Probably been done but it's been a long time since I have been on the site. Work has been so brutal I never had time to hunt for the past couple of years. I found a new job, life is short and I never remember hearing anyone on their death bed say, you know I wish I had spent more time at work.
I did a little scouting this afternoon and found a small flyway. We never have big numbers of crows but their was a steady stream of them every few minutes over this border of a mudflat and pasture field between two patches of woods. The border has a small stand of Cedar trees for a good hide.
New job is great, really good people and time off to live life! Life is good when your packing your favorite combo. Mine is a old benelli M1 with a 28" barrel choked mod, or imp mod if I'm pass shooting and gunclub 7.5s. I really like nitro 27 but they are a little pricey.
Take care boys
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A SUPER 90 and a crow in range, life is good. A good sandwich and bag of M&Ms doesnt hurt either.
Didn't want this to become a shot size thread. I like 7.5s but like 6s too when I'm forced to pass shoot them. Just curious as to what gun, shell, choke combo you guys are shooting.
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A SUPER 90 and a crow in range, life is good. A good sandwich and bag of M&Ms doesnt hurt either.
Has anyone on here did any reloading and tried a mix of 6 and 7.5 shot?
In theory, it seems like it might work well for crows.
What would be the point of doing that?
Just seems like it would be a nice blend with the extra knockdown provided by the 6 shot, but without sacrificing as much the pellet count that provided by 7.5 shot.
And I'll be the first to say that I don't know enough about the loads to have a good idea of what the pellet count difference would be between an equal load of 6 or 7.5 shot. There may not be enough difference to matter.
Not to mention, who knows how something like that would pattern either. If I was in to reloading, I might would have to experiment with it a little just to see though.
Pattern density of #6 is more than sufficient through all chokings and the ranges they are intended for (and then some). Factory loadings of #6 are usually high brass which provides way too much recoil or low quality sub par performing shells like Remington Game loads. Reloading is a great hobby and allows for a much better selection of loadings for crows.
Substituting magnum #6 shot in one's favorite skeet or trap loading will provide a shell that is demonstrably more effective than the premium factory trap loadings. It will only take shooting a box of them on crows to make one a believer.
Unfortunately the powder shortage of the last few years and high lead shot prices have made reloading more difficult and taken away some of the possible savings. It is still very satisfying breaking clays or busting birds with your own ammo and again it offers a wider variety of loads because you have control of shot size, shot weight, velocity and chamber pressure.
Pattern density of #6 is more than sufficient through all chokings and the ranges they are intended for (and then some). Factory loadings of #6 are usually high brass which provides way too much recoil or low quality sub par performing shells like Remington Game loads. Reloading is a great hobby and allows for a much better selection of loadings for crows.
Substituting magnum #6 shot in one's favorite skeet or trap loading will provide a shell that is demonstrably more effective than the premium factory trap loadings. It will only take shooting a box of them on crows to make one a believer.
Unfortunately the powder shortage of the last few years and high lead shot prices have made reloading more difficult and taken away some of the possible savings. It is still very satisfying breaking clays or busting birds with your own ammo and again it offers a wider variety of loads because you have control of shot size, shot weight, velocity and chamber pressure.
I'm not a high volume shooter but living where I do, the ammo variety is pretty slim, which has me considering doing a little reloading. Unless I drive an hour or two, I'm pretty much limited to whatever is available at Walmart or Atwoods. I know that powder shortages and price increases on shot have taken away quite a bit of the savings that reloading provides, but I am still considering getting into it. Even at the current prices of components, I'm pretty sure one could come up with a recipe that would offer performance at least somewhat in the ballpark of the venerable Remington Express Long Range at quite a bit less than $15 per box.
My main shotgun usage is squirrel hunting with dogs and a few crow shoots every year. A nice load of #6 shot would probably work equally well for both, though I could see myself using a bit tighter choke for squirrels.
Watch the swap sheets, or even put an add in stating you WTB... I have 20ga. and 12ga. MEC Jr. reloaders they work fine easy to use and won't break the bank. I don't reload near as much as I used to, around here we get shell sales quite a bit. And if you watch like Rogers sporting goods you can get ammo delivered free.. You can also do a search at AMMO SEEK.. They pull prices from around the country like airfare's I've bought from them several times also............. My combination for Crows is a 870, 28 Mod.
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If you aim for nothing you'll hit it every time!!!
Just came across a MEC 9000 for sale on a hunting forum that I'm a member of. He's got it priced right, but it's too far of a drive and the seller isn't really interested in shipping.
I could always start out with the Lee Load All as it will probably do all I would want to do anyway.
A Lee Load All will load shells but you will want something better very soon after you get it. A MEC 9000 is top if the line and it's a progressive reloader. My advice would be to get a good single stage reloader and get used to reloading before you make the jump to a progressive machine. When something goes wrong with process when using a progressive reloader one must really stop and think where each shell is in the process and not make a bigger mess or worse yet double charge a hull. I looked at Ebay sold listings and if you watch your auctions you should be able to get a 600JR or an older VersaMec for $70 or $85 bucks shipped. With a few bars and bushings it will do everything you want.
I doubt I would ever shoot enough volume to justify a progressive reloader. I've got two many other hobbies that take up a lot of my time.
I do like the looks of the 600JR, so I may keep an eye out for one of those. Currently my wife and I are in the midst of building a house, so I'm probably going to just keep an eye out for a good used loader during the next few months since it will be that long before I really have a good spot to set up.
In the mean time, I may work on collecting a few hulls from the local range and hunt around for some deals on supplies.
I hunt with an o/u, an old beat up EAA Balkail Russian 12 ga,26" that had 1000's of rounds shot through it and a new addition,a Brng Citori 12 ga.,28". I recently ordered a Choke tube for the Brng in Turkey Full .680 by a mfg that begins with "C" and this baby with a low brass #6 in an Estate Brand will whack a crow @ 60 yards. I'm learning to lead them a little more,but I'm really impressed with this choke.Has anyone else tried this? I've always been on a quest for the perfect crow gun and I love the choice of barrels that the o/u affords. My shoulder and my pocket book can't afford the high brass#6 and these $6.50 a box Estates seem to work fine.