Hevi Steel?

John Bourbon

John Bourbon

Well-known member
Hello all. Mack's Prarie Wings sent me an email with Hevi Steel featured prominently in it. I had not seen Hevi Steel in the stores, or catalogs or on the Hevi Shot website in several years (I checked today and its still not on the web site).

Does anybody know if this is the same formulation as their previous incarnation of Hevi Steel? Or even what the density is?

I loved the old Hevi Steel. It would be great to see it come back.

John
 
I used hevi-steel when it first came out in, I want to say 03'? I thought it was pretty good, one MAJOR issue I had was the primers not being waterproof which led to a couple mis-fires
 
As I understand (or misunderstand) there are three separate options for the Hevi products
Hevi-Shot - these are the true tungsten loads which nobody can afford to shoot - once it hit $125 per 7 lbs of shot I stopped hand-loading the stuff
Hevi-Metal - started as a iron tungsten alloy has since been changed to a duplex load - tungsten over steel. Several manufacturers have tries Duplex loads in the past but they never caught on
Hevi-Steel - basic hi velocity steel load with premium price point
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I am going to continue to handload ITX for my double guns and just shoot Rio Blue Steel in the modern guns. The Rios are approx. $115 per flat.
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BTW - I am loading he ITX at 11/8 and 11/4 shot weights and after last year the 11/8 at 1380 fps was the best load for me.
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The "new" Hevi-Steel is just steel shot. I have shot the the Hevi-metal loads, and they are pretty good. But not as good as the true premium stuff. I used the ITX last year, a friend loaded them for me, it is excellent.
 
When the original formulation of Hevi Steel came out, Cheech Kehoe and I stocked up. The first 4 times we pulled the trigger using those shells, we had 4 totally dead whistlers in the decoys, belly up. Damn! When Hevi Metal came out, I tried it on whistlers and was not impressed. When the box ran out, I never bought another box of it.


Since then, I have scoured sporting goods stores, occasionally finding old boxes hidden behind other boxes, but eventually depleted all possible sources near me.
So, if the new Hevi Stell is truly just plain steel, I'll be sticking with Federals at 1550 fps or the Kent Fast Steel shells.

Thanks for all the replies and education.
John
PS, after the season I bought some ITX to try in my old Remington 1894 10 ga. I've got about a box loaded and can't wait to try it out. I also bought some Bismuth BB's from BPI to load in all brass shells with 4.5 drams of FFG black powder. High flying snow geese look out!
 
This has caused quite a stir on some other forums because they are marketing it as if it's the old Hevi Steel that everyone loved, but it is in fact just plain old regular-density steel shot. I like EMI's products, in fact I've shot Hevi Metal for the past 2 seasons (got a good rebate on cases both times), but the way they are marketing this stuff is really turning me off to them as a company. They have had some shady marketing in the past and while they make a good product they are really losing my support with this one.
 
To those who have used Hevi Metal is the Hevi Shot in there quite a bit smaller then the steel? Looks like it in the cutaways. I assume when they say 2's that is the steel size and the hevi is much smaller to make up the increase in pellet count?

Tim
 
Tim, I've dissected a few Hevi-Metals and in the #2's the steel pellets are #2 size while the Hevi pellets are about #5's on average. I believe that the idea is that the Hevi 5's are the same density as the steel 2's and they will stay together during flight. All I can say is that they are pretty good shells and the concept seems to work but I wouldn't pay full price for them-if you're interested they usually run some pretty good rebates before the waterfowl seasons start and if you combine them with free shipping from Rogers you can pick up a case for around $180-200.
 
Yes the answer to the hevi metal is it two to three times smaller then the shot call out rating on the box. The new hevi steel is slight rebranding of a mixture in the actual steel shot itself. They have formulated the steel to be slighlty denser than the basic steel shoot formula.

I am not a salesman for hevi metal but some thoughts on hevi metal:
Is it worth paying the extra cost of for the hevi metal labeled brand? Some rhetoric applied to that question. I humble my self in saying I take very ethical shots and know my ranges. I will not be humble in saying I am pretty effective shooting my 20 gauge. If you tend to take shots at (25 yards or less) decoying birds there is no reason to spend the extra money on anything but steel for both ducks and geese in any gauge. I stack them with shooting number 2 steel for geese and 6s for ducks. But if you decide that the range needs to be extended to between 25 to 40 yards you will not ever be in question of a dead bird if you decide to shoot hevi metal. I have hunted with hevi metal shot for two years now in Texas with my 20 gauge in no. 6s for ducks and no. 2s for geese. Have since stop shooting my 10 gauge while goose hunting for snows and specs because of hevi metal shot for 80 percent of the season. I only bring the 10 out in mid January. Hevi metal shot after rebate runs about 20 per box for 20 gauge where normal 10 gauge steel was costing me 30 per box in steel. I purchased two boxes last year of the hevi metal 10 gauge BBB just to test (47 per box). I was over 60% on target at ranges I care not to even make claim because of ridicule and you probably would not believe me unless you saw it with your own eyes. If a bird (snow goose) was hit at those ranges it was lights out. I would highly recommend adding the hevi metal to your list to purchase if you want to extend your effective killing range. It works... And for you 10 bore shooters you will now know what your grandfather was talking about when he feared the flak from the German 88 firing upon him. Because now you are holding a smaller version in your hand sending flak into birds 50+ yards high.

If you understand you swing, hevi metal will make you an effective long range shooter. But remember there is a time in place to use it during the season.

Regards
Kristan
 
Thank you Cody and Kristan.
Kristan using a 20ga is exactly what I'm thinking about. We have a lot of geese around early in the duck season and going from teal to geese might be possible with the right choke.
Also when using steel for pheasants I have noticed that larger steel really balls up in the feathers. I don't get as much penetration I'd like on those going away shots. I think that smaller heavier shot would help a lot.

Tim
 
I use an improved modified choke all season in both 2s and 6s in hevi shot. I am no longer afraid of setting my dekes 30 yards out from my blind. I use to set decoys 5 to 10 yards away from wanting closer shots. The only other choke is used is when on my home waters in Kentucky layout hunting for divers. Then I choke down to a skeet choke shooting steel 6s. If you need any references ask Steve McCullough or John Handcock off this sight. Steve tries to throw the 6s out of the boat every time I board his boat.

I buy most of my hevi metal out of cabelas, cheaper than dirt, or locally at gander and academy. Whom ever has the greatest deal. Your about three weeks away from the normal hunting season mark-ups.
 
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