The Best Shotgun Loads For Wingshooting

One of the best shotshell selection resources for waterfowl and upland hunters is Tom Roster’s non-toxic lethality chart. Roster is a ballistics expert who has extensively tested shotshells for decades. I don’t have the credentials of Roster, but I have hunted with (and patterned) a wider variety of shotshells than most over the last 20 years. Here’s what I have found works best.

A majority of the shotguns I have tested pattern well out to 35 yards, which is to say they are lethal at this distance on waterfowl and pheasants. For ducks, steel No. 3s and 4s paired with an improved cylinder choke are deadly. The same is true for pheasants, but if you’re shooting lead on roosters, No. 5s are best. Bismuth No. 5s are perfect for ducks and pheasants within 35 yards. Steel BBs are my go-to for large Canada geese, and steel No. 2s are best for lesser Canada geese, specklebellies, and snow geese.

Assuming your shotgun patterns properly at this range (I have seen a lot of shotgun, choke, and load combinations deplete rapidly at 40 yards and beyond), steel No. 2s and bismuth No. 4s work well for ducks and pheasants. Large Canada geese need steel BBBs, and BBs are good for mid-sized geese (lesser Canadas, specks, and snows). Bismuth 4s will lethally penetrate ducks and pheasants, and lead 4s are my recommendation for ringnecks if you’re using that shot type. Step up to a modified or improved modified choke at this distance.

Ethical shooting beyond 45 yards requires careful pattern testing to determine the optimal choke/load combination at that distance. Determining the proper lead is also challenging. You need to practice in the offseason with the choke and load you plan to use, shooting sporting clays or five-stand, where shots are typically longer than on the skeet or trap field. I cap shooting distance at 60 yards, except on rare occasions when a mallard or goose is flying directly above the blind, exposing its underbelly, which houses the vital organs.

Excluding tungsten super shot (TSS), Hevi-Shot, a mixture of tungsten, nickel, and iron with a density of 12 g/cc, is the ideal non-toxic offering for 45 to 60 yards. I’ve seen great results with Hevi-Shot 2s and 4s on ducks and pheasants. For large Canada and mid-sized geese, BBs are best, but Hevi-Shot doesn’t produce such a shell, so you would have to source the pellets and handload them. If that doesn’t interest you, the Hevi-Shot No. 2s are suitable for mid-sized geese, but I would recommend BBB steel or upgrading to TSS if you’re targeting big honkers.

Steel No. 2s are sufficient for ducks and pheasants, and No. 4 lead is a good choice for upland hunters. If you want to shoot bismuth on ducks or geese, use a buffered load of No. 4s. Without a buffer, bismuth fractures. Buffering helps maintain consistent patterns, which is crucial at longer distances. Use buffered BBs for geese. Modified, improved modified, and full chokes will produce the best patterns.

Due to its density (18g/cc), TSS is often regarded by many as the ultimate bird killer, and it is at a distance or if you are shooting a stationary target, like turkeys. Inside 40 yards, choke doesn’t have a significant effect on TSS patterns. Of course, if you pattern TSS with a cylinder bore choke and then a .760 constricted turkey choke at 40 yards, the cylinder pattern will be more open than the .760. But the difference is not as big as you might think, which makes it challenging to kill a passing mallard because you aren’t casting a very wide shot string.

For waterfowl, I reserve TSS (Nos. 7.5, 8, or 9 shot) for late-season field hunts on big honkers. Canada geese are typically more wary this time of year and apt to skirt the edges of the decoys, requiring longer shots. Geese have also developed a thick coat of down feathers and a layer of fat over their breastplate. TSS can efficiently penetrate both those barriers.

TSS is also a good option if you draw a coveted swan tag or are targeting sea ducks, which are hardy birds. At $6 (or more per shell), TSS is an expensive choice for the average duck hunt. And you’re wasting money if the shots are inside 40 yards, because there are far cheaper options that produce wider patterns, giving you a better opportunity to harvest birds.

Some shotshell manufacturers have increased muzzle velocities to give hunters the illusion that speed is a decisive factor in killing ducks and other gamebirds. Pattern and field tests have shown otherwise. Too much shotshell accelerant (gun powder) has proven to produce blown patterns. I’ve patterned steel loads that exceeded 1,500 feet per second (fps), with mixed results. Sometimes the core of the pattern and its overall density were on point. But too often, there were only a few dozen pellets (or fewer) inside the industry standard 30-inch circle at 40 yards.

Ballistics experts widely regard the ideal shotshell muzzle velocity as falling between 1,200 and 1,400 fps. That range not only creates better patterns, but it will also make you a better shot. An increase in the amount of accelerant always results in more recoil. That leads to flinching and lifting your head from the stock. Not a great recipe for connecting with passing birds at any distance.

Stacking different-sized shot and shot types inside the same shotshell has become popular, but it can be confusing for consumers. The best way to navigate steel duplex loads is to use the distance guides I laid out for shooting waterfowl and pheasants for ranges of 35 yards, 35 to 45 yards, and beyond 45 yards. However, stacked loads of steel paired with bismuth or tungsten require a bit more nuance. Let’s run through a few examples.

First up, a steel No. 2 and No. 4 duplex shotshell. The benefit of such a load is that you have larger No. 2 pellets that can kill a duck at 45 yards, mixed with No. 4s, which theoretically will put more pellets inside a 30” circle at 40 yards than a standard No. 2 shotshell. But there is always a tradeoff. If you need to shoot a duck beyond 45 yards, you will have fewer No. 2s in your shot string than a straight load of No. 2s (assuming the two shells have the same payload weight), and you won’t get as much pattern density inside 35 yards as you would with a conventional steel No. 4.

The steel-bismuth duplex offerings have begun to wane, as there is not a huge difference in pellet density between the two shot types to warrant the increased price per shell. Steel shot has a density of 7.8 g/cc, and bismuth is at 9.6 g/cc; therefore, with the small amount of bismuth stacked inside the shotshell, you’re not getting much, if any, added performance.

Pattern work has shown that some of the steel-tungsten duplex loads produce outstanding patterns inside a 30” circle at 40 yards. For instance, I range tested and hunted with a No. 2 steel/7.5 TSS load. It performed beautifully, placing between 25 to 40 more pellets inside the 30” circle than a standard load of No. 2 steel. Plus, it killed ducks clean.

At the same time, the core of the steel-tungsten pattern was ultra-dense, which was to be expected because tungsten patterns are tighter than any other shot type. You do get more pellets inside the 30” circle, which is always a good thing, but you also have to be precise with your shot placement to take advantage of the tungsten shot. Additionally, the cost for a box of 25 shells is nearly $60, compared to about $25 for a box of steel No. 2s.