Buckshot loading?

R

Rock Knocker

Well-known member
I'm going to bite the bullet and start loading 3" buckshot.

What components should I start with? Wads? Buffer? T shot? #4? Lead? Fancy heavy shot?

I plan on buying 100 primed hulls and taking half them to the grave so price per shot isnt a concern.

I picked up a Carlsons .665 turkey choke recently to see how it would do with with Federal 3" #4buck and it wasnt too bad. The choke with my calipers measures .661, that's getting tight! What are your favorite loads and choke combos and what should I start with in such a tight choke?
 
.... and, can I do this with longshot powder? I can get a lot of longshot powder but no other powder sooooo.

Powder options are going to be my biggest limiting factor for now.
 
I load "f" and BB's as far as Heavyweight/TSS I quess that you have to decide if the extended range is worth the extra cost.
 
BPI Reloading has lead BBB and lead T shot for sale. You will get a much higher pellet count with lead BBB or lead T shot than you will get with lead Number 4 buck.

Lead number 4 buckshot has about 41 pellets in 1-7/8 oz of shot.
Lead BBB shot has about 65 pellets in 1-1/2 oz of shot.
Lead T shot has about 56 pellets in 1-1/2 oz of shot.

With 3/8 oz less shot per shell the odds of putting pellets into the vitals of a coyote are much better with lead BBB and lead T shot. The 1-7/8 oz load of number 4 buck has less pellets and way more recoil.
 
Find a load from BPI that uses "Steel" powder, there are some, it will move the lead at a MUCH higher speed. I use TT shot I cast, it is 21 caliber and I get 49 in a 3" hull with steep and get 1550 fps magnetospeed checked.
 
Bubba Round Tree is the PO Ackley on reloading buckshot.





Wade lives in Lower SC and they run deer with dogs, and shots on deer are at some unbelievable ranges.

I load Wade's loads with my own hard cast from wheel weights, T, F, #4 buckshot.

You know that lead buckshot is not in the same league as TSS, but the cost of the lead buckshot is affordable.

In my Rem 11/87 I shoot a Extra full only and at 40 yards, 100% pattern in a 20" circle with Factory Rem 3" #4 Buck, tighter with my loads. I opt for a 1 5/8 load at 1350 fps of #4 buck.

F Buck stacks 7 pellets in a Row in the wads, very tight patterns, easily with many loads.

You can shoot too tight of a choke and eventually bulge the barrel. .670 is a very tight choke for buckshot.

Certain wads will not shoot well with anything tighter than an Imp. Mod or Modified. The Ballistic's products MG 42 does not like chokes tighter than Imp Mod at BEST. There are some Federal Flight control wads floating around out on the market and Mod choke was the tightest I could shoot.

Lee makes excellent #4 Buckshot molds, get two and alternate between them casting so as to not over heat them. I use the Sharpshooter F and T buck molds and they work very well, but they do have a lot of slag. I tumble the buckshot in a Harbor Freight rotary tumbler with 69 cal round lead balls intended for muzzle loaders. The Tumbled buckshot are perfectly round with no evidence of a sprue cut. You can also powder coat the buckshot if you are powder coating any of your cast pistol bullets.

With some extensive practice and load development, I think that some extended yardage patterns could be incredible. Personally, I test at 40 yards, shoot from a supported position using Sticks.

You can shoot some very dense patterns with 1 1/4 oz loads, use the correct choke for your yardage. When I lived in Az. a 50 yd shot was a very very long shot.

 
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Watch Bubba round tree on YouTube.
I use 3 inch hull gas seal 1/2 inch wad and 41 pellets of #4 buck.i use old 800x powder but I'm sure you could use Longshot or steel powders but never tried.
 
What kind of ranges are you getting killing groups with with lead vs heavier ammo? The 3" federal 4buck grouped well with the turkey choke at 40 yards and I'm sure would kill a coyote at 60. I like the idea of a few more pellets than 4buck but if I can get an extra 20 yards of killing power with enough pellets on target i will take the longer range, and 2lbs of fancy stuff would last a bit with 8lbs of lead for backup would last forever.

I've got very limited internet so I cant watch youtube for now.

My biggest questions are lead vs heavier than lead options, I've got a BPI catalog but theres very limited options, if any, in the large shot heavier than lead section.

And the small stuff like wads, buffer and spacers. I will start watching all shelves for other powders, so list you favorites, alliant and hodgdon are whats usually on the shelves.

What size chokes for the TSS?
 
Originally Posted By: Rock Knocker
What size chokes for the TSS?

have you looked at the price of tss? might want to do that if you havent. it might not even be a consideration after you do. lol
 
I've seen the price of hevi shot for loaders, 1.5lbs for $85 I think and then the only tungsten in the BPI paper catalog is 7 and 9 shot and yeah it gets spendy, but its advertised as sphero tungsten, they have no TSS in their catalog. But it would be fun to play with and two 5 round boxes of buckshot has lasted me at least 5 years and I've got 6 shots left. I figure no matter what I will get 8lbs of lead T or F, maybe stick with 4buck. But yeah, the price gets into the few dollars a shot for just the tungsten shot, again, I dont know what that extra cost is really buying.

I'm such a rookie with shotguns it's all new to me, I've only ever picked up shells off the shelf and ether got a few birds with them or not. I dont know how lead 4buck compares to something like B tungsten or pellet count vs speed for lethality. I was thinking last night also, brush punching power is important in the woods also, that's the reason I will take a shotgun over a rifle, to get through all the hazel and sumac brush, honestly that's more important than range...

All I've got is the paper catalog for now and it's a head spinning amount of options, I feel like an 18 year old kid getting into rifle loading again.
 
I gravitated to almost exclusively using a shotgun, I still have a rifle in my truck or on the snowmachine, but in NH the best luck I have had is hunting the woods. I started out with 3” factory 4buck but wanted a little more and the reloading itch pushed me to making my own. I load Fbuck in 3” and TSS #2 in 2 ¾”, the TSS is pricey but I do not shoot a lot of it and it just hammers the coyotes. Most of my sets I can’t see past75yds due to terrain/vegation so the extended range is not that important. I think the main difference is being able to shoot through vegation, not penetrate branches but to be able to lock in on a coyote, knowing there is brush/vegetation in the way and fire away.

Most of what is see of the guys shot-gunning out west is it seems to be more like pass shooting, the coyotes are ripping through the set and they shotgun on the run. Any of you western guys can correct me if I am wrong but that is my observation. In New England at least in my woods I can call them in and as soon as they come into view they are searching, I mute and they tend to slow way down. I rarely shoot a coyote on the move with my shotgun, but when they stop there is typically brush/vegetation in the way.

The TSS was a learning curve, it is expensive but the results for me have been very gratifying. I had to pattern and work on how I built my loads, as well as try out different chokes. If I can put the red dot on a coyote under 45yds they usually go down with one shot.
 
Cool, that sounds like my hunting conditions. I used to hunt nearer the cities and almost all the public land was low and swampy, it was easy to get them to pop out of the weeds into the open. Now I'm up north with almost all forest, even if I set the call in a field they still have enough forest to circle around the smaller fields. And in those conditions theres almost no way to avoid sticks and twigs.

I wasnt sure if buckshot or smaller heavier shot with more pellets would work better.

And as for wads and gas seals, theres a ton of wads to chose from, sizes and materials, slit and unslit, thick wads for tungsten, buffer materials, mylar shrink wrap to go around wads for more barrel protection...

I guess I'm looking for an exact list of components you guys are shooting, lead vs tungsten. What hulls are you using, powder, gas seal and wad brand and size, and what type of buffer material.

My biggest confusion with components is wads or not, and exactly what type and how wads, gas seals, buffer and shot work together. If I get 2lbs of TSS and 8lbs of lead do I need two different wads?
 
I don't think I have seen it mentioned yet but Hal Abbott(aka hawglips hgance@aol.com) is the guy most people seem to get their TSS shot from. He seems like a pretty good person, I have purchased from him several times with no issues. He can provide loading data, powder/components pretty much everything you need. I did get a lot of load data from another member on this site that I used under my own discretion, and should be understood that it is still the users responsibility to load safely.
 


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