How hard should I cast buckshot?

[briang]

I got a couple of sharpshooter molds the other day and I'm wondering how hard to cast it. I think I remember reading that it needs to be hard, would water dropping wheel weight be good enough? Thanks

[Johnch]

I normaly use range scrap , it would be like 2 parts pure lead to 1 part WW
And then water drop them

No reason to waste good WW on buckshot

As my Range scrap Buckshot is still as hard than good stuff you can buy
Plain buckshot is pretty soft

John

[tommygirlMT]

Water dropped assorted scrap is hard enough to do the job, unless your scrap is mainly pure lead in which case you need to find a muzzle loader shooter or a swager and trade for harder stuff.

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

I cast for shotgun using a Do-It mold (actually slingshot pellet mold). It drops round balls right around .30ish and the larger ones about .370ish. I mainly load the smaller ones and I can fit 12 of them in a waa12r wad (i use claybuster clone) and the load is right about 540 grns (4 stacks of 3...and do they fit nicely!!!). I have found this load to pattern very tightly (with my modified choke in cuz im too lazy to swap chokes). For the larger round balls, that drop at about 75 grains (w/ WWs, btw), I can fit 6 in the same wad with the petals cut off. This load groups ok. I water drop the larger round balls so I have less lead to scrape from my barrel after shooting. The smaller round balls fit in the wad for the most part, so i dont water drop these. On these loads I also use an overshot card just so the crimp looks nicer ( i take nitro cards and peel them in thirds with a razor knife and place one on top of the shot column so the crimp looks nice...they are about.030 thick after peeling...give me a break...i'm cheap and use what i have!). Good luck. BTW, the do-it molds run about 40 bucks, but they are surely worth it. If you are using a bottom pour pot, you have to slow your pour down for the mold to fill out properly. Also use lube on the hinges (i use anti-sieze lubricant) because these molds are aluminum and expand...and can get difficult to open without the lube. If you go this route, they offer 2 differetn pellet molds...you would want the one that produces the smaller pellets ( 1/6 and 1/10 oz...i think). Good luck!

[klcarroll]

Your question "How hard??" begs the return question; "What is the intended application??"

If the goal is the humane killing of game animals, then the softer pellets will give you some deformation and expansion; ...resulting in a somewhat more "aggressive" wound channel.

If, on the other hand, your goal is a "Tactical" load; ...Then the harder pellets will offer enhanced penetration. I use linotype for such loads, because the resulting hard pellets are MUCH more "capable" when it comes to penetrating automotive glass and sheet metal. (NOT the sort of load you want for “indoor shooting”, …if you want to keep the neighbors out of the “discussion”!)

Kent