I use the 20, its with 3" plated #4 or #5.

Same loads with bismuth.

Steel, 3" #4 steel. Don't use late in the year with steel, IMO.

This would be the one place that I might use tungsten.

28- I've used on early a few times, and on game farm birds. 3/4 oz 7 1/2 plated lead works on closer birds. I think this is better a dove and quail gun, but I will occasionally get some Winchester 1 oz #5's to take along and put it in the second barrel.

The 28's I have I won't use tungsten or steel in them.

.410... I won't use it on game, period. Too much patterning experience for clay games- there are always holes in the pattern. If I had to, I'd try TSS (18+ g/mm 3) #9 in it.

Stick with lead or copper coated. I only use Bismuth etc. when required. Late season reach out with 4’s and 5’s.

Thanks for the information. I generally start out with IC and Mod using 6 and later in season switch to IC and F with 6 in open and 5 in F.

Based on your posts I will stick with this.

I might pick up a box of bismuth if they are on sale just to try it out.

Thanks again.

BH63

I am a die hard 28 gauge shooter, have shot many pheasants with it, both wild and released. If you handload, Ballistic Products sells a nickel plated shot that is awesome. I have moved to that shot for doves-7&1/2 and 8 depending on time of year and distance. Ron Reiber, who is Hodgdon's #1 ballistician and a Master Class Clays shooter (as well as a bird hunter) turned me on to this several years ago. The nickel plating makes the shot "punch" through feathers. I have compared this shot to lead and copper plated lead, and IMHO if you hit a bird with this shot you are going to recover it. As far as factory loads, Fiocchi makes a nickel plated shot in their Golden Pheasant line.

I might just pick up a box of the Fiocchi.

Thanks.

BH63

I agree with staying away from the steel shot for obvious reasons.

In the UK we use 6 majority of time but for high 35+ metre birds i suggest 5 and even 3/4 for extreme birds 45-65 metres away.

High brass is purely a sales gimmick and doesnt add anything except cost

I've loaded the same load for pheasants for 15 years or so. A 2 3/4" hull with the Rem SP12 wad, 1 3/8's oz of magnum #5 shot at 1230-50 fps with blue dot. Even used that for low recoil turkey loads for kids and wives. I don't change the load but may change the chokes early vs late season.

It's a hell of a crow load too!

quote:

Originally posted by Hunt Inter:

High brass is purely a sales gimmick and doesnt add anything except cost

You are 100% correct about the brass, but in the US, the term is often used (by older hunters anyway, as an informal way of indicating a shotshell having a heavy load of shot, pushed by an appropriate amount of powder.

Cheers!

BH63

quote:

Originally posted by BuffHunter63:

quote:

Originally posted by Hunt Inter:

High brass is purely a sales gimmick and doesnt add anything except cost

You are 100% correct about the brass, but in the US, the term is often used (by older hunters anyway, as an informal way of indicating a shotshell having a heavy load of shot, pushed by an appropriate amount of powder.

Cheers!

BH63

Learn something new every day.

I load 3/4 oz. of Ballistic Products nickel plated #5's for my Parker repro 28. It works well.

I load 1 1/4oz of #5 lead for ducks and pheasant in 12ga running 1360fps and 3/4 #6 in the 28 ga. Velocity makes a huge difference in knocking down birds. Once you go above 1275 you notice a big difference between killing and wounding

Another vote for golden pheasant.

Fiocchi Golden Pheasant

quote:

Originally posted by samir:
I load 1 1/4oz of #5 lead for ducks and pheasant in 12ga running 1360fps and 3/4 #6 in the 28 ga. Velocity makes a huge difference in knocking down birds. Once you go above 1275 you notice a big difference between killing and wounding

You "load 1 1/4 oz of #5 lead for ducks?"

Stick with the sixes high brass lead backed up by lead 4's. Prairie storm makes good pheasant loads as well as golden pheasant.

Just bought one box of #6 and one box of #5 Golden Pheasant by Fiocchi. Nickle plated and the #6s are blazing fast (over 1400 fps).

Interesting how things change. I grew up with Drams Equiv as an indication of the powder load.

Now, a more useful metric, velocity.

Although they are kind of spendy, I figure that I would rather spend the extra money and decrease the chances of wounding a pheasant.

I actually stopped bird hunting for a long time, because I was finding so many quail, pheasants, and ducks that had been previously wounding.

It has never bothered me to kill an animal, but I don't like to wound them and leave them to suffer.

Thanks for all the advice.

BH63

There are 2 types of Golden pheasant ammo, at least in 12 ga.

Both have nickel plated shot. One is roughly standard velocity. The other is the 1485 FPS. I think they call the fast stuff GPX, but it is clearly stated on the boxes.

The fast stuff doesn’t pattern as nicely, but it does kill better IME.

When I shot 12 ga. I found that Pheasant Forever Federal #4 shot resulted in fewer runners on late season South Dakota wild birds.

I've switch to 16ga for past 8 years or so and started using shells from https://baschieri-pellagriusa.com. I use #5 shot. Wonderful shells. I assume 12ga would be just as good.

FWIW I had bad luck with Fiochi Golden Pheasant in 12ga. Must have just patterned bad in my particular gun because there are a lot of positive reviews.

I also like the pheasants forever federal 4 shot load. I think the velocity is 1500 FPS. Works good on Pheasants late season

I generally shoot the Federal Prairie Storms. 12ga, 2 3/4", 1 1/4oz, #6's, or 20ga, 2 3/4", 1 oz #5's or 4's.

12ga is an O/U (either a Citori XT or a Citori GTI) with LM bottom, IM top.

20ga is a Franchi AL48 with mod.

I generally hunt stocked farms (mix of cut corn and soy) over dogs.

With a good dog, wild birds, I like nickel #5's, pushed fast, like 1,400fps+.

W/O a dog, wild birds, nickel #4's, and I will have several shells loaded with lead #2's in my pocket. If conditions are tough, a nickel #4 goes in the right barrel and a lead #2 in the left

W/O a dog, I need them dead-in-the-air, hence the larger pellets and faster shotshell. I hate loosing a bird.

First shot out of the Citori is a Duck and Pheasant load of #6 lead. The first two in the A-5. Second shot in the O-U is Plated #5's the last 3 in the A-5 are the same. I use Improved Cylinder in the bottom barrel, Modified in the top. A regular Modified works great in the A-5 most all the time. I find most premium loads like Winchester Supreme or a Federal offering of #5's going 1400 fps works great on the longer first shots or follow up shots. Hunting pheasants over a good dog is just the best there is. DW

I'm not really an upland hunter. I shot mostly ducks growing up. A friend invited me on a preserve hunt that held a mixture of wild and released birds. He let me use a 12 GA Citori. I asked what he was using for shells and he offer a couple boxes of low base reloaded #8's. Now I was skeptical. That cloud of fine shot just hammered every bird.

Mark

I can see 8s on released birds. Wild birds, not a chance IMO. Too many cripples most likely. I had always used 6s, but a hunting companion recommended 4s on wild birds last weekend. They worked.

I haven't hunted released pheasant in forty years, and won't in the future. Some we touched with the toe of our boot. Some we could have shot with a BB gun. We couldn't use dogs. They would have simply picked them up off the ground. Can't even call it a hunt. Hope your experience was better. Ours was down by Katy.

quote:

Originally posted by Kensco:
I can see 8s on released birds. Wild birds, not a chance IMO. Too many cripples most likely. I had always used 6s, but a hunting companion recommended 4s on wild birds last weekend. They worked.

I haven't hunted released pheasant in forty years, and won't in the future. Some we touched with the toe of our boot. Some we could have shot with a BB gun. We couldn't use dogs. They would have simply picked them up off the ground. Can't even call it a hunt. Hope your experience was better. Ours was down by Katy.

If you lived in a place with no wild birds you might reconsider. I've been hunting both wild and released birds over dogs for many years and I have NEVER experienced what you describe. Total embellishment on your part, perhaps purposely.

We have had good performance with Fiocchi Golden Pheasant in 12ga and 28ga. Will try 16ga for the hunt coming up.

Mostly have used #6 shot in them, but will have #5 on hand this time, as going later in the season.

I look at the gear I use and wonder that my dad hunted pheasants with a single shot .410.

I think the choke on your shotgun makes a lot of difference.

And as mentioned above, lead is king.

quote:

I look at the gear I use and wonder that my dad hunted pheasants with a single shot .410.

I started my waterfowl and upland game hunting career 56 years ago using a single shot Eastern Arms .410 shotgun. Killed a lot of limits of ducks and pheasants with that gun. I then 'graduated' to a brand new Browning Auto 5, 12 gauge, as that was the 'coming of age' shotguns for all of us in our family of hunters. I recall hunting ducks with the Auto 5 one early November morning and my younger brother had the .410. He was complaining about not hitting anything with it, so I traded him guns and knocked down a lone mallard flying a mile high in the sky. That was the end of the whining.

My favorite favorite shells, are the ones rolling around in the door panel and cup holder. No ink left and a lil green growing on the brass but there when ya need em.

Another fan of the Fiocchi Golden Pheasant loads, and have used them in 12, 16, and 20-gauge. I prefer #6 shot earlier in the season and #5 later when shots tend to get longer.

I use an ounce of 5s on preserve birds 28 gauge through 12 ga. I think I would go with 4s on late season wild birds.

Foe me, pheasants are an incidental bird encountered when hunting Huns or sharp tails. I have killer a lot of them (wild ones) with 1 ounce of #7 shot in my sixteen gauge guns.

Late to the game here but I killed a lot of them with 1 1/8 oz of mag 6s from my 20's and a 1.1/4 of them in 12ga.

My hunting friends couldn't believe how far away I could kill them with my little 20ga.

By the way, I've always used 4s, 5s and 6s in lead shot for pheasants. And Saeed is correct that the right choke makes a difference.

First of all, the size if the brass (high or low) has NOTHING to do with the effectiveness of a particular load. Read Gough Thomas" book "Shotguns and Cartridges" if you would like to educate yourself on this subject. Best quality gun makers like Purdey, Boss, and Stephen Grant have been regulating their guns for 1 1/16 ounce of #6 shot for over 100 years. For high driven birds, a lot of Brits will go to 1 ⅛ ounce of #5. The Brits have been shooting walked up and driven pheasants and other game birds since long before the first pheasant graced the shores of the USA. They have a ton of knowledge and experience - the wise person seeks to obtain and understand it!

Is not British shot size not a size smaller than US size?

British number 5 shot is equivalent to US 6?

quote:

Originally posted by LHeym500:
Is not British shot size not a size smaller than US size?

British number 5 shot is equivalent to US 6?

yes - British shot sizes are smaller than our in the USA