A lone mallard kited above us during a late-season duck hunt. It made a hard turn to the right and then flew directly at our blind. I was a guest at a friend’s duck club, a place I had hunted many times before, and knew it was my job to dispatch the bird. The other hunters razzed me before I stood to shoot and promptly missed the greenhead with three errant shots. It was exactly what my buddies had been hoping for as they continued poking fun at my poor aim until a second greenhead cupped in later in the morning, and I dispatched it.
Because it was late in the Illinois duck season, I decided to shoot 1⅜-ounce loads of bismuth No. 4s for added knockdown power. For most of the season, I had been shooting my own 1- or 1¼-ounce handloads of steel No. 5s or 6s. The smaller steel pellets allow for a larger margin of error in comparison to the bismuth 4s, so long as shots on puddle ducks are kept inside 40 yards.
Bismuth, along with tungsten super shot (TSS), and other tungsten alloys such as Hevi-Shot, have been marketed as the best loads for killing ducks. But that’s not necessarily true if you stay disciplined by keeping shots inside 40 yards and pair the right choke and load with your shotgun to optimize pattern density. Steel sometimes gets a bad rap for crippling ducks, but it’s likely due to shooter error, not the shot itself.
Loading Your Own vs. Buying Shotshells
There is not much of a cost savings in handloading steel shotshells. Factor in the time it takes to source materials, assemble the loads, and run the press, and you’re actually losing money. But it is satisfying to see your own shotshells dispatch a duck.
I decided to start loading shotshells to learn more about the process, but there are plenty of manufacturers that mass-produce a variety of steel loads with smaller shot sizes, like 5s and 6s, if you don’t have the time or interest.
If you do want to load your own, two great resources for handloading are the Lyman Shotshell Reloading Handbook and the Salt Creek Custom Ammunition YouTube channel. You will need a shotshell loader as well. MEC Outdoors has simple-to-use loaders and plenty of information on their website to help get you started.
Why Steel is Superior
TSS (18 g/cc), Hevi-Shot (12 g/cc), and bismuth (9.6 g/cc) all have a higher density than steel (7.86 g/cc). Most will argue that all three are superior to steel, which is true if we’re talking about energy at the target, but there is room for some nuance. Due to their mass, TSS, Hevi-Shot, and bismuth cannot offer the same pellet count as steel if payloads and shot sizes are equal.
For example, a 1-ounce load of steel No. 6s contains 316 pellets. TSS, loaded in the same charge weight and shot size, has only 138 pellets; Hevi-Shot has 207; and bismuth contains 259.
That means your margin for error is greater with steel unless you increase payload weights (which also increases recoil), and shrink shot sizes. Also consider that the average cost of a bismuth shotshell is more than double that of steel, which can still be had for under $1 per shell. Hevi-Shot is more than triple the price of steel, and TSS can be more than 10 times the cost of steel.
The 30” Circle Myth
If you’re a shotgun writer (like me), the industry standard for testing shotguns and loads requires that you shoot at a stagnant paper or steel target from 40 yards, find the core of the pattern, draw a 30” circle around it, and count the pellet strikes to determine accuracy. This is a fine method that gives you some great information about what your shotgun is capable of.
But a 30” circle doesn’t tell the entire story. You need to shoot at a large enough piece of paper (45” to 50”) to see where all (or almost all) of the pellets strike. With the right choke, ammo, and shotgun, steel 5s and 6s cast a much wider net and will produce multiple 30” patterns at 40 yards that are capable of killing a duck, which creates a larger margin for shooter error.
Physics, and years of shooting at the pattern board, taught me that tungsten patterns tighter than steel; as does bismuth, which can fracture, compromising pattern density. Don’t get me wrong, these metals make fine duck loads and are advantageous when you need sustained pellet energy or more energy than steel shot can produce, to kill a bird. But in wingshooting, pellet count is always king, and steel is the only non-toxic shot that offers superior pattern density at an affordable price.
Can Small Steel Shot Really Kill Ducks?
Yes, Nos. 5 and 6 shot will kill ducks, even hardy December greenheads that produce a thick layer of down and fat that covers their breast plate. Necropsy data and X-rays of 30,000 ducks by ballistics expert Tom Roster confirm that both 5s and 6s are sufficient. You just have to keep shots inside 40 yards.
I also examined the birds I shot this season with 5s and 6s against other hunters who were shooting larger steel and bismuth shot. None of my ducks had fewer than five pellets impact them (a few mallards and gadwall had more than 10). The ducks killed with larger steel shot and bismuth never had more than six pellet strikes.
There are many factors to consider when shooting a shotgun at a flying target, namely the person behind the gun. The results from duck season do not mean larger shot cannot deliver more pellets to a mallard’s head, neck, and vitals than were recorded. But basic math tells us that steel 5s and 6s will consistently put more shot on birds by the sheer number of pellets in the payload. If you don’t believe me, cut open a bismuth No.4 shotshell and a steel 6, then compare.
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