Thread: Steel shot, old shotguns educate me

Went to South Dakota for pheasant hunting last week and had a great time. My old Ithaca 37 took the highbase lead #5's just fine. Friends want me to start thinking about duck hunting but I'm guessing the old gun won't do steel shot very well. Bismuth or anything else O.K.? Where do I find out the general do's/don't's on 60's manufactured shotguns regarding shot?

I'm a rifleman to the extreme, this shotgun stuff is new to me.

The new Fiocchi Tundra ammo is really good for the older shotguns and will not damage you shotgun. It costs more than the steel shells. If you are planning on doing alot of missing you may want to just pick up a cheap 870 and shoot steel shotguns shells.

So how it was explained to me was the lead kinda pushes through the barrel because it is soft.The steel won't and it pops the end apart (friend did this) But the new guns are just modified choke instead of full choke to make up for the steel not compressing through the choke (someone tell me I'm remotely right) blah blah blah

The non steels can be used,but are pretty pricey.Well 10 rounds for as much or more than a box of 25.
But they kill like lead too. Steel shot doesn't deform but travels through the birds.I have made clean shots on ducks,they drop down 10 feet and fly off. The shot is traveling at 1200fps+.Too much penetration
And that's why the guys like the bismuth and such.

Like Spadkarma said,it's cheaper to buy a newer shotgun and shoot steel. Heck why not buy another gun?