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Anyone notice the difference if they really are more lethal than regular lead? Don't they pattern a lot tighter too? Seems like that would be a detriment rather than a help on tighter-choked guns.

Member Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 3438 Location: Illinois

Nickel plated shot deforms less than regular shot resulting in a more efficient pattern.Both will kill but the plated shot will generally have a more uniform pattern Wink

The MAIN ADVANTAGE of Nickle Plated Shot is the Lubricity that is imparted in the Nickle ( it is slicker and penetrates the feathers easier )

If your shooting Live Birds for Money then it is an advantage or your hunting and one hell of a good shot and can shoot em at LONG RANGE then pay the bucks and get the edge .

Otherwise shoot your good ole lead shot and have a wonderful time doing it .

I was shooting PURE LEAD SHOT last weekend at the Sharptail and Doves , Ask Ash or John how the birds were dealing with the soft shot in 3/4 OZ loads .

Regards Charles

Guest

[quote=" Seems like that would be a detriment rather than a help on tighter-choked guns.[/quote]

Depends on how proficient you are with your gun and how much penetration you need for a clean kill. Works awfully good on late season pheasant when you need to penetrate a gob of tough feathers and heavy bone to get to the vitals.

Member Joined: 06 Sep 2005 Posts: 26 Location: Out West

I tried it and did not notice a difference in anything but the price. When shooting pointed birds over a dog, it just does not matter. 1oz of 7's in a 16 ga is lethal.
Chris

Chris, that's what I suspected. I wish I could find some 7's locally, but 6's will fill the bill just fine.

Joined: 28 Mar 2008 Posts: 1460 Location: Eagle, Nebraska

I use nickel plated #7's for first barrel and nickel plated #51/2's in the second. I many times use a spreader wad insert (either poly wad or the "x" spreader) with the #7's.

If bird is held, the 7's at 1300fps will do fine. The 7's also work well if quail suddenly burst in the air instead of pheasants.

I don't remember where I got the NP #7 shot. BPI I think, I know that is where the 5 1/2 shot came from.

But I know BPI has #7 plain ol' lead. I love the #7, it is a good all around shot size, and where and what I am hunting, the point could be quail, pheasant, grouse, or huns.

The #7 w/spreader insert great on ruffed and blue grouse too!

Joined: 19 Feb 2008 Posts: 443

Mark,
Bring those Fiochhi Golden Pheasants to Montana and let's find out how they perform.

Member Joined: 06 Oct 2007 Posts: 2350 Location: West MI

[quote="UncleDanFan"]Anyone notice the difference if they really are more lethal than regular lead?..........

I have, especially in early season when the shots are more blind snap (grouse and woodcock) shots through foilage. I have found that the NP'ed shot penetrates deeper due to less deformation from set back and ripping through brush + higher lubricity=less gathered feathers=better pentration hands down-no question. And as the season progresses and foilage has dropped, the feathers are thicker and the birds are smarter i.e. flushing sooner (I'm a grouse and woodcock brush buster, no pointing dog yet) the NP shot has given me enough hail mary golden BB kills through the years that I wouldn't consider using anything else as long as it continues to be available. I must add these days I dont get out as much as I'd like, so the few times I do hunt and the few rounds I do send (a couple of boxes a season is good for me) I need to optimize my letality. I get mine at BP, its more costly but again I'm not shooting skeet with the stuff. In reference to the thread that brought up shot size; I read an article a few years back about a guy who did extensive pattern work and was a mathmatician. His research and experimenting found that a shot cloud of 300 pellets given distribution, lethal range, flyer loss, etc. was the optimum initial Pellet Count. Through the years I have tried and stay close to this PC and it seems to have merrit. And the 16 seems to be the best platform to work with this theory. 3/4-7/8oz of #71/2, 1oz #7, 1 1/8-1 1/4oz #6=roughly 300PC. All shot sizes commonly used for upland. And; No, I cant remember the guys name, sorry. Just passing this along, hope it helps. Mike