Gamebore's latest innovations

Despite only having been launched last season, Gamebore’s Black Gold Dark Storm Precision Steel with Bio-Wad cartridges have already found many fans, according to the 2021 Game Shooting Census. Employing the trademarked biodegradable, fully certified and 100% environmentally safe Bio-Wad full shot cup, which also incorporates the revolutionary Quad Seal technology, they were a huge success and proved extremely popular.

However, although the Dark Storm Precision Steel were available in both High Performance and Standard loads, crucially the cartridges were only available in a 70mm case. This meant that the nation’s leading cartridge brand did not have a non-plastic wad steel shot offering for those with 2 ½ inch chambers (65mm), typically older side-by-side shotgun users.

All that is now set to change, because GunsOnPegs can exclusively reveal that Gamebore are set to release a new steel shot cartridge designed for suitable guns with 2 ½ inch chambers. The New Regal 2 ½ inch Steel employs the same trademarked Bio-Wad technology, and will be suitable for all shotguns Nitro proofed 1954 onwards which are half-choke or less, two key factors you need to check and ensure when using any steel loads in your guns.

For the cartridge geeks among you, there is an interesting difference between Gamebore cartridges and the 65mm steel cartridges offered by others. The Regal Steel Game has a true crimped closure, rather than, for example, a rolled turnover.  Gamebore told us:

The need for a crimp closure in modern cartridges is paramount. Boiled down to layman’s terms, the crimp is essential as it isn’t there just to hold the shot in but is vital to allow the powder to burn fully and the pressure to develop correctly within the cartridge before the load is released. This is critical to ensure full performance and consistency, whereas a rolled turnover simply cannot do this.

The Gamebore steel cartridges are also powered by cutting edge ‘double base’ powders, which are exclusive to Gamebore in Europe. These propellants allow the cartridges to deliver maximum velocity and acceleration at lower pressures, resulting in cartridges that deliver excellent down-range energy, without excessive felt-recoil. Gamebore explained that this simply cannot be achieved using single base powder. Of course, getting adequate acceleration and energy into steel shot is critical, given that steel is significantly less dense than lead.

The new Regal Steel Game will be available in 30g 4s and 5s but not in 3s. This means there won’t be a High-Performance load, only ‘Standard Steel’, but that should suit most 2 ½ inch chambered guns as they are generally only suitable for standard steel loads in any case.

New and improved Quad Seal II and Bio-Wad Gen II

Launched in 2020, the Quad Seal is a revolutionary wad system made of 100% biodegradable materials and featuring a four ring gas seal. This delivers a number of benefits, including reduced recoil, improved striking energy, and ballistic consistency, compared to both plastic and fibre wads.

Since last season, Gamebore have been working on improving both their Quad Seal and Bio-Wad ‘Gen I’ technologies, both of which are manufactured in-house.

The ‘Gen II’ versions of these wads have some very important improvements, in fact huge steps forward, Gamebore said.

They began by looking at a cutting-edge biodegradable material which we understand offers greater strength and stability whilst still breaking down safely and fully within a shooting season as previously – in fact in under 24 hours in water.

Gamebore said:

It’s worth noting that these Gamebore wads are fully biodegradable - not compostable - as some others, the latter will not break down in water or if left in the environment but require collecting and, as the name suggests, ‘composting’ or they will simply be around for years. Both the Quad Seal and the Bio-Wad and have gone from green to brown in colour for the ‘Gen II’ so they are less visible in the field whilst they quickly biodegrade and disappear.

Gamebore added:

The Quad Seal design was revisited and refined and is now 5mm rather than 8mm without any loss in performance and still provides an almost perfect gas seal in even over-bored guns and far outperforming that of any plastic wad. This also means the wad now breaks down 30% faster in the environment and will allow the new Quad Seal to be loaded across a wider range of products in the future.

Gamebore also looked again at the Bio-Wad design. They told us:

The overlapping petals with 45-degree angled edges are essential for barrel protection but they have now added ribbing around the ‘Gen II’ version. This new design keeps the body of the cup away from the barrel walls, thereby reducing friction, increasing performance and acceleration whilst offering even greater barrel protection.

According to Gamebore, the Gen II wads are a major breakthrough in wad technology meeting all the environmental requirements going forward and game shot's desires for high quality, high performance products.

Gamebore’s Black Gold Dark Storm Quad Seal and Dark Storm Precision Steel Bio-Wad are already being loaded with the Gen II products, and production of the 2 ½ inch Regal Steel Game will begin in the coming weeks and will be in retailers soon.