# Why not steel shot for turkeys?



## southGAlefty

Let me start by saying please don't bash me for my naivety, if there is any. I read all the time about lead being "poison to turkeys, just like ducks" etc etc. But I never hear of anybody shooting steel shot at turkeys. Why is this? 

I know steel shot increases your choke +1 because of the more dense pattern it throws (example: modified choke becomes a full choke with steel shot). So why not steel? 

Is it illegal or something? Just wondering, please don't tar and feather me.


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## JamesG

Theres nothing wrong with it and its not illegal. I've shot one turkey with steel#4's. Had a Mossberg500 with a mod. steel choke tube. To me it had the best pattern out to 40 yards with the #4 steel/mod choke than it did with lead out of a full choke. 
 Load some steel up and shoot it and see what s best. As far as lead poison dont eat the shot


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## southGAlefty

Just seems like since steel throws a pretty dense pattern (more dense than lead) and its cheaper than buying Hevi-shot, why not use it for turkeys too? 

I wasn't going to post until I knew it was legal haha but I shot my first turkey a few years ago with steel #6s that I had left over from duck season. Bout took his head off at 15 steps.


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## redneckcamo

what is hevi-shot ,bismuth and others made of ?


http://www.ballisticproducts.com/products.asp?dept=67


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## Nitro

redneckcamo said:


> what is hevi-shot ,bismuth and others made of ?



Tungsten, Iron, Tin among other materials. Roughly twice as dense as steel. 

(Which is why steel isn't a very effective pellet material). It loses energy rapidly.....


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## Nitro

southGAlefty said:


> Just seems like since steel throws a pretty dense pattern (more dense than lead) and its cheaper than buying Hevi-shot, why not use it for turkeys too?
> 
> I wasn't going to post until I knew it was legal haha but I shot my first turkey a few years ago with steel #6s that I had left over from duck season. Bout took his head off at 15 steps.



In my experience steel does not pattern well. Certainly not as good as lead. (And I have done a bunch of patterning over the years.)

At 15 steps ANYTHING should "bout" take a Turkeys head off.

The main problem with steel is the pellets are not heavy and lose energy rapidly at a distance most Gobblers are shot from. 

There are much better alternatives to steel shot for Turkeys.


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## southGAlefty

Don't take my posts as being for or against steel shot for turkeys, I was just wondering why you never hear of it. You guys have given some really good reasons. I've used lead on all the other turkeys I shot, just curious, that's all. I don't know the ins and outs of patterning shotguns, ammo loads, etc. and don't claim to know, but I'm getting there with all of you guys' help. Thanks


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## JamesG

I only used it because they were left over from a duck hunt. Forgot to get turkey loads and the steel were in the truck.

The one i shot was at bout 30 yards and it rolled it backwards a couple of feet. Stone dead.


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## redneckcamo

JamesG said:


> I only used it because they were left over from a duck hunt. Forgot to get turkey loads and the steel were in the truck.
> 
> The one i shot was at bout 30 yards and it rolled it backwards a couple of feet. Stone dead.



sounds like a Gunny Highway moment too me  

improvise ,adapt ,overcome


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## Dana Young

The reason you have to use steel for waterfowl is the lead gets in the water and causes the water supply to leach out lead. you don't want lead in your drinking water. but if you want to shoot turkeys with steel go ahead and waste your money.


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## Magnumdood

Does anyone have a DNR reference, or a site, that explains how lead shot leaches into the water table.  I'm fairly certain it doesn't, and the ban on lead was a PC battle won by the environmental wackos.


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## easbell

The question should be "why steel"? Give me Heavy-Shot or one of the other hi-density. I have killed field birds past 40 yrds with it. I would not trust steel to kill them.


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## bigkga69

the first turkey I killed was with 3inch #2's Steel Shot in a Mossberg 500 20 ga. I didnt know what I needed back then, all I knew was a heavy load, and I had these from duck hunting.. well it worked, he was about 30-35 yards...after that and some reading, I convinced my daddy to buy me some 3in #6 lead cause thats what the guys in the magazine were using....


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## Gadget

southGAlefty said:


> I know steel shot increases your choke +1 because of the more dense pattern it throws (example: modified choke becomes a full choke with steel shot). So why not steel?




it is recommended to shoot more open chokes in steel shot for a few reasons; the use of larger pellets which pattern better with a more open choke. steel doesn't deform like lead and has a propensity to ricochet which means it does better with a more open choke.  Tighter chokes can also increases barrel pressure which can cause ringing and scoring in the choke, caused by the use of large pellets and the characteristics of using steel.


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## Jeff Raines

Magnumdood said:


> Does anyone have a DNR reference, or a site, that explains how lead shot leaches into the water table.  I'm fairly certain it doesn't, and the ban on lead was a PC battle won by the environmental wackos.



Water is the earth's best universal solvent,it will break down anything back to it's basic form.Which is why lead solder was outlawed.
Now leaching from lead shot may not affect the water table,but it does affect the animals that live in that water,most of which we ingest in one way or another.

http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/leadinfo.htm#facts


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## Gadget

Lead shot has been shown to affect wild turkey like ducks and other birds and can be fatal in the long term, it's effects can work up the food chain into humans and other animals.

It looks like Lead is slowly being banned in all types of ammunition and fishing, expect this trend to expand and continue.


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## hawglips

In order to understand why steel is not sold in turkey loads, you've got to understand how pellet density effects pellet performance .

In a nutshell, the higher the density of the shot you use, the slower it looses velocity and penetration energy during it's flight.  The less dense a pellet is, the quicker it loses velocity and energy.  

Steel is a poor turkey pellet, because it is so light (8 or 9 g/cc).   It loses velocity very quickly, and loses energy very quickly.  And it gets pushed around easier by the air it is cutting through during flight, so it also loses pattern integrity quicker than a more dense pellet.

So, the end result is, steel will throw poorer patterns, and will have much poorer penetration than lead (11g/cc) -- increasing your misses, and cripples, and decreasing your clean killing range.  And steel will have MUCH poorer patterns and penetration than the newer heavier-than-lead shot such as Hevishot, Hi-Density, (12g/cc), Hevi-13 (13g/cc) Federal Heavyweight (15g/cc) and TSS (18g/cc).  As you move up the density chart from 8g to 18g/cc pellets, pellet performance (measured by patterns and penetration energy) improves markedly.

The major shell manufacturers are all offering heavier-than-lead turkey shells, because they know that increasing pellet density is an important key to better patterns and downrange penetration.  That's why I shoot very dense 18g/cc shot in my turkey loads.  And that's why I would strongly advise against shooting steel shot at turkeys.


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## Gadget

Here is a comparison of pattern density, you might be able to guess which one is the steel and which is the tungsten. Notice that only 33% of the pellets(43) are in the 10inch circle on the first pic and 64% (161) are in 10 ring on the 2nd pic; this percentage takes the disparity of total pellets between the two loads out of the equation and gives you the difference in density within the 20 inch circle. the Tungsten has almost 100% more pellets in the 20" area than the steel (129 vs 253) while at the same time having more penetration and retained energy.


Benelli M2
30yds
Comp N Choke Modified
43 in 10" ring
86 in 20
total 129







Benelli M2
30yds
Comp N Choke Modified
161 in 10" ring
92 in 20
253 total


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## hawglips

That's a good illustration Rick.  Is that 2nd one your TSS duck load?


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## hawglips

Another thought on the steel shot.

If you compare steel to lead, you have to go up about 2 sizes in steel in order to get the same energy (ft.-lbs.) on the target at 40 yds.  So, a #2 steel would equal a #4 lead at 40 yds, in terms of energy.  (But it still wouldn't penetrate as well as the #4 lead, because that energy is spread out and dissipates over a larger surface area on impact.)  And you get a lot fewer pellets per shell with the steel.  A Winchester 2-1/4 ounces load of # 4 lead shot in their 12-gauge 3 1/2-inch turkey load has about 300 pellets pellets.  Their 3 1/2-inch waterfowl load has only 1-9/16 ounces of #2 steel, or less than 200 total pellets.  The larger steel shot required takes up a lot more room in the shell.  So, even though their steel shot load gives you the same amount of energy per pellet (with slightly less penetration), it has only about 65% as many pellets, and therefore is much less effective in getting the job done.

That same pattern holds true all the way up the ladder from the steel, to the lead (11g/cc) to the hevishot (12g/cc), and so on up to the 18g/cc shot.  You get improved performance as move up in density.


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## Gadget

hawglips said:


> That's a good illustration Rick.  Is that 2nd one your TSS duck load?





That's the duck load I'm working on but I haven't loaded any TSS18 yet, that's the TS15 in 7x8, once I get my recipe worked out I'll start loading some up in TSS too.

BTW........ this load, with TS shot #7, is equal to 5-6 sizes larger in steel which would be a #1 shot, the steel shot above is #4


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## southGAlefty

Next question, I've got a Beretta 391 that I'll be turkey hunting with this year probably, is it safe to shoot hevi-shot/federal heavyweight with the factory xfull choke?


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## hawglips

If the barrel and choke is OK to shoot steel shot through, then you'll be OK.


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## Corn Doc

Steel is far less dense than the other alternatives meaning it is ballistically inferior and a poor choice - although like others have stated, it can kill at close range.   

Most turkey loads contain well over 300 pellets per shell.  Steel shot of size 4 or larger is going to have well less than 300 pellets.  If you use a pellet size to produce similar energy as the alternatives, this disparity will be huge.  Bottom line is you need lots of pattern density (to hit head) and adequate pellet energy to kill turkeys.

Also steel is very hard and may not be safe to shoot in turkey/tight chokes, or guns made before the steel shot era.


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