What Shot Size Should You Use?
- Thread starter Talyn
- Start date
HansGruber
Ronin
I really don’t do any waterfowl hunting, so I pretty much use 4, 5, & 6 interchangeably. I did switch to using non-toxic shot (I like Bismuth) for anything I’m going to eat.
Slugs for deer; copper sabots.
Slugs for deer; copper sabots.
I haven't done any hunting for many years now . When I did go hunting it was lead , high base 6's for Squirrel and rabbit , and 8's or 7 1/2's for Quail , and doves. Back in those days we didn't have Turkeys nor Pheasants in this area.
I did go Dove hunting once where I had to use steel 6's . I've always heard if you are going to use steel in place of lead shells , you need to go up 2 sizes. From 8's to 6's or 4's in place of 6's .
I did go Dove hunting once where I had to use steel 6's . I've always heard if you are going to use steel in place of lead shells , you need to go up 2 sizes. From 8's to 6's or 4's in place of 6's .
wmg1299
Professional
Good article. I keep one Mossberg with a 28" barrel for bird hunting, and one with a 24" slug barrel for game hunting. I've never used the slug-barreled shotgun for hunting, but picked it up years ago and kept it just in case. My other shotguns are strictly for self-defense.
In my area, buckshot has been impossible to find since spring, and now all the target loads have disappeared. I kept a decent amount of buckshot and slugs at home, but never stocked up on birdshot because I honestly never thought the supply would dry up. I've been able to get a few boxes of assorted sizes of steel shot over the past few months, but that is all the birdshot that I have. I've got just enough steel #6 for a couple of dove hunts but will probably hold off on any hunting until ammo starts showing up on shelves again.
In my area, buckshot has been impossible to find since spring, and now all the target loads have disappeared. I kept a decent amount of buckshot and slugs at home, but never stocked up on birdshot because I honestly never thought the supply would dry up. I've been able to get a few boxes of assorted sizes of steel shot over the past few months, but that is all the birdshot that I have. I've got just enough steel #6 for a couple of dove hunts but will probably hold off on any hunting until ammo starts showing up on shelves again.
Keystone19250
SAINT
For environmental reasons many states have created laws against using lead shot in shot guns because of the wide pattern of the scattered pellets many of them remain in parts of the animal that is discarded and then consumed by other animals resulting in lead poisoning. This can be tragic especially in Raptors who will feed on the carcass when finding live food is scarce. New England states are also banning lead weights for fishing as some fish that swallow lead weights are consumed by fish eating birds also resulting in lead poisoning.
