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Pheasant loads

22K views 50 replies 36 participants last post by  5 stand 
#1 ·
Spend most of my time shooting steel so deciding on a lead load is hard.
I shot Prairie storm a little last year but I just bought a Code Black Upland.
I tried cheap fiocchi last year but I crippled and lost every bird.
Anyone else notice cheap Estates flat kill birds?
Hows the Federal or Winchester loads in a 4 or 6? Really don't want to break the bank on a lead load.

Sent from my Tim Grounds Triple Crown
 
#2 ·
Any high brass #4 or #6 with an oz of shot off the shelf should do the job. Most of the time we're loaded with the #6 first and 2nd with the #4 for the last shot. If you're shooting over pointers just bring the #6. Most of our pheasant loads are Remingtons, although I have no beef with Winchesters. I've shot the fiochis before, and did not care for them, mostly due to the fact in every box I've bought there were open crimps. Cabelas might still have the kent fast leads on sale, around $9 a box, but they seem to be a tad overkill on anything close.
 
#4 ·
I hunt a lot of pheasant and have tried all kinds of shells. Last year I started using Praire Storm #6's and I am sticking with them. It just seems that I hit and kill more with Praire Storm. And if you have to reach out 40 or 50 yards they kill em dead.
 
#6 ·
i use a 20 guage side by side & recently got some Remington 3 inch #6 steel on sale at ***** sporting goods, and man do they kill the heck out of pheasant! I got the steel just to get away from the chance of me or the kids eating any lead pellets
 
#7 ·
I knocked down 4 pheasant total this year..... all on cheap Remington #6 Game Loads. Only one bird flopped a bit, and that was when I had mistakably left my IC choke in. After I upped it to Mod... Dead birds all day.
 
#8 ·
I decided to try Fiocchi Golden Pheasant shells in 1 1/4oz. 20 ga. loads and have no complaints. I've shot buffered Winchester and Remington in the past as my favorite factory loads but they've become a little hard to find and have gotten pricey. I also shoot my own reloads and they all work fine. I haven't noticed any open crimps so far in the 10 boxes of Golden Pheasant loads I bought. Nickle plated shot in them too.
 
#9 ·
calamari said:
I decided to try Fiocchi Golden Pheasant shells in 1 1/4oz. 20 ga. loads and have no complaints. I've shot buffered Winchester and Remington in the past as my favorite factory loads but they've become a little hard to find and have gotten pricey. I also shoot my own reloads and they all work fine. I haven't noticed any open crimps so far in the 10 boxes of Golden Pheasant loads I bought. Nickle plated shot in them too.
I was always curious about those Fiocchi Pheasant loads.... it's just they are always 14+ bucks a box... where I can get Remington Gameloads for 6.99. But when I get my 20ga Wingmaster, i will be sure to try the Pheasant loads for that.
 
#11 ·
For simplicity I have started hunting pheasants with Black Cloud #4 shot. Granted, most of my pheasant hunting is around marshes/wetlands so the environmment wins. The season for pheasant overlaps waterfowl here anyway. If I happen to run into a game warden, no questions/concerns about what I am hunting with lead shot in the gun.
Purely my choice but the BC does work very well on Pheasant too. Just some food for thought.
 
#12 ·
If all you would be hunting is pheasant and you want a conventional load an 12ga 1 1/4oz of hard #5 or #6 lead with a i.c. or mod. choke would be good. For an unconventional load probably any load of hard lead that has 1450 or higher fps with #9 and #8 shot with i.c. or lite mod.
 
#13 ·
With heavy cover and dogs we use standard 7 1/2 hard shot at 1145 or a 3 dram, which drops them dead with head shots.
Some of us reload 7/8oz. of 4's to keep the damage to the meat down to a minimum when going for body shots.

Nothing worse than a limp hunk of feathers that has been broken down with a lot of pellets, shot in the backend, going away.
 
#15 ·
1 1/4 #5 at 1300fps+ will kill any pheasant within 50 yards if it is properly choked. Doesnt matter if the brass is high, low, or mid.. has no influence on the shell what so ever. Purely cosmetic.

Choke it IC for under 20-25yd shots, MOD for 20-35 yard, FULL for 30-50, and well... I don't know what it would take to kill at 60, a turkey choke probably.
 
#17 ·
I refuse to shoot Fiochi, we got some complimentary cases for my trap team once and my 870 pulled the brass off and left the plastic in the barrel. I grew up on Winchester, so I prefer them, but it's almost down to a Ford/Chevy debate between them and Remington IMO. My dad went to Federal copper plated #5's and loves em.
 
#18 ·
Ah, the proverbial "Pheasant Load" thread! Seems like every outdoors BBS that has anything to do with upland hunting will have one of these threads, or a recurrence of one, on an annual basis. Unfortunately, no one ever get's it right. Our season here on Long Island has been opened since Nov 1. I've been out 5 times and have personally killed 11 birds, with a similar number killed by my companions. I have a lot of guns that can be considered upland guns that will perform well on pheasant. But this year I've been using my 1927 Parker 16ga choked Cyl/IC. I've been shooting 1 ounce of #6 lead at 1200fps and of the 11 birds killed, only one was brought to hand with its head up.

But, our hunting is done in eastern pine barren cover on state released birds. And we shoot over pointing dogs, so the shots are relatively close. We can get by with Remington Sportsman's loads, no problem. I could easily drop down to #7 1/2s, too, under these conditions. In fact, in the past, I've been successful with a 28ga and 3/4oz of #6s. I've also used 12s and 20s with their standard loads (1 1/8oz in the 12, 7/8 in the 20, etc.), and never had any issues on these birds.

But, and this is important, the few times I've shot over a flushing dog, I wanted more choke and at least a full ounce of shot. The #6s still worked fine. So, I guess you could say that inside of 40 yards, an ounce of #6s at 1200fps work well.

But, what if your conditions are not like mine? Out on the high plains, that 1200fps load of 6s will, for the most part, be like shooting blanks. Most guys out there opt for at least 1 1/4oz of very hard, plated #4s at 1300fps or better. Their wild birds are a bit tougher, have better survival skills and know every inch of the terrain. Throw in that prairie wind and you can see the need for lots of heavy shot and a good bit more choke than is required here in the east.

The bottom line is that you need to factor in the conditions as well as considering the target, when making a shell selection.

Frank
 
#20 ·
Frank Lopez said:
The bottom line is that you need to factor in the conditions as well as considering the target, when making a shell selection.

Frank
Frank is right. All depends on the kind of hunting. Early or late season, pointing or flushing dogs, etc... That being said however, have started to back off the payload size in my pheasant loads. I'm shooting nickel plated 5s or 6s, and 1 oz out of a 16 ga and 1 1/18 oz out of 12 ga is plenty. If you don't reload, buy the good stuff. The price of your shells is minuscule compared to the cost of everything else!
 
#24 ·
Seems like father and I always shot the winchester #5's or the Remington nitro pheasant #5's. Never had problems with either. Always hunt public WIHA's in kansas, no private land. My problem is that we always hunted in areas with quite many quail. So it was a little harder to hit them with #5's.

I've been peppered with both at mostly the same distances and can say that the nitro pheasant loads hurt more.
 
#26 ·
razorrt5 said:
I read an interesting article (can't remember which magazine) they tested loads for pheasant based on pellets on target and penetration and turned out #2 was the best load go figure
I've posted this many times, except my conservation study was via SODAK DNR. They suggest #4 as most lethal for all ranges. #5, then #6 were the next shot sizes...
 
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