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Hi and Happy New Year.

Does anyone have any advice for 16 ga. 2 3/4" factory loads for a "Driven Duck" shoot. All I know is steel shot and open chokes. I was thinking about bringing a vintage 27 1/2" barrelled 16 ga. sxs with cyl/imp chokes. Has anyone ever done this type of "Driven" shooting?

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

What vintage do you want to shoot Embarassed

All of my 16's are pre-WW1 5lb 5oz to 6lb 6oz. Most have had the chokes opened. Some have 2 3/4" chambers. I won't bring a light short chambered gun.

Member Joined: 09 Jun 2005 Posts: 885 Location: Wisconsin

Use 16s on ducks quite abit. Only shot used is either Kent Matrix or Bismuth. Our 16s are older guns and no steel shot used. Only driven ducks ever shot at were driven by high winds, hard to hit for me. Here they come, where did they go?

Member Joined: 16 Aug 2004 Posts: 317

I'm presuming these "driven Ducks" are being hunted on a preserve. Check with the preserve for their recommendations on shot type and size.

For wild ducks, I'm a big fan of handloads of Bismuth #5s. Factory #4s are available as well. I also like the older Kent TM Impac Upland loads in #6s (if you can find them).

I have... a 12 or 20 with 2 3/4" #4 or 5's.MAX.load. When it comes to the 16, I was thinking 2 3/4" #5 steel. I have to go with factory loads as I don't reload.

Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Posts: 787 Location: Indiana

The factory 16 ga. Bismuth #4 load works great; hits them hard --if you do your part the ducks will drop...

Member Joined: 16 Aug 2004 Posts: 317

Guest

We have a preserve near my home that provides "driven" ducks and pheasants. Because they have to "train" the ducks to fly from poiint A to point B, they truck the birds to a nearby hill and release them to fly to nearby water. After several releases, the birds get use to this routine and several days of this driven duck hunting will take place. In this scenario, the average shot is between 20-35 yards (which a 16 gauge would be the perfect gauge). In the "driven" pheasant scenario, the birds have never been released before and to provide more sport to the game, the owners find the tallest hill on the property and release the birds from it. The average shot is between 40-50 yards and the guys that harvest the birds are all shooting 12 gauge with #5 lead shot (allowable on this property). The reason why I bringing up these two situations are depending upon the terrain and the level of sport involved with your scheduled shoot, there is a substantial element of success depending upon your choice of gauge and loads. If you also have a 12 gauge that you feel a good level of confidence in, I would suggest that you also bring it along with the appropriate loads if shooting conditions make it too tough for your 16 gauge. In a driven shoot, I rather be slightly overgunned than undergunned. You want to "stone" your birds in the air rather than sail them onto another peg.