Thread: Buck shot

Just wondering if anyone here has had a play with buck shot or solids? How effective and what brands/size loads are you finding work better? Thanks guys hot barrels

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All depends on what you wanting to put holes in really. Lyman themselves consider both a under 50 yard deal and unless you willing to put effort into patterning with different loads n chokes I tend to agree.

Originally Posted by jackmckinnon243

Just wondering if anyone here has had a play with buck shot or solids? How effective and what brands/size loads are you finding work better? Thanks guys hot barrels

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Loaded a few, #4 Buck through to solid ball. Most near max powder charge with pump 18" cylinder bore to full choke ( none of the solids). Fun for a while up to 100 metres target shooting.

These are easy to load. Fairly accurate in my old single barrel too.

https://leeprecision.com/1-oz-slug-mold

I used to shoot factory Czech slug ammo in a bolt action Mossberg mag fed 3 shot with an adjustable choke. Mid 80s. The Czech slugs came in a 3in paper hull shoulder thumper and a 2 3/4 in plastic hull. I still have some. Stupidly I sold the shotgun. Known as a Goose Gun I believe. I used it on goats. Very effective out to 120m. Made a big hole. They shot a lot flatter than I expected. My first misses out past 100m were over the top. But past 120m that slug dropped real fast. Atmospheric re-entry territory. Not accurate enough to be humane out further than 120m and that took some practice. Why I still have some... I bought plenty so I could try them out on the old barn door...

Shot deer out of a chopper with buckshot. works okay, you need to be close, 50 yards or less, head shot only way to get a reliable clean result.

Used buckshot on pigs - very decisive, they fall over! And many years ago Graham Henry did a fair bit of research with 12g slugs. He was able to confidently shoot a 3" group at 100 with several loads and shotguns. Was also confident that it was a killing combination on deer sized animals out to 150. Think his best results were with the non spinning type slugs, shot through a 3" rifled choke.

After playing around with buckshot for years in various shotguns I found that factory "modified" or half choke usually performed the best, holding killing patterns out to 40 yd max.

It is essential to pattern each barrel/choke with the load you intend to use at different ranges; I test at 20, 30 and 40 yd. Just screwing in a full choke tube and shooting magnum buckshot is not a guarantee of success!

FWIW I'm using Winchester 00 buck 9-pellet, a 32 gram high velocity load. Buffered hard shot, and shoots noticeably cleaner than cheaper European buckshot.

found the same as above, get close and its like a uzi machine gun thru the old 8+1 shot pump actions pre cindy
goats dont die quick unless you neck shoot them as said above

smoothbore room clearing shotguns pattern like shit compaired to the M choke

requires someone with a rifle to "tidy up afterwards" any not instantly on the ground

Originally Posted by Bill999

found the same as above, get close and its like a uzi machine gun thru the old 8+1 shot pump actions pre cindy
goats dont die quick unless you neck shoot them as said above

smoothbore room clearing shotguns pattern like shit compaired to the M choke

requires someone with a rifle to "tidy up afterwards" any not instantly on the ground

Sounds a bit ugly...have it but never used it myself. Seems popular in US for whitetail. Guess they have a long tradition of using buckshot on bucks also guessing its a woods load at fairly close range.

Originally Posted by Bill999

found the same as above, get close and its like a uzi machine gun thru the old 8+1 shot pump actions pre cindy
goats dont die quick unless you neck shoot them as said above

smoothbore room clearing shotguns pattern like shit compaired to the M choke

requires someone with a rifle to "tidy up afterwards" any not instantly on the ground

Have to feel sad for the old NZ goat/deer. Any old which way to die sometimes.

Originally Posted by jackmckinnon243

Just wondering if anyone here has had a play with buck shot or solids? How effective and what brands/size loads are you finding work better? Thanks guys hot barrels

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used bricks of buck shot on goats from helicopter - very close range only - 30 metre or less - we cannot use buckshot or solid slug 12 gauge on Public Conservation estate- I actually agree with that - buckshot is fine on small deer front or side on at less than 30 metre - but if they are running away then highly likely a wounded deer with ass full of buckshot - big bang great fun but limited - USA use rifled 12 gauge deer shot guns with sights - different ball game

There is a very good thread in an African hunting forum I'm on where a guy did a side by side shotgun as a poor man's double rifle.that was even the name of the thread
He tried buckshot as that was old school lion and leopard medicine. Found it was pretty naff on those beasties and not much better on everything else.
Put some open sights on it and used slugs.
Much more better and it shot pretty well out to about a hundy from memory

This one. have a read and see what you reckon. In saying that I would still use buckshot but it would have to be close I think.
one day a good strong SXS could turn into this. Maybe a Baikal ejctor. Mot so much on the super nice side but probably very suitable on the good and strong

https://www.africahunting.com/thread...e-rifle.47839/

Buck shot is awesome. Seems to have a pretty bad reputation here by the looks.
Rules to using buck shot are simple. Know your range and your gun's limitation. If you can consistently get 4 buck shot balls into an 8" circle at whatever your max range is that is one very dead animal. For moving targets sub 40 yards shotguns are just unreal. For goats in particular, awesome.
As far as solids go, find a nice accurate slug in your particular gun and 100 is definitely achievable especially with a red dot.
Quick to get a bad name but I've lost count of how many deer and goats I've seen run away with a .223 in their guts. Red stags barely even flinch when a .223 bullet hits them somewhere it shouldn't, by professionals may I add, but yet it is still perhaps the most widely used caliber out of choppers and for many ground cullers.