A Regal day out - ducks, pigeons and steel shot

Words by Frank Stephenson

Syndicate season has well and truly arrived. Despite the unseasonably warm weather that most of the UK is experiencing, many - including myself - have now been out with the gun, have caught the bug, and are now looking forward to the next day in our diary or perhaps starting the process looking to booking the next one in.

The best kind of call

I was fortunate that mine was a late call-up to shoot on a Friday at a local walk-up syndicate located just outside Ipswich near the river Orwell that I am lucky to visit quite regularly. It was great to be back with the gang and great to catch up with them about the summer just gone and our plans for the season. Some of the group are part of the team that I am going to Tiree with in December and to Perthshire in January, so there was plenty of excitable discussion around planning for those. 

At this time of year, the quarry on the shoot is mainly wild duck, which we push off the ponds, but on this occasion the farmer had requested that we spend some time afterwards trying to reduce the pigeon population, which were hammering his drillings and apparently oblivious to his attempts to move them on. 

Shooting steel through a side-by-side

Being a keen wildfowler, I have grown up shooting steel on the foreshore (albeit high-performance steel) through a semi-automatic shotgun. However this would be my first full day out using standard steel - in the form of Gamebore's true 65mm cartridges: Regal Steel in 30g, 4'5 and 5's - through my Aya No 2 side-by-side and it was a pleasure to be able to use the same gun throughout the whole day. 

The day always begins with a somewhat military manoeuvre, getting into position around the duck ponds without spooking the wildfowl that are present. For me that meant getting quite close to the main pond and as soon as the birds got up, darting through a small hole in the hedge. This manoeuvre complete, I was ‘live’. 

The best laid plans

Everything went according to plan, right up until I popped into the open and in front of me, several hundred duck had lifted from the pond and were heading in my direction. The first group were teal, star bursting perfectly all around me, causing me to make the common mistake of not focusing on one bird, which meant I ultimately missed both shots (possibly by a barn door's length away). A good way to build my confidence at the start of the day!
 
Fortunately, my next five shots produced four good mallard which I was happy with and, after taking some time to work the dogs, we were all picked and headed back to the vehicles for a quick coffee where the topic of conversation quite quickly turned to ammunition.

Smooth recoil

When a couple of the team heard I was using steel in my side-by-side they were interested to know what the recoil was like, as their previous experience with the standard steel cartridges from yesteryear was that they could kick a bit. 

 
I explained that I didn't notice any more recoil than the lead cartridges habitually use in the same gun. I put this down to the fact that the Regal Steel contain both Gamebore's biodegradable Biowads which and their exclusive double base powder. Later, David Scott from Gamebore explained to me how it all works:

"The double-base powder is essential in steel loads," he said. "IIt burns more slowly, generating lower pressure in the barrel but over a longer period which gives much higher acceleration – and less recoil -  exactly what’s needed with steel shot.  Added to this, the Biowad loses virtually no pressure as it seals the barrel so effectively. This means they don’t need to be loaded to higher pressures to compensate for these losses as plastic and especially fibre wad loads do, which in turn reduces recoil still further."

 
With our coffees finished, we moved on to the next part of the day, which consisted of splitting into small teams and heading to different parts of the estate to see f we might find a pigeon or two. 
 
The rest of the  morning was a fairly sporadic one, as my friend and I struggled to find the right position in whichever wood or field we found ourselves in. However the afternoon was fantastic and will be a memory that I cherish forever more. 

The perfect hidey-hole

After a quick bit of reconnaissance, we found a lovely spot at the bottom of a sloping meadow between a long hedgerow and a copse of sloe-laden blackthorns where we were well hidden and could chat away a couple of hours in the sunshine whilst having some really enjoyable shooting. 

The pigeons were coming at a variety of different heights, speeds and angles. One that I remember particularly well twisted and turned like a jet fighter once it spotted me and I managed to drop it out wide to my right. I had been told that some people find that when using steel they have a lot of birds that fly on when hit, but I did not see any of that and every pigeon I picked was dead where it fell and I had a number of really pleasing shots. 

I had completely forgotten that I was using steel. For me, not focusing on my kit is important. Suppose I am thinking about how my gun doesn't fit quite right, how my jacket is pinching the small of my back when I swing, how my ear defenders keep banging into my stock or how reflecting on whether my cartridges are kicking me or doing something different to what I am used to. In that case, I can almost guarantee that I will miss more opportunities than if I am relaxed and only thinking about the shot itself.

Having told someone about this day since, they posed two further questions to me about steel. His first was about whether I was worried that my gun could be damaged by the steel. 

Shooting steel shot loads with confidence

I am not a gunsmith and so am not about to start offering ill-placed advice, however Teague are experts in this field and give a sound explanation of using the right chokes for steel here. My gun is a relatively modern side-by-side and I was reliably informed by the importer that the chokes are fine for steel shot. If you’re not sure, I would recommend that you get them checked by a qualified gunsmith.
 
I’m given further confidence knowing that the Biowad shot cup in the Regal Steel is designed and fully tested so that the shot cannot come into contact with the barrels, thus protecting them fully from damage.
 
His other question was whether I was worried about breaking my teeth on steel shot. I have been eating (a lot) of wildfowl that had been shot with steel since a very young age and now in my mid-thirties, I am yet to have a filling. Whilst I am sure it can happen, I have not experienced it and neither have any of my friends or family. 

Reflecting on that afternoon, I am highly impressed with what Gamebore have produced. Given the direction that things are almost certainly heading (a lead-free future) I feel that we are in good hands. I can, of course, only describe what I have experienced myself. I’m looking forward to using the Regal Steel throughout the season, and have plenty of confidence that they’ll be up to the job.