Home Forums Birds & Dogs Upland Game Federal Prairie Storm working well

Started using this stuff late last season. Shooting 3" #4s with 1 5/8 of shot. These are 12 ga of course. Since going to these have had a far greater percentage of dead birds vs cripples. Kind of spendy but I'm buying more. And the few quail I just shot with them didn't have tons of pellets in them. Had a rooster and 10 quail flush at once so I am going in loaded for rooster and whatever else gets shot is just a bonus.

Just noticed Federal is offering a $50 rebate on a case of this stuff.

It does look like good stuff. A mix of copper plated and nickel plated 4's, and at high velocity, should be a hammer.

I have been using nickel plated 5's and 4's for many years, and they just kill better than plain lead.

The shells might be pricey, but, really, they are the cheapest part of the hunt and they have the most important job to do. Why skimp on shells?

My granddaughter and her boyfriend gave me a box of them for Christmas last year- I don't think they like me. I started waterfowling in the lead era and even then learned I am not a fan of either heavy payloads nor high velocity and especially not both. The old "pigeon load" of an ounce and a quarter of shot at -1220 fps has done wonders on the late season wild birds I shoot and do not smack me nearly as hard. I do load my shells with hard lead copper or nickel plated (not washed or soft lead) #4 or 5 shot and sometimes a filler for when longer shots are likely.

High velocity in shotshells is not what it's cracked up to be. One does not get as much benefit at longer ranges in velocity and patterns as one would think as well as the added recoil is a detriment over all. One may not consciously notice recoil but the subconscious does and it never forgets. "More and faster" is a good selling point but there is a limit to that mantra. The standard 1 1/4 oz "high velocity" load is that point for me, even with a gas gun.

I agree with woodmaster I load 1 1/8 to 1 3/8 at around the 1220 fps. Not a lot of gains with high velocity with a shotgun. I will add that patterning is the most important thing a shotgunner should do in my opinion.

Maybe its just the larger shot size, but I am having way fewer runners than I did with #6 shot loads. And last time out I was 7 for 8 on wild birds so for me its working. Here is to hoping I empty a lot more of the case of them I have in the next 2 months. I would note that the pheasants that we are hunting are public land and rarely hold tight for us. I'll take any edge I can get on them.

I do have a 16 gauge that will be shooting 1 1/8 of 5s at around 1250 or so. Hoping to try it out in an area that has more quail than pheasants.

7 for 8 is darn good shooting !!!! congrats. Without a dog our pheasants hold really tight and get up close in my experience. The "pointing" breeds of dogs just aren't good farm dogs so I don't have one. Good luck with the rest of the season.

It was a career day for me lol. But thinking the extra pellets aren't hurting me. Good luck to you saskfox as well.

I've found the 3" 20ga #5 Prairie Storm to work super on wild roosters!! If non-toxic isn't required, that's what I use. I'm considering buying a case of it for roosters and squirrels.

it could be that the heavier loads pattern better in your shotgun. My experience, which is substantial, is that heavy loads and large shot don't help but rather hurt. YMMV.

BK, I don't have deep experience with this stuff. What loads and chokes are you using? I'll be taking notes. Also, any experience with 16 gauge loads?

I shoot a 16 ga quite a bit, I have used at least one 16 ga gun since the mid-1970s. My primary gun is a Browning Citori which I have been using since 1987 when I bought it. Since then I've used as back ups several A-5s, a couple of Savage 311s, and a handful of other makes and models. I currently have a 311 and an A-5 as back ups.

The Citori has choke tubes and I typically stick Mod/Mod in it for pheasants. Occasionally, I'll put in an IC or Full depending on the birds' actions but that isn't too often. The other guns have all had fixed chokes with Mod/Full in the doubles and mostly Full in the single barrels. My current A-5 was opened to Mod by a previous owner.

Factory loads for the 16 ga are pretty meager. 1 1/8 oz of shot is the most common with a few magnum loads of 1 1/4 oz. Most are offered with #6 shot which I am no longer enamoured with for pheasants. One can find them with #4 shot, especially the magnums, which is my preference for factory loads. The biggest problem is few loads use quality shot which limits the performance of this gauge.

For this reason I load most of my 16 ga shells. Standard is 1 1/8 oz of hard lead #5s in the mid1200 fps range. I don't load heavier loads or shot size as I have a mixed case of Federal Premium and Winchester Super X magnums I've picked up here and there over the years. If I had to rely on factory loads I would look really hard at Fiocchi's Golden Pheasant line. I think it is the best currently available.

I use much the same loads and chokes in the 12 ga. Modified is most common but there is the occasional use if Light Mod or Imp Mod depending on circumstances or gun. I load a heavy trap load of 5s most of the time with the previous mentioned pigeon load of 4s for longer birds. The 12 ga most often gets pulled out when traveling for a combo of pheasant and waterfowl and space is limited or if non-toxic shot is often called for.