I’ve been using primarily soft or low alloy lead (chilled shot) to do most of my hunting up until recently. I got into pattern testing and chokes heavily a few years ago and that led me to trying hard, high antimony shot (6%+) (magnum shot) and I’ve been running that almost exclusively for the last couple years, with some copper plated factory ammo here and there. I came across glowing, too-good-to-be-true descriptions of nickel plated shot while looking through Ballistic Products shot category. No feathers pushed into meat, tighter patterns, and deeper penetration-so I decided to test it for myself this year, as copper plated shot didnt reduce the feathers in meat problem like I thought it would.
While my dove, pheasant and quail seasons were a terrible one this year due to weather and low bird numbers-I still managed about 60 birds over the course of the season.
Patterns are *slightly* tighter-they start with a base of high antimony shot, which is then copper plated, and then nickel plated, so it really just gives an edge over the patterns of regular magnum shot. Side note-it also leaves a cleaner bore when using loads with shot outside of the shot cup.
It does indeed penetrate deeper-I kicked up and harvested a rooster pheasant while hunting for quail ( Iuse 1oz of #8 shot for doves and quail) and the nickel plated #8’s stoned him cold and every pellet penetrated clean through. With the better patterns and deeper penetration, I’m planning on dropping back to # 8 1/2 shot and a 7/8-15/16oz load for next year. This will keep me at the same pattern density, while really helping strech my supply of premium priced shot (a 10lb bag costs the same or a tad more than a 25lb bag of magnum shot), and reduce recoil for faster follow up shots if needed. Most importantly (for me) NOT A SINGLE FEATHER PUSHED INTO THE MEAT! Personally I feel the extra cost is well worth the greatly improved performance.
While my dove, pheasant and quail seasons were a terrible one this year due to weather and low bird numbers-I still managed about 60 birds over the course of the season.
Patterns are *slightly* tighter-they start with a base of high antimony shot, which is then copper plated, and then nickel plated, so it really just gives an edge over the patterns of regular magnum shot. Side note-it also leaves a cleaner bore when using loads with shot outside of the shot cup.
It does indeed penetrate deeper-I kicked up and harvested a rooster pheasant while hunting for quail ( Iuse 1oz of #8 shot for doves and quail) and the nickel plated #8’s stoned him cold and every pellet penetrated clean through. With the better patterns and deeper penetration, I’m planning on dropping back to # 8 1/2 shot and a 7/8-15/16oz load for next year. This will keep me at the same pattern density, while really helping strech my supply of premium priced shot (a 10lb bag costs the same or a tad more than a 25lb bag of magnum shot), and reduce recoil for faster follow up shots if needed. Most importantly (for me) NOT A SINGLE FEATHER PUSHED INTO THE MEAT! Personally I feel the extra cost is well worth the greatly improved performance.
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