12ga---2-3/4" with 000 buck

[r6487]

Discovered I had a lyman .360 roundball mold (which is 000 buck size). cast a few, stacked them in a wad in an empty hull and started thinking about it. started looking for info before actually loading or trying anything. Who here has actual experience with reloading any 000 buckshot in 2-3/4". been doing 9-00 buck, lyman 525, lee 1 oz drive key, and hammerhead in SPWs for a while now. share what you know and what you've learned.

[Treeman]

In my limited experimenting ....straight wall hulls are better than tapered for 000. I made up some decent patterning loads in Federal hulls first try but they are lumpy and technically out of spec due to side bulging from the large shot. Still will cycle in my guns so they are usable but they don't cycle as slick as they should.

[Combat Diver]

1 oz is 1 oz loads. I've used .311 and .375 round ball for my buckshot. Weigh the number of balls and load accordingly.

CD

[Spudgunr]

In my limited experimenting ....straight wall hulls are better than tapered for 000. I made up some decent patterning loads in Federal hulls first try but they are lumpy and technically out of spec due to side bulging from the large shot. Still will cycle in my guns so they are usable but they don't cycle as slick as they should.

Treeman, did those loads use a wad with petals on? Most 20ga buck data is for wad petals removed, but there is next to zero load data for 12ga that has you cut the wad petals off. 000 with wad petals seems like more than lumpy to me. I've not seen any pressure comparisons of loads with and without wad petals so I personally don't feel comfortable just removing them to allow 000 to fit.

I got some of the "flex seal" that ballistic products has (bought mine off precision reloading as gualandi gas seals), they have several loads using that so 000 should fit. I tried one this weekend that uses a teflon wrap and I used 000 instead of 00. My shells were lumpy, but I think that was as much to do with the stack height getting compressed when I crimped as much as it is the .011 teflon wrap and the .360 balls adding up to .740ish. They patterned pretty decently, but split open my hull! Not sure the exact cause, I'll try again but with a better compressed seal or a roll crimp for room. I'll also mark the hull where the pellets are and where the overlap in the teflon is to see if it corresponds to any particular pressure point.