I always enjoy the opportunity to field test a new shotshell in advance of the fall waterfowl season. I was contacted by Environ-Metal this spring to test and evaluate its new product, Hevi-Metal. The test event was a Minnesota snow goose hunt with my old partner, Todd Gifford, of Hastings, Minn. Environ-Metal dropped a few rounds of Hevi-Metal on my doorstep, and it was off to the test location.
What is Hevi-Metal?
The load is a half-and-half charge of common iron shot pellets, with a second charge of tungsten iron shot. For example, if the load is a No. 2 steel shot pellet, the second half of the load is a No. 4 or No. 5 tungsten Hevi-Shot pellet. The smaller pellet equals the weight of the larger iron pellets, and because the tungsten portion contains more pellets, the total shot count of the new load increases.
The primary reason the new load was developed is to allow hunters to shoot Hevi-Shot waterfowl ammunition at a reduced price. It is a breakthrough for hunters who gravitate toward Hevi-Shot when selecting waterfowl loads.
With the test fodder and the rest of my hunting gear loaded, I headed toward Minnesota's state line to meet up with my hunting buddies. The camp was ready when I arrived, and Gifford had done an outstanding job of scouting birds. The next morning, I settled into a layout blind at first light. The group of hunters including Gifford elected to hang with me and shoot the new loads in BBB/No. 2.
Upon performing a quick cut-and-count test, I found the test loads had come up a bit short in the correct pellet count numbers. The problem was later reviewed, and had occurred because of an error in handloading by Environ-Metal just before the hunt. The minor blunder was apparently no big deal, because as the first flock of geese dropped into the decoy spread, five guns loaded with Hevi-Metal sang, and seven birds fell from the sky.
Hevi-Metal choke constriction table: 30-inch circle @ 40 yards.
Skeet 60%
Improved Cylinder 65%
Modified 70%
Full 80%
Price: About $25 per box.
During the next two days, we managed to pull down enough birds to give me a clear indication the new shot combination had merit as a tungsten/iron shot field load option.
Cripple numbers were acceptable in terms of the number of birds we downed, and kills were often quite clean. However, it was very difficult to determine the birds that died from tungsten versus standard iron shot. The sure thing was they did die, and that is the bottom line in terms of calculating load performance.
When I returned home to my South Dakota test range, I found more fodder waiting for me. New loads in the Hevi-Metal box design arrived in No. 3s, 2s, BB and BBB. Upon performing a new hand count check of the No. 2 shot size, I found that the steel No. 2s counted out to 112 pellets, and the tungsten shot at about No. 4 through No. 2 in size counted at 71 pellets. This gave the load a total pellet count of 183 pellets, and just over 11⁄4 ounces in payload weight (38.6 grams). A single charge of No. 2 steel counts out to 156 pellets at 11⁄4 ounces payload weight. The higher pellet count gives the new, and now commercially packaged Hevi Metal load a 27-pellet advantage in terms of sweating up the core pattern.
Pattern Board Review
Using the Champion ATK mallard duck target and 30-inch circle, the new load, via my Winchester Super X3 and Clearview choke, plastered the 40-yard target with a solid 97 percent pattern. Almost 68 percent of the pattern fell into the inner 20-inch core, which indicates the No. 2 steel shot/No. 4 tungsten mix was without question effective to at least 55 yards. During the next few days, I patterned No. 3s, and found them to produce deadly core concentrations of shot, too.
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