I bought 4 boxes a couple years ago because they were the cheapest. I couldn't hit squat the first time out with them so I went to Federals. The next outing I went back to the Fiocchi's and seemed like I couldn't miss.

after that, no complaints from me. They were 2 3/4" #5.

I just came back from South Dakota and used Fiocchi's for the first time. Typically I use Federal Wing-Shok with 1-1/4 oz of #5. My brother brought 4 boxes of the Fiocchi 1-3/8 oz #5's and told me he heard great things about them and I should try them.

I shot with my Federals the first day to make sure I was on. I shot 7 birds in 90 minutes so I guess I was.

The next day I went with the Fiocchi and for the first few shots I didn't have any problem but after that the shell was incredibly hard to eject from my pump action. My brother and my cousin had the same problem in their pumps. My dad tried them and they worked fine in his semiauto. They did kill birds, however, and I had 6 more in the bag that day.

I plan on giving my gun a good cleaning and trying them again. Hopefully I can finish up the box, but I'll stick with my Federals after that.

Things looked pretty good last Sat: 4 shots, 4 roosters with my Fiocchi 5's. Every bird hit the ground dead. Then I started having problems: 2 shots and the birds kept flying. I'm pretty sure it was the shells...certainly wasn't the shooter or 30mph winds.

Seriously though, these are the first instances I have heard of Fiocchi problems. Are they 3" or 2.75" shells? 3" are more prone to problems ejecting in my pump, especially when doing it quickly.

I'm pretty sure they were 2.75" but I'll check when I get home. What was happening was the brass was being blown out just enough to make it tough coming out of the chamber. You could see the scrapes on the brass. I'd really have to bear down on the fore end to eject it. When I switched back to Federal's, the problem went away. It happened on both my Winchester 1200, my brother's 1200, and my cousin's Remington 870. The shells were bought about 4 weeks at a local sporting goods store.

Thats what I was wondering as I tried desperately to not have a heart attack from chasing that bird. She was on point on another bird. So the wife told me. Didn't feel it was necessary to get mad at her for doing her job,seeing its her first year hunting and all.

I agree with Breuer. Any good bird dog should be able to mark and retrieve most birds. Really should come up with all birds this time of year when the cover is depleted. I can see losing birds in 8 ft. tall corn in early october but not this time of year.
As for Fiocchs, I love the 1 1/4 5's. Were they old shells???

Same thing happens in my O/U. The Brass swells and the ejectors won't remove the shell. a few times I actually had to use a screw driver to pry the shells out. I gave them away and went back to Federals and all is well. I have also noticed this with some Winchester loads.

Brand spankin' new. They were bought in early November.