Copper Plated shot vs Lead?

B

BrandonU.

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I am new to shotgunning and never was into shotguns until I started predator hunting. Currently right now I am using a 12ga Remington 870 with a Carlson Coyote Choke Tube and some Federal Power shok 3" #4 buckshot and was looking at the Vital Shok 3" #4 bucksot. I am always trying to find something that might extend my range a little because a lot of my coyote hunting is either done with a shotgun or a 22 WMR.... Because of state laws.. Would I be wasting my money to just buy plated shot? Is there a difference? If so do you think they would pattern out of a tight choke?
 
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I mostly run a shotgun. My fav load was the remington HD wingmaster BB's but I cant find them anylonger. Then ran federal 3" 4buck and that did well until the buffer material started leaking in my pockets which made a mess of things. Best load hands down in my book is the dead coyote 4 buck. I run that for my first shot and back it up with 2 3/4 " winchester 4 buck or the left over federal 4 buck. If im in foxy spot i run the hornady BB's.
plated shot just sounds prettier, but lead is fine.
Confused? lol
 
I have gone through probably 15 chokes over the years looking for the best parrern.
Patternmaster extended did well through my benelli m2 but the dead coyote choke did pretty much the same for a third of the price.
 
Originally Posted By: YetiHunterI have gone through probably 15 chokes over the years looking for the best parrern.
Patternmaster extended did well through my benelli m2 but the dead coyote choke did pretty much the same for a third of the price.

The lead patterns pretty well. I shot it out about 50 yards well give or take 50 yards. I stepped it off that day but I had 12 pellets hit inside a paper plate. Just curious if the plated shot would extend that range. Unfortunately I can't afford the dead coyote loads because of school and college books are expensive, so I am on tight funds. I appreciate your input.
 
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Theoretically plated and buffered should pattern better. But there is more to it than that. The copper plating is very thin, a copper wash really. Think about plated .22LR bullets and how they have a very thin wash over the lead. The nickel plated is much better, but those loads aren't common in the larger sizes. Long story but after passing a shot at a bobcat facing me at 65 yards I later decided to see how many hits I could score on a 20 ounce plastic water bottle at that range. I did score three hits, but one was particularly interesting. That pellet hit the hard formed ridge about a third up from the bottom of the bottle. I found it flattened out about the size and shape of a nickel laying in the bottom of the water bottle. That's pretty soft, it failed to penetrate an empty plastic water bottle.

More important than plating is the hardness of the lead shot. High antimony shot that doesn't deform upon the crunch of firing is the very best for patterning. Buffering helps. Only shooting on the range tells the tale. Searching the universe for the ultimate long range shotgun load is expensive and time consuming. If I were in your shoes, I would find a solid 40 yard combination of choke and load that was inexpensive and available. Focus on getting clean shots within your effective range, lay on the lead and have fun.
 
Ive been on this shotgun journey for 15 or so years. I enjoy the range time and testing of choke/load/barrel combos. A lot can be learned form good ol GC! Hes the shotgun king!
 
GC is correct. The harder the shot, the less it will be deformed in the barrel. Hence plating the shot to make it harder.
 
You may get better patterns with buffered copper coated and buffered nickel coated lead shot over just plain lead shot with no buffer.

Copper coated lead or Nickel coated lead maybe a little harder than plain lead. But it is not very hard so it loses some of its shape when the shell is fired and it deforms and flattens out when it hits skin, meat and bones.

IMG_1977.jpg

There is different types of shot in the above picture that I removed from catalogs when I was doing some penetration tests with different shot.

Top row- copper coated lead number 4 buckshot. They got all smashed up and flattened out when they hit the catalog.

2nd row- Hevi-Shot T shot that is denser than lead and much harder than lead.

3rd row- the 4 BB shot on the left are Remington Wingmaster HD
BBs. The two on the right are copper coated lead BBs and they got smashed up and flattened out when they hit the catalog.

4th row- are Remington Wingmaster HD #2 shot.

5th row- Hevi-Shot B shot.

Coated lead shot doesn't come close to penetrating as deep or breaking bones as good as the harder and denser tungsten alloy shot. Deep penetration is what you want with shotgun pellets.

If you reload shotgun shells you can buy HW13 BB shot and T shot from Bucks Run Sports Supply 1-507-356-2195. You can reload 3" 1-1/2 oz HW13 BB or T shot loads for about half of what Hevi-Shot 1-1/2 oz loads are selling for now.
 
Hobby within a hobby...

Lee makes a #4 buckshot mold

Mold your own buckshot out of wheel weights or straight linotype. Straight wheel weights deforms little, and straight linotype does not deform at all. In fact, a 50/50 mix of wheel weights does not deform at all.

In one cold Winter, you can mold a life time supply of Buckshot, best to use two Lee Molds.
 


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