Buckshot PERFECTION!

[Huntsman]

I've watched a few of Bubba roundtree's videos and between his and Fortune Cookie45LC I learned quite a few things about Lee slug and buckshot loading.
good efforts on their part imo

[RMc]

Hogtamer,

You assembled all the parts of the buckshot handloading puzzle:

-Hard cast pellets to resist deformation.
-A Slower burning powder for "gentle" acceleration.
-A Loose fitting two pellet per layer stack with buffer to allow the .31" pellets to shift inward without severe compression - thus letting the choke do its best work. (PT 1265 wad average internal diameter .68").
-Shot cup to prevent pellets flats from barrel scrub.

Even the long, (28"), barrel worked to reduce muzzle pressure with slow burn powder.

It would be of great interest to know actual pressure and velocity test results.

You also proved once again it is not just the number of pellets in the load but rather the number of pellets in the core pattern!

So rarely do we get to use the word, "perfection," but this is it as far as I am able to determine with a buckshot load. Here is the result first: 50 measured yds shot off sled out of Rem 870 w/full screw in Remchoke, 28" barrel, front bead only.
Attachment 174465Load data: new fed. 2 3/4" clear hull w/fed209a primer. 27 gr Alliant Steel powder. 1 PT 1265 multimetal wad from Bpi and 1-28 ga 1/8" card in bottom of wad. 12 #1 hard cast pellets out of Track of the wolf 6 cavity mold, 6 stacks of two. (44 gr each for 1.2 oz payload, .310 diameter) BPI buffer filled and shaken to top of pellets in shell. 1 frangible plastic clear OS card from BPI, perfect 6 pt crimp with lee loadall.
Attachment 174466That's 11 pellets you see on the target, 8 of which are within the 8" green shaded area. That's 75% in an 8" circle at 50 yds, no special gun, choke, exotic proprietary components or unobtainium powder. Also, moving ~ 1300+ fps.
Attachment 174467Here's the recovered wad, could load again.
http://www.ballisticproducts.com/PT1...nfo/222PT1265/

I can't imagine better, so I'm calling it Perfect!
Attachment 174487 62 yds, far back as I could get. Didn't do my part and pulled right but blue marked hits, accounting for 9 of 12 pellets, had I not pulled looks like 6 of them would be in the 8" circle.

[RMc]

That is very high antimony content.

7.5% antimony.

[Hogtamer]

Seller on this site has it....good stuff for buckshot.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...shipping-12-10)

[plainsman456]

I cast some number 1 buck for my brother to use in his 12 gauge shotgun.
Been doing it for years and he has not had ant complaints about the killing power of those hard cast pellets.

I found out how to load them while working up some turkey loads using 1 5/8 oz.of number 5 hard shot.
I cut down some hawk wads for the powder seal and remove the cushion and load the shot cup.

Longest shot so far i believe was about 80+- yards.
The doe did not know what happened,just dropped in her tracks.The pellets all went thru and did a lot of damage to their internals.
The mold i have is made by Buckshot.

[Blood Trail]

HT,

I wonder if I slow my load down, if that could create a more circle pattern like you have instead of the verticals shot string my buck load printed? Maybe I could use a full choke them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Plate plinker]

Any of you buck shot loaders figure a way to pattern a load that would be on a plane as in horizontal? Could this be possible with the way the shot are placed and always orienting the shell in the magazine the someway? I was pondering this today and also thought of using two different size shot in the same shell. Any thoughts?

[megasupermagnum]

Duplex loads, 2 or more shot sizes are nothing new. I've played with them some, mostly with big steel shot, but never found any advantage. The idea is to have bigger shot in front of smaller shot, and the drafting effect tightens patterns. I never found this to be the case. I don't think you would ever get a consistent horizontally strung pattern. I've gotten plenty of strung out patterns though, mostly with wads that were not slit enough, or even un-slit.

[jmort]

"Any of you buck shot loaders figure a way to pattern a load that would be on a plane as in horizontal?"

I have seen pictures of shotguns used in the Vietnam war that had something like a vacuum fan nozzle

[Plate plinker]

The Duckbill? I don't believe that is allow in this game. Rules state no diverters. Was thinking some wad modifications or stacking techniques?

[jmort]

I found it, the Duckbill 37



"Ithaca 37 used by the Navy SEALs in the Vietnam War. The muzzle has been adapted to spread the shot in a horizontal pattern."

[GEOMETRIC]

Hogtamer, you hit on a really pertinent point few hunters ever consider. You are very right, a head on deer shot is definitely much harder to make than a broadside shot. Buckshot was & in some places still is the weapon of choice around here. I personally don't use it unless I'm on a dog hunt. Most of the deer I have killed have been instant one shot kills with both rifle & buckshot but it seems my standards are higher than most. L.C. Smith you say? I killed two really nice bucks with Pops 30" L.C. Smith. I didn't measure the distance but I would guess about 40 yds. It put the entire load of 12 "OO" in the heart/lung area & both bucks dropped like a hickory nut at the crack of the shot. I have a safe full of Elsies, a 10, a 20 & 4, 12 ga. They are primarily duck & goose guns. My go to gun when I am dog hunting is my SXS Beretta model 410 (not .410 ga.) 10 ga. with 28" bbls. & sporting Briley custom choke tubes. It won't pattern better than my other 10 ga. guns with longer barrels but it is a bit easier to manage in thick cover when you have to shoot fast. Any of them will put 8 "OOO" in 8" at 60 yds. but I really don't like to shoot at deer that far with buckshot. I have rolled more than a few at that range to be sure. Also, I don't always use the tightest patterning loads. Why would you want to shoot a load that patterns that tight when you can't see beyond 35 or 40yds.? I once hunted a lot with my brother's father-in-law. He killed twenty something deer a year with a 16 ga. fox shooting factory #1 buckshot. He made some pretty long shots, including accidentally killing his best dare dog. He shot at any thing that moved at any range and the real long kills resulted from a lucky pellet in the right place. I hate to think about the number of deer he wounded. I don't like that brand of hunting! Unless I think I can put 8 pellets in the vital kill area, I don't shoot. Yes, I know 6 will do it more often than not & #1's will do it more often than not but "OOO" & "OO" will do it better & more consistently. I don't like to wound game. Some factory buckshot loads have been very good in the past but it seems that the focus of factory buckshot these days is home defense. My favorite deer gun today is my .54 cal. Lyman Plainsman with a patched round ball or my .58 cal. SXS Pedersoli Kodiak double rifle with the patched round ball. For hogs it is eather the .58 Pedersoli with ball or bullet or my Pedersoli SXS Kodiak 45-70. When longer shots are a possibility, my Ruger M 77 in .300 Win. answers the call. The previously mentioned Fox 16 ga. is the same gun my brothers father-in-law shot the hog 3 times in the head with at point blank range while I watched. I would have let it walk. The hog was at bay & I believe I still have a picture of it. I have never seen a hog cleanly killed with buckshot & more often than not, they keep going never to be seen again unless there is a pack of dogs on them to run them down. I have also seen a number of "catch dogs" pursue big hogs in the swamp never to be seen again. Should your experience be more positive, I'm glad you are having better luck.

[usmc1963]

dang good load hogtamer ill be casting #1/4/00 lee 7/8 an lyman525 just got back home been working all over the USA be picking up on my casting were i left off 4 years back

[fcvan]

Growing up out west, buck shot was never a consideration. When I moved to N CA, I became acquainted with with a gentleman who was from the Midwest where it was shotgun only. His family had a breach loading musket that would shoot 12 ga. I learned from him about cut shells in place of slugs as they couldn't afford store bought shells but did load their own with the hand held Lee loader.

George was a knowledgeable and friendly man, a Christian who ran a Christian school around the corner with his wife. When she passed the school was closed and he traveled a few years doing mission work. I was many years his junior and we did local community theater together. Funny how some of these threads bring back fond remembrance of people in your lives.

[Bob Fleming]

The Lee .310" round ball six cavity mold blocks are back in stock at Track of the Wolf.