Shot gun Lee Mould Buck shot loads

[Ford SD]

So I just bought a lee 00 buck shot gun mould

Wondering what Will happen if I use the same lead I cast all my rifle and pistol bullets out of

will the harder lead have any effect, on my barrel / pressure of reloads ?

or should I clean out my pot and cast a bunch of soft lead round balls

I did spend about 20 min casting some ( to test the mould) and noticed I had to use side cutter to cut the balls apart, where I think softer lead i should be able to just use my hands

Thanks

[elmacgyver0]

I have the same mold but have never used it yet.
I was wondering the same thing, I cast with wheel weights.
Not a shotgun guy but since I just bought a new CZ-USA Hammer Classic I may become one.

[Soundguy]

I use coww for buckshot. Seems to do great. Slugs I tend to cast soft.

[Delkal]

You don't want soft lead for buckshot or the pellets will deform and not pattern as well. Even the cheapest birdshot is BHN 10 and magnum shot is higher. My guess is buckshot would be even harder. It shouldn't hurt your barrel since even the hardest lead would still be a lot softer than steel shot.

I have that mold and casted with it some. It is a little work cutting all of the balls apart and even if you are careful you end up with a sprue on both ends. I tumbled mine for a while till the sprue was mostly gone. It was also some work reloading them and trying to get the balls to fit. You might have to try a few different wads.

[elmacgyver0]

Nice to know, thanks.

[LAGS]

I have several Lee Buckshot molds.
I cast the buckshot out of wheel weight lead or range lead just to be cheap.
But I have cast a few out of linotype. But it doesn’t need to be that hard of lead .
I have also cast a few sizes out of Pure Lead so I can shoot them in muzzleloader small caliber guns.
I also take the cast buckshot and put it in my rolling mill to tumble them for a while and makes them perfectly round by removing the sprue marks or any surface defects.
But you don’t have to do that for average buckshot shooting .

[poppy42]

Buckshot-hard, Slugs-soft! Clip on Wheel weights or even Lyman #2 (if ya want ya waist it Lol) is fine for buckshot. BPI, Precision, even Hornaday all sell hard buckshot. Slugs, on the other hand, can be pure lead. If you get a Lee slug mold the instructions tell you to use soft lead. The reason for this is soft buckshot can deform rattling down the bore. Theoretically if to soft, and the buckshot deform to much bridging and even a bore obstruction can occur. That could leave you with the old Bug’s Bunny/Elmer Fudd barrel! If ya know what I mean! While some, not all, slugs require soft lead to seal the barrel. Similar to the way a minie’ ball dose’s. Sabot slugs are kinda different. Hope this clears things up a little for ya.

[Barry54]

So I just bought a lee 00 buck shot gun mould

Wondering what Will happen if I use the same lead I cast all my rifle and pistol bullets out of

will the harder lead have any effect, on my barrel / pressure of reloads ?

or should I clean out my pot and cast a bunch of soft lead round balls

I did spend about 20 min casting some ( to test the mould) and noticed I had to use side cutter to cut the balls apart, where I think softer lead i should be able to just use my hands

Thanks

I’ve started figuring out this buckshot loading. Assuming you are using 00 in a 12 gauge, it will fit in a lot of wads. (The red Winchester replacement is popular) So it would be in a shot cup for the most part and still not contact your barrel.

000 won’t fit into a shot cup and will contact your barrel. I use whatever is in the lead pot to make it and have not noticed anything unusual happening in the barrel.

One that surprised me was #4 buckshot. Even though it’s small pellets, it is not loaded into a shot cup. It fits in layers of seven pellets. BUT the top center pellet is left out, so the crimp folds and closes nicely! That’s why a 2-3/4 inch load is 27 pellets instead of 28!

[Dusty Bannister]

Has anyone tried dropping the very fresh castings onto a soft surface while almost mushy? As long as you do not drop them on other castings, it might just break the balls apart on impact. Height would need to be considered as too much will deform the balls. Might cut down on the time spent cutting the nubs.

[Barry54]

I bought these years ago for work. They easily cut the strings of buckshot apart! I have the Lee 000 six cavity and there is no sprue I’m aware of.
Maybe I should get out a magnifying glass?

[Ford SD]

Has anyone tried dropping the very fresh castings onto a soft surface while almost mushy? As long as you do not drop them on other castings, it might just break the balls apart on impact. Height would need to be considered as too much will deform the balls. Might cut down on the time spent cutting the nubs.

I kinda tried that today, turned up the pot to get better fill then was cast in fast and not even waiting got the sprune to get 100% solid ( sprune would crack when dropped on the other sprunes all ready cut off)
maybe 15% would separate

Handles were getting very hot

Made about 6 lb est after culling the bad ones with low fill

Culled anthing that did not look round and all the ones that had shaft between the balls ( balls should be round touching round = no shaft in the middle)
Had some where one ball was not filled 100% = discard all 3

Found the best way to split them is to twist them with two pairs of pliers ( only need a bit of a squeze/ twist)

Not going to be making lots but prob made enought today to cover 1/2 the cost of the mould ( with todays buckshot prices)
most will sit in a container till I need to load them

[twinscrewcanoe]

Buckshot-hard, Slugs-soft! Clip on Wheel weights or even Lyman #2 (if ya want ya waist it Lol) is fine for buckshot. BPI, Precision, even Hornaday all sell hard buckshot. Slugs, on the other hand, can be pure lead. If you get a Lee slug mold the instructions tell you to use soft lead. The reason for this is soft buckshot can deform rattling down the bore. Theoretically if to soft, and the buckshot deform to much bridging and even a bore obstruction can occur. That could leave you with the old Bug’s Bunny/Elmer Fudd barrel! If ya know what I mean! While some, not all, slugs require soft lead to seal the barrel. Similar to the way a minie’ ball dose’s. Sabot slugs are kinda different. Hope this clears things up a little for ya.

I'm not clear as to why you say Lyman #2 is a waste. Could you please explain? Thanks.

[twinscrewcanoe]

I use coww for buckshot. Seems to do great. Slugs I tend to cast soft.

I'm assuming that the "ww" in "coww" stands for wheel weights but what does the "co" stand for? Thanks in advance.

[Dusty Bannister]

COWW= clip on wheel weights
SOWW=stick on wheel weights