Waterfowl hunters generally use a slightly wider choke to achieve similar pattern performance as lead shot. Is this truly sound advice, and does steel shot really pattern tighter than lead? When lead shot was first banned for waterfowl hunting on a national scale in 1991, manufacturers scrambled to provide a non-toxic shot with ballistics comparable to lead. The results — as hunters who experienced this transition might attest — sometimes fell short of that mark. Steel remains the most common non-toxic shot, but hunters still complain about its performance, as well as crippled birds and missed opportunities.

So what gives? For starters, …read more

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