Does hevi shot make 3.5" chambered shotguns obsolete?

[Super-Dave]

If you use hevi shot in a 3" or 2.75" shell do you get better performance than using a 3.5" steel shot?

If this is true, wouldn't 3.5" chambered shotguns be unnecessary?

Might this eventually put 3.5" shotguns out of production?

[mnhntr]

i am an avid duck hunter and have tried all the loads and i am convinced that i get better performance from 3 or 3.5 in tungsten matrix and depending on if i am shooting bigger geese or small ducks i use 4 shot or 1 shot. i do not like the hevi shot due to the shape of the shot itself i have opened up hevi shot and found it to look like slag from welding

[johnbt]

But it patterns great in my shotguns using IC and sometimes a MOD tube with #4 and #6 and it hits hard. I use 2.75" and 3" HS in an 870, 1100 and SX-2.
________

Round is probably the very least aerodynamic shape. "ten times the drag resistance of a teardrop-shaped airfoil."

From a USA Today article:

"Q: What is the most aerodynamic shape? I've heard it is the shape of a falling raindrop but wonder why jet fighters have pointed noses. (Garrett, Surrey, Canada)

A: You said the "shape of a falling raindrop", but I bet you meant a teardrop shape. Small raindrops fall like tiny spheres, not teardrops, and a sphere is a poor aerodynamic shape for objects moving at aircraft speeds. See figure. In fact, a sphere disrupts air flow, and has about ten times the drag resistance of a teardrop-shaped airfoil."
_________

I suppose a 3.5" HS load would reach even farther out with a good pattern, but the shorter shells reach a long way.

I guess if I shot many cases of shells a year I might want a 3.5" gun to shoot steel. But then again, my SX-2 is a 3.5" gun.

John

[.45 COLT]

I quit hunting waterfowl when the lead ban went into effect, Steel shot wasn't an option for me for many reasons. HeviShot and Tungsten Matrix are far better than steel, and they don't require the extra room of a 3 1/2" shell, but the 3 1/2" shell has other uses than just steel shot. Heavy payloads of Buckshot, various loads with multiple large round balls, very heavy slugs are three that come to mind right off.

DC

[thinkingman]

heavi shot extends your range with 2 3/4 and 3in shells but 3.5 extends your shot column.
I am not a good shotgunner, but feel 3.5 is a waste of $ and recoil.

[tube_ee]

the 10 gauge does that, and always has.

--Shannon

[Scorch]

Does hevi shot make 3.5" chambered shotguns obsolete?No, the recoil from a 3.5" shotgun will make them obsolete. If you can stand shooting your shotgun all day because it doesn't beat the snot out of you, isn't that better performance?
If you use hevi shot in a 3" or 2.75" shell do you get better performance than using a 3.5" steel shot?You can kill birds very well with 2-3/4" shells. I haven't put a 3" shell in my shotgun in over 15 years because the extra recoil and much higher cost didn't justify the little bit of added range.
If this is true, wouldn't 3.5" chambered shotguns be unnecessary?Yes, and if you speak to enough folks who own 3.5" shotguns, you will hear it straight from them.
Might this eventually put 3.5" shotguns out of production?Yes, eventually, but as long as there are shooters who think they can substitute firepower for skill, there will be more powerful guns of all sorts.

[hogdogs]

And than there will always be the guys that either need a penile extension the LONGER rounds provide or those just after the WHO-RAAAA factor of hammering a bunch of heavily laden magnum rounds down range... I know many who won't hunt with them that just shoot them for chits and giggles at milk jugs... They may also be the same guys that set the stock against their gonads and bust off a round to feel the KICK in the SHORTS but to each his own... I out grew un-needed pain many years ago but there was a time when I liked one arming mag rifle and shot guns just cuz I was tough enuff to hang...
Brent

[Crosshair]

Talking about this stuff. The only thing I have found on the science behind banning lead was a limited study by one researches that suggested that lead and ducks MIGHT be a problem and that more research was needed.

Not to mention I find NOTHING about what causes the least amount of harm, lead shot or steel shot.

Anyone want to enlighten me here?

[hogdogs]

Maybe the duckies were chipping their little teeth:D... I doubt it is as big a problem as we are lead to believe... I don't duck hunt so I was never in the loop of involvement.
Brent

[Brad Clodfelter]

I'm not a duck or goose hunter. But I have shot this Hevi-Shot in turkey loads. The stuff definately patterns extra tight. It definately shoots tighter patterns than lead shot. I shot a 97% pattern at 40yds using the 3" 1 and 3/4oz #6 load. But what kills the popularity of this stuff is the price. It cost over $2 a pop. What I can't understand is how this shot being irregular shape and all, patterns so well. Lead shot, if made not round or when it becomes out of round will not pattern as well as shot that is perfectly round. It puzzles me to how this Hevi-Shot shoots so tight of patterns. :confused:

[SimpleIsGood229]

I'm thinking a 3.5'' chamber is worth it only if you can't afford the buck-a-pop Hevi-Shot/Tungsten/whatever rounds. Oh, and for recoil training/desensitization/fireball-shockwave fun! :D