Thread: Ammo preferences

Best article i ever read on duck ammo was by Paul Stenning in NZ Hunter magazine if you can find a copy.

Couple of reads.

https://www.ducks.org/hunting/shooti...need-for-speed

https://www.fieldandstream.com/truth...hotgun-shells/



Personally myself i use Falcon 2 3/4in size 4 loads with my 3rd round a 3in size 3.

i swore off falcon years ago as the brass swelled and wouldnt extract on both my u/o and pump. was ok in the semi though.

Back when Falcon ammo started becoming prevalent in the late 80's early 90's used it exclusively and thought it did everything I thought it should-it also helped it was pretty cheap. Couldn't blame the ammo. Fast forward to about 2003 and our group at the alex bunny hunt started having a chat at the after match and all of us had noticed that our falcon ammo that year didn't seem to anchor the bunnies like it had done. Enough of a mistrust that we didn't use it the next year. That's a long time ago now and I haven't used any since to say how good it is.
Think I had Eley steel for opening year before last and that seemed to work ok although there are some here that have had poor results.

in the 20 gauge you have f all choice .
its eitier 3 inch black cloud or trap loads and with the 20,s shot stringin
,the 3 inch heaviest 1 ounce of a elongated pattern aint much.
I kill geese with it in 2,s.
didnt get any parries in range to try the smaller 3,s and 4,s on
killed only only one goose cleanly after it flew thirty feet and croaked
others have needed follow up shots more than not.
in my 2 3/4inch 12 gauge double im usin fast steel 3,s and gamebore 2,s
think once the kents used up I,l stick with gamebore.2,s and 3,s

looks like a few different options for .20ga coming
agree with your .12ga options...couple of years back I was using the gamebore 3" which had blue plastic hull...buggered if I can remember if it was the 32 or the 36grm loading in #3s but it sure as shit killed mallards well...stopped using my modified choke after absolutely smashing a overhead mallard at 30ish yards.....Im thinking if I can find the two options and we get a season I will try to find a couple of boxes of each and see what works best for me.....the articles in links above have got me thinking I MIGHT be better off with higher payload at 1450fps...loath to drop below 1500 as we been killing birds well......

Every year I buy a slab of Falcon 3” 36gram 3 shot from farmlands. Use it for pretty much all my shooting. If it ain’t working it’s normally because I’m shooting crap haha.

I just buy trap loads 12 and 20ga, whatever I can get slabs of cheaply (in bulk) for reasonable quality
I don't hunt waterfowl so use lead not steel

Clever Mirage #4 36gram 1 1/4

well meself in 3"-Hull (UK)ammo via barry foster at fosters outdoor centre in blenheim rd CHCH .34gm solway magnum 3's will effectively give anything airborne a terminal blowjob!!
Im lucky -mate moved to aussie -i inherited 11/2 slabs off him.I use his trap ammo exclusively too due to the pecularities in my guns!!-To wit A BLOODY SIGHT CHEAPER THAN REPLACING THE GUNS.
Ive used ELEY3"-good effect but bloody dirty .incidentally RIO/ELEY ammo -same -RIO components and rounds manufactured onsite inSpain -ELEY-same factory in spain-components imported to UK and assembled in ELEY factory!
2 3/4 - mix /in match-again KC left me an assortment but ive found the guncity stuff grubby but effective enough in ma sexy wee O/U baikal betty what gooses /ducks fell to it never asked to speak to the complaints dept so can only assume theyre happy /dead /dead /happy!
all Pms reveal major powerplant disruption aka no more fly motor foooked!!

I’d hate to think how expensive that new Federal ammo they talked about on NZ Hunter is!

yeah $4-5 per pop perhaps.......the other stuff they had in stores a couple of seasons back in boxs of ten were about that..... the heavishot and tungsten loads do have huge potential if the cost could be kept down......it makes the subguages very viable.

Falcon 35 gram 2 3/4' 4s for everything over water and 36 gram falcon lead 4s over the maize. Smaller pellets seem to penetrate a lot better in the steel, make up for the lack of density.

If it don't pattern well, no point using it. Got sick of that 3" magnum stuff as well, no good for the shoulder after a big day in the maimai. Hot barrels