Question about reloading replacing birdshot loads with buckshot.

[ell198679]

I have some STS shells with 20 dots of Green Dot and Win 209 primers. I have been loading number 4 birdshot in them 1 1/8 oz. I am thinking of replacing that with buckshot using this mold Lee .350 Round Ball Single Cavity Mold 64 Grain 90415 Needless to say these molds cast 64 grains .350 cal round balls. Anyways, 1 1/8 shot is about 492 grains so my load would be about 448 grains 7 balls. And it would be 44 grains short when using buckshot. Is that too far off? My experience with lee molds is that weight of the projectile can be off from what is advertised as well. (Can someone please move this to "shotgun reloading" if possible)

[Ozark mike]

You should be fine unless I'm missin something

[Ed_Shot]

There is much debate over the substitution of buckshot for bird shot. One side argues that weight is weight no matter the size of the shot and others counter that buckshot does not act the same as bird shot when fired and pressures generated are very different for equal weights of shot. There has been very lively back and forth about the subject over at ShotgunWorld.com. Who to believe? I had been substituting 1 oz buckshot loads for 1 oz bird shot loads using Lyman Shotshell HB recipes. Nine of my Lee .319 round balls weigh 430 gr. and fit perfectly in a CB1118-12 wad in a Win AA hull. I put my money on safety and sent five of my "moderate" buckshot loads to a lab for testing. I'll not state the recipe but the 1 oz buckshot loads tested very consistantly at 4K psi over Lyman's published psi for the same recipe with bird shot. As it turned out my 'moderate' buckshot loads tested at less than 12K psi. Grant you that shotguns like rifles and pistols are proof tested to a lot higher psi that SAMMI specs. When you get away from published recipes for shotshells you are in a gray area.

[Billwnr]

I think you will have a "space" issue and need to push the wad a bit deeper.

[jsizemore]

I'd be surprised if you could get all that in a 2 3/4" hull.

[Muddydogs]

Why not just work up a load for the buckshot instead of messing around with something that might not work as good?

[centershot]

el198679, you're going to have a problem nesting .350" balls in a shotcup evenly. Your pellets will "bridge", causing the wad to deform under pressure. The gas seal will be the biggest problem here. If you use a smaller pellet so that they lay 2x2 or 3x3 you'll get better results.

If you're not using a plastic wad your .350" pellets may load OK, but they will scrub the barrel and go out of round, spoiling patterns.

In either case, as mentioned above, using 1-1/8 oz. data such as you described is pretty common and many of us do it. Load a couple and check for pressure signs, if you're getting high pressure indications you're probably already in a no-go situation.

Attachment 266300

[ell198679]

I ended up getting the lee .319 caliber mold 49 grains which would take 10 pellets to get 1 1/8 oz. Hopefully those will fit all right

[centershot]

Yes, the .319" pellets will work in just about any 12 gauge wad. Have fun, stay safe, and let us know how you're making out!

[ell198679]

I did read an article about a Remington 870 barrel handling up to 55,000 PSI when it finally banana peeled. . But obviously, I don't want to take that as a green light to be careless. The interesting thing is that pressure signs are not always obvious. In fact, you can shot a double charge in pistols and not blow the pistol up. The second double charge will usually bulge the barrel. So just because the barrel didn't blow up doesn't mean there is no over pressure. I think they will probably work just fine. I guess I can always tie a string around the trigger.

[missionary5155]

And you an do the same with the right size Round Ball !