Winchester blindside or black cloud?

Hevi metal

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I usually go with the cheapest I can find cause Im poor. They seem to kill things just as dead as expensive shells.

I am thinking about gettin the blind side for them late season far shots and for mallards

I hate when I can hear bbs hitting the ducks or watch the feathers fly but the duck keeps flying. Expert steel is good for teal and early season


Dat black cloud make it rain

Ya gotta use no 1 buckshot for dem long shots................................Just jokin

The black clouds and the brileys waterfowl choke made me a believer last year. We hunted Saturday morn had feather flying and the birds would fly a 1/2 a mile and then go down. Went get the choke and black clouds and drop them on impact. Everybody else could shoot then me and buddy with same choke and shells would start shooting when they emptied there's. Ducks take a while to get out of the flooded timber once they commit

The old remington hevi shot was the meanest shit since lead. Trick to the longer shots is when hunting bigger ducks later in the season is to quit shooting them dang #3 and #4s. When we used to hunt fields in Stuttgart all season we bought BBs for the woods and BBB and T's for late season and if in pits where the geese liked to play. Steel is so light it takes a lot bigger pellet to get any penetration. Shoot 2 and BB mostly now. Some #3s for teal season.

black cloud #2's before the split. bb's after...

Black cloud or Kent FastSteel #3's. Get what you pay for

I dont like the black cloud --- after a good hunt with some geese n all I have gun powder all over my face -- its a very dirty shell.


I been shootin federal #2 and BB

3.5" #2
Any Brand.. Just pick up and Pull trigger

the black cloud 3" #2 with the carlson's black cloud mid range choke is the way to go....duck folds every time with this combo.

Rem sportsman Steele !! 2shot 3 " 1 3/8 oz with a briley extra range. Fork high priced shells waste of money learn how to shoot and pattern your guns!!

shot 3 cases of the 99$ a case federal 3" #2 1&1/4 ounce shells last year with a pattern master extended range tube and didnt have any problems. Theyre kind of a dirty shell, but they are cheap and ill clean my gun a few extra times for that price.

I've got some slow moving Kent 13/8 oz BB that forking slap the snot out of big ducks on big water on windy days

What are the best steel pellet sizes, load and chokes for ducks?

That's a pretty broad question and you'll likely get a lot of opinions about this or that pellet, load and choke. It really comes down to how far do you want to shoot your ducks and what kind of ducks you are shooting. Obviously, shooting teal at 30 yards is a different proposition than say shooting mallards at 50 yards.

If you get ducks inside of 40 yards they just aren't that hard to kill, just tough to put the pattern on their front end sometimes. At normal decoying ranges (20-40 yards), steel #4s, #3s or #2s (provided they are choked properly) will take care of most any duck business you have. Obviously, it is better to use small pellets on small ducks to increase pattern density and larger pellets for larger ducks to maintain pellet energy, but generally any of these would be a good starting point for ducks over decoys.

It doesn't take a 3 1/2" or even a 3" shell to effectively kill ducks. A 2 3/4" 1 1/8 oz. load @ 1,375 fps will kill ducks at any reasonable range if it is choked properly for the distance you are shooting.

For chokes, take an IC, LM and Mod. with your shell/load of choice and head to the pattern board to see which one works best in your gun. Out to about 35 the IC will probably do best, 35-45 the LM may do best, and from about 40-50 the Mod. may be the best choice. The ONLY way to find out is to pattern them!

When you start getting outside of normal decoying range (>40 yards) and shooting larger ducks you'll need to go with larger pellets (#3s or #2s) and tighter chokes to maintain adequate pellet energy and pattern density. Beware, when you get beyond 40 yards it not only becomes more difficult to hit the duck, but it also becomes more difficult to find a load/choke that will maintain adequate killing pattern density with larger pellets. Not that you can't find a combo that will work, but you will need to do some pattern work to make sure you are shooting a lethal combo.

Normally, I am shooting steel #4s and IC for close decoying and/or small ducks and later in the season when I'm shooting mostly mallards I shoot steel #2s with a Mod. choke. Steel #3s are a great compromise, but many times I can't find them so I go with some combination of #4s and #2s like having a #4 for the first close shot and follow it with a couple of #2s.

As far as velocity, get loads in the 1,300 to 1,500 fps range and neither you nor the duck will ever know the difference. Many of the hyper velocity bunch don't agree with me on this but to each his own. Put the pattern on the duck and he's dead!!!

For me the best reference concerning duck load lethality and minimum pattern requirements is Tom Roster's CONSEP Lethality table. Try and get a copy of it and study it for your load/pellet/choke selections.

Remember, if you can't put the pattern on the front end of the duck little else matters!!!

Good luck.



Found this 2 years ago maybe? I no longer have the active working link wish I could give a better source. Sorry.

I'm love my homemade #3's with zinc plated shot. For you guys shooting the cheap stuff, if you aren't too cheap, cut one open and take a look. So far the best cheap shells I've seen are the Kent's because all the pellets were round. Xperts have egg shaped pellets in all different sizes in them.

Expert 3" #3 1550fps out of a Kicks mod. Deadly and cheap.