12 Gauge 2 3/4” Steel Shot BB For Waterfowl

[@Nobody03119]

I just bought another 12 gauge and found your channel, which I am enjoying and subscribing, you are motivating me to start loading my own shotgun loads.

[@theshotgunscientists]

Thanks man. It’s a lot of fun.

[@okshotgun]

I've seen factory loads that had a bigger pinhole than that. That looks like a winner!

[@theshotgunscientists]

For sure

[@crankygunreviews]

I'm gonna try some of these soon.. bought a bunch of steel shot wads from precision reloading, and I want to know what I can load in case of SHTF or TEOTWAWKI etc lol

[@LDmagnum]

“Im not gonna unplug the refrigerator” that gave me a good laugh

[@theshotgunscientists]

Thanks man

[@Duckslayer1096]

Thanks for all of the great reloading information.

[@jamescheslic2686]

Great common man understandable video. I hand load some of these and for decoying mallards they work great.

[@jeffw1246]

I've been using that load in unslit wads. 25gr Longshot and 1/4in felt 20ga in bottom of cup. But those bb's overtopped the wad at 1oz, dropped a few out to be sure all bb's stayed in wad. Came out to 7/8oz. Just for fun at the range.

[@BrockLowell]

Another solid video and great info and sealing the primer and crimp is a most for waterfowl. I ran a few hundreds of those hulls this last waterfowl season. They look great but rust super fast plus are ultra acceptable to moisture problems fast. If your loading and shooting them all the next hunting day their fine but if they get wet and they will rust in a less then a week. They crimp nice on a lee press but you need at least 1/8” cork to keep the crimp with a solid feel with smaller shot if not the crimp will always push in because the plastic is thin. I would look for a better hull unless your throwing them away each hunt and not storing them. If anyone has tips to fix the rusting problem please help me out because I bought a ton of these gems!

[@theshotgunscientists]

Any steel based hull will rust but I keep mine in my pockets, in a 5 round shell holder on the stock, or in a shell belt. Keeps the weather off them when hunting in the woods. If we’re shooting at the range I keep them in the box and unless we’re rapid firing or shooting semi autoI normally don’t let me hulls touch the ground.

[@BrockLowell]

Unfortunately, during waterfowl hunting they will be ejecting from my semi auto in the water or boat or wet field normally. I use 25 round plastic slotted boxes that keep all water off them until you open it and it’s raining or a million other ways they can get wet waterfowl hunting. I do have sweet 20 round holder that’s like the one on your stock but was made to hang off waiter and it never dried out all season lol. No there nothing you can do to keep them dry. The funny think is the hulls from major waterfowl companies that all my buddies shoot would lay around the boat for months unless I picked them up and they didn’t rust! Just the cheap hulls did never seen a shot shell do that before. Btw in the type waterfowl hunting I do you in the water putting decoy out or picking them up there just is no way to stay dry. If I find a hull that can be bought cheap that don’t rush in waterfowl conditions I’ll let you know. If anyone has a brand of hulls that doesn’t rush please let me know!

[@johnanderson186]

If you’re dealing with salty water then wash all your hulls in fresh clean water when hunt is over. Saltwater is terribly corrosive to steel. Also don’t store your wet hulls in a bucket or a plastic type bin, use a cardboard box. The cardboard will let the hulls dry better. The plastic won’t let em air out. You can also hit the hulls with WD40 or silicone lubricant before throwing in a cardboard box, won’t hurt the hull at all. The main key is getting salt off the hulls and getting them dry. Rust needs moisture and oxygen to proliferate and salt is a MAJOR catalyst for it.

[@user-qp3eb4pm1zfatcatreloading]

For duck loads I started making over shot cards out of Mylar wrap material or projector sheets with a 3/4 whole punch from hobby lobby. Then I seal the crimp with fingernail polish. I’m just sharing some ideas I’ve tried. Guys. 👍

[@brucefrohn9834]

I reload a similar 2 3/4" 12ga shell w/19 gr Red Dot GT1260 wad, 7/8oz #6 steel & 20ga overshot card. These work great for shooting clays, but I'm having a hard time finding these wads & Red Dot powder. I'll have to try the Longshot & TPS wads. Thank you for the tip.

[@doughunter-p8z]

another great vid as usual friend...Thanks...doug

[@mullwagon5615]

Please range test these! Watched several of your vids. Very entertaining overall. Keep up the good work.

[@theshotgunscientists]

Thanks man

[@kylekimmie3643]

Thanks for this great video man would this load work with challenger blue hulls with cheddite 209 primer or cci 209 primer

[@theshotgunscientists]

Yes

[@darrinburks912]

I have a ton of 2 3/4” federal field and target hulls can I use this same load data for them? Love your videos man lots of good information.

[@theshotgunscientists]

Yeah you can

[@darrinburks912]

Ok thanks

[@clks1165]

There is a load that you may want to try. It uses cheddite hull/primers, 27 grain of HS-6, ranger elite wads, 1 1/8 oz 492 gr of steel shot going at 1200 fps at 10,800 psi you could Buffet up to 27.5 gr maybe 28 gr of powder to get 50 plus fps at still a safe psi. You can also use 3" hulls with a gas seal to get more fps.

[@jesusmartinez-ze5ec]

This is my favorite video, it’s the first video that introduced me to your channel and inspired me to load my own shells. Could you reload some in 3 inch I would like to see how it’s put together, Thank you.

[@theshotgunscientists]

We’ve done a few 3”

[@vdog4799]

you made a comment on mossberg marks that I would like to know a bit more about as I have a mossberg 500. is that something that will affect a reload quality or safety issue? I do have a mark on my 3in federal hull. not bad,just a dent. what do I keep an eye out for safety wise?

[@Mdwaterman]

with the density of tss, thoughts on cutting the BB's and duplexing with tss ? That would make a hell of a goose load !!

[@theshotgunscientists]

It’s green done a lot and recipes are available

[@AKSaber907]

I think I'm going to make some of these since I can't find lead shot anywhere.

[@ravener96]

to be honest, for hunting i dont see any reason not to use steel shot anyway. we're not shooting more than two or three rounds anyway, so we can fill a 3 1/2 inch shell with as much shot as we want if we want to keep the shot mass up. use a bit larger shot than you would with lead and each individual pellet can carry the same kind of energy. i dont really dig the idea of spreading all this lead into the soil. eventually it'll catch up to us.

[@ravener96]

to be honest, for hunting i dont see any reason not to use steel shot anyway. we're not shooting more than two or three rounds anyway, so we can fill a 3 1/2 inch shell with as much shot as we want if we want to keep the shot mass up. use a bit larger shot than you would with lead and each individual pellet can carry the same kind of energy. i dont really dig the idea of spreading all this lead into the soil. eventually it'll catch up to us.

[@AKSaber907]

@@ravener96 They made it mandatory to use steel shot for waterfoul hunting in the 1990's because they where worried about the birds eating the shot and getting lead poisoning. Honestly, the environmental impact of the lead shot is probably worse than the birds eating it but the plastic wads worry me too. I plan on loading up some shells with bismuth shot with fiber wads since bismuth won't scratch the barrel like steel would and the fiber wads will biodegrade quickly.

[@ravener96]

@@AKSaber907 many countries are going towards madatory lead free for all hunting. for target shooting i dont see that much issue with lead since it can mostly be recovered, but i'm really not that against a general reduction of lead use.

[@thecainer64]

I've been watching a pile of your videos since I came across this channel. Do you have any videos on long range birdshot handloads? I'm looking for something in 12 gauge for long shots on partridge in the North Maine woods. We frequently get chances to take shots at longer ranges than factory loads seem to handle. I run a full choke 12 gauge 2-3/4 any help is appreciated

[@theshotgunscientists]

You’d need a choke of about .670 to .640 to reach out to 50 yards and a high velocity load of probably 6 shot. Basically a target load with a turkey choke and larger shot. Sounds like a fun loading video.

[@thecainer64]

@@theshotgunscientists thank you, I found #6 was the right size last year. I was using AA hulls and I think AA12 wads with green dot I will verify the charge. That's all I had on hand to work with for wads. I was wondering about ordering something like a TPS wad and slitting them 3/4. Thank you again

[@DanielA-ih2vl]

A little bit of gun oil on the spring knocked out that squeaky spring on mine. I just rubbed it all up and down and it's pretty much silent

[@Wigeon3211]

Definitely going to cook some of these up! Could you do a 12ga 3” 1 1/4 and 1 3/8 ounce load. These are what I use the most duck hunting in FL. The velocity can go as low as 1300 fps. From my experience on ducks, BB size shot does fine when not propelled at lightning velocity at normal ranges for ducks and hits hard. Thanks for what you are doing!

[@theshotgunscientists]

Thanks man. I’ve already got a 3” version filmed it’ll be out in a day or so.

[@Mdwaterman]

Thanks for the load data, do you think a 2 3/4" Cheddite hull is suffice ?

[@theshotgunscientists]

Yes

[@curtiseggemeyer5681]

Good Job could an overshot wad hurt anything or do you think it would not mess up the pattern , just saying like if you used a roll crimp instead. I know you guys test and test quite a bit of different configurations.

[@theshotgunscientists]

You can roll crimp any fold crimp data.

[@nickhernandez392]

Could you make a 3” load video?

[@theshotgunscientists]

Yes

[@MbalmR97TX]

1. Do you think using 1/2 Waxed Hard Card wad 20ga would make a difference? 2. Do you think using a Multi Metal wad instead of a TPS would make a difference?

[@theshotgunscientists]

A multi metal may only hold 9/10 of an ounce because they’re a bit thicker. You can use a waxed hard card in place of the fiber cushion. I love the multi metal wads.

[@jwopd]

Do you have data for the 3” version with 1 1/4 oz steel .177 BB shot?

[@theshotgunscientists]

I’ll post a video on it

[@jwopd]

@@theshotgunscientists looking forward to it!

[@richyrich0257]

So today I tried my first steel shot reloads. Like in the video. I used once fired Federal hull Ched 209 primer 23gn of long shot TPS wad (2-3/4) 1 oz of copperhead bbs Roll crimp over bingo card I started with 20 then up to 23gn. The last shot of 5, 23gn just popped. Barley spit it out. No barrel obstruction but lots of unburnt powder. It was raining and 10*C / 50*F out. My guess is bad primer/not hot enough. What do you think?

[@theshotgunscientists]

Couldn’t have been a bad primer or bad seal over the powder.

[@thomasdepp730]

Can you use the MG - 42 wad instead of the TSP wad for the same load be

[@theshotgunscientists]

No they are completely different designs and with steel shot you really don’t want to be messing around with the recipe

[@saltcreekammo]

Very nice... I'll do a video soon of a bomb ass 2-3/4" steel load.

[@theshotgunscientists]

Can’t wait man.

[@clks1165]

Don't you need 27 gr for that loads on the tps data for 1 oz load it 27 and 23 for 1 1/8oz?

[@theshotgunscientists]

The data I used called for 23 grains

[@jamespollard1670]

A coating of wheel bearing grease on that spring makes the press much quieter .

[@theshotgunscientists]

I’m not really that worried about it honestly I was just letting people know what’s available if it bothers them

[@jamespollard1670]

@@theshotgunscientists Just saying , a bit of grease on the spring cuts the squeaking noise in half or better on mine .

[@shallowgrave111075]

What are the chances you guys do any bismuth waterfowl loads, or bismuth/ steel duplex loads?

[@theshotgunscientists]

As time goes on we will be doing non tox stuff too but for now we can’t really afford it.

[@mullwagon5615]

Great shit bro. Really enjoy your vids. Please do 2.5" 410 bb loads and then put them on paper with the 500E

[@theshotgunscientists]

Steel bb’s are not a good idea in a .410

[@mullwagon5615]

How about 4 buck mixed with 4 shot (lead)? That would be a nasty home defense/protection round.

[@mullwagon5615]

Is it the fixed full choke that makes it dangerous? Would cylinder bore be ok?

[@theshotgunscientists]

Steel shot in a full choke isn’t a good idea. Buckshot and rifled/foster slugs are fine though. Steel BB’s are too big for .410 and won’t stack in a wad by 2’s. You’d end up with very few pellets given that the wad that needs to be used as very thick non tox wads.

[@mullwagon5615]

@@theshotgunscientists thank you for taking the time to teply. You may have saved my 410. Your channel is excellent. I have reloaded lots of rifle and pistol rounds but never messed with shotgun rounds. You make it look easy and teach good habits (double checking weight). Keep up the good work.

[@brucecoleman1509]

I guess the pressure would be about the same if I roll crimped that load?

[@theshotgunscientists]

It would be less

[@brucecoleman1509]

​@theshotgunscientists I've shot them both ways but don't have chronograph. What brand is the one you and Josh have?

[@theshotgunscientists]

@@brucecoleman1509 caldwell

[@aronkovacs1386]

Is it the same primer that comes pre primed in those fiocchi wads?

[@theshotgunscientists]

Yes

[@aronkovacs1386]

@@theshotgunscientists so it’s the Fiocchi 209s. Thanks, I have a pound of longshot and they don’t have any steel shot recipes on their website. Thanks a lot!

[@Rsoul461]

Best info out there

[@theshotgunscientists]

Thanks

[@gorillamotors]

Do you feel that Longshot is a good all around powder for Buckshot, steel, and lead shot? I can readily find longshot but really none of the others.

[@theshotgunscientists]

It’s fine for 10 gauge down to 32 gauge, but only good with steel for 12 and 10 gauge.

[@lukedog7028]

I like roll crimping better but enjoy watching any kind of re loading

[@theshotgunscientists]

Thanks

[@lumberr-jackk]

👍great as Clip always

[@theshotgunscientists]

Thanks

[@Sneakyjoe69]

So you don’t here the spring noise

[@roybaker1571]

I have the same Crosman BBs, but I have Winchester 572 powder & Claybuster WT12 wads. Will that work or do I need to change powder and or wads?

[@theshotgunscientists]

That wad will definitely not work. It has to be a wad specifically for steel shot or tss.

[@roybaker1571]

@@theshotgunscientists what wad do you recommend for 1-14 oz shots with the 572 powder? Will the WAA12 work?

[@roybaker1571]

1-1/4

[@Selzman10]

Would buffer be beneficial for this load?

[@theshotgunscientists]

I’ve never seen any of our steel loads have any effect with buffer.

[@Oldmanwithagoldpan]

My Lee load all's sound the exact same way. I even tried lubeing the spring and follower on one of em.. didn't help. I Could barely hear your fridge running.

[@theshotgunscientists]

It’s louder in person than in videos lol

[@Oldmanwithagoldpan]

@@theshotgunscientists if it stops making the noise you'll probably have a problem. Lol

[@nyfraud]

Unshived or shived Fiocchi shells

[@theshotgunscientists]

Skivved, unskivved are meant for roll crimping and are hard to fold.

[@ferrari_guy3570]

Why do you have to seal up the hole on the shell he crimped?

[@theshotgunscientists]

It’s to prevent moisture from getting in, or if you’re using buffer it keeps buffer from leaking out too.

[@kyletownsend1064]

Do you have to use that specific hull? I have a ton of AA hulls! Would they work?

[@theshotgunscientists]

Any straight wall hull would work. AA hulls are tapered hulls, smaller internal capacity, the wad wouldn’t fit.

[@dirtdarte]

I've shot a bunch of these using #4-#2 steel for waterfowl. Over decoys... it's murder.... a very inexpensive steel shot load. Instead of the fiber cushion wad... I use 20gauge felt in the shot cup.. faster to load and no guesswork... but the fiber cushion is cheaper. If you have it or can find it... using Steel powder you can drive these loads upward of 1500fps with less pressure than the Longshot... but finding a supply of Steel powder isn't easy.

[@theshotgunscientists]

I’ve got so much fiber cushion I’m using it for everything right now. I think the felt is better at providing cushion, but right now it would be impractical to buy it.

[@dirtdarte]

@@theshotgunscientists I hear ya... I've got a bunch of fiber too... maybe I should use it up this year and save the felt for other loads. Thanks for making these videos. It's good to see what others are doing.

[@thastinger345]

Yeah...fuk that. I haven't seen AS powder in 2.5 years. You can buy the BAM BBB shot and use longshot and get the same velocities as steel if you use the MG42 wad

[@bryantb3391]

I tried getting the lee load all to drop the bbs but they just get hung up in the spout and seen a vid that longshot will work its way out of the bushing slide deal geuss ill have to weigh it out manually

[@theshotgunscientists]

That’s what I do. Get a lee perfect powder measure that’s what I’m using now.

[@bryantb3391]

@@theshotgunscientists just wish it would work. If I had a less dense powder and smaller shot it would work fine. I think I'm going to try sanding it out.

[@rickrice5197]

Jealous of all the hair bro

[@theshotgunscientists]

Thanks lol

[@barricksspecial]

Any experience with the BP.. "Ranger Elite" wads by chance?? I'm 50/50 if they were rated for steel shot...? I know they are discontinued but I got them years ago from an uncle wade video, but never got around to messing with them..

[@theshotgunscientists]

I think those are available right now actually. Roger adkins on here has done a lot with them. They are advertised for 1 1/8 ounces of steel and 2 ounces of lead.

[@barricksspecial]

@@theshotgunscientists ahhh sweet man...thanks for replying..we just moved two months ago and all of my stuff is everywhere for now ;(

[@ArpOutdoors]

Good video.

[@theshotgunscientists]

Thanks

[@albertobenini7560]

Hi, I have some old Winchester 540 powder. Would you have a dose to make 35/36 grams of steel number 3. Thanks

[@theshotgunscientists]

Winchester 540 data is interchangeable with hodgdon hs6. It’s the same powder.

[@albertobenini7560]

@@theshotgunscientists ok e hai un assetto buono per 36 grammi da darmi

[@albertobenini7560]

ok then in this case you have a good set-up to give me for the 36 grams

[@nyfraud]

Question Does it have to be tps wads or could I use say one shot

[@theshotgunscientists]

You can use any size you want as long as it all fits in the wad but I’d just stick to the tps

[@Racumin09]

Wath happened if I use 31 grn long shot? Thant can make any damage on my Remington 870? Because I have some charges with that weight, but I don’t shoot yet. (That was, because I forgot change the powder busing)

[@theshotgunscientists]

I would definitely take those apart

[@longhairrasta]

Are those wads 41mm or 35mm. And does it matter

[@theshotgunscientists]

The wad is the regular 2 3/4” tps wad

[@longhairrasta]

My bad, I forgot you were using the un-slit wad. The slit wads come two different sizes. Any other data for heavier shot with this hull? @@theshotgunscientists

[@Sneakyjoe69]

Did you find the link for the piston system you were talking about ?

[@theshotgunscientists]

Lookup below the tideline here on KZbin he has a video with them talking about how to get them I think

[@Duckslayer1096]

What size “thickness” nitro card or felt wad are you using.

[@theshotgunscientists]

1/8” to 1/4” depending on shot type, I’d go with felt or fiber.

[@briansimpson2608]

What primer are you using in this load?

[@theshotgunscientists]

The one that came in the hull

[@briansimpson2608]

Thanks, great videos by the way.

[@joshuadavidson662]

If i dump out lead shot if it weaight is the same can i just replace it with steel shot?

[@theshotgunscientists]

No, the steel would rip right through a normal wad which would scratch up your barrel pretty bad. It would also take up way more room than less because it’s significantly lighter/less dense. Pressure would go way up too.

[@joshuadavidson662]

@@theshotgunscientists thanks!

[@badboytommy187]

Can you put buffer on your shot BB 1 ounce load ?

[@theshotgunscientists]

Yes just drop half a grain of powder

[@manchapkarm3626]

Try 34grain A Steel , Lbc 43 split 4 ways 32g steel 1s .. unreal load

[@theshotgunscientists]

I just got some lbc50 wads, I’ll trim one down and try it out. I only have BB shot, which is truly just B and 1/2 since they’re BB gun pellets.

[@markchapman6933]

@@theshotgunscientists OK I use this with either 4s 3s or 1s shot some long range geese with that load as we only shoot fighting geese on the Marsh.

[@sitnam30]

How much grain for 1600 fps

[@theshotgunscientists]

You’d need a different powder and probably a 3” shell

[@sitnam30]

@@theshotgunscientists I bought a box of Winchester 1600 velocity Slugs. But I want to start making my own shells.

[@theshotgunscientists]

@@sitnam30 With lead that’s totally doable with longshot but steel might be very iffy on pressure using longshot.

[@t.w.i.t.c.h8711]

What TPS is that

[@theshotgunscientists]

Regular 2 3/4”

[@t.w.i.t.c.h8711]

​@@theshotgunscientistsThank you as always good sir

[@t.w.i.t.c.h8711]

​@@theshotgunscientistsI have one more question. What's the oz weight of that steel shot

[@theshotgunscientists]

@@t.w.i.t.c.h8711 1

[@t.w.i.t.c.h8711]

​@@theshotgunscientistswould running 28 gr be too much?

[@raybishop3176]

No contact info for the wad splitter guy

[@theshotgunscientists]

KZbin won’t let me link it. It’s gary.d.caskey Facebook

[@raybishop3176]

@@theshotgunscientists Thank you

[@Medmann48]

You can just get the Multi-Metal wads & those are pre-slit.

[@theshotgunscientists]

I like slitting my own with shallower cuts. Patterns are usually better.

[@htodd4014]

Useless tip, true bb shot is .180 not .177

[@theshotgunscientists]

@@htodd4014 I’m sure that .003” matters. I’ve gone over the difference in these and normal BB shot in many videos. I did in this video as well. Thanks for watching.

[@htodd4014]

@@theshotgunscientists love your work

[@robbunzey377]

Just a heads up tested that at 25.5 grains of powder 13,880 PSI average Great velocities, 1440 FPS, but noticed sever wad deformity. Patterns were excellent at 30 yards, excellent!!

[@theshotgunscientists]

That’s a little spicy. I don’t even remember where I found that specific load.

[@robbunzey377]

@@theshotgunscientists still good in a 3.5" chamber!!! I run 23.5 grains at 1300PSI, crumple geese at 30!! For those shooting extremely cold temps, run Asteel!!

[@robbunzey377]

1300 FPS