Subbing in Buckshot with COW buffer into steel or lead shot data?

[jhunter77]

I know subbing is normally a huge no no but. I have quite a bit of 30cal buck shot I would like to load up. Is there any reason I can not sub in the buck shot with buffer into a equal weight of shot charge? My thoughts, (could be wrong) The lower pressure of the buck shot vs higher pressure of shot due to scrubbing would be canceled out due to the buffer.

I do have a reloading book or two but I do not really see any data that would work well with what I have. Thanks for your help!

[FullTang]

The official answer is no (as you probably guessed) but I do it all the time. I think that steel loads would be quite close to buffered buck loads in terms of volume (buck shot takes up a lot more room than bird shot) and pressures, but those steel shot wads can get expensive. I'm a big fan of the MG42/STS/Gualandi Super G wad, which isn't terribly expensive and very good for buck shot loading.

[DLCTEX]

Get a Lyman shotshell handbook for a lot of good data on buckshot loads.