00 Buckshot: Minimum Impact Velocity for Whitetail Deer Hunting

[GhostHawk]

Longbow, great reading there. Thanks for posting.

[RMc]

Ok, well 4 buck being .240" is quite a bit smaller than a .320"ish ball for a 31 cap and ball. I've never tried it, so I can't say for sure, but I'm willing to lay quite a bit of money that if you put a 31 cap and ball with a 750 fps MV up to a deer's chest, that ball is going to at least be through the lungs, and probably up against the skin on the far side. And that's with pure lead, now imagine a hard buckshot ball.

Same would be true of a 25acp with its 50 grain bullet at 750 fps muzzle velocity, abeit with somewhat greater penetration.

[RMc]

Some further notes:

The round ball baliistics page noted earlier, allows weight adjustments for hard cast pellets.

The program is pre-set for 70F. for air density purposes. Colder temperatures result in greater air density. This results lower retained velocity and in turn larger pattern spreads. Changing the preset temp in the program can shed a light on temperature and retained velocity.

Interesting.

[RMc]

The comparison with a 31 cal. C&B and 25acp were mentioned simply to provide some non-shotgun perspective. A perspective to be translated to the distances at which multiple simultaneous vital hits can be delivered with buckshot.

We know from published gel tests that even 1150 fps "tactical" 00B loads can penetrate about 14 inches at 50 yards with an impact velocity in the 880 fps range.

Indeed, it has long been true that buckshot runs out of pattern before it runs out of pellet lethality. In an earlier time, that often meant just 30 yards with well made choke bore guns. Today, the best of factory rounds and especially with cutting edge handloads, sufficient pattern density can be had at double that distance.

As I have oft said of buckshot:
Minimum pattern equals maximum range.

What was a "throw shot" in the 1960s, can easily be within effective range today. However, there are still limits.

As earlier replys confirm, finding those limits can be readily acomplished with a bit of research and some serious pattern testing.

I just hope this approach is being passed down to the next generation of hunters carrying the big smoothbore into the deer woods.

[megasupermagnum]

Well, with 00 buckshot you are completely right. I'm fairly sure you can get an adequate pattern of 4 buck beyond what it will reliably penetrate to. I'm not sure it really matters much, because if you have a reasonable chance of a 50+ yard shot, you shouldn't be choosing buckshot in the first place.

[Geezer in NH]

Agree with that!