doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Hevi-Shot Classic Doubles

Interesting description on the Cabela's website. Says they are low pressure and then says they are safe in any gun that can fire modern trap loads.

I'll probably buy some just because it is available in 28 gauge and there are few choices in that gauge, for modern guns or otherwise.

Here's the description:

Pull that fine side-by-side or vintage pump gun out of the cabinet and get it back in the field. A safe, nontoxic alternative for older shotguns, this low-pressure, low-recoil ammo has 44% more energy than comparable steel loads, yet it's as soft as lead for the protection of barrels and fixed chokes. Buffered loads and sealed hulls ensure optimum all-weather performance. For use in any firearm that can safely fire modern lead trap loads. Shells are available for the specific needs of upland hunts. 10 shells per box. 10 boxes per case.


And the link:

Cabelas Hevi-Shot Classic Doubles

Find it curious that Cabales lists 3/4 oz of shot at 1.100 fps for 16 gauge, same as for 28 gauge!! Even if that should be 1,0 oz, as in their "waterfowl" loads, that would be a "low velocity, low recoil" load for 16. Be nice if they posted chamber pressures and actual hardness of shot. Be even nicer if those hulls were 67 mm, instead of 70mm.

Niklas

In the catalog the 16 gauge load is listed as a 1 oz load. Also, the case price for 28 ga. is messed up in the catalog.

I'd love them to list pressure and shot hardness but I don't know of any manufacturers or retailers that do so without you having to ask.

DH

Got Cabela's Shooting Catalog today and see they say these shotshells are "For use in any firearm than can safely fire modern lead trap loads." Sounds like they are loaded to SAAMI specs.

Niklas

I'm not a frequent trap shooter, but have always been under the impression that "modern lead trap loads" were typically quite hot ... it's not a phrase I would use in conjunction with "low-pressure, low-recoil." I gather the jury is still out on these shells. Since neither the manufacturer nor major distributors are sharing the data needed, have any of the great independent experimenters who like to "find out for themselves" taken this on as a project? Obviously, many of us would like to believe these shells will solve a problem for us, but aren't ready to accept the word of the PR flacks. TT

Probably the easiest thing for those interested would be to buy a box and send 5 of them to Tom Armbrust for pressure testing.

I have anecdotal information to relay on this subject.
I chatted with a Hevi-Shot rep at Pheasant Fest yesterday.
According to this gentleman, the shot in the Classics Doubles load is softer than the shot their other loads.
He said that it was very much comparable to Bismuth. I asked if it was comparable to TM and he said yes,
but it did not use plastic as a binder.
According to the Hevi-Shot gentleman, any gun that you would have shot Bismuth through, you could shoot
HSCD through and not need to worry about barrel damage (that is if the gun is not too tightly choked).
FYI—I also asked about their Pheasant load and I understood that the shot in this load is as dense as lead
but not as dense as the shot in their duck and goose loads, I did not ask him about shot hardness for the
pheasant load. Sorry, I'm not an engineer, or even a physics expert. I could have asked better questions.
Not definitive info here, take this for what it's worth.
I was satisfied enough with the conversation that I now have no qualms about feeding both the
Pheasant and the Classic Doubles loads to my Fabarm Beta (not even close to a classic).
Jim

Thanks Twister'sPa for providing additional information!

HeviShot lists chemical ingredents of these pellets as tin (Sn), iron (Fe) and titanium (Ti). From this and claims of softness similar to lead alloy and bismuth shot, I am lead to think that tin is the matric (much like plastic is for Kent T-M) and that Fe and Ti are alloyed or mixed and this alloy or mixture is then ground finely and distributed throughout Sn matrix, much as finely ground Ti metal is dispersed through Kent T-M shot.

Two statements I find bothersome, one you pass on, "that is if the gun is not too tightly choked" and the other is in Cabelas "For use in any firearm than can safely fire modern lead trap loads." Both statements, if indeed fully correct, make me unwilling to use these loads in my old (pre 1922), essentially CIP proofed, tightly choked old doubles.

Niklas