#4 buckshot

[Nelsonholsters]

I've got a lee #4 18 pellet mold I plane to get going on and was wondering if just straight lead works for the shotgun or do I still need to harden the lead a little?

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[jsizemore]

A little tin helps with fill out. Tin and/or antimony keep the size near max. You can cast with pure lead at a higher temp to get good fill out. Most buckshot molds run at a higher temp anyway.

[Nelsonholsters]

Thank you.

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[FullTang]

One of the great advantages of casting your own buckshot is that you can use harder alloy and water quench and get much better/harder shot than is available from the larger manufacturers, who must swage soft lead for their buckshot. I don't see any disadvantage to using a typical bullet-casting alloy, like 92/6/2, rather than pure lead with a little tin added.

[William Yanda]

Going from zero to 1000 fps in the confines of a shotgun chamber is a stressful situation. With no experience whatsoever, a harder alloy would be less apt to deform than a softer one. Less deformation would theoretically lead to better accuracy.
Respectfully,

[45workhorse]

Bought one and it takes a while to fill up a plastic peanut butter jar, then to cut them apart. I am using pretty much straight w/w. Haven't gotten around to testing anything yet. Double 0 buckshot, you get two loads per drop (for 9 pellets loads), number 4 you need two drops to fill the shot cup, with 8 pellets left over.
I have been on a roll casting this week, I have emptied my Saceo model 24 about five times, 44, 45, 00 #4! For me that is that is a lot.

[Nelsonholsters]

I look forward to giving it a try.
Thanks for the response folks.

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[6pt-sika]

I've only cast 0000 , 00000 and 000000 but I use plain old WW alloy . Shoot pretty decent and the two smaller sizes kill deer well enough . I'm sure the 000000 will kill deer easy enough as well I've just not fired any at a deer YET !!!

[centershot]

Nelson, the addition of antimony will harden the pellets to resist deformation, rounder shot flies straighter! The advice about 92-6-2 alloy is spot-on! I use it (Lino and pure, 50-50) and I water drop my buckshot, then tumble overnight. It's beautiful!

[Blood Trail]

Using pure lead will result in increased sidewall pressure due to the soft buck swaging together creating a solid-like projectile until exiting the barrel. Also, you’re patterns will probably suffer as well from the deformation of the pellets.


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[Nelsonholsters]

Thank all of you folks for the help.

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[Geezer in NH]

I've only cast 0000 , 00000 and 000000 but I use plain old WW alloy . Shoot pretty decent and the two smaller sizes kill deer well enough . I'm sure the 000000 will kill deer easy enough as well I've just not fired any at a deer YET !!!

what is the diameter?

[BJK]

I learned to cast with a LEE #4 buckshot mould. But I am far from an experienced caster. The advice I got was to use 800° lead and keep the mould HOT. Too, since I was using a ladle with a nipple(?) spigot(?) on it to basically inject the lead into the mould. #4 is the hardest to cast from what I gathered, but pay attention to the details and you'll do fine. You'll know instantly when you didn't do it right. One other piece of advice I got was not to cut the shot apart. There really is no need to do that that I ever found after taking that advice and putting it into practice. But maybe for your loads you'll need to.

[richhodg66]

I jave this mold but hasn't cast with it yet. How much do the sprue marks on each individual pellet affect things? Is there some kind of practical method for rounding it off?

[Budzilla 19]

Rich, I have read some guys just tumble the balls in their rotary tumbler for few hours and the spruce marks are pretty much gone, add a little powdered graphite and it should look like factory, just............. better. Good luck.

[richhodg66]

Rich, I have read some guys just tumble the balls in their rotary tumbler for few hours and the spruce marks are pretty much gone, add a little powdered graphite and it should look like factory, just............. better. Good luck.

OK, I can see that working, can also see being able to make harder buckshot. I got the mold to experiment with making coyote loads for the Mossberg 835, but haven't gotten around to doing it yet.

[AndyC]

Nelson, the addition of antimony will harden the pellets to resist deformation, rounder shot flies straighter!

^ Truth. The difference between soft and hard shot is measurable.

[Davedude]

I recently tried my 18 pellet Lee 00 buck mold for the first time. Pretty much a total fail. I used what I thought was an appropriate amount of tin (2%) with a 14 BHN alloy and could not get all three vertically connected cavities to fill. I went to 800 degrees and would dip the edge of the mold in the melt for 10 sec before each pour which was better but still no joy. Because the top row would always fill out I did end up with some useable shot. I think I need to get this 00 mold to work right before trying the 18 pellet #4 buck mold. Do I need to go up to 5% tin?

[gpidaho]

I cast a fair amount of buckshot and I found the Lee #4 mould to be a total PITA with the incomplete fills and clipping the pellets apart. It went down the road to annoy another caster. Gp

[Super Sneaky Steve]

Cutting the snowmen is no fun. I like to roll them in powdered graphite as a final step. It keeps them from fusing over time due to oxidation.