00 and #4 buckshot in the same load? Duplex load?

[Barry54]

I was flipping through my previously owned reloading manual today. I looked at the handwritten notes a little closer. One said six 00 pellets and twelve #4 pellets.

Has anybody tried this? How did it pattern? Did you place the larger pellets on the bottom or the top?
Thanks!

[Kestrel4k]

When I was a teenager, I copied that concept for my duck loads; lead # 6 (bottom) under lead #4 (top). Worked great, I thought. There was a factory load at the time like that.

[HWooldridge]

Straight up #1 buck yields 16 pellets and probably easier to stack.

[FullTang]

I've done lots of duplex loads (and even triplex) like this; in fact, I have a Sharpshooter buckshot mold that casts 00 buck on one side and 4 buck on the other, so combining the two just seemed natural! I've tried separating the different shot sizes with a card after I saw that done in some fancy Italian shells, and I've tried playing around with the stacking configuration. It seems to be the case that larger projectiles will "push through" smaller ones once the load is fired, as the smaller ones have relatively greater drag. This is especially pronounced with buck and ball or buck and slug loads. So, if you put the smaller projectiles on top, they'll get spread out by the larger projectiles pushing through, and they'll spread more. With bird shot, this is barely noticeable; with different buckshot sizes it's noticeable, but it's a small effect. With buck and slug, it makes a big difference in the shot pattern. Adding cards and/or buffer will minimize this.

[coryj]

I joined a hunt club here in Virginia two years ago that runs hounds during our general firearms seasons. I went down a rabbit hole loading buckshot. Different sizes, different powders, different wads, different chokes, every combination I could come up with including duplex loads. My results showed better long range patterns when the loads used only one size of buckshot.

I like the MG42 was with 00 and longshot in my 11-87, my older son's A300 hates that load, but shoots tight patterns with the original WAA12R wad, WSF and #1 buck. We both use buck kicker choke tubes. I also found some #4 buck that shoot well in both guns. I'm currently messing around with 20 gauge loads for my younger son who is 8, but it's been really picky.

You won't know until you try different combinations. You can load buckshot by payload using published data for lead loads, but may run into stack height issues. It's a lot of fun testing out all the combinations. Report back what works best for you when you test it.