Worth reloading buckshot-slugs

[cheese1566]

I am contemplating loading for #00 buckshot and maybe then for Lee slugs.

1) Is a Lee Load All ok for this? Lee says they are and many youtube videos on it. Anybody use theirs for slugs... I grew up with one as a teenager loading my own birdhunting 20 gauge shells, but recall the crimping wasn't the greatest or would an old MEC be better?

2) Is there any #00 buckshot molds being made now (other than the one on fleabay)?
For as often as I would do it, I was looking at the Hornady 5 pound box of #00 for about $23 at the local Cabelas.

3) How many grains in a typical #00 lead buckshot pellet? (Or how many balls in one of the 5 pound boxes?)

[richbug]

I have the Lee .311 rb mold, and the sharpshooter 20 cavity 00 mold. The Lee is easier, the sharpshooter is faster.

The sharpshooter 00 pellets weigh 52 grains or so, the 311 balls are 45ish.

My ideal buckshot mold would be a 8-10 cavity single sided that cast at .313-.314" built like a Lee 6 cavity.

There is big savings to be had in specialty shotshells. The Lee press works OK for low volume. The 600 Jr with an adjustable bar is better.

[klcarroll]

Over 90% of my shotshell reloading has NOTHING to do with birdshot! I load Slug, Round Ball, and Buckshot for both 12 gauge and .410.

In my mind, the biggest point in favor of reloading these rounds is that I can afford to practice extensively; ....But one cannot overlook the issue of flexibility! One of my 12 gauge guns is a Saiga Semi-Auto, and through handloading I can create "Tactical" loads for it that feature reduced recoil and pyrotechnics WITHOUT sacrificing reliable cycling of the action.

I use and recommend the “Sharpshooter” buckshot moulds that are typically sold on Ebay. They are affordable, reasonably accurate, and since they do 20 pellets at a time, they are fast! (You will go insane casting buckshot in a two cavity mould.)

I have standardized on MEC 600s for this type of handloading. Since slug, ball, and buckshot loading requires that you handle components individually, a “progressive” style press would be worthless. MEC 600s can be picked up used all day long in the $40 - $60 price range, so it is VERY affordable to have several that are semi-permanently set up for different gauges and tasks.

For resizing the brass portion of the hulls (important for Semi-Autos), I also highly recommend the MEC “Supersizer”. You can quickly bring a lot of cases back to “Factory Spec”, and changing gauges is a simple matter of swapping collets


Kent

[sargenv]

I'd forego the 600 and super sizer and just see if I could pick up a used Sizemaster since you get them both in the same press. I have Sizemasters in 12 and 20 and a Grabber in 12 for high volume shot reloading.. I prefer to not have to do stuff off the press if I can help it.. all 3 are outfitted with the adjustable shot/powder bars. For specialty stuf, sometimes I opt to roll crimp on a drill press and hull vise.. Roll crimping gives you a bit more pressure breathing room.

[yondering]

I use the Lee press for my 12 gauge slug and buckshot loads. I honestly haven't used any other shotshell loader, so I may not know what I'm missing, but the Lee seems to work pretty well for me. The only downside I've found is none of my powder bushings hold 45gr of Blue Dot, so I use a bushing that throws 22.5gr, and dump it twice.

Re. the buckshot, I've found that 00 buck is just a hair too large to fit comfortably inside a shotcup in layers of 3, and too small for layers of 2. 0 buck works better for this (the Lee .311 mold would be pretty much the same as 0 buck). With 0 buck, you don't have to spend much time stacking them; I just throw them in there and they arrange themselves neatly. For layers of 2, 000 buck would work better.

[tommygirlMT]

If you end up buying your buck-shot instead of casting your own you can get a much better deal by buying "Remington Field Grade Buck Shot" from Precision Reloading. It comes in a big bag just like shot and cost the exact same as the same size bag of shot. No jacking up the price and selling it in little itty bitty boxes just because its bigger balls.

Store bought buck is usually soft stuff no matter what brand type you buy and for best results you should load buffered loads (Lyman Manual and Precision Reloading Manual have loads for buffered buck shot and buffered shot loads).

You can used buffered shot load data and load buck instead of shot of equal weight. Just don't load buffered buck using unbuffered shot load data by equal weight. Buffered loads and unbuffered loads don't equate to each other, just like steel shot and lead shot loads don't equate to each other. The best buffer is Precision Reloadings spherical buffer it is better then the stuff BPI sells and you may substitute PR's buffer for any of BPI's buffers in load data but not vic-a-versa.

Substituting a higher quality buffer for a lower quality one will lead to lower chamber pressures, substituting a lower quality buffer for a higher quality one will lead to higher chamber pressures.

Substituting buck shot for regular shot will lead to lower chamber pressures, subsituting regular shot for buck shot will lead to higher pressures.

Buffered loads and unbuffered loads do not equate pressures can go up or down unpredictably in either direction of the equation so don't do it. Yes, usually pressures go up if you add buffer to a load that doesn't call for it and pressures go down when you load a buffered load without the buffer. But sometimes the pellets bind and bridge when you take the buffer out of a buffered load and pressure goes up instead of down. Just don't go back and forth between them load buffered loads with buffered load data and unbuffered loads with unbuffered load data.

You can use either buffered lead shot or buffered bitsmuth shot load data to load buffered lead buck-shot by equal weight - they both work just don't try using steel or hevi-shot load data unless you want bloopers.

[yondering]

Store bought buck is usually soft stuff no matter what brand type you buy and for best results you should load buffered loads (Lyman Manual and Precision Reloading Manual have loads for buffered buck shot and buffered shot loads).

This comment makes me wonder, is it worth using a buffer with harder buckshot? I've recently cast a bunch from ACWW (and could heat treat them if there's any benefit) and tumbled them in graphite. I've tried a couple of the buffered loads in the Lyman manual but couldn't really tell much difference. I'm interested in fairly tight patterns with #4, 0, and 00 buck.

Seems like the Lyman data is kinda scarce on buffered loads with any of the common shotcups, most of the buffered loads specify BPI components. Is the Precision Reloading data any better?

Go figure, after writing my post above, and reading Sargenv's comment about the sizemaster, one showed up in Swappin' and Sellin' so I said I'll take it. You guys are costing me money!

[sargenv]

Eh, as soon as I found this forum, my money has been dripping out of my checking acct left and right...

[tommygirlMT]

If you're hard casting your own there ain't much sense to buffered loads --- buffered loads are mainly for the soft store bought stuff. You can load hard-cast by equal weight using shot load data. Often you need to cut the petals off the wads so it's just a pusher piston in order to get them to stack nice if what your casting is true OO size. Using the undersize Lee roud ball mold that a lot use that's O and 1/2 size they stack inside most wads just fine.

The PR buffered load data uses a lot of their own (PR's) components and a lot of the european brand name stuff.

Another good source is the really old Hodgdon data for buffered lead shot loads that says "Any Paper or Paper Base Wad Hull" and calls for HS-6 powder (they still make that powder unlike some of the others you will find listed in such data). That data's back from when hulls came in two types --- paper and the new fangled plastic ones.

Of course I've got a few pet loads of my own and I if I get the time and you really want them that bad I could go find them in the pile of note-books in my loading area and post them for you. But you won't find them in a load manual and they ain't pressure tested. One of those --- COPY AT YOUR OWN PERIL! --- sort of things.

[Greg in Malad]

I have been using the sharpshooter "0" mould, and have been happy with it. I can empty a 20lb lead pot in one hour, this makes a bunch of buckshot. Load data is a bit scarce so I weighed 9 pellets and buffer, It weighed one ounce even. 9 pellets fit into a AA12 wad ( 3 per row). I used low pressure 1 oz. trap load data.
Buffer did help my patterns a bit, With an extra-full turkey tube it will keep 3 to 5 pellets in a coyote at 40yds.

[Ferdinand]

I'm new here, but have been loading bk and slugs for a while. I would strongly suggest buying a manual or two from BPI/Corcoran, MN. BK shell components don't have much in common with shotshell counterparts. For #1 or smaller I like the BP12 shotcup over a BPGS seal. I've also had good luck with layers of 3x00 bk inside a teflon sleeve over a BPGS and cardboard wad of the right thickness to get the column height right. I use buffer but am curious about the previous poster's comments about not needing it with hardcast bk - could save me some $ if I could skip it.

I'm looking for info on the .690 balls that I used to load since I lost some data in a household move. Those worked great for me.

[EMC45]

I am using a MEC Sizemaster that was given to me and hulls I pick up at the skeet range. I finally got the 1oz. Mold from Lee and it drops a nice slug. Slugs local to me are about a buck and some change a piece. I can handload several for around a dollar. I also load .319 buck as well. I have a good bit of shotgun powder and primers, so for me it is what I do.

[cheese1566]

I did some cost figuring and believe it may be worth my while. If I try to load for regular birdshot or trap loads, I won't; at least in my area. The price of the shot would be prohibitive.

I found a nice Pacific DL-105 loader that cleaned up rather nice. I know parts are obsolete, but it is all there. I can still get the start crimpers from Hornady.

I found this calculator in estimating costs: http://www.shootpita.com/reloading-cost.htm

As long as I can keeping getting lead for the price I am now, I should do OK.

[quasi]

I have found the P+W 375 ideal for buckshot and slug loads. I used a Lee Load all for a few years, it works well but the P+W is much better.

[Big Dave]

Haven't used them in years but 40 odd years ago we had a major problem with feral dogs. Got a 2 cav Lyman mold for #1 buckshot, they cast about .300 dia and stack nicely in layers of four in 12 gauge. 16 pellets weighs 1 7/16 oz ahead of a 4 1/2 dram equiv of Alcan #8 was very effective out to 60 yards or more from the full choke tube on a Cutts Compensator equiped Mod 97 Winchester. Would usually put 10 or more in a paper plate at 40 yards. this was befor plastic wad columns were common, if memory serves used a .135 nitro card and 2 1/4 inch felt fillers, 16 shot and roll crimped over a B card. Kicked pretty hard but delivered on the business end. Dad once caught a pack incoming on a deer track and got five with six shots, last one left a blood trail into the brush.
Back then we were loading them one operation at a time on a Lyman Comet C press but high volumn wasn't needed.

[EMC45]

Haven't used them in years but 40 odd years ago we had a major problem with feral dogs. Got a 2 cav Lyman mold for #1 buckshot, they cast about .300 dia and stack nicely in layers of four in 12 gauge. 16 pellets weighs 1 7/16 oz ahead of a 4 1/2 dram equiv of Alcan #8 was very effective out to 60 yards or more from the full choke tube on a Cutts Compensator equiped Mod 97 Winchester. Would usually put 10 or more in a paper plate at 40 yards. this was befor plastic wad columns were common, if memory serves used a .135 nitro card and 2 1/4 inch felt fillers, 16 shot and roll crimped over a B card. Kicked pretty hard but delivered on the business end. Dad once caught a pack incoming on a deer track and got five with six shots, last one left a blood trail into the brush.
Back then we were loading them one operation at a time on a Lyman Comet C press but high volumn wasn't needed.

Very cool post!

[big boar]

Just as a matter of interest, years ago I got an old Lee jr. loader for slugs, cost me $5. Single stage, only does 1 function at a time.(decap/prime/seat/crimp) I've loaded perhaps 1000(at least) slugs/buckshot with it. I picked up another Lee shotshell loader (multi stage) a few years ago but just for the fun of it I loaded some slugs with the old loader, still does the job.

[Shooter6br]

I also use a Mec Jr for birdshoot,buckshoot and slugs.I use Lyman 12ga sabot,i cast them and N0 1 buck with Sharpshooter molds. I buy the "blemished" ones for a cheaper price . Handles get hot .but I load 12 pellets in Fed hulks 1 1/8 wt. with Universal powder, I get 9 out of 12 in a 20 in circle at 25 yds Not for deer but 2 legged varmints (I hope I never have to deal with)