Hevi-SHot

[ruger270]

Is is safe to shoot Hevi Shot in a remington 870 with a 660 choke.

[Multidigits]

Yes, but Rem. recommends a .675 choke tube as best.

[cobbhunts]

What about the xtra full choke that comes with the 870?

[gung]

How good does the heavyshot shoot? Is it worth the twenty dollar price tag it takes to get them? Thats alot of money to spend just to try them out.

[littleindian]

In all the shooting we have done in sanctioned turkey shoots, I wouldn't give you a dime for Hevi-shot. Winchester HV shoots just as good. The main thing is pattern your gun. The 3" will pattern effectively out to 40 yards (farther than most need to shoot anyway ). The only advantage Hevi-shot has is in the 20 ga. They pattern better than anyting else. I have placed 18 pellets in a 3" circle at a measured 40 yds. ( with a full choke tube in my Mossberg 500 20ga)

"It's not what you take, but what you leave behind"

[The Beagler]

First off various guns are going to shoot hevi-shot differently. I recently had a conversation with a gunsmith and he said hevi-shot either patterns awesome in a gun or not worth a dang. Now if memory serves me hevi-shot has won more than a few sanctioned turkey shoots over Win. High Velocity.

As for the restriction, I shoot a .665 and my gun is devastating out to 50 yards. I know some guys are going to get ill about me saying 50 yards, but it puts 18-20 pellets in the head/neck vitals at that range. The price is a little bit high, but you can solve that by going in halfs with a buddy on a box. In my gun Hevi-shot put more than 25 pellets in the vitals over Win. High Velocity at any range shot. I'm sold on it!

[Feedman]

Cobbhunts,
I have an 870 supermag with the X-full turkey choke. I contacted remington about shooting hevi-shot through this choke. they replied back that with a Hevi-shot choke you would get about 93 to 94% pellets in a 30 inch circle at 30 yards and only 92% with the X-full choke that came with the gun.
I am using the one that came in the gun. I am also considering a Kicks Gobblin thunder choke.

It ain't braggin, if you can back it up.

[theck]

I shot some through my 870 with primos new jellyhead choketube. I really didn't see that big a difference over winchester hv.

[ez]

what's so special about this load that makes it so costly?????....ez

[Multidigits]

It's mo' better than lead--because it's density is heavier than lead. Better penatration, longer range, tighter patterns because it doesn't deform in the choke like lead.

[The Beagler]

The reason it cost more is because it is made with tungsten-nickel-iron, which is more costly than lead shot. Any shell that is made with tungsten is going to be more expensive than lead.

[justdace]

Multidigits; I was readng an article that said the process of making hevi-shot actually produces oddly shaped shot and that is one of the reasons it performs so well. The writer went on to say that perfectly round shot did not fly as straight for the same reason that a smooth golf ball wouldn't. Do you think there is anything to what he was saying. That article can be found on the Remington web site. I think that if you cleanly harvest every bird that you shoot at ; then the extra cost is worth paying. those guys that develope all that stuff have my respect. I do know that any object that spins can behave strangely; and it is hard if not impossible to hurl any object without creating a spin on it. Just consider a ball and you can see that.

[justdace]

By the way I shoot 2 3/4 shells with copper plated lead #6 shot and I have only fired on one turkey that I didn't bring home. The other may have become coyote food but it was Because I rushed the shot and I take the blame for that. Not that I'm an expert but if you take resonable shots I think most Turkey loads perform as well as we do..Lol

[Multidigits]

True, Hevi-shot is not perfectly round, because it's not dropped like lead shot is. The shot is formed and some of it will actually be smaller that the size listed, giving you even more pellets per shell than a lead shell.

Just figure that years ago, people killed turkeys with what we now shoot rabbits with. Basic shotshell manufacturing process have evolved to greatly improve field proformance. Now you can still take a 2 3/4" --1 1/8 or 1 1/4 oz. field load out there and kill a turkey. But most people have decided that more is better, and opt for heavier loads. The difference is more pellets per shot in the head and neck of the turkey. Now, hevi-shot was brought on the market for waterfowl, because it's an improvement over steel with much more added penatration and range. So someone decided it might be good for turkeys--because you can get the performance of 4's with 5's or 6's at the same range. Plus, it patterns as tight as steel in the proper choke. But it cost $2 a round, where a dove load costs 20 cents. both will kill a turkey deader than hell if you do your job. I consider the investment in premimum ammuntion as added insurance that you will be successful.

[Damon]

Lead performs well enough for me.
If you bite into heavy shot it's a trip to the dentist..Lead won't tear up your teath.....

[Multidigits]

Copper plated lead is plenty hard enough to bust a tooth, plus if you eat it, you might get lead poisoned?

[Johnny 2 Feathers]

I am going to use 2&3/4" shells # 6 shot, can some one give me advice on what kind is best to use.

[Multidigits]

You can get a 1 3/8 oz. load of Hevi-shot or you can get a 1 1/2 oz. load in lead. Shoot em in the head, they'll work.

[Johnny 2 Feathers]

Thanks on my way to Wal Mart now so I can shoot my gun today

[creekhunter]

I use Kent Diamond Cut, 3" 5s. This is a great load. I don't trust the Winchester HV shell. I had one misfire (i.e. not fire at all) on the first bird I called in last year on opening day. First I thought the bolt had slid back a little as can happen with the Benelli SBE. But, when the second bird came in 5 minutes later and I pulled the trigger again I got the same thing. Luckily, I was able to lock in another shell before he cleared out. Pure luck.

My uncle got me on the Kent shells after that. He told me that he has heard of numerous incidents like mine involving Winchester HV. He knows a helluva lot more than me about ballistics so I took his word for it especially when he sent me these new shells.

Good luck tomorrow everybody.