Program, Formula or Graph for velocity loss over distance of lead & steel shot

3

300magman

New member
I'm basically looking for the equivalent of a ballistic calculator designed for shotgun pellets.

My interest is in which hits harder at long range, (for use on coyotes) steel shot such as Remington Hypersonic Steel @ 1700fps or Federal V-Shok Heavyweight @ 1350fps (lead)

Both are in size BB which should give me a much tighter pattern than larger buckshot which obviously hits harder but has very very thin patterns at 40 to 70 yards.
Also, I'm just not ready to spend 4 to 6 dollars a shot on the "hevi" shot and similar products, hence my wondering about good old lead vs new super high velocity steel.
 
Lead being denser will have more retained energy downrange than an equal load of steel. Since your loads are NOT equal, this is a good question. Since shot loses it velocity VERY quickly, and steel loses it even faster, i will suspect that the lead will be the better choice

Personally, though, I found a 223 to be the best for long range, and a 6mm in any of the common cartridges to be better yet
 
Since your loads are NOT equal, this is a good question
Click to expand...

Lots of variables make it a tough choice without any info on rate of deceleration of the pellets.
I know the lead pellets of the same size weigh considerably more and loose velocity at a slower rate (I think I can even find a very good estimate of the weight of one steel BB vs one lead BB)
But with such a wide margin in initial velocity, I wonder if the steel retains its advantage over any significant distance ? (as I'm sure the lead does have an eventual advantage) I just don't know if it starts at 10 yards or 100 yards.


BTW a 22-250 and 55gr pill is my usual prescription for coyotes but depending on the terrain I like to sit the shotgun beside me for close/mid range running shots and I also hunt other small game with the same shotgun and having a heavy load in my pocket for incidental coyote sightings is just another fun opportunity to lower the local population.
 
On geese, it used to take steel T to equal lead BBs in downrange power, and it took a 10 gauge to get an equally dense pattern. Since tungsten, I don't shoot steel. Hevi-Shot dead Coyote is the shell of choice.
 
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