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WyoChukar
PostPosted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 8:46 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 16 Jul 2015
Posts: 2124
Location: Hudson,Wy

Our Canada goose season winds down here in a couple days so lately I have been scratching that 16 ga. goose itch again. The Lefever served exceptionally well on the big gray birds over decoys last week, so I decided to give the old girl a go on the pass shooting end of things.

A good share of the birds have been flying over in the 40-50 yard range with some coming over lower than that. By being patient enough to leave the 10 ga. birds alone, I did very well. Even got a double. It was a joy to swing a sub 6 lb. 16 gauge instead of the 9 lb. 10 gauge.

It still amazes me how effective skeet choke and 7/8 oz. of #2 steel is. The left barrel was stoked with #1 steel to take advantage of the tighter choke/ pattern potential.

Things went well enough that a repeat was in order. A repeat occurred. Check out the little Richardson's (Dusky goose) in the last photo. I love a little variety and tend to shoot for the small guys when they are available. I will miss the goose hunting, but chukar is open until the 31st so I will manage to cope.
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byrdog
PostPosted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 5:22 am  Reply with quote
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Very cool, Nice shooting. How far do you lead those birds when shooting steel shot? I would think head shots would be crucial for success here. Does the steel shot do anything to the barrels on that lovely gun?

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kgb
PostPosted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 8:25 am  Reply with quote
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Joined: 31 Aug 2005
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Location: Nebraska

Are you using factory loads, reloads, a combination? Obviously effective, whatever they are.

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fn16ga
PostPosted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 2:41 pm  Reply with quote
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Joined: 09 Jan 2013
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WyoChukar , that's awesome . Always leary of shooting steel shot through my vintage SXS's especially my Lefever .
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WyoChukar
PostPosted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 3:56 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 16 Jul 2015
Posts: 2124
Location: Hudson,Wy

Not terrible concerned about any cosmetic marks in the bores since someone obviously polished out some pitting before it came into my hands. There are some very minor marks in the forcing cones and maybe a "scratch" or two if you look real hard. Forcing cones have been lengthened. The tight barrel (.023" constriction) has shown no evidence of "ringing" after seven boxes of steel ranging in size from #7 to #1.

No special loadin. 7/8 oz reloads backed down one grain from BPI data and buffer has been omitted as well. Pressure still seems a bit high as evidenced by case head expansion. BPI claims 1400+ fps which is more than I needed for shots under 50 yards. 1200 fps would probably be fine. My long range 10 gauge loads are maybe 1300 at best, they perform at stupid distances. I will be backing down one more grain on the powder charge.

How far to lead birds? Can't really tell you in terms of feet and inches. Tom Roster taught me to shoot a "gap/ angle" back in the 90's and I have been using the system successfully ever since. As an optical illusion, the bird always appears to be at the end of the barrel. Thinking of it that way, imagine 1.5"-2" as measured at the end of the barrel. This gives an angle that is fairly self compensating. After 50 yards, add a smidge more. Beyond 50 isn't 16 ga. territory anyway.

Overhead shots? Blot 'em out and squeeze. If you can still see bird when the trigger is pulled, you will shoot behind. It takes a good bit of discipline to wait until a bird totally disappears, but it works.

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WyoChukar
PostPosted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 3:58 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 16 Jul 2015
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Location: Hudson,Wy

Head shots, body shots; both evidently work fine based on my inspection of geese that dropped like bricks.

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UncleDanFan
PostPosted: Sat Jan 27, 2018 8:49 am  Reply with quote
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I think what I'm most impressed by isn't the gun to be honest (not to slight Lefevers, as they are awesome and I've owned a bunch of them, hence my moniker), but that your light steel reloads are so effective. I've had great success with ITX 4's and 2's on ducks and geese, but it is expensive. Your success here (with a vintage gun no less) with steel has me re-thinking that whole equation. Well done!

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byrdog
PostPosted: Sat Jan 27, 2018 9:12 am  Reply with quote
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My take on this is that the barrels have some overbore , long forcing cones and chokes considered to be full for steel shot. could you put the component combination as loaded up for the rest of us to share?
I shoot local Greaters in the fall , I have been using #4 and #1 13gcc hard shot. I would like to try your loading come next Sept. only because my curiosity is up. I have enough H-13 to last me for the rest of my hunting days but I have never had steel shot do for me. One aspect is the fact that I need the birds that are down to be dead not cripple. These birds will come back after the volly and decoy to the down birds as the seem to think that those birds have landed. this behavior often allows me another 3 birds.

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If you take Cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like Prunes than Rhubarb does ----G.M/
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double vision
PostPosted: Sat Jan 27, 2018 9:13 am  Reply with quote
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I was thinking the same thing, Mark. Maybe I need to try these loads on early season ducks. Never really gave them a chance. Great photo story as usual, WyoChuckar.
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John Singer
PostPosted: Sat Jan 27, 2018 7:36 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 03 Sep 2014
Posts: 398
Location: Rochester, MN

Way cool.

I have used 16 gauge 7/8 oz of #1 steel for geese. I have not tried #2. Sounds like I should.

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WyoChukar
PostPosted: Sun Jan 28, 2018 12:13 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 16 Jul 2015
Posts: 2124
Location: Hudson,Wy

No overbore (measured, verified with "cylinders" of known diameter as well), just long forcing cones. .006" choke in the right barrel and .023" in the left. Most of my geese were dropped with the open bore and #2 steel.

Load is 7/8 oz. steel shot, 22 gr. Longshot, PT1680 wad, Cheddite 209 primer. This one is a bit harsh, I will be dropping down to 21 gr. Longshot.

Truth be known, I would like to find data for 15/16 oz. so I could ditch using spacers/fillers.

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John Singer
PostPosted: Sun Jan 28, 2018 5:42 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 03 Sep 2014
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Location: Rochester, MN

I shoot the BPI load of 7/8 oz steel in VP80/PT1680 wad with Steel powder. I do not use the buffer and fillers are not necessary.

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WyoChukar
PostPosted: Sun Jan 28, 2018 9:01 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 16 Jul 2015
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Location: Hudson,Wy

Interesting. When I put 7/8 in the wad, it doesn't exactly fill it up, especially the small sizes. The bulky STEEL powder lifts the wad a bit higher in the hull and the excess wad petal above the shot likely gets folded over a bit during crimping. I have not tested to see if that will negatively affect patterns. With the stiff wad construction, it may improve patterns due to delayed release of the shot charge. One way to find out. I do have a scant quantity of STEEL and will try it out, comparing that load to what I am using...later when morning temperatures are not still single digit!

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John Singer
PostPosted: Sun Jan 28, 2018 12:58 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 03 Sep 2014
Posts: 398
Location: Rochester, MN

I have loaded the 7/8 oz recipe with Steel powder and no fillers with shot as small as #6 steel with no issues. Patterns and performance on game are great.

Some of my 12 gauge recipes require a filler and I find it easiest to use oatmeal. I heap some on and it compresses upon crimping. I have not observed it affecting the patterns.

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NW BIRDHUNTER
PostPosted: Mon Mar 12, 2018 3:43 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 25 Feb 2018
Posts: 27
Location: Oregon

Very nice! Cool picss and good info!

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