steel shot..... for a 16 bore.... ouch!

[fangler]

Ok, can anyone enlighten me on a few points.
I shoot 16 bore, and need to get some non toxic for duck... .but just looked at the prices!! Wow! Starting point (and these are just quotes)£37.50 and finished at well over £60 quid..... A box! The gun is not steel proofed as far as I know (haven't checked the proof yet) so:
A/ is it going to shag it putting steel through once in a while?
B/ reloading- got to be worth a go, surely and therefore what's the best way of going about-it''ll only be a once in a while thing and I have never done it before.
C/ get a cheap 12 bore that I don't really want, but at the same time.... Good excuse!!!
Your thought are appreciated.

 

[Alexj]

Hi Fangler,

The prices are a bit ugly! I think Ely VIP Bismuth would be a good bet, this may be what you have been quoted, at £37.50 from Just Cartridges. I recently had to get some rather niche squibs for my game gun, I ordered at about 4.30 one afternoon and had them before lunch the next day.
I understand Bismuth is softer than steel and will not harm barrels, they are loaded with a fibre wad, it would be plastic wad I think if they were as hard as steel. I believe they are loaded to standard pressure too, so you do not have to have a steel proofed gun.

Regards

​Alex

 

[fangler]

Thanks chap. Yeah, that is what I was looking at. Question is, can I get it cheaper? Call me tight but 37 quid for 25 shots is bloody expensive!! I tend to miss!

 

[Alexj]

No problem.

I am blessed with a similar level of accuracy! I expect none of your mates shoot a 16, you could split a flat then.
If nothing else it should sharpen your game .

 

[fangler]

I've only met one other 16 bore user in the field! Just looked at the price of shot. 60 odd quid for 1 kilo of bismuth shot. Hmm. Still not very cheap!

 

[jubnut]

Are you going to be shooting duck on a flight pond or on the foreshore. For both I would be tempted to go down the 12 bore option but definitely more so the latter.

The he reason I say this is I used to borrow a 16b for pigeon shooting and it was a fantastic gun. And considering that it was shooting sub ounce loads it would kill with the best of them, I put that down to it being tightly choked.

If you go for steel you absolutely have to get the gun proofed for steel. Steel will knacker the barrel otherwise. But my experience of steel is you may as well be using paper shot. Also you can't shoot steel through a barrel that is tighter than half choked.

Bismuth is softer than steel and as far as I am aware doesn't require the steel proofing, but it is less dense than lead so it is recommended an increase in shot size of at least 2 sizes. So if you used size 5 in lead you would go up to 3 in Bismuth. I don't know what this increase in shot size would do to your pattern density in a small load like 16b

I do a lot of foreshore shooting and went from 12b to 10b when the lead ban came in. After some experimenting I now load 2.5 ounces of BB tungsten matrix for everything from teal to geese. (It's just easier that way) for flight pond shooting where the range is decreased I bought a 3.5 inch chambered 12b pump action which I put some big steel loads through.

The bottom line is that the lead alternatives aren't as good as lead. Full stop. And they cost more. Reloading helps with the cost but you have to do a lot before you start to offset the cost of the gear you need to do it, you can play with your home loads a bit and find one that works for you which can be helpful when it comes to actually shooting the stuff.

​I hope oped that was helpful.

 

[fangler]

That is really helpful. It's all inland shooting. Think I'll get a 12 for the purpose, just something cheap and nasty and o/u. Lambers look good for the secondhand value etc.

 

[Everycal]

I shoot a 16 and tend to keep an eye out for cheap lots on auctions near me. Every now and then some come up. I also have a mate who lets me borrow his home loading gear so I can load some heavy shot, 28/30g 4s. Awesome load from an awesome gun! Stick to the 16 you know you want to!

 

[fangler]

I shoot a 16 and tend to keep an eye out for cheap lots on auctions near me. Every now and then some come up. I also have a mate who lets me borrow his home loading gear so I can load some heavy shot, 28/30g 4s. Awesome load from an awesome gun! Stick to the 16 you know you want to!

Oh I do! But also at the back of my mind is to get a rough gun-while the 16 ain't too special (an old webley and Scott) it was my grandfathers and is very special to me. Dunno, I'll mull it over for a week or three.

 

[Oh6]

Where I shoot we see the occasional duck when pushing cover by a river.

I went with buying a of box of Bismuth, which seems to do the business.

If you going to get a 12b though, then I would make sure that it will take 3" cartridges (which I believe that Lanbers have), to maximise your cartridge choice.

 

[fangler]

Yeah, that's what I'll be doing! Nice one.

 

[Pine Marten]

Hello Fangler.

I've just realised that I have two boxes of Eley 16 bore bismuth in my ammunition cabinet that I'm never going to use as I now have a proper 'fowling piece. If you're ever in London, you're welcome to come and pick them up, or I daresay they can be courriered over. If you're interested, you can have them for considerably less than I paid for them.

 

[basil]

That is really helpful. It's all inland shooting. Think I'll get a 12 for the purpose, just something cheap and nasty and o/u. Lambers look good for the secondhand value etc.

Baikels are cheap and are steel proofed.

 

[bewsher500]

Option C!
for the price of two boxes you could get an old beater that you can use as a walking stick as well!!

 

[Willie]

It could be worse, I was loading for an American the other day who was using "hevi shot" in his 12 gauge at a cost of £2+ per cartridge. He fired over 350 shots, ouch!

 

[fangler]

Pine Martin, you Utter gent! Pm sent.
Willie- damn!! That is dear!
Sorry about late reply, been a shooting.