whats yalls input, are they worth the 23 dollars a box or is there somthing better out there that i should spend my buck on? thank you

i shoot kent fast steels. just as good a shell as black cloud, and cheaper.

not worth it.

I can buy 2.5 boxes of blue box federals for the price of 1 box of black cloud.

Even the way I shoot, I can kill more ducks with 75 shells than 25.

What I have found, if I put the pattern on the bird, it falls dead, otherwise it don't. That said I use kent faststeel 3" #4. I should switch to 2 3/4 inch.

Great shells......Worth 23 a box? Probably not, but that doesn't keep me from shooting them.

Get them if you can afford them. I can't (and cheap), so I shoot the cheapest I can find.

They definitely make a difference, but not necessary.

Not worth it, I shoot the cheap winchesters. Been killing ducks for me for about 10 seasons strong. I've never complained about them.

I don't like'em but I know some guys do. They pattern a bit tighter than other shells in my experience.

Saying that I am shooting reloads this year 2 3/4 of fast death

im shooting the kents

I have used the Winchester's and the regular Fed's and the only thing i've notice about the BC is less wounded birds. if i can afford them i get them, just keeps me from using that 2 3/4 #6 "swatter" shot to finish them.

x2

The shells throw a good pattern out of my benelli cordoba with a cylinder choke but they are noticably more dirty. A good cheap alternative is Wolf. You can find it on Midwayusa.com.

They are only worth it if you actually take the time to get the set up right. Buy some BC choke tubes and work with your patterning before you go to the water. I've also learned over the past three years that we have been duck hunting, you can do this with almost any shell. If you get the choke tube and load working together on your shotgun to produce the results you need and want your gonna knock birds out of the air. We shoot BC and if we get to go this year we will be shooting it again but we have the set up that works for us. We shoot #4 BC with Trulok Modified BC choke tubes in 870's and they work great. I will be testing #2's and #3's before we hit the water this time around as well.

Black Cloud =waste of money

Walmart Remington 3 inch #4 pellet=smart dollar spent

Like Guy said, put a good pattern on the bird and they fall dead.
You don't need a dollar a shot to kill a duck.

Black Cloud works. There's a reason they cost a couple bucks more. (you can find them on sale here and there for under $20)

If they weren't worth the extra couple of $, they'd be out of business.
You can tout Kent or other brands as great because a lot of their boxes are sold, but then again there are a lot of McDonald's meals sold versus "real food".

Everyone has high opinions of their choice of shells. I just know that after tooling around with a number of cheaper shell brands, when I bought a box of Black Cloud I had better take down ratios.
Why would you spend all this $ to duck hunt and buy the equivalent of a Kia car for your shells?
Shoot a box of BC 4's and decide for yourself.

Dirty? My gun is fairly clean after a bunch of BC shots each trip to the pond. Not sure what that comment is about.

I like them and just ordered several cases from cabelas for less than $16 a box plus Here you can get an additional $20 off the order.

# 2 favorite is the kent's they are also great shells

Either way you go your going to have to play with the chokes to figure out which works best for your gun.

I shot a box of the new rem's last weekend, couldn't kill a thing, switched to black clouds and did well. But I know how my gun shoots with those shells and a mid range choke. I suspect the rem's needed a tighter choke in my gun and would Also do fine.

x2.. it doesn't matter what you shoot if you hit the bird right it's going to fall and if you dontt hit him right he will keep on flying

Every year we have this same discussion about black cloud and every year I post this question. When I get a scientific answer that I believe is correct then I will shut up about it. So the discussion begs a question. When the Black Cloud pellets (weight A) leave the barrel (at speed X) what is the differnece between Black Cloud and lets say Rios or Winchester or whatever shotgun shell you choose for the comparison. Tell me the difference, educate me on the dynamics involved here. Then please explain why I would pay 2 to 3 times more for a box of shotgun shells when I have absolutely no problem killing ducks out to 40 yards with off the shelf Remington 3 inch #4 pellet. Kill them like a stone flew them. Last please tell me any shell on the shelf that can't do that when the combination has been tuned on the paper. Maybe I should clarify. Show me any shell that can't kill a bird stone dead when the shell and choke are producing a 75 precent pellet retention in a 30 inch circle at 30 yards.

If you can convince me you have the right answer to the above then I will go out right now and buy a box of over marketed box of crap magic, oh I mean black Cloud.

Yeah they're with it but I don't use them anymore since I put the patternmaster full on my gun. Everything is going to be tight with a full choke.

Are the square wad stopper studs on the inside of your Pattern Master getting beat up and knurled looking?

I only shoot BC when I can wake up my pitbull from my sons crib to fetch my ducks......the debates on here are the same each year.

If not, they eventually will.

I shoot kents. I hate winchester shells. I have shot BC and havent noticed a bit of difference, other than my gun is dirty as hell afterwards.

I actually got to see a demonstration between Black Clouds and Kent Fast Steels this past weekend. A buddy of mine, his son, and his brother almost simultaneously ran out of Black Clouds while hunting. My buddy reaches into his blind bag and pulls out the Kents and distributes them to the group. I'll tell you now that the birds did not notice a difference as they continued to fall from the sky at the same rate with the cheaper shells. there may be some added science associated with the Black Clouds but I am going to give some of the cheaper alternatives a test drive before I pay $25.99/box (Academy) for my next box of Black Clouds.

BCs are cheaper at Dicks than Academy...might be the only thing cheaper at Dicks.

There have been at least 20 BC threads in the last two years on here.

Personally I view them like many other more expensive products. Take a hunting coat for example...you can buy a cheap game winner one for $60 or a $300 Under Armor one. Will you still be able to hunt in either...yeah...is the UA one better...sure but is it 5 times better...no. You will always pay a premium for something that's just a little better.