Steel shot in "older" shotguns
I have heard and read many opinions on this subject. These seem to range from:
1. The gun will disintegrate and destroy everything and everybody within a radius of 1 mile.
2. There may be some cosmetic damage to the gun but there will be no danger and no loss of function.
3. It will work just like shooting lead.
Does anyone KNOW what can or does happen ? Have YOU actually tried it youself ?
1. The gun will disintegrate and destroy everything and everybody within a radius of 1 mile.
2. There may be some cosmetic damage to the gun but there will be no danger and no loss of function.
3. It will work just like shooting lead.
Does anyone KNOW what can or does happen ? Have YOU actually tried it youself ?
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I guess it depends on what you consider an "older" shotgun. Are we talking old damscus barrels or what? If it is a shotgun that can handle modern smokeless loads and pressures then I wouldn't worry about most types of "shot" since they will be contained within the plastic wad until they exit the barrel, but I'd have to say no to slugs[:D]
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Your life is not my fault.0 -
In my case we are talking about a Winchester 101 (early 1960s I think), 12 gauge 2 3/4" choked full and modified and a Stoger Zepher (probably 1950s), 10 gauge 3 1/2" choked full and full. 0 -
They both should work fine with steel shot. I would not use steel shot of any size bigger than #1 in the full choked barrels though. Try some Bismouth or Tungsten Matrix, they are heavier than steel and will not harm order barrels.
AlleninAlaska
Delta Firearms & Supplies
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aglore@gci.net0 -
rhope, since we had to start shooting steel where I live back in 87, I've see a little. Steel shoots much tighter than lead, so those 30-40 yard shots, with a Full choke, get a little harder. I agree with aglore, try Bismuth or Tungsten/Matrix. federal, Winchester, and Remington who manufacture the standard steel shells, don't recommend you shoot it thru a Full Choke. I clarify that by saying a "Lead Full Choke". Some choke tubes come with a marking on the and they read something like this, "Steel Full Choke/Lead Modified Choke. I know this from the choke tubes on my Remington SP 10. What can happen, well steel shot doesn't compress well like lead shot, (remember how
sometimes you would get a bird with flat lead pellets in it? that was from the compressing of the shot as it came out of the barrel).
One day I was out pass shooting geese with some friends, one of the guys was using and old Md 12 Winchester Duck gun and shooting T shot thru it. these guns are tanks! To keep this short, he said he had been using for some time shooting steel, I pulled a dime out to measure the Full Choke, it was now a modified! I use to take my little brother duck hunting and used a little 20 ga double, I noticed after about 10 boxes the barrels had started to separate at the muzzle, which is the most common thing you see on O/U or SxS is barrel separation. Last observation, I had been shooting steel for several years, and started noticing that the wad when it came out was flying different. I pulled out my choke tube to look at it closely. This was an Improved Cylinder tube and it felt rough, like scale was on it. I took it to work to measure the surface and found it to be a 135 RMS, typical shoould have been 8-16 RMS finish, I was fortunate enough to have the equipment at work. The steel shot had actually wore the choke tube, I estimate that it had about 400 rounds thru it. Shortly after that I started using Bismuth, and haven't shot steel since.
I don't know about your 10 ga, but that 101, getting replacement barrels, well it would be cheaper to buy another 101. The 101 has very thin barrel walls at the muzzle and I wouldn't shoot steel thru it period.
Hope this helps you in your decision. Regards Dave0
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