I've always shot kentfasteel in my 870 but I want to extend my range a little bit in my 870 and my soon stoeger 3020 so wut 20 gauge loads are crushing those birds
I have had extremely poor success patterning anything larger that #4 steel out of a 20 ga... That being said, a 1 oz load or a 7/8 oz load going over 1400 FPS is a 40 yard killer all day long if you can put the pattern on them (front end of the bird)... If you are shooting at birds over 40 yards, take the 12 ga... In fact if you think you are going to consistently shoot birds over 35 yards, the 20 ga. is probably not the best option shooting steel shot.
As for which steel load shoot the best, that seems to vary widely between different gun and choke combinations.
If you have the money, I know that Hevi-Shot in #6's will out preform just about any steel load in a 12 ga. for ducks. And surprisingly, #4's will work well with geese, and for those windy days they make a great duck load as well.
As it turns out, I have switched to steel #4's and #3's in the 12 ga... I tend to shoot in front of birds when I miss, and I am finding I get a lot more head shots with those smaller shot sizes. If you stick with steel, I would go with #4's...
I shoot 3" #2s and #4s through a modified choke. Gonna try some Hevi-Metal this fall.
Quote from: Captaintopwater on June 30, 2014, 06:18:11 PM
I shoot 3" #2s and #4s through a modified choke. Gonna try some Hevi-Metal this fall.
My little boy uses the Hevimetal 20 gauge shells
but this year we are going to try some 20 gauge
SpeedBalls
The Speedballs are awesome to say the least
Hevimetal is an ideal shell for your 20 gauge
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3in blindside #5s
A5 only shoots 2 3/4in so Kent fast steel #5s
Woodys got hammered this morning.
We had a 12 guarding an escape route and he got his limit too
I've been shooting exclusively 2/34" Estate #4's for a few seasons now and have had great results with my old Ithaca 37 modified choke.
(http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r205/backcast_photo/photobucket-59058-1357430182992.jpg)
Buy from roger's remington nitro steel 1 oz # 4's best load I've patterned 140-150 in a 30" circle at 40 yrds
Hevi shot 3" #4 and 2 3/4 #6 in the swamps is deadly