20 ga .310 buckshot load R&D

[hunton35]

First I would like to thank Hogtamer for sharing his loads. Last year my wife said she wanted to hunt. so i figured she could hunt birds , small game , deer, hogs and maybe close turkeys with a 20 ga. I started with some rem game loads and some win aa target loads was looking for larger buckshot than #3 and and found some made by Rio but none around me so started searching for some data and wound up here. found some at bpi lotw but wanted to use the stuff i have and easy to get. i saw somewhere some old alliant data using blue dot and rem and fed hulls with sp20 petals removed und #1 buck , would not fit with the .310 buck that i cast from a 1/8 oz jig mold. the smallest bushing of my lee load all throws 19.1gr of longshot and that is 1gr over max per hodgdons data. rem hull, sp20,1 oz shot, win 209,17.8 grains longshot. hodgdons max load fits with 10 of my cast pellets but i have to cut off the petals and the small upper cushion slots from a rxp20 wad from a game load to test. It should fit with the sp20 and just cutting off the petals. Load#1: rem gl, 17.5 grains longshot, waa20 petals removed,10 my cast pellets at.310, win 209, and fired. cycled the action of the 20 ga standard frame 1100 wit a 28" fixed modified barrel that does not reliably cycle light loads.first pic is of the pattern fired @ 25 steps off hand. all ten on a news paper size sheet 14" patten 7 in a 8" circle. load #2: rem gl, 17.8 grains longshot, rxp20 petals and upper cushion removed 10 .310 pellets, win 209. fired off hand @30 steps.cycled, 19" pattern 7 in a 9" circle,slightly to the right of point of aim and evenly dispersed. Load #3: win aahs, 18 grains longshot, rxp20 upper cushion removed lower cushion and cup retained as a two piece unit 10 .310 pellets, win 209 .tight fit but crimped. Fired @30 steps off hand. all 10 in 16" 6 in 8". I will post the pics as soon as i figure it out.
I consider these safe in my gun ymmv .What i learned was; it is a pain cutin wads but doable. I think i will wait till my sp20's get in and for more testing. mabe find a crony.

[hunton35]

[hunton35]

load #2 load#3

[hunton35]

Attachment 203273 Load#3

[Hogtamer]

Ain't it fun! Ooo those BPI plated buckshot are pricey but they are good quality. You will find them undersized a bit so if you want true "book" diameter buy a size larger. Those are good killing patterns hunton and will be ample to take the smallish deer in Florida.

[hunton35]

recovered wads from #1 and #3.. #1 was a once fired win wad i found outback on left. #3 was the modified rxp20.

[hunton35]

most places i hunt 40 or 50 yards is a average shot sittin on the ground or in the cypress.. i have shot alot of factory buckshot that didnt shoot this well in 12ga . i think if she does her part she will be ok with either of these . i like the evenness of #3 the best i think. our deer are on the smallish side 150lb buck would be a goodun most are 125ish. compared to northern deer, but they sure can move on out.

[MyFlatline]

I used a 20 ga for a number of years here in Central Florida, #3 was almost all there were, for a spell you could find some #2's. They didn't pattern as well in my sxs as the #3 do. Your load attachments don't work for me, I am curious on the pattern at say 40 yards. I like to use a paper plate for dialing in buckshot.

[hunton35]

I think I fixed the attachments. MyFlatline.i am curios how they will do at forty also. I will do that next as soon as i get some wads. from a rest also as i think i may have pulled #2. i just fired them at a brown piece of paper. I held on the center. i colored the aimpoint and drew the 8" circle after.

[hunton35]

I think I fixed the attachments. MyFlatline.i am curios how they will do at forty also. I will do that next as soon as i get some wads. from a rest also as i think i may have pulled #2. i just fired them at a brown piece of paper. I held on the center. i colored the aimpoint and drew the 8" circle after.

[MyFlatline]

Looks like you are on the right track. Yes the attachments are fixed, thanks. I will be following.

[izzyjoe]

I've been interested in #1 buck for 20's for a couple years, I made a few of them, but didn't like my results. I've had good luck with the federal #2's, 30yd patterns were doable. That was with a Stevens 28" full choke.