HTL Prices are Climbing...The Lead Forum Gang May Soon Grow.

[3" 870 Shell Shucker]

7 pounds of loose Hevishot pellets now costs $230.  They won't be inexpensive to reload.  If the price for commercial loads gets much higher, I think the market share for HTL may have already topped out.

[WildSpur]

Yep...I maybe done when my reserve is shot up.

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[trkehunr93]

I have enough Hevi 13 and Win. XR to get me thru the next couple of seasons but I came across a heck of a deal on Win. HV 3.5" 5's and 6's at WalMart I couldn't pass up.  Got 15 boxes total.  I can no longer justify the price of HTL loads.

[BrowningGuy88]

I have a stockpile of 3.5-2.25-4 and 6 Winchesters from when I got my 835. I have about 3 cases of different brand 20 gauge 3-1.25 or 1 5/16 5's and 6's. I have 11 Nitro Blends and 11 H13 3-2-7's left. I hope to have enough money in the gun fund that when I buy my SX3 I can pattern it and order 100 of whatever its favorite Hevi load is whether it be H13 or Nitro's.

I would like to get into handloading TSS, but if the price gets over $60 a pound shipped I will shoot Nitro's, Hevi 13, or Winchester XX Magnums. I have no issue going back to lead if it means getting to hunt or not. And YES for some people, if they have to buy $6 a piece shells it would put a major dent in their budget for hunting.

I know one guy who shoots the OLD Remington 4x6 duplex 2.75" loads because he bought a case before he went on disability back in the 80's and now every dime is spent by months end just making ends meet. He calls em close and kills his limit of 5 every year.

[stinkpickle]

It won't matter to many of us.  It's quite illogical to spend 400% more money to kill .01% more turkeys, but we ain't logical folks.  I have no excuse.   

[nyhunter]

     with stinkpickle

[3" 870 Shell Shucker]

At $230 per 7 pounds of pellets, that's about $4.11 per 2 Ounce shell for the Pellets Alone, Not counting the Freight charges on the 7 pounds of pellets.  That means that it will now cost as much per round to reload hevishot, as people have already been paying for the commercially available loads.

Some people are going to cry about going from 200-300 hit patterns to 90-150 hit patterns, but Lead will still be effective.

If nothing else, at least the choke companies have made some strides to further improve Lead patterns.  My Indian Creek chokes have made me very happy with both HTL and Lead.

[ericjames]

Where I hunt I cant shoot past 30 yards half the time anyway. Lead is gonna be in my gun for sure!

[3" 870 Shell Shucker]

I visited a local hunting supply store this afternoon.

Last year, Magnum Blend was @$23 for 3", and @$26 for 3.5", and they sold out.

They just got a new supply in.  $32 for 3", and $37 for 3.5".

I'm expecting the local demand to cool down a little at those prices.

[dawei]

I have no doubt that HTL patterns the best; but as a retired person, on a fixed income; I can't justify the cost. For me personally, I've been killing turkey gobblers (Easterns & Merriams) since 1978 with Pb. Last year I made the longest shot I've ever taken with Pb (42yds); and the gobbler was dead before his beak hit the dirt. I certainly DO NOT feel the least bit handicapped using Pb in my three 20ga guns.

You guys shooting 12ga 3" and 3½" Mags, with Pb loads; should be able to smack the daylights out of any gobbler that struts at 50yds with no problem.

[nyhunter]

I'm in the processes of patterning several lead loads for my SBEII and I already have a good load, choke combo for my 870. So when my supply of hevi runs out I'm not replacing it with more over priced HTL.

[BrowningGuy88]

I have no doubt that HTL patterns the best; but as a retired person, on a fixed income; I can't justify the cost. For me personally, I've been killing turkey gobblers (Easterns & Merriams) since 1978 with Pb. Last year I made the longest shot I've ever taken  with Pb (42yds); and the gobbler was dead before his beak hit the dirt. I certainly DO NOT feel the least bit handicapped using Pb in my three 20ga guns.

You guys shooting 12ga 3' and 3½" Mags, with Pb loads; should be able to smack the daylights out of any gobbler that struts at 50yds with no problem.

Not necessarily. You've obviously done a lot of work to find a 20 ga lead combo that is effective past 40 yds. Many 3" 12s (mine included) struggle to put 100/10 @ 40 yds. No way that combo will kill to 50 yds with any consistency.

very few guns are 50 yard rigs with Pb, but there is always a magical combo out there. If I can put 100/10 @ 50 with my new rig when I get it put together, I will never buy HTL - just a case of the lot that shot the patterns.

And congrats to dawei! That combo you are shooting is something special and you have complete confidence in you set up. To me that is worth more than any pellet count - COMPLETE confidence to whatever your MAX range is.

[ericjames]

Last season I bought a Benelli nova used for $200 with a JH .660 it patterned ok with lead but nothing special so I bought a couple boxes of mag blends to try and a friend of mine was with me when I shot them the first time. The very first shot the poa was dead on with I think it was 209 in the 10 at 40 and he looked at me and said he would trade me his browning silver  with a kicks .670 in it and a bsquare mount and a gobble dot scope. So now I have to try and find a good lead pattern for it,anyone got any recomendations? I am gonna start with the win 3" #6 grey box

[dawei]

very few guns are 50 yard rigs with Pb, but there is always a magical combo out there. If I can put 100/10 @ 50 with my new rig when I get it put together, I will never buy HTL - just a case of the lot that shot the patterns.

And congrats to dawei! That combo you are shooting is something special and you have complete confidence in you set up. To me that is worth more than any pellet count - COMPLETE confidence to whatever your MAX range is.

Thank you for your kind comment. I appreciate it. I am amazed what my old Mossberg® 20ga can do w/Pb! I am very fortunate I know.

[BrowningGuy88]

You are quite welcome dawei.