Buckshot newbie questions

[soldierbilly1]

Super newb here.
I have reloaded rifle and pistol for years now, I thought I would try shotshell/buckshot.
I am using 12 gauge, 2 3/4" Rem plastic hunting hulls, 34 gr of Blue dot, SP-12 wads and my own Lee cast 00 buck.

1. If I use 9 shot, i.e. 3X3, the hull gets a small bulge and the round will not loosely slip fit my 870 chamber. I will be able to chamber it. Can I safely fire this round? or should I break it down? Pressure situation???
2. To relieve the situation somewhat, I loaded 8 shot per hull, 4 layers of 2, and they fit much nicer with a good slip fit in my chamber. So, is 8 shot going to work? or will the patterns be a mess?
thanks for helping this rookie out
Billy boy

[upnorthwis]

1. I have to push one in every once in a while. Never had any problems and I've been loading shot shells since 67. (Year, not age)

[FullTang]

00 buck loaded 3 X 3 in practically any wad will bulge somewhat, unless the pellets are undersize (which is actually common). They'll squeeze together during firing, which can open up the pattern because of pellet deformation, or cause some clumping if pellets stick together. But this shouldn't be a safety issue. 2 X 4 loads avoid this problem and often pattern better, but probably need something faster-burning than Blue Dot, since this is just a 1 oz load. I like #1 buck for this reason---12 pellet loads fit nicely, stacked 3 X 4 in any wad.
You can always cut the petals off to get a very nice fit.

[soldierbilly1]

full tang:
do I cut the petals off or just give them a trim?
thanks
bill

[FullTang]

full tang:
do I cut the petals off or just give them a trim?
thanks
bill
Hi Bill,

You'd usually cut them right back to the base of the shotcup, but you don't have to be too neat about it. A little "stubble" won't matter, as long as it's less than half a pellet diameter. Those Remington wads are pretty tough and hard to cut, though. Some of the buckshot recipes in the Lyman manual use this technique, and it's a widely accepted practice which shouldn't change pressures significantly; personally, I prefer a gas seal or brush wad that has no petals to start with, but this petal-trimming approach requires no additional supplies.

[GBertolet]

I find that 2 X 4 stack of 00 buck patterns considerably better than 3 X 3 does. The addition of a buffing material will improve patterning even more. The weight of 8 - 00 buck will be less than an ounce, so for best performance a faster burning powder should be used. I like Unique or International Clays.

[jmort]

3 00 buck shots are slightly too large for most/all hulls/wads

[RMc]

As mentioned already, a 2 pellet per layer stack will flow smoothly through the forcing cone and choke without undue pellet compression and in turn pattern tighter. Blue Dot is indeed too slow a powder for the 1 ounce 8 pellet payload under consideration.

Here is a source of pressure tested, buffered load data that will work with your Remington unibody hull and SP12 wad combination - without the need to cut the wad petals. Use the data exactly as presented:

Look to the index and find the buckshot page number, then scroll down to that page:

http://stevespages.com/pdf/imr_reloading.pdf

[Moonie]

I cut the petals off for my 3x3 00 buck loads.

[soldierbilly1]

thanks to all. I shot my 4 X 2 layered loads at 15 yds yesterday. Pretty impressive, shot like they came out of a rifle! My 870 has an IC police barrel and I was planning on using this for an upcoming pig hunt and HD. I got the 12 G load manual and some Win 209 primers. Shotshell powder is really hard to come by and I had to settle for Longshot or nothing at all! I will experiment with the cut petals now and some AA shells and wads. tons of fun!
thanks for the help!

Bill in (SE) PA