Plated shot

[mommicked]

Is copper plated or otherwise hardened shot more prone to bad patterns in tighter than full chokes, or are there to many variables to answer this definativly?

[Philippe]

I would say that plated shot would have a slimmer chance of having the shot deformed and your pattern being blown than you would with softer shot that deforms easier.

[BandedSpur]

With lead shot, the harder the pellet, the better the patterns. The most important factor in lead shot hardness is the antimony content of the lead alloy. Pure lead is very soft. Adding antimony up to about 6% makes the pellet slightly less dense, but significantly harder. CP and NP increase hardness slightly and improves lubricity, or the slickness of the pellets. Slicker pellets flow through chokes better, improving patterns. But to answer your question as simply as possible...No.

[mommicked]

Thanks, the "slickness" makes sense to me and back when I hunted deer w buckshot, my experience w plated shot in a full choke showed it was more effective than lead, seemed to pattern better because the pellets did'nt deform in the barrel I assume.

[3" 870 Shell Shucker]

back when I hunted deer w buckshot, my experience w plated shot in a full choke

I get tight patterns from plain old Super X Gray Box 00 Buckshot through a standard .040 Extra Full choke.  Patterned good through 3 different guns with different choke thread patterns.

[BrowningGuy88]

back when I hunted deer w buckshot, my experience w plated shot in a full choke

I get tight patterns from plain old Super X Gray Box 00 Buckshot through a standard .040 Extra Full choke.  Patterned good through 3 different guns with different choke thread patterns.

Buckshot is an animal all of its own. I have had a lot harder time getting my rigs to pattern buckshot than turkey loads.

[mommicked]

When Remington introduced it's Premier nickel plated buckshot I noticed a difference right away on it's effectivness on whitetail deer. It would pattern better, penetrate deeper and kill deer faster than any lead loads I used before and at farther ranges. I pulled alot of 00 buckshot out of deer over the years, and the Nickel plated was always more intact and penetrated deeper, doing more lethal damage IMO. Back then I was under the impression that it ( plated )might damage a tighter than full choke, but I did shoot 2 deer w my 1187SPT factory Turkey tube w/o any damage observed, both 1 shot kills. I stopped shooting deer w Buckshot years ago after wounding and not finding a few lost in thickets in young cutovers. I was referring to Turkeyloads in my first post but forgot to mention that

[outdoors]

   HEY IT'S ALL GOOD

[3" 870 Shell Shucker]

Plated shot is supposed to pattern better than unplated shot.

Remington Nitro Turkey loads are Not Plated but Buffered, and usually pattern somewhat Awful.

The anomaly is this year's Federal Turkey Thugs loads, which are Not Plated but Buffered, but still pattern Very Well for almost everyone.  The gun used, choke design, and exit diameter seem to matter little.