Testing Eley’s Grand Prix Traditional Pro Eco Steel on Worcestershire pheasants

Having very kindly been invited for the third time to shoot at Forthampton Estate in Worcestershire in mid-November, I was finally able to make the date and set about with eager excitement preparing for the day. I know many guns prefer staying over the night before a shoot day; I however, am much more inclined to stay the night after, allowing for a fully relaxed day in the field, without having to worry myself about getting home that night.

Plus, I have a few shooting traditions that I wouldn't like to break, and there's nothing worse than forgetting something on a day's shooting. So, the breeks, socks, shirt, tie and shoes are laid out the night before, almost ceremoniously. My car is packed with wellies, coats and cartridges, and I leave myself a note by the door saying ‘GUN’, just in case I manage to make it there without it over my shoulder. Rather embarrassingly, despite all those rituals I failed to remember my flat cap. Next time my note shall read: ‘GUN & CAP’.

Testing standard steel cartridges on testing birds

I was particularly looking forward to this day as I had just ordered myself another few slabs of Grand Prix Traditional Steel Pro Eco cartridges from Eley. I shot with them for all of my shooting last season and got on very well with them.

However, I have since had countless conversations with members and shoots worried about the move from lead to steel which made me question my judgement, plus, I did shoot dreadfully the weekend before with our editor George Browne in Hampshire. Maybe this steel malarkey wasn't all it was cracked up to be? I would definitely know by the end of the day at Forthampton, the perfect opportunity to solidify – or otherwise – my convictions.

We met at Adam's (the shoot owner) Safari Lodge for a cup of coffee and a bacon sandwich, greeted all the guns and started the usual pre-shoot day chat. We had quite a mix of guns on the day including some seasoned shots, a retired gamekeeper and Duncan Brimer, the Managing Director of Agrigame – suppliers of game rearing equipment and country products.

Inevitably, as I have experienced on every other day this season, the conversation soon turned to the lead vs steel debate. Duncan piped up on his experience with steel so far this year. He's been keen to introduce guns who buy cartridges with him to steel loads this season in advance of the changes, and has stocked his store with a wide variety of lead-free alternatives to great effect. On this note, I would highly encourage anyone who hasn't yet tried it, to give it a go this year, so you know what to expect.

65mm steel cartridges for older guns

I then mentioned that I'd be shooting steel on this day, explaining to the surprise of the other guns that I can indeed shoot steel through an old English side-by-side. “The great thing about these Eley Grand Prix is they're 65mm long,” I said. “They are standard steel loads and the biodegradable shot cup protects the barrels against scoring, so can be shot safely through my old gun.” I should add that my E.J Churchill side-by-side has less than 1/2 choke in each barrel and was made after 1954. The other guns were naturally intrigued about how I would go on to shoot for the rest of the day.

Before I go on to explain how the day unfolded, I'd like to add that last season there was only one point where I thought I was 'under-gunned'. For the vast majority of the season I shot better than I had ever done before, it was only under some very good birds on one particular drive at the Great Fulford Estate that I felt I would have killed more birds more cleanly had I been using lead. Although, I have to say, with limited experience of shooting such high birds, perhaps it was just my poor shooting that under delivered – another hypothesis to test on this day.

Back at Forthampton, we were on peg at 10am eagerly awaiting the birds that would appear from a decent bank in front of us. Partridges burst from the front of the cover first, and within a few minutes, a steady flow of pheasants and partridges set themselves from way back - out of view - eventually reaching the line. Good birds, better than I was expecting admittedly, from what looked like a pretty standard drive, but nothing spectacular yet.

The second drive was very interesting, we were pegged side-on to the drive as I would have expected it to be driven. The cover was pushed almost away from us up to the highest point – a small mound – where one beater was stationed, tapping.

Partridge curled back towards us on the wind. It took me a good while to get hold of these birds, and it was only after the drive when I picked a couple of partridge from way behind me that I realised just how fast they were going.

It was fascinating to see what a bit of wind on a cloudy, low-pressure day could produce over fairly flat land with some proper management. I certainly wasn't expecting anything like it when I first saw the topography.

We went back to the lodge for delicious elevenses and spent more time discussing the merits of Eley’s Grand Prix offerings. I recounted how it had taken me a little while to get used to them them last year. I'm no cartridge geek, but I do know that cartridge velocities vary and depend on a multitude of factors.

The first time I used these cartridges on clays on the farm at home, I remember vividly my cousin shouting "I thought you worked for GunsOnPegs!"across the field. By which he meant: 'how on earth can you be missing so many sitters?!' This made me pull through harder and eventually I found my form again. Perhaps I had a poor day – quite likely – or maybe I just took a bit of adjusting to a new cartridge.

For this reason, I was reluctant to give out any cartridges to the other guns on the day. I remember someone telling me they'd tried a few steel cartridges on a drive once and missed everything, thereby concluding that steel cartridges were useless.

Getting used to steel cartridges

In that same line, however, was a gun who now uses purely steel cartridges and was shooting quite a bit better than most of the guns. Maybe, we should all be prepared to give our new cartridges more than a couple of barrels before we jump to conclusions?

Back to the third drive where the birds started getting higher. The great thing about Forthampton, I reflected as I looked down the line, was there were birds for all types of gun. Some were leaving birds at heights others were shooting at. For me, personally, there were plenty in there to test me. Adam at this point was standing directly behind me, chatting as the birds started breaking across the line.

Chatting after the drive he said he could notice the difference in impact, but that the end result was just the same. This is why we're always told to drop a couple of shot sizes for steel. I was shooting with 30g 4s. It was a good reminder to me that we should always be aiming for a clean kill, and the best way of achieving that is to shoot the birds in the head. I know it's easier said than done, but again, once familiar with the cartridges after some practice on clays, perhaps we'll all become better and start seeing cleaner kills of our quarry?

The final drive was quite spectacular indeed. We were, I'm sure, nearing our bag, so Adam took us to a smaller drive, but one that promised some serious birds. The team had shot fairly straight for most of the day, probably hovering around the 3.5:1 mark. This last drive tested us all with a ratio nearer to 6. I had the privilege of standing on the leftmost peg and watched the majority of the drive as the pheasants got taller and taller. I genuinely don't think I've seen much better from a shoot that doesn't claim to be an 'extreme high bird day'.

You can shoot high birds with standard steel and an old side-by-side

As far as the steel went, I can safely say that one particular hen that soared one and a half pegs down was definitely the unluckiest pheasant in all of Worcestershire. Once my neighbouring gun had fired a couple of shots I had a speculative shot. There was a good second's pause from firing to impact, and then it fell stone dead.

Adam saw the bird but didn't see who'd shot it and couldn't quite believe that it was me who'd managed to bring it down. It was my only shot on that drive, but it was enough to remove any doubts about the ability of steel shot vs lead, certainly for the type of shooting I and the massive majority of the shooting population do.

I will have to defer to the high bird specialists when it comes to judgements about consistency at ‘extreme’ range, but I think it's safe to conclude from my findings that for the vast majority of us, we're not going to notice the difference. I would add to make sure you practise on clays before you take on the real thing, aim to shoot your quarry in the head (as we should always be doing anyway), and ensure that you've got the right cartridges for your gun. I'm 100% sure we'll be more than fine.