Lots of good responses!
1. The quarry is for a pest control operation to remove Muscovy ducks - trapping failed and so we have permits to use air guns. it is completely legal, to the point the Sheriff’s deputy was spectating and saying “nice shot.” I know ducks can be a touchy subject. Tonight is operation #3, and will likely be the last op.
2. Muscovy ducks are the M1 Abrams of ducks. The reality of the operation is we dont get sufficient chance for head shots, as once the first duck goes down, the rest start to “turbo waddle” and looking all around. So that leaves body shots.
3. It’s difficult to hit the heart from the majority of angles because they are THICK with feathers and bones. Most of the shots had to come from the side. They have VERY thick feathers, and so to get at the heart means penetrating a thick plumage, a wing, sometimes wing bones, then more plumage between the wing and body, then a lot of bones, and Muscovies have some pretty hefty skeletons.
4. As far as I know, nothing like a “pointed slug” exists. I did fare well with pointed Eun Jins, NSA 55-grain slugs, H&N Barracuda Hunter Extreme, and JSB Exact King Heavy. I got the best penetration from NSA 55gr, but they’re tough to cram into the breach. Eun Jin penetrated well when it actually flew straight. JSB was kinda in the middle, but i didn’t use it much, in favor of heavier ammo.
5. Did not fare well with lighter ammo. My go-to is NSA 26.8gr and it was on the light side of penetration. Polymags won’t penetrate like I need them to - too many layers of feather, meat, and bone will open up their expansion.
Final thoughts:
If there’s a non-lead alloy pointed ammo that is also heavy - perhaps even domed - I think that would be close to what I would need.
