Non-toxics on woodpigeons

Simon Reinhold looks at how the latest steel offerings perform in real shooting situations

- Simon Reinhold

In the days before social media, a frequently asked question in the gun shop I managed was: “What’s the best cartridge?” The truth is that one of the most hotly debated issues in shooting has a very simple answer: the one in which you have full confidence. Confidence can only come from experience. And your own experimentation matters more than mine.

Recently on Facebook, an interesting thread appeared in one of the woodpigeon shooting groups. Some of the most highly experienced pigeon Shots I know of were discussing their preferred steel shot loads and their opinions blew holes in some of the received wisdom that we have in the public domain. There was no mention of bismuth nor any of the derivatives of tungsten for the simple reason that these pest controllers — some professional, some semi-professional — are firing tens of thousands of cartridges at pigeons each year. Anything other than steel would be prohibitively expensive.

The general consensus is that you should move up two shot sizes from your traditional lead load when switching to steel shot. But it is possible to use smaller loads than we usually assume if you get the correct combination of choke and skill. The risk of damage to a barrel is on a sliding scale with the two variables of choke and shot size. The more open the choke and smaller the shot, the less risk of bulging your barrel.

Of course, the opposite is also true, but again this risk decreases with higher-quality steel and the level of proofing of your barrel.