Buckshot mold

[BJK]

Today was too windy for casting even if I had a better pot for melting lead. So what is an eager noob caster to do? Of course I made ammo. FWIW, I can walk a few steps out of my shop and shoot all I want.

My goal with the buckshot are reduced recoil and reduced length 12ga shotshells. I'd love to get them as short as the Aguila 1 3/4" shells. Or at least that was my goal. But frankly they are possibly too short. I had one reverse ends in testing and that just won't do if I have to use these shells for their intended and hopefully never needed use.

I bought a mess of 1oz WW #8 loads. I've been removing the powder (saving everything that comes out), cutting off the shock absorber from the wad, and putting everything back into place but reducing the shot to 7/8 oz' and roll crimping. Those test loads proved the viability of the technique. Eventually I'll use another 7/8oz load in the form of a slug, but that mold needs to be delivered.

But on to the #4 buckshot. So I had the cast buckshot and laid the 3 shot "strings" into the wad. 5 of them fit in it pretty nicely (15 total #4s). Checking the weight they weighed .700 oz. My test loads of #8 shot were 7/8oz or .875 oz so I had plenty of reduced payload. I figured it would be safe. Tested one and shot it against a dog food bag at about 10 yards. I found 5 holes. A few of them were oblong so I'm going to assume the shot didn't come apart in firing. I couldn't care less about that. A 3/4 wide wound channel works for me. The pattern was maybe 6" wide out of the cyl bored KS7. I want these for close range anyway, "just in case" during these days of anarchists and domestic terrorism.

So I made 14 more and now I'm out of buckshot. Fired some more and the reduced recoil goal was clearly met, they are definitely reduced recoil. I have no idea what the velocity is though and I'm reluctant to shoot any shotshell of any type through my skyscreens. So I'm stymied there. Maybe I'll ask for a LabRadar for Christmas.

So now I need a better pot, one without holes and one that will stand up to molten lead. The slug mold also needs to be delivered.

Whoops! I forgot! It never happened w/o pics...

Mine vs Aguila. Yes, I know the Aguila is a slug. I have never been able to find their buckshot load.


Another view.

[centershot]

All in all, I'd have to say "Well done, BJK!". For your purpose I'm not sure that cutting the pellets apart is necessary, unless you need to shoot small critters for food during the coming civil disturbances.

[BJK]

Thanks.

What I might need these for are larger, 2 legged, and potentially found in my home, but only if I need to clear it. I have other options for someone in my home and in the free fire zone. It would pretty much be suicide for anyone to be there (I'm a competitive shooter). I live in rural USA in a very low crime state (Maine) so the odds of me ever using these shells for that are quite remote. But one can never be certain. Plus I'm a gun guy and I'm enjoying learning things I never had to do before.

I figure 5 pieces of lead mayhem at close range (or more pieces if they should break up) and delivered at one time disrupt more tissue than even rapidly delivered 9mms (takes longer). Maybe not more than 5.56 though. Too, 10 rounds of these shells deliver more problems to the recipient than single 9mm bullets. 150 buckshot as compared to 18 or 30 or so 9mm, and again they get delivered so much faster.

I just wish I had a handle on the velocity. They're completely useless if they don't penetrate.

[la5676]

Thanks.

What I might need these for are larger, 2 legged, and potentially found in my home, but only if I need to clear it. I have other options for someone in my home and in the free fire zone. It would pretty much be suicide for anyone to be there (I'm a competitive shooter). I live in rural USA in a very low crime state (Maine) so the odds of me ever using these shells for that are quite remote. But one can never be certain. Plus I'm a gun guy and I'm enjoying learning things I never had to do before.

I figure 5 pieces of lead mayhem at close range (or more pieces if they should break up) and delivered at one time disrupt more tissue than even rapidly delivered 9mms (takes longer). Maybe not more than 5.56 though. Too, 10 rounds of these shells deliver more problems to the recipient than single 9mm bullets. 150 buckshot as compared to 18 or 30 or so 9mm, and again they get delivered so much faster.

I just wish I had a handle on the velocity. They're completely useless if they don't penetrate.

I chrono my shotshells all the time through my Pro-Chrono. At 3-4 ft, unless you just can't shoot between the antennas to save your life, the pattern is not going to expand enough to damage those rods.

[BJK]

I wasn't thinking 4'. Maybe I'll give it a try. My aim should be good enough.

But if it isn't, that would be a good excuse to replace it with a Labradar.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Guys,,, all you gotta do is remove the Rods and "SkyScreens from the Chrony and you won't' shoot them. They work just fine without them. Shoot about 18" above the unit.

I saw a guy Chronoing his Slingshots with a Chrony set up that way.

Randy.

[BJK]

It sure is easy to cast buckshot; #1 when you know how to do it, and #2, when the gear is better. The first time I suffered along, the second time was better, but this time was best of all. I'm getting there.

First, I got a honkin' huge burner for refining wheel weights and turning them into (too big) ingots. I can just cast thinner ingots to fix the size issue. And I got a new regulator and orifice (#57 if I remember correctly) and that fixed the old burner that is sized more for casting bullets.

Those improvements allowed me to better implement the tips I got from my inquiry here. The weather (I cast outside) was a bit windy today, but I was still able to cast a mess of #4 buckshot today. Moving along kept the mold hot enough for perfect strings of 3 #4 buckshot. Then I added one of my honkin' huge ingots to the frying pan and that stole so much heat that by the time I got back to casting, even though I tried to keep the mold hot I had a time where the buckshot had to warm up the mold. That was despite laying the mold on a piece of 1/4" steel plate next to the pan of lead that I used to capture waste heat and to keep the mold warm.

But it was NOT a repeat of the first run where I had to continually fight to cast anything. Maybe tomorrow will be a less windy day and I'll be able to find out what it's like to even have the weather cooperate.

I need a better melting pot and eventually I'll find what I want. I bought a Lodge frying pan from Wally World but I'd like it much more if the sides were higher. I'll find something better once the lawn sales start up again in the spring. For now what I have will do. Too, I need to recast my ingots into thinner ingots. I'm using small loaf pans for individual loaves of bread. I've been filling them and that's just too much lead stealing heat in the frying pan. I'll recast them into thinner ingots. I might pre-warm them on the piece of steel, using the waste heat, before adding them to the pan. I'll figure it out.

Time sure does fly when casting. I was surprised at how fast it passed.

Anyway, I was sorta tickled that today went so well and something I considered to be something I'd never do is turning out to be doable.