I have a box on my desk of Winchester Universal shotshells. Here’s the information presented: 20 gauge, 2-3/4 inches, 2-1/2 dr. eq., 1200 velocity, 7/8 oz., 8 shot.

Once you understand what these numbers mean, it’s easy to tell that this is a good load for shooting clays, doves, and other small upland birds.

“8 shot” refers to the shot size. The larger the number here the smaller the pellet, so 8 means the pellets are pretty small. “7/8 oz” refers to how many ounces of shot are in the 2-3/4-long shotshell. Both “2-1/2 dr. eq.” and “1200 velocity” tell you how fast the shot will travel.

Of all that information, the shot size is the most important. Let’s learn why so you’ll know how to choose the shotgun shells you need.

Shotgun Shot Size Chart

Shotgun Shell Basics Explained

A shotgun shell, or shotshell, is constructed of multiple components that contain the load you’ll shoot at your target when you pull your shotgun’s trigger.

A tube called a hull holds everything inside. These are typically plastic with a brass base nowadays, though historically they were also made of plastic or brass.

Inside is the projectile, which is either a metal slug or a large number of metal spheres called shot.

The shot sits atop a wad, which has multiple purposes. A wad cushions the shot from the rapidly expanding gasses that expel the load from your shotgun’s barrel.

The wad also prevents all of the shotshell’s components from bouncing around and even helps control the pressure curve so firing your shotgun doesn’t blow it apart.

Under the wad is the gunpowder, ignited by the shell’s primer to give the force necessary for your shot to strike and knock down your target.

Those are the basics of how shotgun shells work.

If you’re not loading your shells, then the most critical parts of the shotshell are its gauge, shot size, shot weight, and–to a lesser extent–its velocity.

Gauge

You absolutely must match your ammo’s gauge to your shotgun’s gauge.

That’s because, much like a rifle’s caliber, the measurement dictates whether or not the ammo even fits in your gun.

If you have a 12 gauge shotgun (the most common gauge), you must use 12 gauge ammo.

A 10 gauge shell won’t fit in your gun’s chamber. A 20 gauge shell is too small and may slide forward far enough in your barrel to allow you to load another 12 gauge shell, which will explode your gun if you try to shoot!

Past that, though, gauge does not have as much of an effect as some people think it does.

However, larger gauge shotshells have a larger capacity than smaller gauge shotshells. This can be taken up with more shot, a larger wad, and/or more gunpowder.

This means a 12 gauge shotgun can accept a larger variety of load weights than a 20 gauge shotgun.

Bonus: How Gauge Affects Shotgun Shell Effectiveness

A load of an ounce of 8 shot fired at 1,200 fps will hit basically the same whether it’s fired from a 12 gauge shotgun, 16 gauge shotgun, or 20 gauge shotgun.

Some people will argue that using a larger barrel diameter (such as 12 gauge) will result in a wider shot cloud, increasing your chances to hit.

Others will argue that the narrower shot cloud from a smaller bore (such as 20 gauge) means you’ll put more pellets on target, increasing the damage you do.

In practice, though, the differences are small enough that almost nobody will be able to tell.

Shot Size

Shot size is the second most important factor to consider because it strongly affects what type of targets you can shoot.

The smaller shot has more pellets per ounce. However, each pellet carries less kinetic energy, so the smaller shot won’t hit as hard as the larger shot.

Shot size is given by a number or letter. The smaller the number, the larger the pellet, the larger the animal you can shoot.

Shot is divided into two categories: Birdshot and buckshot.

This gives you an idea of what you can hunt with that specific shot size.

Birdshot

Birdshot ranges from 12 shot to 1 shot. Then, to represent pellets larger than 1 shot, you use the letters B, T, and–very rarely–F.

The more letters, the larger the shot size, so the BBB shot is larger than the BB shot.

You can calculate the pellet’s nominal diameter for the numbered birdshot sizes by subtracting the number from 0.170″.

So, each 8 shot pellet is about 0.090″ wide, though manufacturing tolerances mean that the actual size will deviate slightly.

Extremely small birdshot sizes are often called snake shot, rat shot, or even dust shot. You’ll find this type of shot loaded in handgun cartridges or .410 instead of shotshells because they are meant for short-range pest control.

Buckshot

Buckshot only uses numbers, starting at #4 and getting larger from there. Annoyingly, #4 buckshot is larger than 4 birdshot, having a diameter of 0.240″ versus 0.130″.

Note: This is why I’m not using “#” before any numbered birdshot. Remember that when talking about shot sizes, people typically say “number four birdshot.”

Buckshot sizes larger than #1 start at #0, go on to #00 buck, and so on. Rather than “number zero,” call this “ought,” “double ought,” etc.

Double-ought buckshot is the most common load with a nominal diameter of 0.330″.

Shell Length

As you can guess, shell length is the longest measurement of the hull, typically given in inches.

Longer shells have a larger internal capacity and can fit more shot and propellent for longer-ranged, harder-hitting loads.

2-3/4″ is the most common shell size and is more than adequate for clay shooting and small game hunting.

3″ shells are popular for hunting to get a bit more power for just enough of an edge to turn the occasional miss into a good hit.

3-1/2″ shells have also become common for hunting waterfowl and turkeys as they can deliver devastating impacts on large birds at long ranges.

Modern shotguns will have their maximum chamber length stamped on the barrel. You can load a 2-3/4″ shell into a shotgun with a 3-1/2″ chamber just fine, but the reverse won’t fit.

The development of 3-1/2″ shotshells effectively obsoleted 10 gauge shotguns, by the way. They both fulfill the same purpose, but a 3-1/2″ 12 gauge shotgun is more versatile than a 3″ 10 gauge shotgun.

Ounces or Shot Weight

Rather than telling you the number of pellets in a load, shotshell manufacturers give you the weight of the load.

This is partially conventional and partially because the size of each pellet can mean that small shot sizes have hundreds of pellets per ounce.

A heavier shot weight means you’ll fire more lead per shot.

This results in hitting your target with more pellets, making heavy loads popular for hunting. You don’t want to hit that bird and merely wound it!

However, thanks to Newton’s Third Law of Motion, heavier loads will also produce more recoil, so light loads are commonly used for recreational shotgunning.

Velocity

Rather than telling you how many grains of gunpowder are in each shell, ammo manufacturers tell you how fast the load travels in feet per second.

The higher the velocity of your load, the farther the shot cloud will travel before expanding. However, it’ll also produce more recoil.

Also, some high-velocity loads will “blow out” in some shotguns, meaning the pattern will open up much faster than you want.

Plus, some trap fields won’t allow you to fire loads past a certain maximum velocity.

There’s not a huge difference between a velocity of 1,150 fps and 1,250 fps in practice, so you should practice patterning your shotgun to figure out which velocity puts the most pellets on target rather than just going for the fastest load you can find.

Dram Equivalent

“Dr. eq.” means “dram equivalent,” which is an old way of approximating velocity still used by some shotgunners.

It comes from the days when shotguns were loaded with black powder. Back then, shot and powder weights were measured in drams. 16 drams equal one ounce.

Nowadays, most people don’t use drams to measure how much propellant is in a shotshell, especially since smokeless powder isn’t equivalent to black powder.

All you really need to know is that the higher the dram equivalency, the higher the velocity of the load if all other weights are equal.

When to Use What Shot Size

The takeaway from the above information is that shot size is the most important consideration when trying to figure out which shotshell to buy for what animal you’re hunting.

However, ask three hunters about the best shot size for any specific animal, and you’ll get six different answers.

Truthfully, neighboring shot sizes are generally close enough that it doesn’t matter which specific size you’re using so long as you use one in the right size range.

So, we’ll suggest a range of shot sizes for each animal.

However, there is some information to keep in mind.

Since larger pellets carry more kinetic energy, they have more momentum than smaller pellets. This means you can get a longer effective range by increasing the size of your shot.

Conversely, you’ll get more pellets by using a smaller shot size, so you’ll hit the animal with more projectiles by going with a smaller shot size. This can be advantageous if you get closer to your prey.

So, let’s talk about specific animals.

Birdshot

As the name indicates, birdshot is for the birds.

You get many small pellets, which is excellent for ensuring a hit on a small, quick animal.

Waterfowl

Waterfowl refers to birds that spend a lot of time in and around water.

They are typically hunted at medium-to-long range and can be surprisingly tough birds.

This includes coots, geese, swans, mergansers, and many duck species.

Most waterfowl hunters will reach for a medium or large birdshot load. This lets them hit those animals hard despite the range.

The most common waterfowl hunting loads use loads from 3 to 1 shot. Even a 4 shot load will cover almost any duck species, including those pesky geese.

Dedicated geese hunters prefer large shot, from 2 to T.

Small ducks at closer ranges can be hunted with shot sizes down to 6.

Upland Birds

Sometimes called landfowl, this category covers birds hunted on land rather than water.

They are generally smaller and less tough than waterfowl, so you don’t have to use as heavy a pellet.

This is good because these birds tend to be more unpredictable in their flight paths so you may want to get the improved hit chance provided by the larger pellet numbers from using smaller shot.

This covers birds from doves to pheasants and includes chukar, quail, grouse, woodcock, and partridges.

Shot sizes from 7 to 4 are great for hunting most upland birds.

Chukar and pheasants, since they are larger in size, should be hunted with 6 to 4 shot.

Doves and quail, since they are so small, can be hunted with even smaller shot, down to 9 shot, though 8 to 6 is more common.

Turkey

Though technically a landfowl, the size and toughness of a turkey mean they are their own category.

Some hunters will go as heavy as possible when hunting turkey, using BBB or T shots.

However, many hunters have taken turkey with shot as small as 6 shot, so long as you get close and make a good hit.

Shorebirds

Snipe and rails are shorebirds, flirting with the boundary between waterfowl and upland birds.

However, they are quite small birds, so 8 shot is commonly used on them.

Small Mammals

Rabbits and squirrels are sometimes hunted with a shotgun. 6 shot is the sweet spot when hunting these skittish mammals, though some hunters go smaller.

Clays

Your shot choice when shooting clays depends on your discipline, skill level, and handicap.

Generally speaking, the most common clay load uses 8 shot. 7 is also popular.

The argument for 7 shot is that it’s more likely to break the clay if you hit it with even a single pellet.

Most sporting shotgunners won’t see any difference in scores between 7 and 8, though.

Pests and Snakes

Shot used for pest control is fired at close range, typically around 10 yards or closer, so you don’t need heavy pellets to kill the animal.

This category also includes snakes, as the same shot size is often used for defense against rattlesnakes.

Honestly? Whether 10 or 12, shot size doesn’t matter. Use whichever is available.

Buckshot

Buckshot is used against medium and large mammals, which are less maneuverable than birds and rodents.

Deer

“Buckshot” gets its name from hunting male deer bucks.

Which buckshot size you should use depends on the size of the deer in your region and how close you can get to the animal.

00 buck is an excellent all-around choice. However, you can use down to #4 buck against small deer at close ranges, such as in forested mountains.

Other Large Game

Depending on local laws, buckshot can also be used against other large mammals, such as boar, bear, and coyote.

With coyote, you can use small buckshot and even large birdshot and still put the animal down. The hard part is getting close enough to the yote to hit it with a shotgun in the first place.

For bear and boar, though, you want large, heavy-hitting pellets. These can be dangerous animals, so you must ensure a single-shot kill that deals devastating tissue damage and shatters bones.

I wouldn’t use anything smaller than 00 buck against these mammals.

For Self Defense

The proper size of buckshot to defend your home is a much-debated topic.

If you don’t want to delve deep into this conversation, then 00 buckshot is an extremely common choice for self-defense.

However, with only 9 pellets in the typical 12 gauge shell, it’s possible for none of your balls to hit the target.

With smaller shotgun gauges or when over penetration is a factor, you can go down to #4 buck.

Personally, I keep the #2 buck for my 20 gauge in case I ever need to grab it to defend my home. This provides me with eighteen 0.27″ pellets per shot.

How Steel Affects Shot Effectiveness

The recommendations given above default to using a lead shot.

Because of its harm to the environment, though, many hunters use alternatives. Some, such as bismuth, are just about as heavy, so you don’t have to adjust for the different metal.

Steel, however, is the most common alternative to lead and the most different when it comes to mass.

This means you must use a larger shot size to get the same knockdown power.

A good rule of thumb for adapting to steel is to use shot two sizes larger than you would with lead.

Keep in mind that this adjustment has already been made for you when it comes to waterfowl species, as it is illegal to hunt ducks and geese with lead shot.

How to Choose the Right Shotgun Shell

Choosing the right shot size is essential when you want to hunt and knock down your prey in one shot without injuring the animal.

There seems to be an overwhelming variety of choices to make when choosing the right sporting, hunting, or self-defense load.

Thankfully, you don’t have to choose the perfect shot size. There’s a range to choose from. So if you’re hunting, say, pheasants, both number 4 shot and number 6 shot will help you achieve success.

I recommend starting with a shot size about in the middle of the suggested range and then experimenting with larger or smaller shots depending on your results.

Good luck shooting!

FAQs

How Many Pellets Are in a Shotgun Shell?

The number of pellets in a shotgun shell depends on the shot size and the amount of shot in the shell, which is given by telling you the load’s weight in ounces.

You can calculate this by finding the shot size in the above chart and multiplying it by the load’s weight.

For example, a load with 7/8 ounces of number 8 shot will contain approximately 359 pellets.

How Big Is #4 Shot?

“#4 shot” can refer to either #4 buck or number 4 birdshot.

#4 buckshot pellets are 0.24″ wide, and number 4 birdshot is 0.13″ in diameter.

What Is 12 Gauge 7.5 Shot Used For?

7.5 shot is commonly used for shooting clays, rodents, and small birds.

The post Shotgun Shot Size and Shells Explained (What to Use When) appeared first on Outdoor Empire.

There are many ways to hunt coyotes, from calling them to stalking them at night. But what’s the best gun to use so you will humanely and effectively put down a yote with one shot?

The most popular and best caliber for hunting coyotes is .22, especially .223 Remington and .22-250 Remington. .243 Winchester is the perfect long-range coyote hunting round. The .357 SIG is a coyote-capable handgun round and the .17 HMR is the best rimfire cartridge for short-range coyote hunting.

Let’s go over why these cartridges are so popular, then delve into more options.

Top 5 Best Coyote Hunting Cartridges

1. Overall Best Cartridge for Hunting Coyotes: .223 Remington
2. Best High-Velocity Cartridge for Hunting Coyotes: .22-250 Remington
3. Best Long Range Coyote Hunting Cartridge: .243 Winchester
4. Best Rimfire Coyote Hunting Cartridge: .17 HMR
5. Best Pistol Cartridge for Coyote Hunting: .357 SIG

Why these cartridges? I’ll explain.

1. Best Overall: .223 Remington/5.56 NATO

.223 Remington and its military version, 5.56 NATO, is probably the most common coyote hunting round in use today. It’s not the most effective cartridge for taking yotes but it’s more than good enough.

The main advantage of .223 Rem is that it’s already a common round. Whether you have an AR-15 or a Winchester XPR, you have an excellent gun for harvesting coyotes.

Effective ammo is common and inexpensive, making this cartridge the best choice for most coyote hunters.

2. Best High Velocity: .22-250 Remington

While the .223 Remington wins the overall best slot because it’s a common and versatile cartridge that’s effective against coyotes, the .22-250 Remington can be considered an upgrade pick.

.22-250 Remington is the second-fastest commercial .22 cartridge, losing out only to .220 Swift, with over 4,000 fps performance!

This means the .22-250 is flat shooting and carries lots of kinetic energy past the yardage at which .223 loses oomph, about 300 yards.

Despite the added power, .22-250 rifles don’t have much recoil and aren’t known for damaging pelts, so I recommend this cartridge if you want a dedicated rifle for hunting coyotes.

3. Best Long Range: .243 Winchester

If you want to tag yotes at extreme ranges, 500 yards or more, then the .243 Winchester is a great choice. It uses a 6mm bullet for better ballistic performance than .22 caliber bullets at long ranges. Plus, it’s a common cartridge, so you can find a variety of hunting loads at your local store.

There may be other 6mm cartridges with slightly better velocity but that’s not necessary when taking a 30-lb animal, even at 400 yards.

Plus, you can use a .243 to take deer, giving your rifle more versatility!

4. Best Rimfire: .17 HMR

.17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire is the smallest I’d go when hunting coyotes.

Rimfire cartridges are not known for their knockdown power. However, keep your shots within 50 yards and wait for the perfect shot, and a .17 HMR will put down a yote with minimal damage to the pelt.

The only other rimfire I’d consider using to take a coyote is a .22 Winchester Magnum, though you will lose out on some needed velocity.

5. Best Pistol: .357 SIG

According to Massad Ayoob, the .357 SIG is well known for stopping violent dogs with one shot, something 9mm Parabellum cannot claim.

Load a pistol with Underwood ammo and the .357 SIG is a high-velocity, flat-shooting pistol round, well suited for taking coyotes at ranges farther than any other pistol cartridge.

What Caliber is Best for Coyotes?

Coyotes are varmints and medium-sized pest animals. They’re smaller than deer, so the best deer calibers may be too large for hunting coyotes.

Your local coyote can range from 20 to 50 pounds, depending on where you are in the United States. The average yote stands 24 inches tall at the shoulder and weighs 30 pounds.

So, you don’t need something powerful to take one down. And if you use something too big, well, you can damage the pelt past the point of usability.

.30 cal is the largest caliber I’d use against a coyote.

These predators are small enough that it’s actually hard to have a caliber too small to take them. Many coyotes have been harvested with .17 cal rifles, though at short range.

Light bullets just don’t hold enough kinetic energy for effective terminal performance at mid to long ranges.

A heavy .17 Hornet bullet is 30 grains and travels at about 3,000 feet per second, delivering about 800 foot-pounds of force right after the muzzle.

.223 Remington can send a 69-grain bullet at about the same speed, resulting in 1,340 foot-pounds. More than twice as heavy as the .17 caliber bullet and over twice the kinetic energy (KE).

Momentum equals mass times velocity so that heavier bullet will also have more momentum.

Go up to .308 Winchester and you can get the same speed with a 125-grain bullet. It’ll put out 2,600 foot-pounds at the muzzle, an excessive amount of energy to dump into a 30-pound animal!

So, if you want the best combination of effectiveness and lack of damage to the pelt, you want a .22 caliber firearm. (Not a .22 long rifle!)

Best Long-Range Caliber for Coyotes

However, if you want to shoot past 300 yards, stepping up in caliber will give you a boost to your ballistic performance. Longer, heavier bullets maintain velocity longer and buck the wind better.

You don’t want to go too big because big bullets mean big holes, excessively damaging the coyote’s pelt.

.243/6mm caliber is the sweet spot for long-range coyote hunting.

You can go larger, but then you risk devastating the animal if you have to take a short-range shot. .30 cal goes a bit far as the bullets get wider but not longer, so many coyote hunters will actually lose hunting range by using .30 caliber rifles.

Remember, you want to harvest animals with a clean kill, not blow them apart.

Next Best Rifle Cartridges for Coyotes by Caliber

Now that you have an idea of how caliber will affect your coyote hunt, let’s look at specific cartridges.

I’ll go over my favorite cartridges in each caliber and explain why you may or may not want to use them.

Smaller than .22 Caliber

It’s perfectly valid to shoot a coyote with a gun chambered in a cartridge smaller than .22 cal.

However, keep in mind that you’ll have to get awfully close to the yote to deliver enough kinetic energy for a swift kill.

.17 Hornet

Perhaps the most famous .17 caliber cartridge, the .17 Hornet is great at taking down coyotes if you have great shot placement and the patience to let them get close.

A .17 Hornet rifle will be light and relatively quiet.

However, you’ll have to pass on shots that could only be accomplished with larger rounds.

.204 Ruger

If you aim to minimize damage to the coyote’s pelt, then you want to consider using a rifle chambered in a .204 Ruger.

This cartridge is actually based on the .222 Remington Magnum, which is larger than the .223 Remington, so you’ll get blazingly-high velocities (up to 4,200 fps!) and tiny entrance wounds.

.22 Caliber

As mentioned before, .22 is the sweet spot caliber for coyote hunting for most folks. Every .22 bullet below will give you good velocities and small entrance wounds while dumping enough energy into the coyote to drop it, provided you do your part.

.223 Remington and .22-250 Remington are among our top 5 picks for best coyote cartridges, but they aren’t the only good options in this caliber.

.22 Hornet

The larger cousin of the .17 Hornet cartridge, the main reason to use a .22 Hornet over other .22 options is the lack of recoil.

It carries only slightly more KE than .17 Hornet, so keep in mind it’s still a short-ranged hunting round.

.224 Valkyrie

.224 Valkyrie was developed to maximize the distance one can shoot a .22 caliber rifle.

The round succeeds at this task and has even greater velocities than .22 Nosler, even with heavier bullet weights, making it a fair long-range hunting round.

.224 Valkyrie gives you the best performance you can get with a .22 caliber round in an AR-15.

However, this cartridge suffers from being overhyped. Ammo can be expensive and hard to find in stock.

.220 Swift

One of the most powerful .22 caliber rounds out there, the .220 Swift lives up to its name by being able to push a 50-grain bullet almost 4,000 feet per second!

This makes it a flat-shooting .22, great for hunting coyotes at longer ranges than people who stick to .223 Remington.

Of all the .22 caliber coyote hunting options, the .220 Swift will be the most effective at the longest ranges, almost making it the best choice.

.220 Swift has a reputation for burning out barrels, though. It’s also somewhat expensive to buy and reload.

Dishonorable Mention: .22 Long Rifle

Some people have used .22 long rifles to harvest coyotes.

This underpowered round requires you to get very close to the animal and is likely to just wound it even with the perfect shot.

Never use a .22 LR gun to shoot coyotes unless you’re in a survival situation and there are no other options.

6mm Caliber

Jumping up in caliber increases bullet width, allowing you to load more massive bullets for greater momentum.

This gives you both better knockdown power and a farther range, making the various 6mm cartridges perfect for hunting those pesky yotes.

As previously mentioned, the .243 Winchester is my top pick for the best long-range coyote cartridge. But here are a couple more worthy options.

6mm Creedmoor

“Creedmoor” is a well-known name for maximum-range shooting. However, it’s only a good, but not great, coyote hunting round.

That’s because the 6mm Creedmoor is a necked-down 6.5 Creedmoor developed as a target shooting cartridge. Maximum velocities but lower barrel life and excessive power when used on yotes.

If you already have a target or deer hunting rifle like the Ruger American Predator in 6mm Creedmoor then you can use it for coyote hunting.

However, if you’re picking up a rifle specifically for coyote hunting, I’d recommend one of the other 6mm choices.

6mm ARC

My favorite coyote hunting round is the 6mm ARC, also called the 6mm Advanced Rifle Cartridge.

Hornady developed this round to fit .243 potential in an AR-15 platform.

It’s a great long-range shooting round for both target shooting and hunting and has comparatively low recoil.

6mm ARC doesn’t reach .243 Win velocities because it fits the 6mm bullet into a shorter case.

This is an advantage for coyote hunting because the slightly weaker energy potential means you’re less likely to blow apart the animal’s hide.

The main problem with 6mm ARC is that it’s a new round so it can be hard to find commercial ammo.

For reloaders, though, I’d recommend 6mm ARC over any other coyote hunting cartridge!

6.5mm Caliber

Here we start to get into the realm of too effective.

You’ll put down the coyote at extreme ranges. Expect a damaged pelt, though.

6.5 Creedmoor

When people think of long-range shooting today, the 6.5 Creedmoor is what pops into their heads.

Like .243 or .308 Winchester, you can use 6.5 Creedmoor to hunt coyotes. And you can do so at ranges farther than either of those rounds.

If you want to brag to your friends about taking yotes farther than anybody else, 6.5 Creedmoor is a good choice.

But if you want to recover the fur, consider something weaker.

6.5 Grendel

My favorite hunting rifle is chambered in 6.5 Grendel, which I believe to be one of the most versatile chamberings possible for AR-15-style rifles.

6.5mm bullets are a bit big for coyotes, though.

However, since 6.5 Grendel is weaker than 6.5 Creedmoor, you can use it as a very effective coyote-hunting round at extreme ranges with less pelt damage.

.30 Caliber

Here we get into the largest bullets I’d recommend for coyote hunting.

Any bigger and you shouldn’t expect to recover much of the carcass!

7.62×39 and .30-30 Winchester

Some say that the venerable .30-30 Winchester cartridge has taken more deer than any other cartridge.

.30-30 and 7.62×39 are almost identical ballistically and both will knock down a coyote with one shot.

However, their medium-velocity, heavy bullets will limit your range and potentially spoil the animal’s hide.

If you’re going to use a lever-action rifle for hunting coyotes, then .30-30 is a great choice. If you already have an AK, it’s a capable coyote hunting rifle.

In other words, using these cartridges is fine if you already have them. If you’re looking for a coyote gun, pick something else.

.308 Winchester

.308 Winchester is a great all-around hunting cartridge because it can take a large variety of game and, due to its popularity, has a large variety of commercial loads available.

The main problem with the .308 Win is that it’s a full-size rifle cartridge and thus can be too powerful for 30-pound yotes.

However, Federal and Underwood both manufacture dedicated varmint loads that turn your .308 rifle into a great coyote gun.

.300 Blackout

My favorite .30 cal cartridge for hunting coyotes is .300 Blackout, and it’s not because it’s the most powerful or the farthest shooting.

Instead, it’s because this cartridge is optimized for suppressed shooting.

Whether you’re hunting at night or just want the advantages of a suppressor during the day, .300 Blackout will let you take advantage of this advanced hunting technique.

Unsuppressed, .300 Blackout is still a fair coyote hunting round, roughly equivalent to 7.62×39 or .30-30.

Next Best Pistol Cartridges for Hunting Coyotes

Because of their high mass and low velocity, Pistol rounds are only good hunting rounds at short ranges. You can still hunt with pistol cartridges, though, with some caveats.

While .357 SIG is my preferred cartridge for coyote hunting, here are a few more capable options to choose from.

9mm Parabellum

Please don’t hunt coyotes with a 9mm pistol.

However, a 9mm carbine can make for a good, if short-ranged, coyote hunting platform.

.40 Smith & Wesson

.40 S&W is slightly more powerful than 9mm, though it’s only a good coyote round when used in a carbine.

10mm Auto

In contrast to 9mm and .40 S&W, 10mm is an acceptable cartridge if you want to hunt coyotes with a pistol.

Use full-power loads and stabilize your arms against a solid object.

.38 Special and .357 Magnum

If you’ve got a revolver, both .38 Special and .357 Magnum are good at knocking down coyotes.

Keep your shots within 75 yards for .38 SPL and 100 yards for .357 mag, use hunting (not high-penetration lead round nose!) ammo, and your wheel gun will serve you well.

Larger revolver cartridges, such as .44 Magnum, run into that too-powerful problem where you’ll blow through the coyote instead of making a clean kill.

Quick Note: Shotguns for Hunting Coyotes

Basically, any shotgun can take down a coyote if you load it with a slug or buckshot. #4 buck is recommended for shorter ranges and 00 buck if you want to maximize your range

This applies to .410 as well, though I’d stick with slugs only.

However, larger-gauge shotguns will let you load more pellets, increasing your chances of striking the animal with a pellet.

Remember that “long-range” for 00 buckshot is 75 yards. With #4 buck, stick to 50 yards or less.

Conclusion

Coyotes are tricky yet satisfying to hunt.

They’re smaller than many expect, so .22 caliber rifles are perfect for taking down these smart predators.

.223/5.56 is one of the most common coyote hunting cartridges.

If you want a better yote-taking cartridge then try .22-250 Remington.

.243 Winchester is an excellent choice if you want to stretch your legs and take coyotes past 300 yards.

You can go down as small as .17 HMR to put down this wily varmint, though keep in mind that you need perfect shot placement at less than 50 yards.

What’s your favorite coyote hunting round?

FAQs

Is 6.5 Creedmoor Too Big for Coyotes?

6.5 Creedmoor is not too large to take coyotes, though it’s on the large side and can damage the pelt more than a smaller round.

Is 5.56 Good for Coyotes?

5.56 NATO is a great round for hunting coyotes. It has enough power, low recoil, and is inexpensive.

Is a .223 Big Enough for Coyotes?

.22 caliber bullets are a good size for harvesting coyotes. .223 Remington has more than enough power to put down a yote with a .22 bullet.

Can You Hunt Coyotes with a Rimfire?

Rimfire cartridges tend to be on the weak side, though you can still hunt coyotes with .17 HMR and .22 Magnum if you let the animal get close and have a perfect shot placement.

Is a .22LR Good for Coyote Hunting?

.22 long rifle is too weak to hunt coyotes ethically. It’s more likely to wound a yote than kill it.

The post Best Coyote Calibers and Cartridges (Including Long Range) appeared first on Outdoor Empire.

My first time tightening down my scope rings was done with the mindset of the tighter the better, and crank it until it doesn’t turn anymore.

However, this is the wrong way to look at setting up your scope in its mounts.

Torque is vital because loose rings cause the scope to move after each shot because of recoil. This will cause your optic to lose zero and cause you to miss shots without realizing your scope is off. Alternatively, if the scope rings are too tight, the scope can be damaged or screws stripped, making removal impossible.

However, there is much more to properly torquing down your scope rings than we’ve covered so far. In this article, we go over why properly torquing your scope rings is essential, how to torque down your scope rings properly, and a few helpful tips to keep your scope intact and zeroed.

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Scope Ring Torque Basics

Before we go any further, it’s important to answer the question: what is torque?

Torque can be defined as the force used to twist an object on an axis. In a screw, the torque is the force applied to turn the screw into the wall. Torque is measured in inch-lbs or feet-lbs.

Because torque is defined as twisting an object around an axis, it can apply to everything from swivel desk chairs to securing scope rings. In this article, we define it as the amount of force used on the bolts or screws to secure a scope ring or base in place.

Although we previously mentioned the consequences of failing to torque your scope rings properly, let’s take a deeper look into what can occur if done incorrectly.

Under Torqued

Several things can occur when you under-torque your scope rings or scope bases.

• A shift in zero
• A loose scope
• Damaged scope
• Repeated recoil damaging a shifting scope

Over time, scope ring screws and bolts that are not checked or Loctited will loosen, and in the most extreme cases, I have seen scopes fall out of the mount and break.

Over Torqued

Because most amateur hunters and shooters assume the tighter the better for scope ring mounts, a common mistake is to over torque your scope mount screws, which can lead to several issues.

• Stripped screws
• Tube bends
• Damaged scopes
• Water and fog entering the scope

Before we delve into torquing down your scope rings, you will need a few things.

Recommended Tools

While a torque wrench is not required to mount your scope correctly, it is the most accurate way to secure it.

Alternatively, you can use other wrenches or bits to tighten it down, but these often lead to over or under-torque.

There are two main styles of torque wrenches.

1. Driver-style torque wrenches: These resemble a screwdriver and can be set to a specific torque. When you use this torque wrench, you can turn it until it reaches the designated torque, at which point it will stop turning.

2. Lever-style torque wrenches: These resemble a socket driver and feature a torque setting gauge. Though these torque wrenches are more common in the automotive industry, smaller bottles can tighten your scope rings or base.

Popular models of torque wrenches used to torque your scope rings down include.

• Vortex Optic Torque Wrench
• Weaver Gunsmithing Torque Wrench
• Wheeler Firearms Accurizing Torque Wrench

When purchasing a torque wrench, there are several things to look for.

• The torque value is inch-lbs
• It’s labeled for gunsmithing
• It’s accurate
• A clear, readable display

While the first two are self-explanatory, accuracy is paramount when torquing down scope rings. Most models of quality scope ring mounts have a designated torque level for you to reach. Exceeding this by even the slightest margin can cause damage to the scope’s integrity.

For the same reason, an easy-to-read display is essential so you know where you are in the torque process. Over or under-tightening due to misreading the display can lead to a loose mount or damaged scope.

Best Scope Ring Torque

There is no one size fits all torque for all scope ring mounts. As I said, most manufacturers explicitly state the intended torque to their scope base and scope rings.

Below is a chart of common torque numbers you will see on common scope rings.

WARNING: This chart is not all-encompassing, and you should check the guidelines for your specific model of firearm, scope, and rings as listed by the manufacturers before starting the mounting process.

Scope Base Torque

Torquing down your scope base is a little different from your scope rings. For bases, you should always follow the recommended torque specs from the firearm manufacturer, not the mount or scope manufacturer.

The type of metal used to make the receiver may require different base torque specs. For example, steel receivers generally demand greater torque than aluminum.

The suggested torque for scope bases is often much higher than that of the scope rings. Additionally, you want to ensure your base is level and evenly spaced for your scope model.

Despite the frequent difference in inch-lbs torque between base and scope rings, the process is similar when mounting a base to your rail or gun.

If you improperly mount your base onto the gun, no amount of scope ring torque will be able to fix what is probably a canted base.

How to Torque Down Your Scope

After seeing all the specifications, tools, and disclaimers about over or under-torquing your scope, you are probably wondering why anyone would do this themselves in the first place.

However, it doesn’t take a gunsmith to torque down your scope correctly. Below, we take the guesswork out of the equation and will walk you through the torquing process.

Step-by-Step Process to Torque Down Your Scope

1. Clear and safe your firearm.
2. Place your rifle in a rest where it is sitting in the same position you would shoot in (trigger down, rail, and barrel up.)

   

3. First-timers must install the scope base onto your rail. Then you must follow the rest of the process to ensure the scope base is ready for use. (For more on this, see our “How to Install a Scope Base” article.)
4. If the scope is inside the rings, with the top halves on, insert the screws into the holes.
5. Most new scope rings come with an L-shaped hex key. Stick the long end of the key into the screw head while holding onto the short end of the hex key.
   
6. Begin to tighten down the screws until you feel resistance. It’s essential not to continue tightening at this point and instead switch to your torque wrench.
   * Note: If each ring has one screw on each side, tighten them evenly, as tightening one side more than the other can pull the scope or rings off center. If there are two screws on each side, tighten them crisscross to avoid pulling the mounts one way or the other.
7. Using your gunsmithing torque wrench, set the torque level to the manufacturer’s prescribed number.
   
8. Tighten the screws down according to the manufacturer’s suggested inch-lbs. (DO NOT immediately Loctite after tightening!)
9. Check all the screws again.

Once you have successfully installed your scope rings, I suggest taking your gun to the range and zeroing it. If you can successfully sight it in without any issues from your base or scope rings, take it home and then use Loctite if you choose.

While this takes up more time, another trip to the range, and spending ammo on sighting in your weapon, it allows you to check your work and correct any errors before making them permanent.

Should You Put Loctite on Scope rings?

Can you? Yes.

Should you? In my humble opinion, no.

Loctite is an anaerobic adhesive that, when applied to screws, hardens into a thermoset plastic on the threads of screws. It drives out the air bubbles and any moisture in the screw hole and solidifies the screw in place.

To be removed, regular Loctite must be treated with chemicals or heated to somewhere in the range of 500°F. Both of these methods can damage a scope badly.

While regular Loctite can help you retain the right torque on your scope rings, there are a few reasons I don’t recommend using it.

• If you mess up the torque, it’s permanent.
• Swapping scopes is complicated and messy.
• If your scope breaks or needs repair, it’s a pain to remove.
• Loctite acts as a lubricant when first applied and can often cause over-torque.

Instead, I recommend regularly checking your torque after every couple of range sessions or after each hunt. If you notice a shift in zero or licenses in the scope, it’s a good idea to grab your torque wrench and give everything a once over.

According to Warne, however, some scope ring bases may benefit from a small amount of blue thread locker in some cases. This may apply in cases where you intend for the bases to remain on the rifle permanently and the screws attaching the bases to the receiver are short and few in number.

Though it is not a good idea if you are using a single piece, direct mount scope rings are made to fit your particular rifle.

Which Loctite to Use for Gun Sights?

If you insist on using it, Loctite’s product is designed for scope rings and bases that avoid much of the mess and are much easier to remove. While I don’t use it, I’ve seen it used and heard zero complaints about it.

Loctite Purple Threadlocker (222) was designed to be used on and around scopes without the complicated removal process. Its non-wicking formula is easy to install, and the screw can be removed with a screwdriver, the same as if you had never applied it.

Blue Loctite may be used for scope bases, though confirming with the firearm and base manufacturers is recommended.

Never use red Loctite on riflescope rings.

Conclusion

If you plan on installing a new scope on your rifle or purchasing a new base and set of scope rings, it’s essential to know about torque.

How it affects your scope, how to use it properly to secure your optic, and what tools you need are all vital information for any shooter or hunter looking for a well-mounted optic.

Ensure you don’t over or under-torque your scope rings, as this can lead to misses and scope damage. Before you torque your scope rings down, purchase a torque wrench and follow the above steps to ensure your scope is on target and not going anywhere.

FAQ

Do I need a torque wrench to set up my scope rings?

While it’s not required, it provides a more precise torque level to ensure you meet the manufacturer’s recommendation. Removing the guesswork on this will not only keep you from having a loose scope but also prevent you from over-torquing and damaging your optic.

Will Loctite keep my torque the same?

Maybe not the same, but it will keep it relatively close. Make sure to use the Loctite Purple Threadlocker (222), which was explicitly designed for scope rings and mounts.

However, I prefer to keep most chemicals and adhesives away from my scopes at all costs, so I check the torque every few range sessions, which usually takes less than a minute to confirm.

Which head or bit do I use to torque down my scope rings?

Some companies will send a bit with the scope mount, but most screws can be torqued with standard bits.

The post Everything You Need to Know About Scope Ring Torque appeared first on Outdoor Empire.

You’re wearing the right gear for the weather so you’re perfectly comfortable in your tree stand.

You’ve even memorized deer anatomy and know just where to aim to hit their heart, lungs, spine, or even brain stem.

And now a deer just barely stepped out from behind a tree and is looking straight at you, with your sights aimed between its eyes.

Should you take the shot?

Don’t fire at a deer that gives you a momentary sight picture. Also, don’t shoot at the deer that presents its nervous system but not the kill zone. Wait for a clean shot where you have a clear view of their heart and lungs. Be sure there are no obstructions like branches or rocks.

Too much can go wrong if you’re not taking a clean shot.

But what exactly do I mean by “clean shot”?

What is a Clean Shot in Hunting?

A clean shot is taken against a deer standing in the way that allows your projectile to pass through and damage the animal’s heart and lungs with little risk of missing.

This means a deer standing broadside to you or quartering away.

Your view of the deer should be clear, without wind-blown branches bouncing in the way. And the deer should be calm, stationary, and unconcerned about your presence.

This maximizes your chances of delivering a blow to those vital organs that kill the animal without causing too much pain and suffering.

A clean shot will devastate the heart and potentially both lungs, causing the animal to bleed out in moments.

Why aren’t Brain and Spine Shots Considered Clean Shots?

Some hunters consider a shot successful if the deer falls immediately, calling it “dead right there” or “DRT.” A prey animal that falls immediately saves you from having to track it down.

And it’s surely more humane, right? Only if you hit precisely where you need to hit. If you miss, even slightly, a brain stem shot won’t kill the deer.

Animal brains are small targets. You may find it easy to hit a small target when shooting off the bench at a level range. That bear, though, won’t be level with you, won’t be at exactly 100 yards, and is moving around.

Too many deer are walking around with their jaw half-blown off because an overconfident hunter wasn’t able to make such a difficult shot.

The nervous system is an effective target, but it’s just too hard to hit when real-world variables are in play. And even neck or spine shots may merely paralyze the animal instead of killing it. You want to put down the animal, not maim it and leave it suffering until the next hunting season!

How Often Do Hunters Miss?

Hunters love sharing stories about how they put down two deer in two shots last hunting season. But nobody brags about all the times they blew apart a branch just above the deer they were shooting at.

It’s hard to find hard data on how frequently hunters miss, though I have seen claims that only 20% of shots taken on the opening day of hunting season hit.

Now, being properly educated and practiced, I’m sure you’re within that 20%.

But keeping in mind that it’s a lot harder to hit an unpredictably moving target, it makes sense for so few deer to be taken in those first hours.

This is an exciting time.

A deer is in your sights! Finally!

Your blood pounds in your ears and adrenaline flows through your body.

It’s all too easy for an ordinarily good marksman to make a wild shot under these circumstances. And even a hit against a deer may be a technical miss.

If you aim for a heart shot and take out the liver, well, the deer will still die. Tomorrow. That’s not a clean kill. It’s more suffering for the animal and more work for you if you can even track down an animal that finally fell twelve hours after the shot.

This is why clean shots are essential. If you miss, even with a clean shot, you may hit close enough to the vitals to harvest the animal. Especially if you’re using the correct cartridge for the animal you’re hunting.

What is the Key to Making a Clean Kill in Hunting?

I’ve seen many reasons why hunters fail to make clean kills: the animal is standing at the wrong angle, or you’re using a too-highly-magnified optic—a bad zero.

But they all boil down to one factor: Impatience.

Too many hunters are impatient to get their animals and don’t pay enough attention to all the steps necessary to make their hunt successful.

The proper patience required for a clean shot starts at home, educating yourself about deer anatomy.

Then it requires patience at the gun range, practicing marksmanship, and learning your projectile’s ballistic path. You need to be familiar with them at all ranges you’re likely to see and for whatever animal you’re hunting.

Most of all, it requires patience in the field.

I know it’s hard to wait for a coyote to show up. But you need more than just an animal to make an effective, ethical shot. You need to wait for your prey to stand at the right angle and in the right place for a clear shot through its vitals.

There are over 30 million deer in the United States. The first deer you see will be followed by a second. Then a third. Then five more. Don’t take a shot against the first deer you see. Wait for a clean shot.

Which Shot Angles should be Avoided?

Though I will give a list of angles and whether they are good or not, you can figure out proper angles by understanding what makes a shot angle good or bad.

Earlier I mentioned the two best angles being broadside and quarter-away shots. This is because these give your projectile the best path through the animal’s vital organs with the minimum amount of bone and flesh in the way.

The more non-organ tissue your projectile has to penetrate before hitting vital organs, the less your chances of damaging those organs. This is why a quartering-to or head-on angle is often a poor choice for a shot.

When an animal is quartering toward you, one of its limbs is likely to block the path to its vitals. Smashing a bear’s shoulder may knock it to the ground, but now you have an angry, crippled animal. That’s not a clean kill!

Also, it’s easy to misjudge angles when taking a shot at an animal quartering toward you. The entrance wound may be in a good place, but the exit wound is likely farther back than you anticipated, meaning you hit flesh and missed vital organs.

Straight-on shots are tempting, but there’s a lot of rib cage between you and the animal’s heart. Those bones can deflect projectiles at worst and slow them down at best.

These angles can still be effective with a powerful-enough cartridge, but that doesn’t make them shots clean. And that’s not just because you’re lowering your chances of killing the animal. You’re also damaging a lot of delicious meat!

Worse still is when the animal is pointed directly away from you.

It’s tough to hit a deer’s heart when your gun is pointed at its tail. You’re more likely to shoot low and miss entirely or, worse still, to make what’s called a Texas heart shot by putting your bullet into the deer’s anus. Such a gut shot is painful and leads to a long, slow, excruciating death.

Common Deer Hunting Angles

• Broadside: Clean Shot
• Quartering Away: Clean Shot
• Quartering Toward: Marginal Shot
• Head On: Marginal Shot
• Tail On: Bad Shot

Note that these angles apply to most animals, not just deer. However, other animals may not present such a clean shot when they’re standing broadside.

For example, deer shoulder bones are shaped like a vertical boomerang, with the tip facing toward their front. This means that, though it may look like their shoulder covers up their heart, there’s actually little blocking the way to that vital organ.

Hog leg bones are more likely to cover their heart, though. You have to pay more attention to their stride to ensure you have a clean shot to the heart.

How Do You Ensure a Clean Kill?

Here are the four main factors that go into a clean kill:

1. Skill
2. Opportunity
3. Mindest
4. Gear

Let’s look at these four factors in what I believe to be their order of importance.

Skill

I put skill first because your ability to make a good shot is the most important part of making a quick, clean kill.

You have to know the anatomy of your prey and have the marksmanship to put your bullet or arrow precisely where you want it to go.

Opportunity

Opportunity is second because you can’t make a clean kill without a clean shot, and half of a clean shot is how the animal is positioned.

Is it standing still (or at least moving slowly)? At a good angle? With a clear view between you and the animal?

You can help improve these favorable circumstances by scouting out paths and properly positioning your hunting stand. But when it comes down to it, only the animal itself will give you the optimal shooting opportunity.

Mindset

Making a clean kill involves being prepared to take a clean shot. You need to keep your thoughts on the hunt. Pay attention so you’re not caught in an awkward position when the animal appears.

Then, once the animal is under your sights, your mindset will either leave you with a full freezer or a frustrating night of tracking blood from a gut shot.

It’s important to try to remain as calm as possible. This lets you focus on your marksmanship, which lets you take advantage of the clean shot opportunity to make a clean kill.

Slow your breathing. Double-check your surroundings to make sure there’s an appropriate backstop.

Gear

Gear is the last factor but it can make or break your hunt. Still, it’s the most supportive of the factors.

If you have the right skill, opportunity, and mindset, you can take down a deer with nothing more than a spear and a loincloth.

Everything else should just make your job easier.

I say “should” because some gear, such as a crappy scope or cheap cotton socks, can worsen your hunting experience.

Use a weapon with an appropriate cartridge or arrow type for your target. Be comfortable with that weapon at the ranges you expect to hunt.

Know how to use equipment such as rangefinders and test them on a hike before hunting season starts so you’re confident.

Your weapon is a vital article but it doesn’t discount the importance of your clothing!

If you’re not comfortable or well-camouflaged, you’ll have a harder time staying focused on hunting. This will make it all the more difficult to put down your game cleanly.

Conclusion

It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of hunting. Finally, after so much preparation, you’re ready and able to shoot that deer!

Hold on a moment.

Have you maximized your chances of making a lethal shot on your deer? A clean shot is one against an animal’s largest vital organs, with little flesh and few bones in the way, while they’re not moving and aren’t behind cover.

An unclean shot is one taken at a bad angle, with foliage in the way, or one taken at the animal’s harder-to-hit areas, such as its brain.

Resist the temptation to shoot at your game merely because you can. Wait for the right time, and you’ll put the animal down cleanly.

It’ll be less stressful for both you and the animal.

The post How to Make a Clean Shot While Hunting appeared first on Outdoor Empire.

Back in the 1960s, we started to make an effort against the toxic effects of lead by removing it from gasoline. However, lead is also the most common projectile metal, especially in shotshells. And it turns out that lead from shot leeches into the groundwater and poisons the ducks, geese, and other animals we love to hunt.

So, in 1991, lead pellets were banned in waterfowl hunting and non-toxic shot became mandatory. Since then, duck populations have become healthier.

However, the most common non-toxic ammo uses steel pellets, which have the reputation of damaging old shotguns and aren’t as effective as lead.

So, what’s the best non-toxic ammo choice for your classic 1970s or older shotgun?

Steel shot isn’t recommended for vintage shotguns because they were manufactured with soft steel barrels that hard steel pellets can damage. Bismuth alloy is the safest non-toxic ammo for your old shotgun. Tungsten can be a good choice, but only when mixed with polymer.

Continue reading to learn more.

What is Non-Toxic Ammo?

Whether you’re hunting ducks, pheasants, or clay pigeons, the shotgun you’re using fires shot, tiny metal balls, also called pellets.

These pellets need to be dense to deliver enough kinetic energy to take down game animals. So for over a hundred years, the metal of choice has been lead.

However, lead is toxic. When lead particles are ingested, they are stored in the body and negatively affect every organ.

Blanketing marshlands and other waterways with lead shots is an excellent way to expose ducks to high levels of lead, which poisons them. This then poisons you when you eat the waterfowl you hunt.

Not every metal has this toxic property, though.

Non-toxic ammunition is made from metals (and sometimes polymers) that aren’t harmful to the body and won’t contaminate the environment.

Most non-toxic ammo is made from steel, an iron alloy. However, steel isn’t the only choice.

Steel Shot and Older Shotguns

In the 1970s, when the dangers of lead ammo became well known, ammunition manufacturers started producing steel ammo.

However, these steel pellets aren’t good for classic shotguns, so the manufacturers adapted and started producing steel-capable guns.

What’s the problem with steel shot? A shotgun’s barrel is made of steel, right?

The problem is that steel shot is harder than many historic shotgun barrels, especially the Damascus barrels found on some 19th-century guns.

Those barrels didn’t have to be made from hard steel. They were designed for use with soft lead. Hardening the barrel would have added to the gun’s cost.

The idea behind avoiding steel ammo is that hard steel shots can ding or gouge the interior of your softer steel barrel. This problem is mitigated because commercial steel ammo uses plastic wads that provide a cushion between the shot and barrel.

Because of this, some people fire light steel loads through their old non-Damascus barrel shotguns with no trouble. However, magnum loads can exacerbate this problem. And even if the steel pellets don’t harm your shotgun’s bore, they can damage the choke.

Steel pellets don’t compress nearly as well as lead, so they cause much higher pressures when the load is constricted as it passes through your shotgun’s choke.

This can lead to a ring bulge at the base of your choke.

I wouldn’t risk shooting steel hunting loads through a pre-’91 gun. Those were likely made with lead in mind and aren’t designed to stand up to high-velocity hard steel pellets.

Steel shot started to become popular in the 70s, so some (but not all) shotguns made between then and 1991 were manufactured with steel loads in mind. Plus, not every manufacturer noted on the barrel whether or not their guns were steel-shot rated!

So, the recommendation is to avoid using steel shot in pre-1991 guns.

Thankfully, there are other types of non-toxic ammo you can use.

Types of Non-Toxic Shotgun Ammo

At the time of writing, the United States Fish & Wildlife Service has approved 14 types of non-toxic shot for waterfowl, coot, and crane hunting.

Most of the 14 types are alloys of several major metals: iron, tungsten, and bismuth.

These three metals have sufficient density for the ammo to be lethal. They’re alloyed with various other metals to improve characteristics or reduce expense because pure tungsten and bismuth are rare and expensive.

Here’s the full list, along with their densities in grams per cubic centimeters:

Lead is included for comparison. The densities given are approximate due to varying alloy ratios. Plus, some densities are proprietary. (I’m looking at you, Hevi-Shot!)

Since non-toxic shot can be split into three major categories, let’s look at those in detail.

Steel Non-Toxic Shot

Iron-based shot, typically steel, is the most economical, non-toxic shot available.

Unfortunately, it comes with several downsides.

The first is that iron is only about 2/3rds as dense as lead. This means that all other factors being equal, a steel shot hunting load will carry less kinetic energy at the muzzle. Worse still, it’ll bleed velocity faster, further reducing knock-down power.

You can compensate for this by using heavier loads with larger pellets plus more powder. Your shoulder won’t thank you, however!

Also, steel is much harder than lead, so it has a harder time passing cleanly through tighter chokes. Firing steel shot through a full choke can blow out your pattern. But that’s not all.

As mentioned before, steel pellets are harder than many older shotgun barrels.

Avoid steel shot unless you’re using a modern shotgun or know your classic shotgun is rated to handle steel loads.

Tungsten Alloy Non-Toxic Shot

Tungsten is almost a wonder metal when it comes to shotgun hunting. It’s one of the few denser elements than lead, giving it great ballistic potential.

However, it’s an expensive and rare element, so you won’t find any shot that’s 100% tungsten. It’ll always be alloyed with something else.

You’ll find it alloyed with other metals, though some manufacturers mix it with polymers instead.

Still, a tungsten shot is non-toxic and will almost always be as dense as lead or even denser, so you can use the same loads as before.

However, tungsten sometimes has the same problem as steel shot of being harder than lead, rendering it incompatible with old shotguns.

Annoyingly, this isn’t always the case, so you can’t just look at the word “tungsten” and know if it’s safe for your heirloom shotgun.

The tungsten non-toxic shot mixed with polymer, such as Kent’s Tungsten Matrix and Hevi-Shot Classic Doubles, tend to be classic-shotgun-safe.

If you’re not sure, then there’s a safer option.

Bismuth Alloy Non-Toxic Shot

Bismuth isn’t as dense as lead, but it’s denser than iron.

More importantly, it’s softer than either iron or tungsten. In fact, it’s about as soft as lead.

This makes the various bismuth shot offerings perfect when you want to grab your classic shotgun for some waterfowl hunting. It’s what I use.

Bismuth does have the same “downside” as tungsten in that it’s much more expensive than steel.

It’s also not quite as long-ranged and hard-hitting as good ol’ lead, but it’s close enough for most hunters.

What About Copper and Nickel Plated Shot?

A common question is whether plating makes steel shot dangerous for old guns. Or if plating makes lead shot dangerous for the same guns.

Basically, any plating on shot pellets is there for corrosion resistance and friction reduction. It doesn’t affect the shot’s underlying properties.

I recommend avoiding steel shot with older hunting shotguns, even when plated.

How to Choose the Right Non-Toxic Shot for Your Old Shotgun

When looking for the best non-toxic ammo, you want an intersection of range, knock-down power, and economy.

Plus, it has to be safe for your gun!

While light steel loads may be safe for your older gun, they won’t be effective hunting loads.

That said, if you have an older trap shooting gun and your shotgun club allows (or requires!) steel shot, you should be fine so long as you avoid heavy target loads and don’t fire them through any choke more restrictive than a modified choke.

When it comes to hunting, bismuth shot is the safest non-toxic option.

You’ll get almost as much performance with a bismuth-alloy shotshell as you’d get with the same lead-pellet load without polluting waterways.

Specific tungsten loads are a good option, too, when you want to maximize your chances.

Be careful with the tungsten ammo you choose, though. Stick to tungsten pellets made with polymer binders. Otherwise, the tungsten alloy may be too hard for your shotgun’s choke.

I like to load my shells with a bismuth alloy such as RotoMetals Bismuth Shot.

Hevi-Shot’s Hevi Bismuth is a common non-toxic waterfowl hunting choice.

Conclusion

Though it has good physical characteristics as a projectile, lead is a toxic element that poisons animals and people when scattered about the environment.

This is why the federal government mandated non-toxic shots when hunting waterfowl in 1991. It’s also why I’ve swapped to a non-toxic shot for all my shotgun hunting.

However, the most common non-toxic ammo is made with steel, which can damage vintage shotguns.

Thankfully, you can find bismuth-alloy and tungsten-matrix shotshells that are not only safe for your classic shotgun but are also devastatingly effective hunting loads!

FAQs

What is Non-Toxic Shot Made From?

Non-toxic shot is made from metals that won’t poison animals and people if particles from the pellets are eaten.

Steel, bismuth, and tungsten are the most common non-toxic metals used.

Which Non-Toxic Shot is Safe for Older Shotguns?

Bismuth is the safest shot material for older shotguns.

Tungsten can be safe, but you need to avoid pellets made from tungsten that have been alloyed with iron. That ammo will have the same dangers as steel.

The post Non-Toxic Ammo for Old Shotguns: What You Need To Know appeared first on Outdoor Empire.

The question most often asked is: Can you accurately use a scope to range a target?

You CAN use only your scope to accurately range a target. Scopes usually have MOA or MRAD markings which are units of measurement that represent angle. Using a formula, hunters can place accurate shots on target out to 800 yards by plugging in the target size in inches and the target size in MOA or MRAD, depending on your scope.

This article covers how to accurately range your target with your scope and a few factors you should consider when using this method of determining distance.

Why Range Finding is Important

No matter what weapon system you use when hunting, gravity strongly affects the bullet trajectory.

Even the beloved, flat shooting 6.5 Creedmoor drops nearly 55 inches at 500 yards.

For hunters who don’t know how to or can’t determine the distance to target, this can mean missing the game entirely or nonfatally wounding an animal, causing unnecessary pain and suffering.

I’ve seen hunters guess at the distance to target or not factor it in, causing them to shoot both high and low, and miss a big trophy game at distances from 200-600 yards. To avoid this, hunters can purchase a rangefinder, use their scope, or use other methods

Related: How to Range Without a Rangefinder

How to Calculate Distance with Your Scope

Using your scope to determine the distance to target requires some simple math and a good scope. A good scope has hash marks (MOA/MRAD) etched into it, which allow you to range your target accurately.

Using this information and the height of your target, you can quickly come up with a solution that gives you a close approximation of distance and what your holdover should be.

The Formula

There are two formulas used to determine distance through the scope.

The first is the MOA (Minute of Angle) Formula:

Target Size (Inches) X 95.5
______________________  = Distance to Target
Target Size in MOA

The second is the MRAD (Milliradian) Formula:

Target Size(Inches) X 27.77
______________________  = Distance to Target
Target Size in MRAD

Here are two examples of the equation.

How to Range with an MOA Scope

16 inches is a good size from backbone to belly on a Whitetail where I come from. Through your scope, that area is covered by 5 MOA marks because of the reticle.

Your equation should go as follows:

(16×95.5)
________  =  ?
5

If you’ve done your calculations correctly, the distance to the target should be about 305.6 yards.

How to Range with an MIL Scope

For the same animal, let’s use the MRAD formula.

The deer measures 16 inches from belly to backbone and covers 1.5 Mil in your scope reticle.

(16×27.77)
_________  =  ?
1.5

If you did your math, it chalks up to about 296.21 yards.

Personal Experience

I used the MOA formula when shooting a large Whitetail in Mississippi with a Remington .30-06 at about 106 yards.

Alone at 7:00 am on a chilly December morning with the wind so cold I regretted not wearing a second pair of long johns, I heard the unmistakable thundering of hooves over the chattering of my teeth.

Buck fever took over, and as the deer rushed past my ground blind on the side of a dike overlooking the farm pond, I took point-blank aim, squeezed the trigger, and missed…twice.

Cursing myself for letting adrenaline get the best of me, I watched in shock as the deer sprinted to the levee’s end and slowed to a walk after hitting the food plot to my left. Whether he thought it was thunder or was just not as intellectually gifted as another whitetail, I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

He was a big one. 16 inches was my guess, and it covered over 12 MOA. ( I shouldn’t have needed the formula at this distance, but I wanted to confirm my shot.)

I did the quick math ( I was a lot better at mental arithmetic back then), put the reticle behind his right shoulder, slightly higher than the center, and fired.

He dropped like he had been struck by lightning. I ran over, saw that he was still breathing, and put a security round in him to finish the job.

Had I not used the equation, I probably could have made the shot. But using that method definitely helped me put my bullet where it needed to go and gave me the confidence I lacked from my two previous misses.

Accurately Estimating Animal Size

Estimating the size of an animal can be difficult, and it can have major implications on your shot if guessed incorrectly.

Plenty of outdoor publications provide general ballpark size estimates for various species of big game. It’s also recommended that you check your local fish and game website, which often provides an accurate list of sizes compiled by biologists to help you guess.

However, the two most accurate ways to determine an animal’s size are practice and recording the size of the game you’ve killed.

You can practice by guessing at objects in your backyard, in the woods, or on the street and then measuring them to determine how far off you were. With a bit of practice, you can get your approximations pretty close, allowing you to make an educated guess out in the field.

Recording the size of the game you killed can give you an idea of what to expect from other game in the region. If your area is known for trophy Whitetail or Mulies, a fluctuation of an inch up or down depending on how the deer looks is not a bad idea.

You may be asking yourself, does an inch make a major difference when shooting at a distance?

The answer is more surprising than you might think. For instance, let’s say you’re taking a shot at a deer that covers 4 MOA. The deer is 16 inches, but you guess 17.

(17×95.5)
________  =  A little over 400 yards
4 MOA

Not a bad shot.

Let’s look at the difference using the actual size of 16 inches.

(16×95.5)
________  =  386yards
4 MOA

Close distances will cause you to be off between 10-20 yards, but at 2.5 MOA, that’s over a 40-yard difference.

That’s why it’s essential to guess sizes accurately when calculating distance with your scope.

A Good Scope

While sticking to a budget is essential, don’t be cheap. Buy a good scope. Investing in a critical piece of hardware like a riflescope can help you accurately range your targets.

While hunters go back and forth on the pros and cons of MRAD vs. MOA, it’s more important to invest in a scope that works best for you.

If you find you can do the math better with one or like how it looks through the scope better, stick with that one.

When purchasing a scope you may use to range targets, it’s important to factor in three things:

1. Scope clarity
2. Hash mark definition
3. Scope power

There are plenty of quality scopes at an affordable price, but don’t let the price tag be your deciding factor. Vortex, Nightforce, Leupold, and Zeiss all make quality scopes in a wide price range.

Wind

Many people think the wind is something you lick your finger for, feel the breeze, and can tell which way the wind is blowing. Most hunters don’t consider that the wind can be different from your position at the target with longer shots.

This problem can be solved with a high-end laser range finder and/or a ballistic calculator. Or you could just get closer to the animal; your choice.

Get a Rangefinder

Before delving into using your scope to determine the range, hunters must note that this method is an approximation and not exact science.

Using a rangefinder, you can determine the target’s precise distance without doing extra math or guessing at a target size.

Recommended: Best Rangefinders for Hunting

If money is an issue, budget rangefinders start at a little over $100 and are easily stowed in a pack or jacket during a backcountry hunt. These lightweight pieces of gear are worth their weight in gold, so serious hunters should look into purchasing one before heading out into the woods or backcountry in pursuit of big game.

Conclusion

Hunters can accurately range prey using a scope and some simple math. However, it should be noted that this does involve some guessing and the distance is often a close approximation.

If you’re like me and don’t want to pull out the phone or scratch paper, invest in a good rangefinder and save yourself a headache while getting an accurate distance on your next big game trophy.

The post How to Range a Distance with Only Your Riflescope appeared first on Outdoor Empire.

Others have said because it is unable to compete with the variety of lightweight alternatives on the market, the bipod has no place on a hunter’s rifle.

So, should you use a bipod for hunting or shooting?

The argument that a bipod is outdated is laughably naive at best and, at worst, a flat-out lie. The bipod is an excellent addition to any long-range shooter’s setup. It often stays affixed to the rifle’s chassis, making for easy setup and breakdown.

However, there is more to this discussion than whether a bipod is outdated. In this article, we cover when and why you should use a bipod and some pros and cons.

Is a bipod necessary?

Before delving further into this topic, we must answer this question: What does a bipod do?

A bipod is a two-legged, stabilizing platform placed beneath a gun. This setup elevates the rifle’s front end while securing it in place, allowing the shooter to manipulate the stock and trigger with the front in a fixed location.

So we know what a bipod’s intended use is, let’s talk about its practical application.

The human body has both a pulse and electrical signals running through the nerves and into its muscle fibers. No matter how steady you think you are, there will always be slight movement due to both factors.

Conventionally holding a rifle requires the dominant hand to grasp just behind the trigger, with the index finger used to pull it. The non-dominant hand then grips closer to the muzzle to support and help aim the rifle. Even the best shooters will experience tremors, primarily due to the support hand.

A bipod removes the need for the support hand for kneeling, seated, or prone shooters by propping the chassis up with two legs.

So while it’s not absolutely necessary to shooting a gun, a bipod definitely eliminates some mitigating factors and could make your shot more accurate.

Is a bipod good for sighting in a rifle?

When sighting in your rifle, you want the steadiest platform to place your weapon system on to confirm your zero (point of aim/point of impact). Using a bipod removes the tremor of your support hand, instead focusing on aligning your reticle onto the target and getting a good trigger squeeze.

Consider placing a bag rest beneath the stock to get an even more unbiased zero for a more stable platform.

Do I need a bipod when target shooting?

Whether you are shooting in a competition or recreationally practicing, a bipod can be a great addition to your rifle. In addition to the stability it provides to your shooting platform, many bipods have a swivel feature.

This keeps your rifle anchored in one location while allowing you to acquire targets quickly on a stable platform.

So while “need” may be a strong word, I definitely think you’ll want a bipod when you’re at the range or target shooting in the hills.

Do hunters use bipods?

A bipod truly shines through when used in a hunting capacity.

The stable shooting platform, lateral target acquisition from a fixed location, and portability are all significant assets to have. The bipod is the master of providing a flat shooting platform on uneven ground.

Personally, I have yet to find a flat piece of ground that provides sufficient cover and concealment when hunting. It’s always a downed tree rotting away or the crest of some uneven hill.

Laying your bolt gun or semi-auto on the ground causes you to lose the frontal elevation. You also risk a malfunction on a follow-up shot, not to mention needlessly dirtying your gun.

Instead, many bipods have adjustable legs and can be lengthened or shortened to create a level shooting position. This gives you every advantage when taking that long shot on a trophy animal.

A First-Hand Example

Shooting from a raised levee overlooking a farm pond and food plot wasn’t my first choice. But with the sun setting behind me and tall weeds concealing my hide site in the clay mound, it was as good as I could get. It was the price I paid for having just showered and swapped out my college campus attire for camo and backwoods.

A 200-yard freehand shot to the end of the food plot wasn’t impossible on a deer-sized target. But with the bipod my shooting buddy had attached to the rifle, my crosshairs showed no sign of their usual tremor.

The deer that walked out was a skinny doe, and something about the way she kept checking the treeline stopped me from pushing the safety of my .30-06 all the way red.

I watched the yearling tentatively step from the shadows and sighed. I would keep an eye on the pair under a steady scope until sunset, glad I hadn’t pulled the trigger. Even with a zero for the day, I was impressed with the new bipod my shooting partner had installed on the gun.

When Not to Use a Bipod

Many hunters prefer to hunt without a bipod, and that’s fine. Bipods work best shooting from a prone position or while sitting with a big rock or flat surface in front of you while sitting. Some hunters don’t want to have to lay down or they feel confident enough bracing against a rock or tree, or shooting while sitting with their elbows braced against their knees.

At times, shooting prone isn’t an option because the grass and brush are too high so you can’t even see over it, even with a bipod.

Whitetail deer hunting is often done in relatively close quarters in thick forested areas or pinch points next to farm fields. This is a time when a bipod is likely optional. When still hunting or sitting stationary and taking shots within 200 yards or less, you can get away without a bipod. If you hunt from a tree stand, a bipod is unnecessary and may even be cumbersome. You can brace against a crossbar.

One alternative to a bipod while hunting is shooting sticks. These lightweight bipod alternatives are not fixed to the gun, but can be pulled out of your hunting pack and used as needed. They are also available in tall lengths that stabilize a rifle for a standing shot.

Perhaps the most common of all gun stabilizers is a hunting pack. Laid down flat it makes a great prone shot platform and stood upright it works for sitting or kneeling shots. This is something you typically have with you anyway on a hunt, which makes it perhaps the most stable alternative to a bipod you can have on a hunt.

Pros of Using a Bipod

• Stable shooting platform
• Easy lateral target transitions without changing positions
• Great for rough terrain
• Usually fixed to the gun
• Adjustable

Cons of Using a Bipod

• Added weight to the gun
• Can get in the way of free-hand shots
• Potential for malfunction in the field due to water, rust, or dirt
• Not as stable as a tripod

Conclusion

If you don’t mind the extra weight to the front of your gun or the lack of space to grip it, a bipod is a solid investment for your rifle.

The stability it provides and the elevation to the front of the gun remove much of the natural tremors that affect shots while allowing for smooth lateral transitions from target to target.

Before purchasing a bipod, try one out at your local range and see if it makes a difference in your shooting.

FAQs

Will a bipod make me a better shooter?

A bipod won’t make you a better shooter per se, but it will remove variables from your shooting so that you can focus on little things like trigger pull and breathing.

What is the difference between a bipod and a tripod?

A bipod has two legs and is usually attached to the gun. A tripod has three legs and is often carried separately from the gun.

How do I know if I need a bipod for my gun?

Whether or not you use a bipod is a personal choice, but if you want more stability in your shots, consider buying a bipod.

The post Should You Use a Bipod for Shooting? For Hunting? appeared first on Outdoor Empire.

But how far away is that animal? And how far is your bullet going to drop?

In my opinion, the best hunting zero technique is the Maximum Point Blank Range zero. MPBR lets you place your bullet into an animal’s vital zone at short to long ranges without requiring any field math, Kentucky windage, or fiddling with your sights.

It’s a dismal feeling when you think you’ve hit an animal with a well-placed shot only to discover, after many hours and much tracking, that you hit it in the gut and caused a slow, painful death.

Accidentally shooting above the buck is better but can still cause the animal to bolt, potentially ruining your hunt.

And, while rangefinders are amazing tools, you don’t always have the time or ability to figure out that animal’s exact range and compensate accordingly.

But what does “Maximum Point Blank Range” mean anyway? And how can you use that to zero your rifle?

Why Use Maximum Point Blank Range Zeroing for Hunting?

If there’s one word I’d use to describe hunting with the Maximum Point Blank Range (MPBR) zero, that word is confidence.

You’ll be able to confidently take the shot on your game at short, medium, and even long ranges. Without using a rangefinder!

How does giving your rifle an MPBR zero accomplish this?

Why, it’s in the name: it maximizes your rifle’s point-blank range.

Many people use the term “point-blank” to refer to a target close enough you have almost no chance of missing. This common usage is not entirely correct, though they’ve got the right idea!

Properly speaking, point-blank range is the distance at which you can aim without having to compensate for bullet drop.

MPBR is a sighting technique that applies this idea to the specific animal (or target) you want to hunt. Aim for the center of the kill zone, pull the trigger, and you’ll make a devastating shot at 50, 100, or even 200 yards!

You may have but a fleeting moment to line your sights up on that moose or bear and take the shot. Spend some time at the range sighting in your gun and you’ll be able to take advantage of that moment.

How the Maximum Point Blank Range Zero Works

As you’re aware, bullets drop. They have an arc to their flight. Always a downward arc, technically, due to gravity.

Your sights, whether they’re iron sights, a red dot, or a telegraphic sight, do not arc. They point in a solid line, off to eternity.

Keep this line in mind.

Many people sight in their rifles at 100 yards and expect to hit below that at farther ranges. In this case, that line from the scope points slightly downward relative to the gun’s bore. It intersects with the bullet’s arc at a single known point, 100 yards.

This is fine for range purposes but we can do better.

MPBR points the sight’s line at an angle to intersect the bullet’s arc twice. If we had a chart with the sight-held level, it would look like the bullet’s curve would be rising at the first intersection and falling at the second intersection.

That first intersection is the Near Zero and the far intersection is the Far Zero. But that’s not all MPBR gives you.

Because MPBR is calculated using your chosen target’s vital zone size, the bullet will never rise (relative to your sights) enough to leave that vital zone.

You’ll hit high when the animal is between the Near Zero and the Far Zero, but never too high! (So long as you aim at the dead center of the vital area, of course.)

But the Far Zero isn’t your shooting limit. The bullet will continue to drop, but it’ll take some time for the bullet to arc downward enough to leave the vital zone.

The distance the bullet will travel before dropping out of the target area is the “maximum” part of “Maximum Point Blank Range.” It can be 40 yards past the Far Zero or more.

Using this zero, your maximum point-blank range will be 200 yards or more, depending on your rifle, ammo, and target.

How to Sight Your Rifle with a Maximum Point Blank Range Zero

So, setting up your rifle to take advantage of the MPBR hunting zero does take some math and even some research, but it’s all pretty easy.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. Your target’s vital area size
2. Your rifle sight’s height over the bore
3. Your ammo’s initial velocity
4. Your projectile’s ballistic coefficient

Let’s tackle those in order and then put them all together.

Target Size

You need to know how large a target you want to hit, measured from top to bottom. For a small deer’s vital area, this is roughly eight inches in height.

You’ll have to look up the kill zone yourself if you’re hunting another animal. You can also measure a paper target’s height and use that number.

Measure the total size of the target, not the distance from the center to the edge.

Sight Height Over Bore

You know how bolt-action rifles tend to have sights close to the barrel while modern sporting rifles such as ARs tend to have iron sights that stand several inches above the bore?

This actually works to the MSR’s advantage when it comes to MPBR!

Find the distance from your sight’s centerline to the middle of the bore. This is the sight height measurement. It’s different from gun model to gun model. For example, most AR-15s have an iron sight height over bore of 2.6″.

A slightly less precise yet still useful method of determining your sight’s height over bore is to measure from the middle of the bolt or barrel to the middle of the scope.

If your rifle has a tapered barrel and iron sights, Brownells has a sight height calculator that can help you.

Projectile Velocity

Here’s where you need to grab a chronograph if you want to be truly accurate. You need to know your ammo’s initial velocity—the more accurate, the better. If you need to, you can use your ammo manufacturer’s data for this, though it won’t be accurate to your gun.

Variances in barrel manufacturing can affect velocity. So can atmospheric factors and barrel length. If these don’t match up with the manufacturer’s tests, then your velocity won’t be accurate.

A difference of 50 fps can result in an MPBR reading difference of 6 yards, which doesn’t render the calculation ineffectual but does add up.

Ballistic Coefficient (and Drag Function)

You must also know your specific projectile’s ballistic coefficient (BC). This measurement of the bullet’s shape helps shooters estimate the bullet’s ability to buck the wind. It’s complicated to calculate and changes based on the bullet’s velocity.

Thankfully, you can just get this off your bullet manufacturer’s website with little fuss.

Another factor, the drag function, also affects the calculations. It has to do with the bullet’s shape, such as the ogive’s shape (curved point) and the boat tail’s angle.

If the bullet maker shares this information, it’ll be a G followed by a number. G1 is the most common, though you’ll likely notice G7 on some very low-drag bullets.

Some manufacturers, such as Hornady, give you several BCs and specify which drag function to use. Make sure to match the BC to the drag function.

Don’t see a drag function?

Just use G1. It’s the most popular.

Putting it All Together and Calculating Maximum Point Blank Range

Now here’s the part you’ve been dreading: Doing the math.

Just kidding!

You can use an online calculator to figure out your MPBR.

Choose your drag function and enter the measurements you picked out above.

If you’re feeling spicy, you can click the box to enable atmospheric correction, though this will have a minor effect on your final results.

Click “Calculate Point Blank Range” and you’ll have five numbers:

1. Near Zero
2. Far Zero
3. Minimum PBR
4. Maximum PBR
5. Sight-in at 100 yds

Maximum PBR will give you the farthest you can engage your target and still make a kill shot, provided you do your part well.

Near Zero, Far Zero, and Sight-in at 100 yds give you what you need to sight in your rifle for the Maximum Point Blank Range zero.

Sighting In Your Rifle with the Maximum Point Blank Range Zero Technique Step-by-Step

1. Write down the results from the calculator and keep the info with you as you go to the range.
2. Bring a target that’s good for sighting in rifles. I like to use those with 1″ squares so I don’t have to measure how far away my bullets hit.
3. If this is your first time sighting in your rifle, then you will need to bore sight your rifle to get on paper before you throw lead down range.Otherwise, head to the shooting range!
4. Look at those three numbers, the Near Zero, Far Zero, and 100 yards Sight-in.Which one is the closest to an easy-to-use round number?Choose the most convenient of the three and set up a target at that distance. This is likely the Near Zero or the 100-yard Sight-in.For either the Near Zero or the Far Zero, you want the bullet hole to be at the exact point of aim.For the 100-yard Sight-in, you want the point of impact to be the calculated distance above (or maybe below) the point of aim.
5. Aim at the bullseye and shoot slow, controlled groups. I start with three-shot groups at first, then five-shot groups when I’m confirming that the rifle is sighted in.
6. Shoot a group, observe the results, adjust your sights, and repeat until you’re on target.
7. Now, test your rifle at various ranges.

You’ll hit below the bullseye up to your Near Zero, above it until the Far Zero, and below it past there, all the while staying in your target area.

Congratulations! You’re ready to hunt with full confidence in your ability to deliver a one-shot kill.

Example Maximum Point Blank Range Zero Calculations

While it’s best to enter information specific to your rifle and ammunition into the calculator, here are a few example calculations based on common hunting calibers.

Remington 700 Chambered in .270 Winchester

.270 Winchester is a venerable cartridge that’s effective against almost every game animal in North America. Many Remington 700s are chambered in .270, making this a rather common combo.

Out of a 24″ barrel, Hornady’s American Whitetail 140 gr InterLock bullet has an initial velocity of 2,940 fps with a ballistic coefficient of .486 and a G1 draft factor.

The average Remington 700 scope’s height over bore is 1.68″.

We’ll use a deer’s vitals for our target size.

This gives you a Near Zero of 26 yards, Far Zero of 281 yards, and MPBR of 330 yards. The bullet will hit 3.2″ high at 100 yards.

AR-15 Chambered in 5.56 NATO

AR-15s have become standard rifles for varmint hunting and even deer hunting in some areas. You’ll want to use a heavy-for-caliber bullet when hunting with 5.56 NATO or .223 Remington but that type of ammo is commonly available now.

So, with a sight height of 2.6″ and using Hornady BLACK ammo with 75 gr InterLock bullets, you can get a .230 BC bullet (G1 draft factor) moving at 2,321 fps.

This is good enough for coyote hunting, so we’ll use a vital zone of 5″.

With this data, you’ll have a Near Zero of 35 yards, Far Zero of 183 yards, and MPBR of 211 yards. Your bullet will hit 2.42″ high at 100 yards.

Your Average .308 Winchester Hunting Rifle

Open up most ballistic programs and you’ll find a 1.5″ scope height as standard. Grab a bolt-action rifle with a not-huge scope, or even some semi-auto rifles, and that will match up close enough.

Load up that .308 rifle with some Hornady American Whitetail 165 gr InterLocks and you have a fine hunting rifle. How does its MPBR hold up, though?

Use a velocity of 2,700 fps, .435 BC (G1 draft factor), and point the rifle at a large deer or small sheep for a target size of 12″.

You’ll get a Near Zero of 17 yards, Far Zero of 299 yards, and MPBR of 352 yards!

That .30-cal bullet will hit 4.8″ high at 100 yards.

This sounds high, but the Maximum Point Blank Range is working as intended. You’ll hit high out to almost 300 yards, but never more than 6″ high!

When to Use Other Hunting Zero Techniques

As much as I like using the Maximum Point Blank Range zero for hunting small and large game, it’s not perfect for every situation.

You may always hunt at the same known distance, such as from a hunting stand to the edge of a field. This will let you sight in your rifle so your point of aim and point of impact intersect at exactly that distance.

On the other hand, people who are hunting at very long ranges won’t see any benefit from using MPBR. It’s only useful for that indicated maximum distance. Then afterward, you’ll have to calculate bullet drop.

You might as well sight in that firearm with a more convenient zero.

And if you’re only going to shoot at paper or steel targets at specific ranges, then you’ll want the precision of a more specific zero. Especially when in a shooting competition where accuracy matters.

Also, the MPBR zero is designed for fixed elevation sights or sights where it’s a pain to adjust the elevation. If you have sights that are designed to be adjusted to compensate for range, then using an MPBR zero will muddy the calculations.

Examples are some high-end scopes and AR-15 iron sights with the elevation drum. Sight those in as recommended by the manufacturer and you won’t need to use the MPBR zero!

Conclusion

Calculating your Maximum Point Blank Range will give you several zeros you can use to dial in your rifle for hunting at various ranges.

Best of all, you won’t need any range measuring or elevation adjustment. Aim at the center of your prey’s vital zone and fire. You’ll hit right where you need to hit!

This is perfect for hunting in situations where that pesky deer can show up 50 yards away or 200. It’s also good for smaller targets.

Even some 3-gun shooters can take advantage of the technique.

Most of my hunting rifles are zeroed according to their Maximum Point Blank Range.

How do you zero your hunting rifles?

The post The Best Hunting Zero Technique? Maximum Point Blank Range appeared first on Outdoor Empire.

In my case, my family was a rifle family. The first animal I harvested was a prairie dog, taken with a New England Firearms Handi-Rifle chambered in .218 Bee.

I didn’t fire a shotgun for another decade. It took me a lot of shells before I got it. But once I did, shotgunning became one of my favorite shooting activities.

So, what do you need to know if you come from one long arm tradition and want to try the other?

Put simply, rifles are aimed, and shotguns are pointed. Shotgun shooting is instinctual once you have fit and form down. Rifle shooting is more deliberate and is focused on precision, requiring you to align your eyes with the sights and the target.

If this explanation of the difference between rifle and shotgun shooting doesn’t seem obvious, that’s okay. Continue reading, and I’ll explain the differences in detail.

What is Aiming?

When you aim a firearm, you put in a conscious effort to align every aspect of the gun and yourself to be as perfect as possible.

The gun’s bore, sights, and your eye all have to be in just the right place for you to have any success with your rifle. A slight deviation in any of the above and the bullet won’t fly where you need it to go.

This is because rifles fire a single, small projectile at a consistent angle.

Sure, there’s some shot-to-shot inconsistency due to bullet manufacturing imperfection, powder charge differences, and even how the barrel vibrates slightly differently when it warms up. Still, the goal is always to hit within a small area of where you aim.

It’s easy to mess this up.

If your eye is slightly misaligned from the iron sights, you won’t be able to point the bore correctly, and you’ll be less accurate.

Even pulling the trigger slightly, say, to the left instead of straight back can shift the gun slightly, causing you to miss.

And if you’re aiming at a 6″ kill zone 100 yards away, those small errors add up.

So you have to take the time to put your eyes behind the sights properly and put the sights over the target while controlling your breathing and trigger finger.

The result is a beautiful shot, a single hole in the heart, knocking down that deer before it knows what happened.

Where Do You Focus When Aiming?

Aiming requires you to precisely align your gun’s sights. So, you’ll achieve the most success by focusing on the gun’s sights—most of the time.

With iron sights, your focus should be on the front sight.

With a traditional scope, look at the crosshair.

The exception is when you use a red dot sight or holographic sight. Then you’ll focus your eyes on the target. However, you’ll still need to keep that red dot in mind, so you’ll still be mentally focused on your sights.

Why is Aiming Bad for Shotgun Shooting?

Aiming takes time.

And shotguns are typically used against moving targets.

Any hunter who’s taken a shot at a running deer knows that it’s tough to aim correctly at a moving target. Even the best rifleman has to rely on a bit of luck when the target is moving unpredictably.

Whether you’re hunting duck from a blind or are standing at the trap line, once the target appears, you have a scant few seconds to take the shot. That’s not enough time to aim, so you need to point shoot.

When Do You Aim a Shotgun?

There are times you aim a shotgun. These are when you’re using the shotgun like a rifle: Against a slow or stationary target.

This means slug hunting, most of the time. That’s why slug barrels are often equipped with iron sights.

Turkey hunting can also fall into the aiming paradigm, especially when using the tightest chokes against turkeys at long range.

A turkey’s feathers can seem like kevlar armor, so a good tactic is to hit its head with a dense cloud of shot. This is more easily done when you slow down, take your time, and aim at the bird.

What is Pointing?

If aiming is the thoughtful way to shoot, then pointing is what happens when you rely on instinct.

You focus on the target, swing the shotgun into position, and fire. Who has time to aim?

This sounds easy but to be a successful shotgunner, you need to have the following three items:

1. A well-fitted shotgun
2. Good form
3. A consistent mount

What’s most important with pointing is the ability to hold the shotgun in the same place every time you bring it to your shoulder.

A shotgun that fits you properly makes this much easier. You also have to do your part by holding it in the same way and with the same stance every time you bring up the gun.

Moving the shotgun into the firing position is called mounting the gun. If you’ve practiced doing this quickly and smoothly, you’ll be on target all that much faster.

When pointing a shotgun, you don’t need to be ultra-precise. In fact, you might not even be focusing your eyes on where you’re shooting as you mount the gun because part of the process is swinging through and past the target.

A shotgun’s pattern is large enough to make up for minor shot-to-shot deviations.

Where Do You Focus When Pointing?

Keep your eye on the prize.

When you’re launching a projectile instinctively, you want to focus on your target. Not just the target as a whole but as small a part of the target as you can.

Quail hunting? Aim for that patch on their neck.

Skeet shooting? Catch the leading edge of the clay pigeon with your eye.

And don’t try to stay focused for too long. You can maintain that focus best for only a few seconds before your mind starts trying to take in unnecessary details surrounding your chosen focus point.

This means you shouldn’t look at the beads on your shotgun. Ideally, you shouldn’t even notice them when you’re in the field.

Shotgun beads are not front sights. Think of them as a reference point. When you bring up the shotgun, the front bead should come to the same place every time.

And if there’s a second bead, it should form a figure-eight with the front bead, further proving that you’ve mounted the shotgun properly.

But don’t focus on the beads except to check for proper placement after mounting your gun when practicing at home. Your subconscious will use your peripheral vision to check on the beads when you’re out shotgun shooting.

Experienced shotgunners sometimes remove the beads from their shotgun’s barrel to minimize distractions. Those folks can still hit 25 out of 25 clays!

This is why red dot sights haven’t caught on with clay or wing shooting. That floating bit of light in front of your eyes distracts you and can even obscure the target.

It’s not necessary unless you’re aiming.

Why is Pointing Bad for Rifle Shooting?

An expert shotgunner will be extremely consistent from one shot to the next but they’ll never be quite as precise as someone who aims their gun.

You can see this with the folks at the range who dump their magazines as fast as possible. They’re pointing their guns at the target and, as a result, cause dirt to fly up all around.

Unless you’re shooting a large target at close range, you need to take at least a little bit of time to aim your rifle if you want to have any hope of being on target.

When Do You Point a Rifle?

There is a time and place to point shoot with rifles, however. And that’s when speed is the most essential factor.

This will never come up when hunting. If you don’t have time to take an aimed shot with a rifle, then it’s better to just. Not. Shoot.

You always want to stay aware of what’s behind your target. If your target is moving fast, you need to point at it instead of aim. It might be moving away from a safe backdrop.

The only time speed is important enough for you to sacrifice this is when you’re in a self-defense situation at knife-fight ranges, such as in your house.

And even then, you want to take a moment to confirm your target first!

Do You Aim or Point a Pistol?

Most of the time, when using a pistol, you will aim. Every now and then, point shooting comes into vogue with handguns.

The idea is that you can literally point at your target with your pointer finger by placing it alongside the frame and pulling the trigger with your middle finger.

Now, I’ve practiced this technique, and I can see why it’s never caught on in the mainstream. You just can’t be accurate enough for anything except the shortest of short ranges.

I keep it as a tool in my shooting repertoire, though not using the finger method.

Instead, I practice with the Center Axis Relock style for self-defense shooting and use the Isosceles stance for most other handgun shooting.

Transitioning Between Aiming and Point Shooting

In my experience, shotgunners have an easy time learning to aim and rifle shooters tend to have difficulty learning to point shoot. At first, anyway.

Moving from pointing to aiming is similar to learning to aim without prior experience with firearms.

If you’re a practiced rifle shooter, however, then learning to point means you have to practice a technique that runs counter to much of the muscle memory you spent a long time establishing.

It will take a conscious effort for time to keep your eyes off the front bead and on your target. This will get easier through practice.

How to Get Better at Shooting a Shotgun

Here’s my favorite shotgun mounting practice technique for breaking yourself from the desire to aim a shotgun:

1. Find two or three similar-looking objects high up on the wall, about a foot or two away from each other. Bottles set on top of a cabinet work well.
2. Pick one of those objects to be the target.
3. Now, look at and focus your eyes and mind on a second object next to the first.
4. Then, bring your shotgun up to point at the first target.
5. If you have a snap cap in your shotgun, then pull the trigger. If not, move to the next step.
6. Check your form and alignment. Are you on target? Good, keep practicing.
7. If not, adjust and try again.

Just like other forms of dry-fire practice, repeat this exercise for a time. Some shot shooters do this daily.

Remember to clear your firearm and check to ensure there’s no live ammo anywhere near where you’re practicing!

This exercise aims to practice pointing at flying targets moving from left-to-right or right-to-left, but it’s also excellent for learning that you don’t have to take the time to aim the gun each time you pull the trigger.

If you have trouble transitioning from pointing to aiming, you can take advantage of your ability to bring the gun on target. Practice aligning the sights with your eyes after you’ve pointed the rifle or pistol at your target.

This is an excellent skill to learn anyway. Drawing, pointing, then aiming, when done smoothly, is faster than finding the sights and then putting them on your target.

Conclusion

When it comes to aiming vs. pointing, it’s good to have both skills available.

The rule of thumb is that rifles are aimed, and shotguns are pointed. Handguns are also aimed since they shoot a single bullet at a time.

However, sometimes you’ll aim a shotgun when shooting slugs. And knowing how to point shoot is an excellent skill to have if you ever find yourself in a self-defense situation.

It can feel weird going from aiming to pointing.

Once you’ve got it down, though, you can enjoy your expanded skill set!

The post Aiming vs Pointing: Differences in Rifle vs Shotgun Shooting appeared first on Outdoor Empire.

A tighter pattern is effective out to a longer distance, making your shotgun more reliable at taking birds and breaking clays.

Nowadays, almost every shotgun barrel on the market is threaded to receive a choke tube.

But there are so many choke sizes and types. How is a hunter to choose the right one?

Typically, the farther out your target, the tighter you want your choke. For example, a Modified choke is good for pheasants, whereas you may want a Super Full choke for turkey. But if you’re using steel shot, loosen up your choke by one level.

If that doesn’t make sense, then continue reading. I’ll define every word I used, from constriction to Super Full, to help you understand the sometimes vague world of hunting chokes.

What are Shotgun Chokes and How Do They Work?

A choke is a constriction at the end of a shotgun’s bore. The bore is the inside of the barrel.

Shotgun bores were, originally, the same internal diameter from the forcing cone (just in front of the chamber to the bore) to the muzzle.

Almost two hundred years ago, though, some adventuring gunsmiths discovered something that would change the shotgun world forever: If you reduce the bore diameter right at the end of the barrel, your shotgun’s pattern decreases in size.

Pattern

Pattern” refers to the size and density of the cloud of shot as it flies through the air and impacts the target. As the lead flies, the pellets separate and move away from each other.

The word is also used as a verb because you can “pattern” your shotgun by shooting a large piece of paper and seeing where every pellet ends up.

A smaller starting pattern means that this pellet divergence will take longer to come into effect. This keeps the cloud denser for longer.

In other words, tightening the bore extends the range of your shotgun.

Constriction

“Constriction” is how much smaller the choke is than the bore diameter. There are many names for different constriction levels, which I’ll cover later.

Constriction is most commonly measured in hundredths of inches or even thousandths. A Skeet choke, for example, has been constricted from the bore by 0.005 inches.

Another way to measure choke is by the percentage of pellets that land within a 30″ circle at 40 yards.

The tighter the constriction, the denser the cloud of shot, and the longer the range. Simple enough.

However, a too-tight choke can impose an effective minimum range for your shotgun. It’s possible for a pattern to be too tight for super close-in shots.

It’s also possible for a choke to be tight enough for a certain load to “blow out” when all the pellets jumble their way through the tight space. This results in a pattern that widens up much earlier than anticipated.

An easy way to diagnose a blown-out pattern is if the holes in paper resemble a donut, with far more targets around the outside of the circle and few in the middle.

Chokes can either be part of the barrel or a separate piece of metal.

Today, most choke tubes are threaded into the end of your shotgun, allowing you to swap constrictions depending on what you’re shooting.

Some people call these “screw chokes.” Chokes integrated with the barrel are called “fixed chokes.”

Some report that fixed chokes have a greater effect than a screw-in choke of the same constriction.

Shotgun Chokes Sizes and Their Uses

Choke sizes are, frustratingly, not entirely standardized. Many manufacturers have slightly different measurements because their bore size is somewhat different.

Beretta, for example, drops only 0.004″ between Cylinder and Skeet chokes.

We’ll start with a chart of the common choke names and constrictions before getting into the details of how to use each.

* I didn’t include bore size in this chart because it can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. 12 gauge is supposed to have a bore size of 0.729″ but SAAMI spec allows for up to 0.745″. Also, the nominal bore size doesn’t actually matter when it comes to patterning. Only constriction matters.

** Some chokes are identified with a number of notches or stars. These can be on the barrel with fixed chokes.

*** Effective ranges given are for lead birdshot and are a rough guide.

Here’s an important caveat before proceeding:

Each shotgun behaves individually. In addition, each shotshell load in each shotgun behaves individually.

Take the following information as a starting point for your shotgun. Then take it to the range, pattern your gun, and use what you learn to determine how to get the desired results.

Choke Sizes

Negative

A negative choke is wider than the shotgun’s bore.

The main use for a negative choke is with self-defense firearms when you want as wide a pattern as possible in as short a distance as possible to maximize your chances of hitting an assailant.

(True) Cylinder

A Cylinder choke has no constriction.

It’s used for home defense, slug hunting, and close-in bird shooting such as ducks, pheasants, and quail.

Skeet

Skeet chokes are named because they’re most commonly used for skeet shooting when you have to make two rapid shots on clay birds at a relatively close range.

When you let them get close, these chokes are also suitable for quail, grouse, early-season pheasants, and ducks.

Improved Cylinder

Improved chokes are commonly used while hunting. You can use them with rifled slugs and for small birds and/or close-range birds, including ducks, quail, chukar, grouse, partridges, pheasants, and greater prairie chicken.

IC is also a common choke size for trap shooting.

Light Modified

Light modified is a relatively rare choke used to get a slightly denser pattern against smaller birds or for advanced skeet shooters.

Modified

Some people recommend that if you’re unsure what choke you need, use a modified choke.

Modified chokes are good against various game animals, from ducks to doves and rabbits to squirrels.

MOD is also a common trap shooting choke size for advanced shooters.

Improved Modified

Sometimes called IM, this choke size is recommended for longer-distance shots on small game animals, especially later in the season when they’re more likely to spook and take flight before you can get close.

It’s a fairly common choke size for hunting ptarmigan if you find yourself in Alaska.

Light Full

Fuller chokes are good for bringing more pellets onto a single animal, making them more effective at taking down larger birds like turkeys and geese.

Some hunters also use them against larger ducks, especially at longer ranges.

Full

Full chokes are the go-to for geese as well as turkey.

Some trap shooters transition to full choke as they gain experience, especially once they start taking handicaps and have a longer distance to shoot.

Extra Full

Extra Full chokes are for squeezing a little extra range when shooting large ducks, geese, and turkey.

Super Full / Extra Extra Full / Turkey

The least-standardized choke size, these chokes are intended to let you take out turkey with headshots at relatively long ranges.

Different Types of Hunting Chokes

If the world of shotgun chokes for hunting wasn’t confusing enough already, there are different types of choke tubes.

The Manufacturer

Many shotgun manufacturers use a different threading pattern, sometimes in a different location in the bore, making their choke tubes incompatible with the competition’s chokes.

Also, some manufacturers have different fitting choke tubes for different shotguns. Browning especially has the Standard Invector, Invector Plus, and Invector-DS; these chokes do not interchange.

This means you have to know what type of choke your shotgun uses.

Not all shotgun manufacturers have proprietary threading patterns, though. Overseas manufacturers love to thread their guns with Remington chokes, for example.

But don’t confuse that with the Remington Pro Bore!

These different mounting thread positions can theoretically affect your shotgun’s patterns but for most of us, it doesn’t matter.

Just get chokes that fit your gun.

Materials and Lengths

Material is essential because some chokes are not compatible with steel shot. The steel, traveling at a high velocity, can damage softer metals. Always confirm shot compatibility when using anything except for lead birdshot.

As for length, longer chokes tend to provide denser shot patterns than shorter chokes of the same constriction.

This is because a longer taper lets the pellets gently reposition, so there’s less turbulence once they leave the bore.

This is good for hunting at longer ranges or breaking clays with a handicap. However, you may want to avoid extended chokes when shooting at close-in targets.

Finally, some extended choke tubes have porting and small holes to divert the expanding gas.

The idea is the same as a rifle’s muzzle brake but, to be honest, it’s basically a marketing scheme. Shotguns do not have the required gas pressure lateral ports to reduce recoil effectively.

Some people see a reduction in muzzle climb with ports on top of the barrel. However, because choke tubes are screwed in, their ports must be equidistantly spaced around the port.

At best, you’ll see no effect with a ported choke tube. At worse, you get a bit more noise and a lighter wallet.

Shotgun Choke Installation and Maintenance

Not every shotgunner knows they have to maintain their chokes when cleaning their shotgun.

Eventually, these hunters will find themselves with a choke that’s almost welded inside their barrel!

No choke has a 100% seal between its base and the barrel. A little bit of gas will always blow between the choke tube and the bore, and a tiny bit will get into the threading.

Over time, this will deposit carbon residue. As it builds up, it will effectively glue the choke tube to the barrel.

To prevent this, you must remove your choke and clean it regularly. I do it whenever I disassemble any part of my shotgun for cleaning.

And remember to clear your shotgun of ammunition before cleaning it. Make sure the magazine and every chamber are clear with both a visual and physical inspection!

You need to use the correct type of wrench to remove the choke. It’s like a screwdriver and is often called a choke key.

One likely came with your shotgun but that’s not always the case. You can get universal choke tube wrenches, but I’d use one designed for your specific choke, otherwise, they may not fit properly.

Extended chokes don’t need wrenches, by the way. Just grab the outside of the choke tube!

Once the tube is out of your gun, clean it as you would any other gun part. Use solvent and a brush to remove any carbon residue, then apply gun oil to the choke’s inside and outside.

Some shotgunners apply a small amount of grease to the threads instead of oil.

When installing the choke, you do not want to put too much force into it.

You want to bottom out the choke tube but do not torque it in. Doing so can permanently damage the threads inside your barrel, which is an expensive repair.

As for fixed tubes, well, they’re part of the barrel! No special care is necessary.

Choke Tubes and Hunting Slugs

What about deer hunting with a slug?

Some choke sizes are compatible with slugs, actually.

A little bit of constriction is fine for lead slugs. But you don’t really want to get any tighter than an Improved Cylinder if you’re shooting a lot.

However, the occasional Foster or Brenneke slug shot won’t damage even a Full choke tube because the outer vanes will collapse, swaging the slug through the choke. They may lose accuracy from being squeezed through, though.

You can buy rifled choke tubes, which impart spin as the slug travels through. This improves accuracy.

Don’t use rifled choke tubes nor a sabot slub with a rifled slug, though. In both cases, the choke’s rifling can damage the slug, decreasing accuracy.

Remember:

You want the slug or the choke to be rifled, not both!

Conclusion

Finding the right choke for what you’re shooting can make you more consistent, whether hunting or shooting clays.

Unfortunately, choke tubes are not an exact science. Every manufacturer makes them slightly differently, and every load passes through them slightly differently.

You can take in all the advice you want about chokes, but you need to get out and practice with your shotgun to ensure you get the pattern you want at the distance you’ll be shooting.

If you’re unsure where to start, I’d recommend starting with a Modified choke.

Pattern your shotgun by shooting a large sheet of paper at the range you expect to be shooting your target. Too dense? Use a lighter choke. Too wide? Use a tighter choke.

I’m a fan of Carlson’s extended choke tubes. Which chokes do you use?

FAQs

Can you fire a shotgun without a choke?

If your shotgun is threaded to receive a screw-in choke, then DO NOT fire that gun without a choke installed. The threading is thin and easily damaged.

Can you use slugs with chokes?

Yes, you can fire a lead slug through most chokes, so long as they are not Extra Full or tighter. Improved Cylinder is the tightest recommended choke size.

The post A Complete Guide to Hunting Chokes for Shotguns appeared first on Outdoor Empire.