Dave, in the early fall of the year I shot alot of the game loads and the wally world 100 rd. sport loads and had some pretty good luck with them they seemed to pattern out ok for the money, However until I started reloading, things have changed quite a bit to my advantage now. The winchester universal game loads shot harder & patterned way better than the remy's in my SBEII .Really it is all about patterning and shooting your gun to get the best results in what you and your gun likes and i'm still tayloring loads to find the added extra magic I need for crows in which thats part of the excitement/fun for me.
There are some on here that will tell you they hate those loads...and yes, reloads and other factory loads do have superior components so the haters have a point. BUT, I have shot thousands and thousands of the remington game loads the past couple years and results do not lie. They work fine for me. I have been getting a good deal on these shells, $44 per case plus tax so I do not even bother reloading my crow loads anymore. 1oz of shot is plenty for decoying birds. Not sure why but my 870 supermag is sometimes fussy on cheap, promo load hulls but the remington game loads flow thru nicely.
The Winchesters will stick in the chamber of my Remington Supermag. Stick so bad that I have to hold the pump handle, then slam the butt of the gun against the ground to get it out. Sometimes even doing this, the extractor will just rip a hole out of the case rim of the cartridge. Needless to say, I don't buy Winchesters any more, they're the only shell that does this.
At our Wa-Marts up here, you can get the 100 packs in Remington, Winchester or Federal for $23.95
I've used them with pretty good results, I started loading again doing 1 1/4 oz 6's. Half for something to do & the other half for harder shot & the other 1/8 oz. The remys are tough to beat for the money though.
I've used them with pretty good results, I started loading again doing 1 1/4 oz 6's. Half for something to do & the other half for harder shot & the other 1/8 oz. The remys are tough to beat for the money though.
If I hand loaded, I think that is what I would shoot. What is your recipe?
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"If money can fix it, it ain't broke" The great theologian and my crow hunting partner AW.
8fish, I use compression formed AA hulls (older style) win209 primers, rem sp12 wads & 28 grains of wsf powder. shoot about 1300 fps, kick pretty good, but real effective on higher birds which is at least 75% of my shots. Loaded some with hardened 5s but didn't see much difference from the 6s. Jerry
My pal Dick shoots a Beretta model 391 that has been parkerized so the barrel & receiver won't glare. It has a synthetic stock that is flat black in color. His two guns will not cycle the Federal ammo all the time, Winchester & Remington work just fine in his two model 391's.
I have 3 model 391's two Urika's and one Urika two. None are parkerized and all three shoot anything you feed it. Dick is going to talk to Beretta about this problem to try and find out why mine work with Federal loads and his don't.
I think the El Cheapo's work just fine on crows. I wouldn't have said that a few years back, but that is because I never gave them a chance. I shot up all my good ammo (Remington Nitro 27 Yard Handicap Trap Loads) on a crow hunt about 5 years back and had to buy ammo at Walmart. I bought 300 Federal, 300 Winchester and 300 Remington loads in the four packs just to try them out. I was very suprised to say the least on how well they did on live birds.
Bob A.
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To listen to this radio talk show go to episode 12, Bob Aronsohn
The Nitro load is a better load than the El Cheapo's, but once you get geared to them they will kill crows just as far as the nitro load will.
I like the Federal 3 dram El Cheapo load in 7 1/2's and 8's real well, it is not as clean a burning as the Remington Nitro Load but I can live with that considering the price difference between the two.
In order I like the Federal load # 1
The Remington load (El Cheapo) # 2
The Winchester load # 3
Bob A.
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To listen to this radio talk show go to episode 12, Bob Aronsohn
What make & model shotgun are you using? I bet it's an 870 Remington pump. My 870's don't handle the El Cheapo's well at all.
The Beretta's and Benelli's will handle almost any kind of cheap ammo.
Bob A.
Yep, you nailed it Bob. A Remington 870 Super-Mag. I bought it for duck hunting to shoot the 3" and 3&1/2" mags. It will shoot every cartridge known to mankind.....except the Winchester El Cheapos.
Bob; my son shoots a Legacy escort auto & it also cycles everything well except federals. Most of the time they're ok but every once in awhile they just don't cycle, easy fix, he just dosen't buy them anymore. My 870 cycles everything I put in it, flawlessly, it's the 3 inch not the 3 1/2, don't know if that makes a dif or not. By the way that escort even cycles my AA reloads, which are sometimes tricky in an auto, especially after the hulls have been loaded a few times.Jerry
I feel half the problem with inexpensive shotshells and cycling issues is due to the steel heads. Steel is much harder than brass as tends to stick in the chambers of some guns. Just like running the steel through the resizer on your loader, brass heads are much smoother.
Ted
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Life's tough... It's even tougher if you're stupid. John Wayne
I feel half the problem with inexpensive shotshells and cycling issues is due to the steel heads. Steel is much harder than brass as tends to stick in the chambers of some guns. Just like running the steel through the resizer on your loader, brass heads are much smoother.
Ted
I have a good friend who has been a gunsmith and gun maker for over 50 years. A very knowledgable man. He said this same thing. "Brass is more elastic, meaning that when the brass expands and fills the chamber, it then 'shrinks' back a few 10/1000's so it extracts easily. But the new shells are steel, they expand to fill the chamber and they stay expanded."
I think the El Cheapo's work just fine on crows. I wouldn't have said that a few years back, but that is because I never gave them a chance. I shot up all my good ammo (Remington Nitro 27 Yard Handicap Trap Loads) on a crow hunt about 5 years back and had to buy ammo at Walmart. I bought 300 Federal, 300 Winchester and 300 Remington loads in the four packs just to try them out. I was very suprised to say the least on how well they did on live birds.
Bob A.
Wait until you try #6 you're really going to like that too
Mainehunt, I used a Mossberg and then a Beretta for years and had no issues with the Winchester 4 pack from wally world. My buddy who shot an 870 hated them cuz his gun would "jam" with the winchesters. In 2009 for financial reasons I got rid of all my shotguns except for my 870 "backup" gun. The winchesters would either extract a little sticky or just stay in like you described. It wasn't often but enough to make me stop buying them. I was told it is a combination of the cheap steel on the shell and the fact that Remington doesn't polish the chamber like they used to 20 years ago. Anyway, sorry to be so long winded, but you are not alone.
As a free-lance outdoor writer, I often get tips as what to write about from such discussions as those posted on this website. My following remarks are based on this current discussion.
Guns that jam, can be caused by many elements in the entire shooting system. That is, the gun and its many parts, including weak recoil springs, the ammo, guns not designed to shoot certain shells, neglected dirty guns, clothing (the sleeve of your coat for example) getting behind the trigger when trying to shoot, brush and tree limbs coming in contact with the operating handle on automatic guns, and probably other things that I have'nt mentioned, can cause jams.
Guns need to be cleaned once every ten years whether they need it or not. I highly suspect that dirty, neglected, and ill-maintained guns are the major cause of jams.
Reloaded shells that have a steel metal head on them, should ALWAYS be reloaded on a tool that resizes the entire head, not just the shell body.
Some guns have been engineered and designed to function on medium to hi-power shells only, and will not consistently digest low power shells, unless you want to shoot shells one at a time. I believe that the Remington CTI 105 is an example of this. I do know that I have read that this gun does not function well on low-power shells. I know that Skip Woody had one of these guns a while back, and, Mr. Skip, maybe you can enlighten us on any enchantment, or rotten 'taters results, you had with it.
Hope my few comments will help clear up any problems you are having with your favorite crowbuster.
