Gone Hunting: Shotgun shells have undergone an evolution for a resolution on lead shot issue – Greeley Tribune

I am a staunch believer in the Book of Genesis and what it teaches us about how we arrived at where we are today.

However, when it comes to shotgun ammunition, evolution is the key to successful hunting.

Thirty years ago, in 1987, the Federal government began phasing in its ban on toxic lead shot for waterfowl/migratory bird hunting. This ban spread nationwide in 1991.

The reasoning behind this ban was the thought that crippled birds that flew off, died and were then ingested by birds of prey such as our national symbol, the Bald Eagle. There was evidence to support this theory, with several instances of birds of prey found dead or dying from lead poisoning.

I know hunters that carry nothing but steel even when hunting upland/non-migratory birds just to avoid having to switch loads in the field.

Waterfowl hunters were sent scrambling for alternative ammunition. Even upland (pheasant/quail) hunters needed options if they were hunting on federal waterfowl production areas and national wildlife refuges.

The initial and often-used option to lead shot was steel shot. The results were not good. Unprepared for this new law, ammo manufacturers simply switched out steel for lead without changing much of anything else in the shell.

Steel shot is not nearly as heavy as lead shot and does not pack the wallop or shock when it contacts the target. Steel shot also patterns more tightly which reduces the "kill zone". Hunters crippled more birds but didn't kill them.

I can vividly remember hunting geese with my brother Jack in the cornfields north of Greeley back in the late 80s. The first morning flock of Canadian honkers were locked up, feet down and settling into our decoys. We emptied our shotguns on them.

It literally rained feathers on us as we watched that flock hurry into the sky and safety. Not one pellet penetrated enough to be lethal.

Ammo manufacturers tried alternative shot such as bismuth and tungsten, which were comparable to lead in weight and shocking power but not in price.

Manufacturers began to concentrate on making a better steel-shot shotgun shell. Evolution, trial and error, and test markets were used well, and finally, we have a better product.

It began with the guts of the shotshell. The wad that cradles the tiny pellets was re-tooled. It became a bit shorter to accommodate more pellets.

The primers that ignite the powder were redesigned to burn slower and reduce chamber pressure. The steel shot remained spherical but some manufacturers experimented with different shapes of the tiny BB's. I likened this to the dimples on a golf ball. Ball manufacturers claim their dimple pattern is the best for straight flight or longer flight. The same claims were made by the shotshell makers. The results of this evolutionary period are shotgun shells that contain steel pellets that perform virtually as well as lead ammo.

My favorite lead ammo continues to be a Federal shotshell that contains 1 oz. of no. 4 lead pellets pushed by 3 drams of gunpowder at 1330 feet per second. I prefer this load for upland hunting because it has been my most consistently lethal load at all ranges and in any wind and weather conditions.

Federal, Remington, Fiocchi all make loads similar to what I have just described.

I know hunters that carry nothing but steel even when hunting upland/non-migratory birds just to avoid having to switch loads in the field.

A good example of an effective modern steel load is Federal's Prairie Storm Steel. It comes in a 3-inch shell (requiring at least a 3-inch chamber in your shotgun) and launches number 3 or 4 steel shot at 1600 feet per second. Sixteen hundred feet per second is fast and should have enough wallop out at 40 yards or in the killing zone.

There are also two shapes of pellets or BB's in the Prairie Storm shell. About half of the 170 pellets are spherical while the remaining pellets are spherical with a band (called Flitestoppers). They resemble the planet Saturn and help deliver a lethal punch.

I don't hunt waterfowl much any more. I don't like to kill something that I don't like to eat. However, I do carry a box of steel shot along with me in my F-150 just in case I get the urge.

When you stop to think about it, steel shotgun shell evolution had to have a genesis, too.

Jim Vanek is a longtime hunter who lived in Greeley for many years. He can be reached at kimosabe14@msn.com.

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Gone Hunting: Shotgun shells have undergone an evolution for a resolution on lead shot issue - Greeley Tribune