Steel VS Lead.

[gobblergetter15]

Same here, definately lead.It has a lot more nock down power.

[Shaun_300]

here in Canada, we must use steel shot for waterfowl hunting. but i definetly prefer lead for all other shotgun hunting.

[AJ]

The only reason I would use steel is if lead is illegal to use. I will take lead over steel anyday if it is allowed. Unfortunately the Dept of the Interior has mandated non toxic shot is the only legal allowable shot type for waterfowl hunters. We are stuck using steel, tungsten better than steel but expensive, bismuth, again better than lead but expensive, and Hevi Shot, which is better than anything else on the market including lead, but is very expensive.

Steel is too light. It has about 40% of the retained energy of lead. To overcome this handicap, the shooter has to increase the shot size by 2x. If you liked #4 in lead for ducks, you should use #2 in steel. This will give similar energy levels. But the downside is the larger pellets do not allow as many in a given payload.

Remington has a good steel vs lead page on their website.

[MUDRUNNER]

I use lead wherever it is legal and only use steel where i have to.AJ hit the nail on the head,as usual.The added energy of lead seems to kill a little better than steel.I think a 3" #2 might be a little much for bunnies,might try a #4.

[Bob LeBlanc]

Steel most certainly patterns tighter than lead, but it is not as effective a game load as is lead.
Like AJ mentions, it is much lighter and dissipates its retained energy much quicker than lead...hence it does not have 'real world' knock down power.
Also, steel does not deform on impact...lead does. By increasing its surface area due to flattening, this actually increases lead's foot/pounds energy transfer...i.e. more knockdown power. To use an analogy...ever seen what a steel jacket bullet does when fired into a full water jug?...nice clean hole in the front and back. Fire a lead bullet into a water jug and it will blow up! That's energy transfer.
(Little bit o' physics, there )

Oh, and AJ...
Their is actually consideration up here in Canada in removing Bismuth from the non-tox list. Apparently it is some kind of derivative of lead (or some chemical term like that), and they are finding birds dying from the same symptoms as lead poisoning after injesting the Bismuth! The authorities-that-be are looking into it further.

Bob

[carbonhunter]

To use an analogy...ever seen what a steel jacket bullet does when fired into a full water jug?...nice clean hole in the front and back. Fire a lead bullet into a water jug and it will blow up! That's energy transfer.
(Little bit o' physics, there )
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I thought the steeljacket was ment to hold the lead together through obstructions??? wouldnt it just be delaying the expansion a bit???

Just wondering

[Bob LeBlanc]

Perhaps so, carbonhunter...I really can't say for sure.
Up here, steel jacketed bullets are illegal for hunting because they pass right through a game animal...and keep on-a-goin'!! They don't mushroom out like a typical bullet, which is where the energy is used up / lost / transfered.
Now, if they were to be shot through steel plating, perhaps they would 'pierce' and then expand...but I haven't shot any deer through a vehicle to know for sure (although I had an old Ford Ranger that I would have liked to try it on!! rofl )
Steel jackets do not perform (mushroom / flatten) well on animals, sand bags, or water jugs...THAT I can say for sure! They do not have enough mass to impede the bullet significantly.

Bob