Shot Talk

Australians have a catchy expression: "No worries, mate." It's the equivalent of the Americans' "No problem." But shotgunners seem to have many worries. Most of them, in my experience, stem from shooters' fears of the unknown. Others start as rumors down at the local gun club and proliferate at the speed of the Internet. Still others can be traced to the ever-vague impressions left by "something they've read somewhere." So in an effort to lower blood pressures, I offer the following myth-busting tips.

Short Shells in Long Chambers A lingering worry for many shotgunners is the idea that firing shells shorter than the lengths of a gun's chambers will result in substandard performance and possibly even damage to the firearm. Rule 1: There is nothing dangerous about shooting a shotshell of a given gauge that is shorter than the chamber itself. If you need evidence from firearms manufacturers, the owner's manuals included with recently manufactured guns -say a 3" 12-gauge, for example-always contain statements that read something like: "Use only with 3" or shorter 12-gauge ammunition." Sometimes these messages are actually "engraved" into the sides of barrels. This is a common practice on Remington firearms, and it certainly is a handy message in the field. So in a firearm chambered for, say, 31/2" 12-gauge ammunition, there is no inherent danger in shooting 31/2", 3", 23/4", 21/2" or even 2" 12-gauge shells. Rule 2: Shorter shells will not "lead up" the forward parts of long chambers. This statement assumes the use of modern ammunition-meaning that the shot charge is fully contained in a plastic shot carrier such as a shotcup or wrapper. If you are shooting lead, bismuth or tungsten-matrix loads wherein the shot charge is totally unprotected or only partially contained in a plastic or organic device (yes, there are cardboard shotcups and sleeves), then there will be "leading." And it won't occur only in the chamber, but also in the forcing cone, bore and choke-in short, wherever the exposed soft pellets make contact with the barrel interior. This is not dangerous, but it can contribute to rusting should moisture be trapped between the pellet deposits and the barrels' interior metal surfaces. Remember: The interior surface of every shotgun barrel is always slightly pitted unless it's chrome plated; and it is these pores, or pits, that invite the adherence of pellet scrapings because of friction. So the worst-case scenario when shooting short shells containing soft shot types in long chambers is that vigorous work with a good bristle brush and a metal-fouling solvent will be required periodically. Rule 3: When shooting soft pellet types, short shells in long chambers will not result in poorer patterning performance, provided the shot charge is completely contained within a protective device. This is because up-on combustion the pellets recess into and remain fully within such a device from the time of ignition until muzzle emergence. They have no opportunity to make barrel contact and therefore cannot be deformed significantly by what is known as "bore scrub." However, if you shoot short shells loaded with soft shot that is not fully contained in a protective device, then all such unprotected pellets will deform from bore scrub and patterns will suffer. Rule 4: Regardless of shell length versus chamber length, shotshells containing hard shot types such as steel, HEVI-Shot, and other tungsten-alloy pellets do not suffer any kind of patterning degeneration. The pellets are so hard that they simply don't deform from either bore scrub or setback. What's more, hard pellets in all factory loads are entirely enveloped in protective devices to preclude them from making any barrel contact. Therefore, shotgunners need not worry that factory loads of hard shot will result in scoring of barrel interiors. Specialized Chokes by Shot Type Another concern I'm encountering more often is the perception that each shot type requires a special choking system. Why? Because shotgunners increasingly encounter catalog listings of all kinds of choke devices (usually screw-in) that are advertised as custom-designed for specific shot types. Examples are HEVI-Shot chokes, bismuth chokes and "lead shot only" chokes. My extensive 30 years of pattern-testing for CONSEP (Cooperative North American Shotgunning Education Program)-the most extensive nontoxic testing ever conducted on this planet and probably the most extensive ever conducted with lead-shot hunting loads-shows clearly that each shot type definitely does not need a special choke. That said, it is true that for choke protection, two generic choke systems may be needed: one for soft shot types (lead, bismuth, tungsten-matrix) and the other for hard shot types (steel and the various tungsten-alloy pellets using multiple metals). A stronger choking system is necessary to prevent the hard pellet types from bulging chokes or causing screw-in tubes' threads to stick, thus precluding choke-tube removal. In other words, one can fire the soft pellet types in any choke without concern of damage, but the hard pellet types require stronger chokes with tougher metals and/or thicker walls to prevent choke damage. The second issue is patterning performance and whether we need specialized chokes for each pellet type. Again the answer is clearly "no." My patterning research-both personal and for CONSEP-reveals that all three soft pellet types currently available (lead, bismuth and tungsten-matrix) respond similarly to various choke constrictions, designs and configurations. Assuming the same load weight, velocity level and pellet size, the choke that works for one of these pellets generally will work well for the other two. Occasionally one will find an exception, but it will be rare and never the rule. So how about those hard pellet types? Do we need separate choke devices for, say, steel, HEVI-Shot, Winchester's Xtended Range Hi-Density and Remington's Wingmaster HD? Once again, CONSEP findings provide a simple answer: no. It's true that CONSEP's research has found that hard, tungsten-composite pellet types pattern differently than soft pellet types through various choke constrictions. For example: Large pellet sizes of hard shot don't need as much choke constriction as large pellet sizes of soft shot to develop the same pattern densities, especially at distances of 45 yards and beyond. But all of the hard pellet types of the same size (and the same basic pellet shape) were found to produce similar patterns to each other through the same choke constrictions, designs and configurations. For example, Remington's Wingmaster HD patterned similarly to Winchester's Xtended Range Hi-Density and Federal's now-discontinued Tungsten/ Iron. These are all basically hard, round pellets. And these three also were found to pattern similarly-albeit slightly better -to high-quality steel loads (which contain rounder, more uniform pellets than cheaper steel offerings, resulting in higher patterning performance, especially beyond 40 yards). But Federal's UltraShok High Density and the various Environ-Metal HEVI-Shot variant pellets-none of which are round-were found to pattern differently through various chokes when compared to the hard, round pellet types. The bottom line is that I would not run out and buy specialized chokes advertised to do wondrous things for specific pellet types. The available empirical data shows you just don't need them. Just be sure that if you're going to shoot hard pellet types you have choke systems compatible with same. If you're going to shoot soft pellet types, then you have nothing to worry about; your pellets are compatible with every choke system. To correspond with Tom Roster or to order his third-edition reloading manual on buffered lead and bismuth shotshells, his new HEVI-Shot reloading manual, his 75-page manual on shotgun-barrel modifications or his instructional shooting videos, contact Tom Roster, 1190 Lynne-wood Blvd., Klamath Falls, OR 97601; 541-884-2974; tomroster@charter.net.