Fishing Forum

Question for you guys! I just bought a new shotgun a winchester sxp 12 gauge carbon fiber dipped! Pretty pumped about that. I bought a primos jelly head maximum distance turkey choke for it. On the package it says for lead shot only.

My question is " can I safely run nickel plated lead shot through it?" I personally don't think it will be a problem but I'm asking to see if any body else has experience with it. I bought the shot because I heard nickel plated shot penetrates better. I can't find any info on the web about it and the guys at sportsmens instantly turned in to a group of stuttering chimps when I asked them.

Thanks for any info I seriously do not want to trash a brand new gun.
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You should be fine, it's still lead, only plated. They put "Lead Only" on those tighter chokes because they don't want people shooting Steel shot through them. Hope this helps.
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Here's an idea get a hold of one of those nickel played pellets and see how easy it squashes with pliers.if you can't tell the difference I would shoot it. If it feels harder I would not risk it
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Every "turkey" load I'm aware of uses plated lead unless it is "heavy shot". Most of the ones I've seen are plated with copper. They plate the lead so it will be harder and have less pellet deformation and thus is supposed to give tighter patterns. The jelly head is made for turkey hunting, so I feel pretty confident in saying you'll be just fine.

Sounds like you should be fine with that choke.

Just FYI though, you're really not worried about penetration with a shotgun, you're most worried about energy transferred to the bird. 1" penetration is plenty on even big turkeys if you hit them in the head.

Lead is more effective than steel because it's more malleable and more dense. That means it deforms on impact and transfers more energy to the target instead of just zipping through like steel shot does. Think of it like the difference between a full metal jacket bullet and a hollow point.

Because it's heavier it also carries more energy further, giving you more range. Nickle plating, as far as I know, is only used to improve the aerodynamics of individual pellets, creating a more consistent pattern.

Heavy Metal shot is more dense than lead and just as malleable so it carries more energy and hits harder still, although they typically are quite a bit slower than other shells.
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