Handloading Harder, Denser Shot

The Evolution of Tungsten Shot

- John Barsness

Lead has been traditionally used for making shot for centuries. While not nearly as abundant as many other metals, lead is easily mined and refined, and also relatively heavy, malleable and corrosion-resistant. Unfortunately, ingesting lead can be harmful to various organisms, including ducks and geese feeding in commonly hunted areas, the reason the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) banned lead shot for waterfowl hunting in some areas in 1987, and made the ban nationwide in 1991.

The first and still primary substitute was steel. The grade used in shotshells weighs about one third less than typical lead shot, which makes steel shot less efficient when traveling through the air. Essentially, it has a lower “ballistic coefficient” than lead shot of the same size. Steel shot is so much harder than lead it patterns well in more open chokes than many waterfowlers traditionally used – and can actually damage tighter chokes, or even cause barrels on doubles to separate near the muzzles.

Many waterfowlers initially reported steel wounded too many birds, but some hunters used shot sizes based on their experience with lead. Experimentation proved steel could work pretty well when using one or two sizes larger, especially when started at higher muzzle velocities. Steel shot also took up more room inside a shotshell, the reason 10-gauge shotguns made a comeback after decades of declining use, and Federal introduced the 3½-inch 12-gauge case.