# What shells would you recommend?



## Hareshunting (Dec 6, 2017)

Going to Arkansas after Christmas. Will be shooting #2's. What shells would you recommend or to stay away from?


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## Duckbuster82 (Dec 6, 2017)

Lead


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## Long Cut (Dec 6, 2017)

Go pattern a few or buy the cheapest shells you can get. Cupped in ducks won't know if it was a $.50 shell or $2...


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## DRBugman85 (Dec 6, 2017)

Duckbuster82 said:


> Lead



 I wish.My Shot Shell of choice.are Winchester Drylok Supreme HV 3 inch, 1 1/4 #2 @1450 fps.There the best I've found for any and all ducks a little pricey but that's my opinion. Its as deadly as lead #4 was back in the day.I shoot about a case and 1/2 a year and they hammer in my 870 with a improved cylinder choke.


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## chase870 (Dec 6, 2017)

Ill shoot anything but my preference is a 11/4oz load of #2's at 1450 I mostly shoot challenger shells


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## Quackmasterofgeorgia (Dec 6, 2017)

B&P are about the cheapest, and they have hammered each duck I've shot this year, no miss fires. So in my opinion I'd say they're the best cheap shells. High dollar favorite is blindside. Least favorite is Kent because it ain't fun having gun powder hit you in the face and eyes, close second would be the cheap winchesters because of the pattern from my gun.


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## obadiah (Dec 6, 2017)

I agree with the earlier post. Anything should be good for decoying birds. My preference is 3” 1 3/8 oz #2. I like the Kents and have tried some Rios too.


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## king killer delete (Dec 7, 2017)

Duckbuster82 said:


> Lead


Wait I have killed a ton of ducks with lead. Just not recently.


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## king killer delete (Dec 7, 2017)

DRBugman85 said:


> I wish.My Shot Shell of choice.are Winchester Drylok Supreme HV 3 inch, 1 1/4 #2 @1450 fps.There the best I've found for any and all ducks a little pricey but that's my opinion. Its as deadly as lead #4 was back in the day.I shoot about a case and 1/2 a year and they hammer in my 870 with a improved cylinder choke.


The young ones just dont understand the birds you and I killed with lead #4


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## MudDucker (Dec 7, 2017)

I like Kent #3's myself.  Plenty of killin' power and better spread than #2's.  I only use #2's on divers.


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## Duckbuster82 (Dec 7, 2017)

Funny, I went by cabelas before the first season, and all the #4 and #5 lead was sold out. There was shelves full of i guess there was a lot of pheasant around that week.


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## krazybronco2 (Dec 7, 2017)

Duckbuster82 said:


> Funny, I went by cabelas before the first season, and all the #4 and #5 lead was sold out. There was shelves full of i guess there was a lot of pheasant around that week.



there was a big pheasant shoot in Thompson/Dearing area on the 25th.


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## The Fever (Dec 7, 2017)

get them close and I have found the ducks don't have a preference.


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## DRBugman85 (Dec 7, 2017)

king killer delete said:


> The young ones just dont understand the birds you and I killed with lead #4


AMEN BROTHER.. AA hull,Blue dot powder,AA red wad and 11/2 Oz of lead #4 was a bad duck killer.I reloaded a many a shell back in the day Mec 600 Jr still have it put back in the old shop.40 yards was a DEAD DUCK.I miss the day we shot lead but Winchester Supremes are as close as I seen to them.


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## king killer delete (Dec 8, 2017)

DRBugman85 said:


> AMEN BROTHER.. AA hull,Blue dot powder,AA red wad and 11/2 Oz of lead #4 was a bad duck killer.I reloaded a many a shell back in the day Mec 600 Jr still have it put back in the old shop.40 yards was a DEAD DUCK.I miss the day we shot lead but Winchester Supremes are as close as I seen to them.


I did exactly the same thing with 29 grains of Hercules Blue dot


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## king killer delete (Dec 8, 2017)

MudDucker said:


> I like Kent #3's myself.  Plenty of killin' power and better spread than #2's.  I only use #2's on divers.


I shoot Kents to and like them. They do work good on divers.


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## DRBugman85 (Dec 8, 2017)

king killer delete said:


> I did exactly the same thing with 29 grains of Hercules Blue dot



Exactly  That my friend smacked big ducks...


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## MudDucker (Dec 8, 2017)

DRBugman85 said:


> AMEN BROTHER.. AA hull,Blue dot powder,AA red wad and 11/2 Oz of lead #4 was a bad duck killer.I reloaded a many a shell back in the day Mec 600 Jr still have it put back in the old shop.40 yards was a DEAD DUCK.I miss the day we shot lead but Winchester Supremes are as close as I seen to them.



Same here, but I preferred #5 shot.  Make a many of floating feather wads with these loads!


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## tgw925 (Dec 8, 2017)

Depends on how you're hunting. In the woods I shoot 2 3/4" 7's, in the fields I use 2 3/4" 4's and sometimes 3" 4's. Any cheap load is just as good as the best, dead is dead. Xperts will get the job done every time. Also, no steel load will EVER be as good as lead #4's.


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## DRBugman85 (Dec 8, 2017)

I like them more dead $35,000 in hunting equipment why skimp on quality shotgun shells.


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## Mexican Squealer (Dec 8, 2017)

tgw925 said:


> Depends on how you're hunting. In the woods I shoot 2 3/4" 7's, in the fields I use 2 3/4" 4's and sometimes 3" 4's. Any cheap load is just as good as the best, dead is dead. Xperts will get the job done every time. Also, no steel load will EVER be as good as lead #4's.



Xperts...


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## Uptonongood (Dec 9, 2017)

The better question is which choke do you use for which brand and shot size of shell?  Most folks don't do it but, as mentioned by Long Cut above, take a couple of hours and pattern your gun with several chokes, several brands/shot sizes, as 30 yards and 40 yards.  

Just because other's say they kill tons of ducks with such and such shell, load and shot size doesn't mean it will shoot well in your gun.  In all of the posts so far, I noticed that only DrBugman85 mentioned which choke he was using.


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## Chewbaka81 (Dec 10, 2017)

I’ll be shooting Remington Nitro Steel for the foreseeable future thanks to their Black Friday rebates.


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## Booner Killa (Dec 13, 2017)

Heavy metal 2’s!!!


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## king killer delete (Dec 13, 2017)

Does anybody pattern a shotgun anymore?


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## king killer delete (Dec 13, 2017)

You can shoot the best money can buy and they still won’t kill a thing. Go buy a box of cheap shells and murder everything  that flys by. You got to shoot what works in your gun. You can have two guns exactly the same model , choke and barrel length. One will shoot well with one shell and one won’t.


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## king killer delete (Dec 13, 2017)

Go pattern your gun


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## DRBugman85 (Dec 13, 2017)

king killer delete said:


> Does anybody pattern a shotgun anymore?


Yes sir,before the hunting season arrives I check the weapons and chokes,shells. I make sure my chokes are not SHOT OUT by shooting steel shot. I've change the choke if it leaves holes in the pattern. Improved cylinder has always been my favorite with Winchester drylok Supreme in my Remington 870 special purpose that's a 40 years old and has never failed me yet.


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## hrstille (Dec 14, 2017)

Hareshunting said:


> Going to Arkansas after Christmas. Will be shooting #2's. What shells would you recommend or to stay away from?



Don't over think this. You're going to be shooting decoying birds. Probably inside of 30 yards. They will be easy to hit. You can kill them with pretty much any shell. Good luck out there


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## DRBugman85 (Dec 14, 2017)

hrstille said:


> Don't over think this. You're going to be shooting decoying birds. Probably inside of 30 yards. They will be easy to hit. You can kill them with pretty much any shell. Good luck out there


As Killer said go pattern your shotgun,I like the ducks I shoot to fall dead in the decoys and a little reach to 45 yards is not uncommon for seasoned ducks later after they have been shot at from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. And a good shotgun shell can make a difference IMO. But I have been hunting duck for 55 years and I'm blind in my right eye and can't see much out of the other. A friend in Arkansas shoots a full choke for all waterfowl hunting and he's deadly with a shotgun and shoots a LOT of ducks.


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## DRBugman85 (Dec 14, 2017)

king killer delete said:


> you can shoot the best money can buy and they still won’t kill a thing. Go buy a box of cheap shells and murder everything  that flys by. You got to shoot what works in your gun. You can have two guns exactly the same model , choke and barrel length. One will shoot well with one shell and one won’t.


amen


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## The Flying Duckman (Dec 28, 2017)

What Killer said, try different shells and different shot sizes to get the fit for your gun. Don't guess at the yardage, measure it off.  I'm not much for shooting at paper then drawing a circle around the shot.  I draw a 30" circle on a piece of card board, put a quarter sized dot in the middle, measure off 40 yards, and aim at the dot in the center, then see how many shot are out of the circle.  
Then you can figure the % of shot in the circle, see the density of the pattern in relation to aim point, and see if the gun is shooting high, low, left, or right.

I personally shoot Federal 3" #3's and kill ducks and geese both with them inside the 40 yard range.


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