There seems to be a great deal of interest about high performance
#5 Western Buckshot, also known as Eastern #1 Buckshot. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to take a look at what has already been posted:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...mance-buckshot
"...Dixie Slugs, 12 gauge 2 3/4" 1 Buck Special.
The powder charge is 32 grs (2.8 cc) of Alliant Blue Dot - LBC43mm wad - 16 #1 BPI hard buckshot (stacked two on two) - vel 1220'/" - 10,700 psi.- Cheddite straight walled hull.
There seems to still be quite a few fine 2 3/4"guns out there! This load's pattern was tested by Joey Saunders out of a Remington 1100 (.690" full choke). This load put 8 #1's inside of a 10" circle at a measured 40 yards.*
As I have said before...it does not matter how many buckshot (or shot) is in the load! What does matter is how many buckshot (or shot) it puts into a 10" kill circle at 40 yards.
This is another load recipe I wil post since it has been pressure tested. We have enough loads posted that have not been pressure tested. The recipe must be followed exact
Regards, James"
----------------------------------------------
Just a few points to clarify:
This is a Roll Crimp load put up in new primed Cheddite hulls using Precision Spherical Buffer, (PSB), and a standard overshot card wad. The wad must be slit twice** straight down to just above the inside base - just follow the mold line on each side. I find that a fixed blade carpet cutter, (no blade wobble), with a rounded edge standard box cutter blade installed works well for this. Be sure to dust the wad inside and out with powdered mica.
Medical bandage shears also work quite well for slitting wad petals.
Lastly, this is a very easy load to assemble. The 16 thirty caliber pellets literally self stack in two pellet layers when poured into the shell.
*Note: The 2.75" chambered Remington 1100 has sufficient action length to feed the longer 2.75" roll crimped shells. But is set up to eject only 2.75" hulls regardless of the original crimp type. It is also best to keep the maximum pellet weight to 1.5 ounces or less.
** A linear spread of pellets is often a sign of wad tumbling and irregular pellet release.
***Slitting the wad into a four petal configuration works well also.
Point: It is critical to make the cuts straight, especially so when using just two wad slits.
RMc