In theory once a manufacturer is producing the majority of cartridges in steel and the cost of manufacture comes down, then steel should be cheaper than lead as steel is cheaper than lead on the LME.it will be a lot more expensive
The steel thing
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I guess the other thing to think about are our shooting grounds and their owners.
Will course setters need to adjust their courses so as to avoid damage to trees etc, avoid ricochets?
If effective clay breaking range is reduced with the use of steel, will some disciplines need to have the target distance reduced?
Then comes the question of what shot sizes can be used and how many grams of shot will be allowed for the various disciplines?
Shot load has been reduced over the years, starting with the Olympic disciplines if I remember correctly.
So you have to wonder what will happen. Personally I wouldn’t want to go from 24grm to some thumpy 32 grm.
There are so many unknown things related to shooting with steel. Not just with shotguns either, rifle shooters are wondering what is going to happen too.
All we seem to have at the moment is speculation and gun manufacturers hype!
Will course setters need to adjust their courses so as to avoid damage to trees etc, avoid ricochets?
If effective clay breaking range is reduced with the use of steel, will some disciplines need to have the target distance reduced?
Then comes the question of what shot sizes can be used and how many grams of shot will be allowed for the various disciplines?
Shot load has been reduced over the years, starting with the Olympic disciplines if I remember correctly.
So you have to wonder what will happen. Personally I wouldn’t want to go from 24grm to some thumpy 32 grm.
There are so many unknown things related to shooting with steel. Not just with shotguns either, rifle shooters are wondering what is going to happen too.
All we seem to have at the moment is speculation and gun manufacturers hype!
Hi Ben, I guess your k80 barrels are steel proof? Are you using standard steel or high performance steel? What shot loads and sizes are you using?
JoostB
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I know people that shoot 24grs and 28grs steel through full choke barrels. There are stories of the barrels ballooning, but that is only a very small chance. What is destroyed is the pattern though. That is the main reason not to use full choke and steel.
I think that our grounds are much smaller than those in the UK. All the ones where I shoot clean up the plastic wads and clays shards regularly. As far as I know out here for hunting steel cartridges with biodegradable wads are being used.
I think that our grounds are much smaller than those in the UK. All the ones where I shoot clean up the plastic wads and clays shards regularly. As far as I know out here for hunting steel cartridges with biodegradable wads are being used.
Thanks for the information, we do still have some very small shooting grounds here in the U.K. Nice to have input from someone outside of the U.K.
Frank hsssekamp shoots full and full no problems with pattern blowing at all
High performance dark storm 28gm 7s
Tell your colleague to stay off the mushrooms
However raw material cost is only just that, lead shot is produced in several EU countries and U.K., where as all the steel shot I am told comes from China, big difference in transport costs. Then it takes about 3hrs to make a tonne of lead shot but several days to make a tonne of steel shot and needs a lot more energy to do so. Then the biodegradable plastics pellets are much more expensive to produce then oil based plastics. So time will tell but have prices of cartridges ever come down?
You know, given all the speculation and rumours surrounding standard steel, high performance steel, steel proof barrels, nitro proof barrels.
I’ve watched various videos, read various articles concerning steel shot, but as yet I’ve not seen anything that shows some kind of direct comparison between standard steel and high performance steel.
Is high performance steel really necessary and if so why and for what discipline?
I noticed on the Hull website, it shows the effective range of pro steel (standard steel) and Sovereign steel (high performance steel). The difference was about 5 mtrs. So standard steel was 40 mtrs and high performance steel was 45mtrs
That doesn’t actually look like a massive distance or difference to be honest.
I’ve watched various videos, read various articles concerning steel shot, but as yet I’ve not seen anything that shows some kind of direct comparison between standard steel and high performance steel.
Is high performance steel really necessary and if so why and for what discipline?
I noticed on the Hull website, it shows the effective range of pro steel (standard steel) and Sovereign steel (high performance steel). The difference was about 5 mtrs. So standard steel was 40 mtrs and high performance steel was 45mtrs
That doesn’t actually look like a massive distance or difference to be honest.
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There is also another question, as a mate pointed out to me earlier today. Do we know the long term effect of steel shot on the barrels over a long period? Ok , of course it depends on how many shells you use over a given period, but has any proper research been done? I don’t mean opinions, I mean proper scientific research.
I certainly wouldn’t fancy needing to replace barrels every so many years, especially if it was an expensive gun such as a K80 or a Perazzi.
The steel issue is far bigger than it looks.
I certainly wouldn’t fancy needing to replace barrels every so many years, especially if it was an expensive gun such as a K80 or a Perazzi.
The steel issue is far bigger than it looks.
White gold Pro steel £266 per 1000
White gold 28gm plastic £290 per 1000
That tends to contradict things. Is all this manufacturing stuff nothing but sales Bull , so cartridge profitabilty can rise yet again
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Ben. High performance dark storm 28gm 7s
Is it just me ? but cannot find them listed on the gamebore website.
Is it just me ? but cannot find them listed on the gamebore website.
However I do not believe either of them are using biodegradable wads, which for grounds that are fibre wads only are going to be required.
The white gold lead are £338.00 on just cartridges and the steel 28gm steel are £324.00 but as i say not biodegradable wads.
you hope, hence hull cartridges say use a case length that matches your chamber length.
risk of damaging the forcing cone hull say in the video
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/fk0cYtomeZ0?feature=oembed
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/fk0cYtomeZ0?feature=oembed
Well if that's true, many common makes of guns have 3" chambers, how will that pan out ?
Well, I rest my case mi'lord. It's the biodegradable wad that is the issue, not the fact that steel shot is more expensive than lead shot.
Well, I rest my case mi'lord. It's the biodegradable wad that is the issue, not the fact that steel shot is more expensive than lead shot.
At this time steel shot is slightly cheaper than lead shot, but the gap has been closing over the last year.
Then supply and demand economics, if lead is banned in the U.K. (and EU) will steel shot production capacity be sufficient? just a few percent of all cartridges sold in the U.K. are non toxic shot a total ban will see demand rapidly and significantly increase. Long way to go to reach a conclusion that steel shot will always be cheaper than lead.
Who thought a few years ago a club level cartridge would be £240 plus a thousand and fast heading towards £300
At this time steel shot is slightly cheaper than lead shot, but the gap has been closing over the last year.
Then supply and demand economics, if lead is banned in the U.K. (and EU) will steel shot production capacity be sufficient? just a few percent of all cartridges sold in the U.K. are non toxic shot a total ban will see demand rapidly and significantly increase. Long way to go to reach a conclusion that steel shot will always be cheaper than lead.
Who thought a few years ago a club level cartridge would be £240 plus a thousand and fast heading towards £300
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