I HATE HEVI-SHOT

[Gad Father]

Killed a bird Monday with my normal setup using longbeard xr. Called up a bird for friend Tuesday he killed it with longbeard xr. Today decided to use 20 gauge with Hevi 13 and had this bird against my decoy at 26 yards and pulled the trigger. Gun made a funny noise, and I watched the shot rake the side of the bird. He then walked off looking hurt so I went after him and he ran off probably to die later. When I got back to my set up I found the wad about 2 feet from where I was sitting. I was afraid to shoot him again because I knew it was a squib load and did not know if the wad was still in the barrel. 2nd round from the same box loaded way under pressure!!!

 

[Andy S.]

That sucks, hate it for you and the bird.

 

[Setterman]

Lead has been killing them long before anyone knew about hevi shot. Sucks you went through it though

 

[TheLBLman]

The problem wasn't the "hevi" shot,
but the lack of quality control with whatever brand of shell you were using.

We took these birds a couple days ago with Federal #7 Heavyweights,
all we use now, and undoubtedly the most potent 20 gauge load commercially available.
Can't tell you how many consecutive shots we taken on birds with 1 shot, 1 bird, stone dead.
Neither the 20 gauge nor the "hevi" shot is a "problem" :)

Lead has been killing them long before anyone knew about hevi shot.

Very true,
but if you want 12 ga performance from a 20 ga gun, you get it with either Federal brand "Heavyweights"
or special hand-loads of TSS.

 

[catman529]

The problem wasn't the "hevi" shot,
but the lack of quality control with whatever brand of shell you were using.

We took these birds a couple days ago with Federal #7 Heavyweights,
all we use now, and undoubtedly the most potent 20 gauge load commercially available.
Can't tell you how many consecutive shots we taken on birds with 1 shot, 1 bird, stone dead.
Neither the 20 gauge nor the "hevi" shot is a "problem" :)

he said it was Hevi 13. That would be a specific brand


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[REN]

Go tss if you gonna shoot a 20. Once you go there you will never ever go back and kick yourself for waiting so long to do it. If you go in with a buddy it's not very expensive actually. Or find someone you trust to load some up for you and "buy" them


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TheLBLman]

. . . he said it was Hevi 13. That would be a specific brand

:D Yes, and that would be the only commercially available major specific brand I've had quality control issues,
although I did have some duds from a much lesser known "brand" called "Nitros" 4 or 5 years ago.

Today, as far as "brands" go on turkey shells, I only trust the quality control of Winchester and Federal.
I loved those Winchester Extended Range HTL loads, then they quit making them.

Never mind that most of the time, it matters little exactly what shell is in your gun.

 

[Gray Ghost]

Never had anything but great results from Nitro shells!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BackwoodsBoy]

I heard on another forum that nitro is going to sell a TSS shell soon. Would be interesting I wonder what all they would offer. I do believe there is enough of a market to sell them even though they are very expensive to produce.

I shoot federal shells now,3" 12 ga 2oz #6 federal mag shock flight control wad shells... that shell just patterns awesome out of my favorite shotgun

 

[Remington742]

I've​ shot many turkeys with hevi 13 shells without a problem in a 20 gauge then swapped to magnum blends and have killed a bunch with them to out of both a 20 and 12 gauge.

 

[Remington742]

http://www.aldeer.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2073997#Post2073997I'm not downing anything just posting this to say all shells and brands will and have failed at some point it's just what happens.

 

[TheLBLman]

http://www.aldeer.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2073997#Post2073997I'm not downing anything just posting this to say all shells and brands will and have failed at some point it's just what happens.

THAT doesn't seem to be a "failure" to me :)

I agree something COULD go wrong with any shell anytime we pull the trigger.
But when I have significant quality control issues with a particular brand, I'll no longer use or recommend those.
I had just that with some Hevi-13's and Nitros.
So far, I've had no issues with Federal and Winchester branded turkey loads.

 

[Remington742]

Lol there was another thread that a guy had the same thing happen just didn't find it. I agree that it still killed it. Your going to get a bad batch from all company's I agree that I wouldn't recommend something that fails constantly. I must just be lucky that I haven't had any problems.

 

[TNhunter]

Hevishot #6, Fed heavyweight #7, Or the TSS Any of these in 20 gauge should make you gun a 40 yd turkey killing machine. Killed one Saturday with my 1187 20 youth model with Fed hw #7 40 yards muzzle to bird stone cold dead. Never even flopped. Several pellets went through both breasts and body cavity. It's probably a 50 yd gun with this load.

 

[Hillbilly Hunter]

Hate you had issues. I have been shooting hevishot since it was in Remington shells and have nothing but awesome results.

 

[TheLBLman]

I have been shooting hevishot since it was in Remington shells and have nothing but awesome results.

I may be wrong, but I believe the "hevi" shot used in those Remington shells was the same "heavyweight" now used by Federal, which is significantly "heavier" than what is in "Hevi-13".

I never could get good patterns from those Remington loads.
Got my most consistently good patterns from the (also no longer offered) Winchester Extended Range HTL loads.
Believe those Winchesters were only 10% heavier than lead, but in #6, a very potent turkey load.

 

[FARMTOFIELD]

I have been shooting hevishot since it was in Remington shells and have nothing but awesome results.

I may be wrong, but I believe the "hevi" shot used in those Remington shells was the same "heavyweight" now used by Federal, which is significantly "heavier" than what is in "Hevi-13".

I never could get good patterns from those Remington loads.
Got my most consistently good patterns from the (also no longer offered) Winchester Extended Range HTL loads.
Believe those Winchesters were only 10% heavier than lead, but in #6, a very potent turkey load.

Lblman Remington hevishot is the same as hevi shot today, federal is the first company to indulge in anything over 13 g/cc. Hevi shot was only truly "hevi13" for a short time. It is really only "hevi 12"

 

[TheLBLman]

Hevi shot was only truly "hevi13" for a short time. It is really only "hevi 12"

Thanks for the clarification, Rockhound.
I don't keep up with the details as much as most of you, but always know where to turn --- thanks :)

Were those Winchester Extended Range shells actually just a "hevi 10"?

 

[Southern Sportsman]

Hevi shot was only truly "hevi13" for a short time. It is really only "hevi 12"

Thanks for the clarification, Rockhound.
I don't keep up with the details as much as most of you, but always know where to turn --- thanks :)

Were those Winchester Extended Range shells actually just a "hevi 10"?

The number represents density. At one point, hevi shot was using 13 g/cc tugeston alloy, hence the name "hevi13." Now they use a cheaper 12g/cc alloy, but kept the "hevi13" trademark. I think the Win Extendeds did so well because they were a very uniform, polished pellet. Same density as hevi, but hevi looks like welding slag.

 

[Andy S.]

For reference of turkey load densities, see below:

Lead - 11g/cc
Remington HD - 12g/cc
Hevi13 shells - debuted at 13g/cc, but changed to 12g/cc WITHOUT notifying any of their customer base. This is why a lot of guys don't trust them, along with other reasons (changing load components, quality control issues, etc)
Winchester Xtended Range Hi-Density - 12g/cc (as LBLMAN stated, LOTS of turkey hunters raved about this shell and were heartbroken to see them go)
Federal Heavyweight - 15g/cc
Tungsten SuperShot (TSS) - 18g/cc

 

[FARMTOFIELD]

Hevi shot was only truly "hevi13" for a short time. It is really only "hevi 12"

Thanks for the clarification, Rockhound.
I don't keep up with the details as much as most of you, but always know where to turn --- thanks :)

Were those Winchester Extended Range shells actually just a "hevi 10"?

As stated by others Winchester was also 12 g/cc

 

[TheLBLman]

Hevi13 shells - debuted at 13g/cc, but changed to 12g/cc WITHOUT notifying any of their customer base. This is why a lot of guys don't trust them, along with other reasons (changing load components, quality control issues, etc)

I killed several turkeys with the "Hevi13" and their "MagBlend" shells.
The quality control issues I had with those shells would have been only evident at the range, which they were, and I lost faith in their brand.

Very different story with the "Nitro" brand ---- the poor quality control was evident on both turkeys and at the range. I suspect I just got a bad lot of these, but it was a pretty big lot and soured me on them.

If I were hand-loading, I'd definitely be loading with TSS.
In the meantime, I've been very pleased with the Federal Heavyweights, particularly in the 20 ga where they significantly outperform every other brand commercially available.

I wish Federal would step up and be the first major to offer TSS.
They could also currently dominate the 20ga market even greater if they offered their Heavyweights in size #7.5, particularly for the "Youth" market in a 2 3/4" shell. In even most "off-the-shelf" 20 ga guns, this could easily be a 40-yd turkey gun, with very light recoil. Saying this in part about the #7.5 because I'd rather have more pattern density than unnecessary long-range penetration.
(Note how the most popular size shot for turkey hunting with TSS is size #9.)

 

[Spurhunter]

As others have stated, Hevishot has had issues with quality control, component changes, bad lots, superior lots, and people cutting open shells and finding everything from pixie dust to 4 shot mixed in. However, the magblends and the "straight" shot sizes are just stone cold killers. Until I have an issue I just CAN'T stop shooting them. We rarely have a bird flop around or have to step on his neck. They just kill em. DEAD. For us.

I shot the old Winchester XR high density for a few years. Although I felt the quality control was better, and the shells only had what was supposed to be in them, they just didn't kill like Hevishot. I don't know why, but they didn't. We always had to choke them out, chase them around flopping, etc. I was even in the habit of jumping up and running to the bird after the shot.

As they say, the proof is in the pudding. As long as Hevishot keeps dropping them like a bag of hammers, I'll keep shooting them. When they cost me a bird the love affair will be over.