Any duck hunters or public land bird hunters have experience with Boss? I'm not a reloader but wondering how Boss' performance compares to other retail non-steel and private reloaded shells. Thanks.
Any duck hunters or public land bird hunters have experience with Boss? I'm not a reloader but wondering how Boss' performance compares to other retail non-steel and private reloaded shells. Thanks.
This will be my first year trying them. Gonna use their new warchief shot. There's a guy on youtube who shoots just about every shot there is into gel and pattern paper and the results have me convinced. Tired of criples and having to shoot several times to finish a duck off.
Thanos was the hero
I’ve not used them but know quite a few guys that swear by them for pheasants. Good luck.
If money were no issue thats what i would shoot given the input i have had from a buddy who has used them. His opinion is if money was no object either. Haha
Over the weekend I patterned some BOSS 2 3/4' #5 (not War Chief) and 3' #4 from my M2 and A400xp with factory M and IM chokes, 30 and 40 yards. 30y: Mod choke- above an 70% pattern and with IM it jumped to 80%. 40Y: Mod choke- average 61% and IM averaged almost 72%. The Beretta provided a bit better performance. My conversations with other BOSS users have been very positive. I went ahead and ordered a case of the Warchief and 3' #4s for all the specks we kill. While I don't care to take longer shots, I do believe the shot density and higher pellet counts will help reduce the cripples and water swatting. I travel to SD every year or so and hunt public, so I'll be interested to see the results with pheasants also. Thanks for everyone's replies.
has anyone shot the 3 inch shell, 1.5 ounce shell? does it feel like shooting a 3.5 inch of other brands?
Yes, I patterned the 3' 1.5oz load at 1350f/s. While it seems I notice recoil more when patterning versus shooting at birds, I will say this load did have a kick, but I don't believe it was as much as the 3.5's I've shot.
I hunted with the boss 3" #4s last year and they performed well. I've also used the Kent Bismuth and did not notice any difference in performance.
thanks for the info, I think I may try the. 2 3/4in 3/5s. Do these shells require a tighter choke? I have always shot steel.
Yes, Boss says the tighter the better for their loads. The people I've spoken with said treat Boss like lead shells for your choke choice. I've now patterned M, IM and F and am very happy with the results with all of them. At 30y the IM and F were almost the same. I rarely shoot over 30y for ducks but the specks are generally further away. With steel I always shot M... so I'm going to start the season with IM but plan to have the F to make adjustments as the testing begins. On a side note, I spoke with a fella at the skeet/trap range last week who has been shooting Boss for a couple of years. He shoots a Browning Superposed (fixed M/F) and needed non-steel shot. He's very impressed with Boss and has had no issues shooting these loads through his fixed non-steel rated barrels. I asked him about the 3/5s versus just 5s. He said the 5's pack a significant punch out to 50y so he's only shooting those now.
I ended up ordering the 3 inch 4s. Will try them while I am out in Kansas this December.
Update on the Boss question. Went speck hunting this weekend... limited each day using Boss 3' #4 out of IM choke. Shots from 30 out to 50y. No cripples... all dead and no gliders. Made for easy dog work. So far I'm very pleased. Looking forward to the 2 3/4 #5 on ducks in two weeks.
thanks for the update, did you have to shoot a tighter choke for better patterns?
Yes, I used the stock Beretta IM for the specks, and then for ducks this past weekend I shot two days of teal limits with Boss 2 3/4 #5 out of the same IM. Teal were 15-30y.
good to know, thanks, looking forward to trying them out
I'm really happy with Boss shotshell. I've only been out a few times and only shot a few ducks and geese so far, it is clear these shells hit harder. I've hammered a couple geese so far at about 50yds with 3" 3/5s.
Thanos was the hero
I’ve killed a lot of snowgeese with them as well as pheasants. They def do the job and seem to give you another 10 yards or so when compared to steel.
~Matt Miller
23’ Phoenix 21 PHX - 250 ProXS
I got my buddies pretty good the other day. To set the stage, my buddies give me a good ribbing about shooting bismuth every time I miss or have a criple. Last week we had 3 really good days of hunting shooting our limits. My buddies were commenting about how good the shooting was. I commented how this year we had more dead birds, less cripples and nearly zero MIAs. They all agreed, I said it must be the bismuth. I got a bunch of grumbling in response
I'm not going back to steel. I am gonna go with #2 for divers and stick with 3/5s for puddle duck hunts. Probably use #5 for close shoots.
Thanos was the hero
I've been shooting both 3' #4 and 2 3/4 #5 and very happy with both. I also won't be going back to steel as I've seen a big improvement in cripples and gliders. Glad it is working out for us!
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