Obviously, the pressure issue is something we need to take into account, in addition to the hardness of the projectiles.
One problem with all the nontox alternatives to steel is cost. One problem with Hevishot in particular is that advertising it as "better than steel" is misleading. If by "better" you mean it's denser and you can use a smaller size shot, so far so good. If by "better" you mean it delivers patterns that may even be tighter than steel, OK again. But if you're looking for something that's "better" in the sense of producing more open patterns--like maybe for hunting grouse, woodcock, or quail in areas where you have to use nontox--then HS would be the wrong choice, because even in very open chokes it delivers full choke patterns.
The problem with all the nontox options we have, including steel, is that either they don't give all the performance options offered by lead (small shot/open patterns, like for clay targets or much upland game), or they're extremely expensive. I hope that changes before we ever get around to a total ban on lead.
Last edited by L. Brown; 01/25/08 09:23 AM.
