Years ago when non-tox substitutes came on the market and the "duck intelligentsia" stepped up their campaigns to trash the performance of steel shot on waterfowl, I started to buy up all the steel shot I could find at gun shows. Rarely did I pay over $10 per box of 25 regardless of brand, since everyone was trying to dump it in favor of the uber-hyped (and even more expensive) non-tox stuff.
Over time I built up a nice hoard (60-75 boxes of 25 rnds. ea.) of steel shot in both 2 3/4 and 3" loads which I intended for use as an alternate shot when I either wouldn't pay for other type non-tox or didn't want to take my primo SxSs and O/Us out for "hazardous duty" (treacherous weather conditions, salt water, etc.).
For situations like this I bought both a Browning CItori 3" Mag O/U and a Browning Japan 3" Magnum A-5 autoloader, both of which had Invector system screw chokes, and both of which I figured I could replace if they went overboard, unlike my other primo doubles.
The more I used these two dedicated steel shot guns, the more I liked them and the more I learned about using steel. I had already taken one of Tom Roster's steel shot shooting clinics sponsored by the MD DNR in the 1980s, so I knew the stuff would work. For all my Canada goose shooting either from field pits or water blinds I used #BB steel; for all duck shooting I used #1 for pass shooting BIG ducks (Blacks, Cans, late-season Mallards), otherwise #2 for decoying or close pass shooting, and occasionally #3 when I could pick and choose my shots in good cover.
By far the greatest eye-opener was the degree of choke best for a given range - anything over decoys, skeet (Yes, SKEET!!) to IMP CYL; close pass shooting IMP CYL to MOD; 40+ yards MOD to IMP MOD. I don't think I ever put a FULL steel shot tube in either gun.
I love to shoot my classic Belgian Browning O/Us and my Parker and Fox "heavies" on waterfowl and will pay whatever the freight is quoted for non-tox for them (my personal favorite has always been Kent Tungsten Matrix - patterns like a house afire and my vintage guns LOVE it!). But when the situation or conditions demand it, there's nothing wrong with a good steel load.
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