Yes RdFx that is another often over looked item.. also steel and other heavy waterfowl shot. So much harder on your teeth thst old lead shot.

Mac

I use a Franchi Affinity 3.5, shoot Kent Fast Steel 12 Ga, 3", shot size #2, and I believe I have a modified choke on currently.

I've tried a few ammo brands and pellet sizes over the years before settling on Kent Fast Steel. That said, I've been looking at Boss shells with great interest. I was thinking of picking up a box or two to try next season.

Oh man.......how long do you have to talk?

I have been sending loads off for testing every week for the last 6 years or so. I've got quite a library of waterfowl loads and plan to start my own little side business loading custom shells. It is a rabbit hole that I went down when shells were impossible to get and I haven't found the end of it yet. I haven't bought a shotgun shell in quite some time.

My first piece of advice is never waste your money on an aftermarket $100 choke tube. There is not a choke tube produced that can change shotshell ballistics.

My second piece of advice is to not buy any ammo produced by Remington, Federal, or Hevi Shot. They are all owned by an overseas Czech conglomerate company that has little regard for quality and loves to clamp down and control our ammunition supply. Support the companies that haven't sold out, like Winchester.

Lastly, there are two variables to killing a duck. Pattern Density and Penetration. You have to have both of them. You need to be shooting shot small enough that you have proper pellet count, but shot big enough that you achieve enough penetration.

Steel 3's are a good middle of the road. Effective penetration on ducks to 38 yards or so and 178 pellets in a 1-1/8oz load. If you can put 70% of those pellets on target at 35-40 yards you have sufficient pattern density for large ducks and medium ducks. Not enough pattern density for small ducks like teal. If you are shooting smaller ducks step down to #4's, or if you mainly shoot large ducks like mallards step up to #2's.

Your factory modified is going to be more than sufficient with most shells. Stepping down to a Light Modified or an Improved Cylinder choke may give you a little more flexibility.

Whats your opinion on bismuth coondagger. I tried to find some for an old double gun. Checked every shop in town and none carried any. One guy told me our china relations were the reason, but I just bought 10# from Ballistic Products for a flintlock and it seemed reasonably priced. Makes me wonder if I shouldn’t have let my shot shell reloader go…..

Bismuth has it's place, and it definitely works great in the older guns, especially those with fixed full chokes. It's really soft and needs to have a tight choke like lead shot.

China has banned the export of Tungsten and Bismuth to the USA which has severely hurt shotshell reloaders and manufacturers. You can still get it but costs have increased as there is now a middleman in shipping and export.

Boss Shotshells built their company on bismuth and they have now abandoned it for pure copper shot, which has a lesser density than Bismuth. It's sort of in between bismuth and steel.

You can still buy bismuth shells online, doubtful you will find them locally. Rogers has a couple varieties but there are more out there if you look around: https://rogerssportinggoods.com/kent-12gauge-3inch-138oz-1450fps-bismuth-waterfowl-shells/

Thanks to all the commented. I knew you guys would know what I needed.