Steel, Do You Or Don't You?

[JonSkeet2]

Hi All,

Interested to see what cartridges you are all using for ESK, I converted to 24g steel 9's last year as 21g CompX won't cycle in my gun and also for cost reasons.

I know it's a contentious subject but as most skeet birds are sub 22 yards the retained energy issue doesn't really come into the equation but all my 25 straight's with one exception have been with 24g\28g steel.

Ricochets are always banded about by the anti steel mongers but between 3 of us last year we shot well in excess of 30,000 cartridges and didn't witness a single one and another 30,000 the year before.

Plus the benefit of 30% more shot... discuss.

Jon.

 

[Les Graham]

I'm not sure about the steel shot thing, my cartridge man offered me steel at about £10 less a thousand than lead, I bought lead.

 

[Robo]

Shot my best ever club Sporting score (47ex50) with Gamebore Super Steels 28g 7.5 last summer with my old 28" Beretta... just dont like the idea of using them in my Gold E though

Rob

 

[Fuzrat]

Been toying with the idea for sporting at the close stuff, but for the saving of £30 odd a thou (its only half a sporting shoot when carts and fuel are taken into account) Having 2 carts to get used to instead of sticking with the 1 lead version kind of negates the saving.

Yep doing 10K of carts a year on skeet there are big savings to be made for little if any performance loss, more nuggets in steel will be of an advantage in real terms. But for me thinking of using steel for close stuff and lead for the longer sporting stuff it doesn't quite add up

 

[Hamster]

I've always been put off by the recoil thing as much as anything else, not sure I'd be too happy using them for sporting unless everyone else had to too but then I can be a tart even with lead ammo. :lol: :.:

 

[Fuzrat]

Are you on superbs at the moment tart :lol: :.: :.:

 

[WelshKen]

Tried them a while back on skeet with similar performace to lead..

Quite a bit more recoil though..

 

[JonSkeet2]

I do have to agree re the recoil, I can shoot the 24's all day without issue but the 28's are punchy even through my AL391 gas auto with a dead mule in the stock and a 20mm Kick-eez

Put a slab of 28's in the boot by accident for the Skeet Masters last year..250 birds in a day big mistake!

Jon.

 

[GlenPresley]

I am shooting a lot of these as I have to by law out here. On skeet you will notice no difference to lead and for the price and the performance it is not going to affect your scores one bit. I have tried probaly 20 different types now. In general all perform well and like Hammy says the main issue is recoil and then pricing.

A Gamebore Black Gold 28 gram can be compared to a 56gram in recoil they are pretty evil but the kills you get with these on all target are by far superior than any other steel shell out there and probably nearly on par with lead. Hence I am not shooting these due to recoil!

Most of the Gamebore range kill extremely well even at medium distances and out to 60yards but again the majority kick you! The 24gram Super Steel being my first choice from the Gamebore range it is pretty smooth and effective!

Clever actually do the T2 28gram in Steel out here and this is nice and cheaper than the other brands as well! Gamebore are the most expensive you can buy here and Eley.

I shot Nobel Sport Tunet 28 gram a few weekends back and again they were ok nice kills but man do they pack a punch!

The Winchester Acier are nice. They are in an Orange case reasonably priced I think about the same as the T2 and maybe even the cheapest and they are soft and a good all rounder. Don't know if anybody stocks them in the UK?

Out here you have the same issue as back home with the captive market and the shells are not that much cheaper to be honest.

If I was you Jon I would grab 50 of a few different brands get out on the skeet layout and try them all out for the recoil and how you feel they perform you will notice the variation in recoil straight away, I did! Forget about the pattern testing nonsence at the end you want to pick a shell and be able to say 'Yes this one had some nice kills and it's recoil is low' Don't over complicated what you want. You want a cartridge you feel performs well and is good value and isn't going to give you a banging headache at the end of your round.Then go buy a 1000 or so and stick with them.

My order is in and at the moment I am just picking up shells for what I need until they come in stock!

Glen.

 

[Hamster]

Are you on superbs at the moment tart :lol: :.: :lol:

Oh yeh baby, they do hit the G spot for me. :.:

 

[Fuzrat]

Thinking of trying a few over Olympics

 

[Hamster]

Thinking of trying a few over Olympics

It's a tricky one given the £30 odd difference per thou, a few friends of mine use the Olympics and one or two are very good shots too. I don't dislike them myself at all but I sometimes feel they kick a tiny bit more and the Superbs tend to give similar breaks close, near and far. :smile:

 

[optima]

It's a tricky one given the £30 odd difference per thou, a few friends of mine use the Olympics and one or two are very good shots too. I don't dislike them myself at all but I sometimes feel they kick a tiny bit more and the Superbs tend to give similar breaks close, near and far. :smile:

Anyone know the speeds of olimpics compared to superbs, a lot of people recon their slow and you,ve got to get used to this,i shoot them and superbs, can't say i,ve noticed,though i find the superbs a bit more punchy than the olimpics.

 

[GlenPresley]

Anyone know the speeds of olimpics compared to superbs, a lot of people recon their slow and you,ve got to get used to this,i shoot them and superbs, can't say i,ve noticed,though i find the superbs a bit more punchy than the olimpics.

Really people think they really can notice that???? I doubt it??? The only time i have ever noticed the speed of the shell is with some of the subsonics but even then I wouldn't say you needed to change that much. I have had some weird target breaks, in particular double kills, by this I mean you fire target breaks and then it is like a 2nd round of pellets hits it and you get another break!!! I have had that a few times shooting them!

Anybody else experienced the weird and wonderful???

 

[Fuzrat]

Not noticed that Olympics are any slower than anything else, I really like them and the only reason I was looking for a change was they dont do a 9 in them and l like to carry a few around for the close stuff. wanted 1 shell I can use in 7.5 and 9s

 

[JonSkeet2]

Hull InterComp HV or Pro Ones are available in both.... this is a steel thread!

Jon.

 

[GlenPresley]

Not noticed that Olympics are any slower than anything else, I really like them and the only reason I was looking for a change was they dont do a 9 in them and l like to carry a few around for the close stuff. wanted 1 shell I can use in 7.5 and 9s

Ok here is one for the experts amongst you!!! Most of the shooters here are using steel but 7's or in some cases even 6's??? Now when I asked the question to them it seems the thought process is a bigger pellet to break the clay. Ok we all know a bigger pellet can do more damage but I was thinking I want to try some 8's! I have not shot a target yet that I don't think 8's will break and they don't through long range slow targets very often. Surely an 8 with good choke has to be an advantage over a 7 or a 6??? Those few etc pellets must be a benefit in some way?

 

[Hamster]

Anyone know the speeds of olimpics compared to superbs, a lot of people recon their slow and you,ve got to get used to this,i shoot them and superbs, can't say i,ve noticed,though i find the superbs a bit more punchy than the olimpics.

I think their speed is damn close to the Superbs, the reason I am less happy with their recoil is that the Superbs recoil is very snappy and over and done with whereas the Olympics can feel more rattly if that makes sense. I would say the main difference is the shot hardness in favour of the Superbs.

 

[Fuzrat]

Far as im concerned the more nuggets in the shell the better, more chance of "flyer kills" :.: