Casting 00 Buckshot

[DDRanch]

Going to try casting some 00 buckshot for my 12 gauge. Can I use a L2 lead mixture or should I use straight lead?

[megasupermagnum]

Definitely use an alloy. Using pure lead only means your buckshot will deform, ruining patterns.

[centershot]

Yes, by all means, use a ternary alloy! Lyman #2 (if that's what you mean by L2) will make beautiful shot but it's expensive due to the high tin content. You could cut that with lead, 50/50, giving you an alloy of 95-2.5-2.5, and water-drop the pellets directly from the mould to harden them. If you have linotype, cut it 50/50 with lead to yield 92-6-2 and water drop the pellets, that's how I made mine. Water dropped, the BHN is in the area of 25. The high antimony content of the Hardball alloy (92-6-2) makes a really good buckshot alloy, the pellets are hard and resist deformation, so they pattern better than softer pellets.

[6pt-sika]

I cast 0000 , 00000 and 000000 buck . I typically make a 50/50 alloy of pure and non zinc clip on wheelweights . I used to water quench but I got over that . Anyway on paper in my parameters they all did well and again inside my parameters every deer fired at with the 00000 and 0000 from my double 10’s dropped the deer on the spot . The 000000 being .415” only works in my 8 gauge loads . I shot a single deer this past season at 17 yards moving with the 8 gauge . Nine of the ten pellets caught the deer taking out both lungs the heart and the off shoulder . That deer however managed to make it 30-40 yards up a slight incline dead on his feet . Don’t think that was any fault of the alloy , load or gun .

[Hanzy4200]

The harder the better. I thought the same thing when I started. Save you're pure lead for slug casting. I use WW alloy with some added RotoMetals SuperHard alloy.