Cost of loading buckshot rounds.

[W.R.Buchanan]

At my last Front Sight Shotgun class there was a girl next to me and she shot a 12 ga 870 for the entire 4 days and after figuring out how to mount the gun and keep her cheek on the comb of the stock she didn't even have any marks on her. She was all of 5' tall and maybe 95 lbs, but she rocked right along with the guys and I know she could deal with a problem effectively after that class.

I saw her fire a couple of rounds of High Based Buckshot which she didn't really like and showed her the Low Recoil stuff which she did like,,, and bought more of during lunch.

The good thing about small women and shotguns is they generally roll with the punches pretty well so they don't absorb as much recoil as big guys do.

I admire any woman who chooses to get trained with firearms, but am especially fond of Shotgun Girls, most have bigger cajones than the guys they show up with..

Randy

[littlejack]

fcvan
Been on a 5 family reunion.
In my younger days, my family and I were friends with a seasoned deputy sheriff. One day he was relaying his and some of his fellow officers thoughts of facing an armed opponent. He stated that he would a lot rather face a cornered, hardened criminal with a firearm, than a cornered scared teenager with a gun. Reasoning? He/fellow officers, knew very well what the criminal was capable and willing to do. Then, theres the scared cornered and armed teenager with a firearm. He really didn't know what that person was going to do.
So, I guess what I'm relating to you, is that, I would rather face your wife, knowing what she was capable of. But, facing a scared to death woman with a shotgun, or any firearm would not be something I would do.

After thinking about it, I am leaning on just purchasing my buckshot rounds. Also, I will be kept plenty busy casting slugs for my handguns, and the Lyman pellet for my 12/870. Theres some gun shows coming around up north, down south, and of course our fall Albany Rifle and Pistol Club show, here in Linn county. I should be able to pick up a few boxes. Any one here on the forum, and public, is very welcome to come. We put on a great show.
Thanks for all the opinions and responses guys.
Regards

[littlejack]

Before the site changeover, I went to the gun club to do some testing of the factory buckshot loads that I had. I wanted to see what the difference in patterns would be per different manufacturer's, and what effect my rifled barrel would have on the patterns.
The results were quite eye opening to say the least. The reason I originally purchased the rifled barrel, was to improve the accuracy of my Lyman 525 slug loads. It did.
So, on to the next test. I started at 7 yards. Using a 8.5" x 11" sheet of standard paper, with a one inch black dot in the center for a point of aim. Results were:
#1. Estate 00 Buckshot, 9 pellets. Pattern was 13"x 15" with one pellet on the paper.
#2. Win. Super-X 00 buckshot, 9 pellets.
Pattern, 5.5" in height, x 13" in width. 4 pellets on the paper.
#3. Federal 00 buckshot, 9 pellets. Pattern was 5.5" in height x 17" in width. 4 pellets on paper.
#4. Lastly, I tried one older round of #4 bird shot hunting load. No shot cup. Pattern was 17"x 22.5".
So, with such wide patterns at only 7 yards, I decided to stop. I did expect the patterns to be opened up, but not to that extent.
Yesterday, I took the rifled barrel off, and replaced it with the original 28" smooth bore, with an improved cylinder choke. Back to the range I went. This time, I set my targets at 21 yards.
#1. Estate 00 buckshot 9 pellets. 8 pellets on paper, with the 9th just off paper. YES!!!
#2. Rem. Express 00 buckshot. Only 4 on the paper.
#3. Win. Western Magnum. 00 buckshot. 6 pellets on the paper.
The Estate 8 pellet pattern was symetrical, and more centered on the POA. The Rem. Express 5 pellet pattern was scattered on the paper. The Win. Western Magnum pattern was fairly centered around the POA.
I like the fact that the Estate shells are contained by a cup, as well as being buffered. The advertised 00 size in the Estate is in reality
approximately .318+/-. I guess one has to give up diameter size, to get the 9 pellets contained in a cup.
Regards

[megasupermagnum]

Yes, there are few guarantee's in shooting, but one of the few is that rifling ruins patterns. If you think that is bad, try the Tarus Judge handgun.

I always liked Estate ammo. It is kind of Federals no-nonsense line of ammo. It doesn't have the fancier stuff Federal uses, but often the traditional loads perform as good or better than the fancy stuff.

[littlejack]

I agree.
Yesterday evening, I bought 5 boxes of the Estate 00. I was allowed 10. It is advertised at 1325 fps. The recoil isn't bad at all. That's a plus for me. Maybe more in the future, if theres any left.

[trapper9260]

I load buck shot for shot gun, I also use the 00 buck shot size down for shoot out of my 30's cal.s, also shoot some for 32's too .I size them.

[littlejack]

Versatile stuff that buckshot.

[6pt-sika]

I agree.
Yesterday evening, I bought 5 boxes of the Estate 00. I was allowed 10. It is advertised at 1325 fps. The recoil isn't bad at all. That's a plus for me. Maybe more in the future, if theres any left.

I got a couple 25 round boxes of the Estate 12 gauge 2 3/4” 00 a couple years ago just because it was reasonably priced . It did pretty well in my A-5 and Beneli but I don’t remmember if I tried it in a SxS or not . FWIW about the same time I bought a flat (250 rounds) of a European made 20 gauge 2 3/4” #1 buckshot , this stuff was priced right also , so I kept three boxes and sold the other seven boxes at enough where I got my three boxes FREE .

[6pt-sika]

Each year I start the gun season in Virginia carrying a rifle and a shotgun to my treestand . I find it quite enjoyable plunking a deer or two each year with my own buck or slug loads shot from an old SxS .

[littlejack]

Taking game with ones own handloads, is very satisfying.