Home Forums Birds & Dogs Waterfowl Federral "Black Cloud" shotshell experience?

Anyone patterned those cutting on impact Black Cloud Federal loads yet.

If so, how do they "fly" - a curiousity question?

btt I'm curious as well.

great ammo really flies=wads hitting the pattern board at 40 yards

What choke are you using? I read a couple of reports that say these loads aren't responsive to choke tubes, meaning that the patterns were all the same whether the shooter was using modified, imp. modified, or full chokes. What is your experience with them?

I bet they are proud of them. Can't imagine the cost.

Cabela's is selling 12 gauge, 3" loads, in BBB, BB, 2, and 4 shot, for $20.99 a box, 25 shells per box, or $189.99 for a case of 10 boxes. Advertised velocity is 1,450 fps.

By comparison, they are selling their Hevi-Shot 3" Duck Loads for $22.99 for a box of 10 shells, or $219.99 per case of 10 boxes.

I'm going to give the Black Cloud a shot this duck season (pun intended).

If the pellets are superior to round shot, why is 60% of it mixed in?

What are the aerodynamics on a cereal bowl?

The more things change...

With the Black Cloud, all the pellets are round. The black ones have a very thin, raised band around the middle of the pellet which supposedly enhances penetration. The wad is also different, in that it is flared at the back at the back, which according to the marketing gurus holds the pattern together, longer. I saw a commercial for Black Cloud shells last night, and it showed them shooting the ammo into ballistics gel at a range of 15 yards, and the wad penetrated 12 inches of gel.

I would assume round is a relative term.

I'm really tryin' to keep an open mind...

Well, rounder than hevi-shot anyway. Also, round isn't the most aerodynamic shape. From what I've read, these shells seem to pattern pretty well, and also penetrate further than regular steel shot. I'll find out in October when I make my annual trek to upstate New York for ducks in the Henderson area.

Yes, I remember when tungsten was the reinvention of the wheel.

I'm looking forward to your opinion and experience after this fall.

Good luck and good shooting.

You're right, everyone is trying to build a better mousetrap. I plan on doing some patterning tests tomorrow. I'll use my Benelli SBE II and wring it out using improved, modified and full, factory chokes. I'll let you know how it goes.

Just saw a flier in this morning's newspaper - Dick's Sporting Goods has them on sale for $16.99 in 12 gauge, 3 inch.

I wonder how hard those pellets are going to be on barrels. I had a guy from Beretta tell me not to shoot Hevi-Shot in my shotguns because they were getting alot of barrels being sent back into due to damage from shooting Hevi-Shot.

Got back from the gun club about an hour ago, and I'm quite impressed with the patterns they shot. I used 12 gauge, 3", number 4s at 35 yards on 30 inch circle, on square sheets of meat wrapping paper. Using improved, modified, and full chokes, 90% of the pellets were within the circle, regardless of the choke used. I think these son of a guns will work, and can't wait to try them out on live quackers.

One thing that has popped up on various waterfowl hunting forums about the Black Cloud loadings is a warning not to use any type of choke tube that momentarily slows down, or retards the progress of the wad. With these loadings, the wad can't be slowed down, or patterns will be horible. A lot of the guys who are shooting them suggest that even with regular choke tubes, that you don't use anything tighter than modified, and are even suggesting using I.C. for all ranges.

Am taking some to Alberta in about two weeks for ducks and geese, so will find out soon.

JB

JB, I look forward to your feedback. Good luck on your hunt.

Here is some information I received from the folks at Federal.

I've recently purchased a case of Federal Black Cloud Steel Shot in 3"
12 gauge. Around several internet chat rooms there are comments being
made that due to the design of the wad used in the Black Cloud Shells,
one needs to avoid using the Pattern Master Chokes because they strip
the wad from the shot string and produce bad patterns. I'll be using a
new Benelli SBE II for an upcoming duck hunt, and I'm wondering if there
is truth to this story, and, what brand of choke tubes do you suggest.
We'll be shooting over decoys at 30 - 35 yards, and also doing some pass
shooting. I look forward to your reply. Thank you. Mike Homcha


Greetings

The new Flite Control wad eliminates most of
The things we needed for good patterns.

I would use an IC that came with the gun as
Optimal performance is obtained using

Non Ported tubes

No wad stripper feature

Constriction of .665-.675 or even more open.

been watching this and like the price of the Black Cloud ammo as compaired to other "special" hunting loads.
Mike, when you say you got 90% without reguard to choke, were you using IC, M, and F? Also did the pattern dia. change as you changed chokes?

Thanks for the info this post has provided so far.

I used Cabela's extended choke tubes is IC, M, and F. In my experience, Cabela's choke tubes are a bit more open than what is marked on the package and the tubes themselves. I went back and looked at the targets, and the IC targets were better, in that there were no large gaps on paper, that would have resulted in a missed or wounded Mallard. With the modified and full choked targets, there were some larger gaps, even though 90% of the pellets were on target. In my Benelli, IC seems to be the way to go.

thanks for the info....

I will be watching to see how they perform in the field.
Our season does not start until late Nov. so maybe someone will have real world feedback before I even get to go.

Looks to me like they cast this shot and didn't remove the casting line leftovers (due to more expense), then advertised that it would be better. A Chit sandwich with Raspberry jelly (the jelly is the advertising).

I don't care what they look like, as long as I hear bang/splash.

Looks like the intent is to achieve Full patterns at distance. In other words, I won't use this in my OC choked Browning at the beaver pond as it'll obliterate them. BUT it'll transform that same gun into a long-range pass shooter by using those shells? Might be worth a try.

I used some on our last day of early season goose. All 3 of use had our limit.

I was using BBB with IC. Group very well at 40yds. I'm pretty impressed with the stuff. Will be trying some more out this weekend.

Thanks for the report from the field. In a couple of weeks, I'll be headed north to New York for a couple of days of puddle duck hunting, and I'll give the 2s and 4s a field test of my own.

I'll second waiting on your field report and type of chokes used too

I was on the phone this evening with my guide/outfitter (Bill Saiff), from up in N.Y. I asked him if he's had anyone hunting with this stuff yet, and he said about half a dozen hunters. He said it seems to work well; holds tight patterns, really knocks them down, but does appear to do more damage to the meat than other types of shells. The hunters who used the Black Cloud shells, all were shooting I.C.

I had a chance to try them out this weekend on a hunt in upstate New York. Unfortunately, the weather, and waterfowl didn't cooperate. It rained heavily all day Saturday, and was being driven by winds up to 40 miles an hour. Birds just weren't flying. I took three shots all day: missed the first, and then on the second, I slam dunked two drake mallards with one shot-passing right to left at 30 yards, 15 feet off the water. Flat out hammered them. The third shot was a finisher on a hen mallard that my buddy knocked down using #4 heavi shot, and was still swimming strongly 25 yards away. The finisher was immediately fatal. I used Black Cloud #4s with an IC.



Today we hunted Canadian Geese (the giant honkers). I shot my 3 bird limit. I used Black Cloud #2s with an IC, and all 3 were shot between 35 and 45 yards. All kills were instantaneous.

On both the ducks and the geese, tissue damage was massive, with a lot of blood clots.

I liked what I saw, but realize that 3 ducks, and 3 geese, don't qualify for a scientific conclusion. I will say that from what I've seen so far, I'm impressed, and will give them another try next month.

Killed 4 geese with 5 shots out to about 40 yards with this stuff. I definately makes bigger wound channels but didn't have to chase any cripples. I normally use heavy-shot on geese. On long shots it's tough to beat. IMHO, Tom