A
Anonymous
Guest
I tried some of the new Hevi X Tungsten waterfowl shells this opening morning. Color me impressed.
Last year, running steel, I had several days where my shell to bird ratio was simply astronomical- often as much as 15 or 20 rounds fired to 1 duck. The properties of steel (lighter, rounder, and retaining less energy) combined with my lackluster wingshooting ability meant that a lot of shot shells got fired for little result on game.
Enter Tungsten.
Tungsten is from the Swedish "tung sten", translated "heavy stone", and is slightly denser than lead shot and much denser than steel shot. Roughly speaking, it makes your waterfowl loads shoot very similar to old school lead loads most folks my age grew up shooting. The pellet arrives with more energy (mass is part of the energy equation) and behaves more like lead through a choke.
Today's ratio was 4 ducks for 13 shots including what is perhaps the largest duck I've ever shot- a White-winged Scoder weighing 4-5 pounds on a tough passing shot at 30-40 yards. The bird just folded mid air and sounded like a butterball turkey dropped from the sky when it smacked the water.
Evan remarked that it looked like a Cabela's commercial when it happened.
Incidentally, that's a shell ratio that is very much similar to what my ratio is on upland birds like ptarmigan and grouse using lead loads. The gun simply handles exactly like I've been used to for a decade prior to taking up waterfowl hunting.
The bad news, tungsten shells are fairly expensive. For me though the ratio difference pencils out at this point in the season. Less shooting at the same bird, fewer cripples and lost birds, and much more definitive connecting shots. While not as spendy as the company's "Hevi Shot" (which is staggeringly expensive at $4+ each), it is still upwards of $1.75 each. Of course, premium steel is $1.40 and the cheap stuff $0.60....but it takes 5 times as many in my hands for the same results, which is something of a textbook false economy.
Spendy or not, the stuff just works for me far better than steel as a non-toxic waterfowl load. I'm very much interested at this point in trying it out on geese or cranes in #BB and I'm also interested in getting some in #4 sizes for denser patterns on small ducks like teal.
Last year, running steel, I had several days where my shell to bird ratio was simply astronomical- often as much as 15 or 20 rounds fired to 1 duck. The properties of steel (lighter, rounder, and retaining less energy) combined with my lackluster wingshooting ability meant that a lot of shot shells got fired for little result on game.
Enter Tungsten.
Tungsten is from the Swedish "tung sten", translated "heavy stone", and is slightly denser than lead shot and much denser than steel shot. Roughly speaking, it makes your waterfowl loads shoot very similar to old school lead loads most folks my age grew up shooting. The pellet arrives with more energy (mass is part of the energy equation) and behaves more like lead through a choke.
Today's ratio was 4 ducks for 13 shots including what is perhaps the largest duck I've ever shot- a White-winged Scoder weighing 4-5 pounds on a tough passing shot at 30-40 yards. The bird just folded mid air and sounded like a butterball turkey dropped from the sky when it smacked the water.
Evan remarked that it looked like a Cabela's commercial when it happened.
Incidentally, that's a shell ratio that is very much similar to what my ratio is on upland birds like ptarmigan and grouse using lead loads. The gun simply handles exactly like I've been used to for a decade prior to taking up waterfowl hunting.
The bad news, tungsten shells are fairly expensive. For me though the ratio difference pencils out at this point in the season. Less shooting at the same bird, fewer cripples and lost birds, and much more definitive connecting shots. While not as spendy as the company's "Hevi Shot" (which is staggeringly expensive at $4+ each), it is still upwards of $1.75 each. Of course, premium steel is $1.40 and the cheap stuff $0.60....but it takes 5 times as many in my hands for the same results, which is something of a textbook false economy.
Spendy or not, the stuff just works for me far better than steel as a non-toxic waterfowl load. I'm very much interested at this point in trying it out on geese or cranes in #BB and I'm also interested in getting some in #4 sizes for denser patterns on small ducks like teal.
