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Thread: BB's for shotshells. Feasible financially?

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy Bob in St. Louis's Avatar
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    BB's for shotshells. Feasible financially?

    Was curious if anybody has used BB's (the .177 kind we used as kids) and if it was financially feasible to use for shot in a shotgun. I have no idea how many it takes to make an ounce, but (last I checked) they were pretty cheap.
    Thanks!

  2. #2
    Boolit Master
    NoZombies's Avatar
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    They're not cheap, and being plated steel, aren't great for most things.

    Buying shot is much cheaper.
    Nozombies.com Practical Zombie Survival

    Collecting .32 molds. Please let me know if you have one you don't need, cause I might "need" it!

  3. #3
    Boolit Buddy Bob in St. Louis's Avatar
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    Roger that.
    I thought I had a neat idea that would save some money, but it sounds like it wasn't. haha

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bob in St. Louis View Post
    Roger that.
    I thought I had a neat idea that would save some money, but it sounds like it wasn't. haha
    No problem, I think we've all had worse ideas than that.
    Nozombies.com Practical Zombie Survival

    Collecting .32 molds. Please let me know if you have one you don't need, cause I might "need" it!

  5. #5
    Boolit Buddy Bob in St. Louis's Avatar
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    So I'm in good company.

  6. #6
    Boolit Buddy
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    If you care about your barrel don't do it. BB shot is a lot harder than the "steel" shot for waterfowl.

  7. #7
    Boolit Buddy Bob in St. Louis's Avatar
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    Ahhh... I didn't think about that. But wouldn't the wad protect it anyway?

  8. #8
    Boolit Man
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    It is totally financially feasible. 6000 bb's can be had for $8 from amazon ( http://amzn.to/2cGqGC4 ). 6000 BB's is a bit over 5lbs, making the shot $1.50 per pound for small quantities, vs buying normal steel shot being $20 for 10lbs. So financially, yes, best option if that is the size of shot you are wanting to shoot. I can't speak for how hard it is vs normal steel shot, but as thick as those wads are it sure seems like it would protect the barrel. Now, if you are comparing to lead shot, then I'd say no. Sure, lead shot is a bit more than $1.50 per pound, but steel shot wads are WAY more than lead shot wads. $10-15 for 100 vs $10-15 for 500.

  9. #9
    Boolit Buddy Bob in St. Louis's Avatar
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    Interesting.
    My main goal here is walking out in the back yard and blowing stuff up. Milk jugs filled with water, then frozen, give some instant gratification that paper targets just can't do. Buckshot and slugs are WAY too expensive for antics like these. So I don't care (much) about accuracy, and don't care (much) about stopping power, and I've got other plans for those shells. I'm just looking to "tweak and plink" and have some fun.

  10. #10
    Boolit Grand Master GhostHawk's Avatar
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    Buy yourself a buckshot mold or 2.
    I have one in .22 caliber I like the looks of. Some 30 of those in a 1 1/8 load. Being lead it is easier on barrel and wad.

    I have been eyeballing the 6 cavity round ball molds for muzzle loaders. No sprue cutting to mess with. Balls should rain nicely out of those. I have also seen the Lee buckshot molds where it makes strings of 3 shot without cutting. Seems most break before hitting target.

    I have a pair of the sharpshooter molds and I love them. I redid the handles on mine to be a bit smaller around and twice as long. I have small hands and it keeps me away from the heat. With a little organization clipping balls can be done later in front of the tv.

  11. #11
    Boolit Man
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    Bob, if blasting is your goal, this is the correct answer (or get a $22 lee slug mold). Buy a sharpshooter mold ( www.buckshotmold.com ) for about $40, then have shot for just the cost of lead. His molds run very hot so you'll need a pair of heavy duty gloves, but you can quickly cast a lot of buckshot 20 pieces at a time (or you can get the Lee mold that does 18, I have not used it). With 00 buck you need 8 pellets for a 1oz load, so every time you cast with that mold it would be 2 and 1/2 shots worth. With $1 per lb lead you'll have 6.25 cents in the shot. You'll be able to load a box of 25 shells for under $5.

    I own several of the sharpshooter molds, though I did get a couple of them at discount price for the factor seconds when those sold on ebay. I have 000 (though I haven't actually loaded any of that), 00, .310 (which actually casts .305), and #4 buck. I am hoping to add a 30 cavity .19 or .20 BBB or T shot for a varmint load with more pellets. Of course, then I want a #2 and/or #3 buck since those fit 20ga better, though I don't want them enough to spend the extra $80 on top of all the other molds (since #4 buck will fit 20ga decently and the .305 will fit if using hard cards instead of plastic wads).

    Quote Originally Posted by GhostHawk View Post
    Buy yourself a buckshot mold or 2.
    I have one in .22 caliber I like the looks of. Some 30 of those in a 1 1/8 load. Being lead it is easier on barrel and wad.

    I have been eyeballing the 6 cavity round ball molds for muzzle loaders. No sprue cutting to mess with. Balls should rain nicely out of those. I have also seen the Lee buckshot molds where it makes strings of 3 shot without cutting. Seems most break before hitting target.

    I have a pair of the sharpshooter molds and I love them. I redid the handles on mine to be a bit smaller around and twice as long. I have small hands and it keeps me away from the heat. With a little organization clipping balls can be done later in front of the tv.
    Last edited by Spudgunr; 09-09-2016 at 06:50 AM.

  12. #12
    Boolit Master


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    Below is a good read, if your interested in NOT ruining your shot gun barrel with steel shot.

    http://chuckhawks.com/steel_shot_barrel_damage.htm

  13. #13
    Boolit Buddy Greg's Avatar
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    Bob in St Louis -

    Grafs in St Charles has bags of lead shot...less money than Bass Pro or Cabelas

    and wads, primers, load books
    God Bless ya'll
    Greg

    Je suis Charlie

    "You can observe a lot by watching."- Yogi Berra

    Shooters Talk Refugee

  14. #14
    Boolit Buddy Bob in St. Louis's Avatar
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    There's a lot of great information. Thank you very much fellas, I'll chew on that.
    I did get a Lee 1 ounce slug mold. But I guess in the name of "being cheap", I'm always looking for less expensive.
    My shotgun is not only mag fed, it's also drum fed. So when I say I'm looking to go cheap, it's because that gun eats ammo like a fat kid eats ice cream.

  15. #15
    Boolit Man
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bob in St. Louis View Post
    There's a lot of great information. Thank you very much fellas, I'll chew on that.
    I did get a Lee 1 ounce slug mold. But I guess in the name of "being cheap", I'm always looking for less expensive.
    My shotgun is not only mag fed, it's also drum fed. So when I say I'm looking to go cheap, it's because that gun eats ammo like a fat kid eats ice cream.
    If you want to go cheap, use this calculator: http://www.ewrg.org/sscalc.html

    This will show you where the opportunities lie. In this case there is as much opportunity in powder as there is shot. If you use WAAlite or Titewad and a 3/4oz load you'll get down to $3.75 per box of 25, 15 cents per round. If you cast your own slugs or buckshot and can reuse your lead, then your lead is nearly free. In that case lets call it 40 cents per pound, then you are getting down to under $3 per box

  16. #16
    Boolit Buddy Bob in St. Louis's Avatar
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    Excellent information, thank you very much!

  17. #17
    Boolit Master
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    Just to add 0.02 of BS, you could make your own shot at home, using a sieve and a bucket of water. You can melt lead scrap and have some irregular shaped shot for very little. I've been looking into most small-scale shotmakers, and they look like a matter of a hot container and a small holed dripper and a ramp directing the shot to soapy water, oil or radiator coolant.

    Had no time to try my hand at the homemade shotmaker, but have done some with a sieve. If it's just for blowing stuff in the backyard, it's ok, otherwise, patterns are pretty crazy due to the weird shot shape.

  18. #18
    Boolit Master
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    like randy said if you care about barrel DONT use them . but you hard headed guys can and see what happens
    you asked and 2 have told you NOT to use you go from there

  19. #19
    Boolit Buddy Bob in St. Louis's Avatar
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    Uhhh yea... I got the picture on the hard stuff. Thanks man.

  20. #20
    Boolit Buddy Bob in St. Louis's Avatar
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    Well, here's an update on what I did. I've been reading up on using the lead shot in cheap birdshot, recasting it in Lee slugs, and putting it back in the hull.
    I bought the 20# melting pot, and the 1oz mold and some cheap ammo. I made a wooden hull cutter and cut up a box of #8 birdshot.




    I "smoked" the mold, and preheated it before the first pour.
    I re-cast (25) 1 1/8oz birdshot shells into (25) 1oz Lee slugs.
    I've heard that by using 1 1/8oz shells, you can end up with one extra slug for every 16 slugs cast. So I was a bit disappointed that I got a 1:1 ratio when my ordinance weight went down.
    But, in all fairness, I do believe that in larger batches, you will end up with extra slugs.
    By the time the pot ran out of lead, there was enough "sludge" in the bottom to make two more slugs, but it was unpourable.
    If that makes sense.


    My son had some extra pellets that he hasn't fired in 10 years, so I stole them and cast them to.
    That net me ten more slugs. So I've got 35 now.


    It's actually kinda fun, but an afternoon of it would get old. The monotony and boredom might cause for a hazardous condition if one wasn't careful.


    Some are shiny, some are dull. A couple were wrinkly or "odd" looking, so those got dumped back into the pot.
    Afterwards, I melted some candle wax into the hinge points of the mould/mold and gave it a wipe down. This made it glide better than straight out of the box.




    Put the slugs back in the hulls and used hot glue to hold it in.
    I don't like the "hull cutter" I made, as it takes too much of the hull off, and actually exposes the wad.
    So I had to inject hot glue into the crevices of the wad flower to help hold everything together.
    I will not be using this hull cutter again. Too messy.


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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check