12ga 223 load?

[rtyler8140]

So I will preface this with the disclaimer that I am very green when it comes to loading shotshells. Recently I have been buying Winchester AA 7 1/2 1 1/8oz target loads, disassembling and reassembling with 7/8oz Lee slugs (open hull, dump shot, add overshot card & slug, re-crimp). At 25 yards off hand I'm getting about a 3" group out of my NEF Pardner single shot and it's running right at 1200fps. As I was sitting on the couch watching TV, I couldn't help but wonder how many Lee 225-55-rf boolits would fit in a 12 ga shell. Turns out the answer is 7 and the weight of those 7 is a couple grains over 7/8oz. I thought it would be interesting to see what type of pattern this load would yield. I thought I would run it by you folks to see if this is a terrible idea. Again my knowledge is limited and my assumption of this being a light target load with a lower weight than the previous 1 1/8oz of shot this shell used to hold is that it would be okay to shoot. Thoughts?

As a side note, I have pretty thick skin so feel free to call it like you see it haha. Below is a picture of the load in question prior to overshot card and crimp.

https://i.ibb.co/r5LDrD4/IMG-20200906-144321312.jpg (https://ibb.co/MPjF0FM)

[rancher1913]

you need to be very careful loading shotshells, they are not the same as metalic reloading, change one thing in the recipe and you could have less fingers. that being said, search for threads by Y-man, he is from africa and has to get by with what he can scrounge and has done a lot of experimenting down the road you are going.

the lead 223 boolits will come out the end of the barrel but will not fly straight, rather they will tumble and be wildly erratic. if you want to do big shot, just get a round ball mold.

[Geezer in NH]

I predict many tumbled projectiles.

[Conditor22]

IF you dont have them in a wad they will tumble in the barrel and maybe jamb up

[rtyler8140]

you need to be very careful loading shotshells, they are not the same as metalic reloading, change one thing in the recipe and you could have less fingers. that being said, search for threads by Y-man, he is from africa and has to get by with what he can scrounge and has done a lot of experimenting down the road you are going.

the lead 223 boolits will come out the end of the barrel but will not fly straight, rather they will tumble and be wildly erratic. if you want to do big shot, just get a round ball mold.

Thanks for the feedback. I did find in the research I did that shotshell is a very different beast with very specific recipes. I actually bought the AA shells with the intention of reloading them eventually. The recipes I liked were with red dot, aa hulls, remington 209, and still up in the air on a couple different wads. Right now I'm just opening the hulls, dumping the shot and replacing the shot, which I felt was fairly safe as long as I stayed with an equal or slightly lesser weight of lead as I believe that would not cause any pressure issues. For what it's worth, I did completely take apart one of the hulls to see what the powder charge was. It was 18g if I remember correctly, no clue what type of powder though.

[Gar10]

Looks impressive, be careful! Keep us posted.

[Hogtamer]

That's why they make buckshot.

[gunauthor]

Pretty creative !!!!!!

[rtyler8140]

So for inquiring minds see the picture below. Test shots at 10 yards and 25 yards. The holes in the top left and right of the paper are from the staples.

https://i.ibb.co/bJdfSCQ/IMG-20200907-142007926-2.jpg (https://ibb.co/Qdm52Tp)

[farmbif]

When I first started making my own buckshot it was with a lee two cavity mold takes a little time to make a big pile but works great. shotshell loading is not difficult just stick to exact recipes from reputable load data source. Lyman shotshell manual is a good investment. lots of great publications have been produced by the folks at ballistic produces and it seems that imr data resource center is always expanding their load data. if you go to Alliant web site they will send you a load data book for free

https://www.ballisticproducts.com

also ive noticed over the years that previously used mec 600 12 gauge reloaders often sell for a fraction of the msrp

[Winger Ed.]

Interesting.
I'd think they'll have less effective range though since they'll probably tumble and slow down sooner than a ball.

For me, I'll stick to buckshot balls.
Seems like less hassle and expense for similar or better results.

[gpidaho]

If the 22s fit in a wad they may work ok at short range. I'd want a barrel without choke . As others have said, buckshot would work better.Gp

[rtyler8140]

When I first started making my own buckshot it was with a lee two cavity mold takes a little time to make a big pile but works great. shotshell loading is not difficult just stick to exact recipes from reputable load data source. Lyman shotshell manual is a good investment. lots of great publications have been produced by the folks at ballistic produces and it seems that imr data resource center is always expanding their load data. if you go to Alliant web site they will send you a load data book for free

https://www.ballisticproducts.com

also ive noticed over the years that previously used mec 600 12 gauge reloaders often sell for a fraction of the msrp

Thanks for the tip on the Alliant catalog, I use a lot of Unique and Red Dot. I'll have to check out the Lyman book. I really like the Lyman cast book.

[rtyler8140]

Interesting.
I'd think they'll have less effective range though since they'll probably tumble and slow down sooner than a ball.

For me, I'll stick to buckshot balls.
Seems like less hassle and expense for similar or better results.

I would agree since the buckshot won't tumble. If I hunted with buckshot, I would probably get a mold. I was just curious how this would work out. Would be interesting to shoot buckshot at the same range and see what the difference is as far as pattern!

[GregLaROCHE]

Yes they are going to tumble, but they may be more effective at close range for self protection, than buck shot. The tumbling doing more damage. Have try some in ballistic gel.

[redhawk0]

Nice...it has Anti-Antifa written all over it.

redhawk

[MT Chambers]

The op would prolly save money buy getting some used hulls at a trap/skeet range and loading his own, if he supplies his own home made shot or slug, as this is the most expensive component in this reloading.

[rtyler8140]

The op would prolly save money buy getting some used hulls at a trap/skeet range and loading his own, if he supplies his own home made shot or slug, as this is the most expensive component in this reloading.

I agree. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to source used hulls locally. I figure for a box of 100 winchester aa's I'm at about 23 cents a round. When I start reloading them I should be able to shave about 10 cents off that.

[Powersgt]

Interesting load; wondering out load if it wouldn’t benefit with some buffer added. My fear would be bridging would occur causing barrel damage. Certainly looks like it did well at close range but not sure of it’s practicality except possibly in a Macgyver episode.

I have a box of cast .223’s; I now know if I’m trapped by zombies in my basement without buckshot loads, I can load up some projectiles to clear the hoards.

Powersgt

[centershot]

Just for giggles, try loading those .223 boolits backwards (base forward) so that they're flying weight-forward, like a foster slug. They'll undoubtedly still tumble but you might get a better pattern (group?) and maybe a few more yards of useful range. It's worth trying.