Thread: Buckshot

Fascinating stuff. Grew up with blue star 9 ball 00 around the place. Tried good loads in my team years and was bitterly disappointed.shot white goat at about ten yards,had 9 holes in one side n 9 holes out the other,all shoulder/chest yet goat still went 25 yards..leaking like a seive n looking like a colinder but still 25 yards!!! Skip forward years later the wee .410 got lots of use and loaded up some buckshot. Son fired one round unsuccessfully at close range deer,and that was it.ive fired a couple into close targets and one out across lake( safe background) just to see and was VERY surprised at lack of spread. Just loaded up half dozen more. Fivex00 in two cases and five00 &one000 in another four. I find it funny the wee case holds 2/3 the payload of .12 ga load...yes I do have some 12 ball 00 loads in 3" 12ga. I forgot the other times I've used it.tried it on wallabies.yeah nah hohum.#7 buck much better pattern.and out spotlighting hates a big tall long legged one was seen in corner of paddock.i got up to about 25 yards and head/neck shot the yearling red.most happy I carried some buckshot loads that night. Many of you guys using it often if at all??

When I tried 12ga buckshot on goats I was similarly unimpressed. I had some 3 inch BB's which were much more emphatic

If you can find #7 buck it's much better...off top of head it's thirtyish.22 calibre balls. Way denser pattern and still big enough to penetrate well. Agree #BB is devestating up close.

used to buy the stuff by the caseloads for aerial goat work the 9 pellet was the business - the 12 pellet useless basically - the possums and hares hated the 12 pellet goats just ran with it unless one had the machine within 20 metres - but the 9 pellet was good certainly on goats - have not shot many reds with buckshot but the 9 pellet certainly tips fallow upside down - varied what one could buy in bulk even ordering the stuff ahead - getting the stuff always the problem

Within 20 meters is the key bit...

There was a VHS floating around back in the day of Brian Goodwin and his shooter in HLL meat shooting the northern Ruahines. Two semi auto shotguns, rotated by the shooter so he could keep up a decent volume of fire. 9 pellet 12 gauge buck, absolutely poleaxed all deer. But pretty much all head and neck shots.

I've never been keen on the idea of buckshot on larger animals, but saw a mate shoot two goats at 50 metres with it earlier this year. Both went down like a sack of spuds.

What I find fascinating about shotgunning in modern times is velocity. Lead loads used to run between 11-1300fps. Any more and they blew patterns. Even back in days of black powder n before wads the rule was ,more shot n less powder = tight dense pattern. More powder n less shot = spreader pattern. The introduction of steel shot regulations for better or worse has changed scene forever. Most birdshot is 14_1500 fps and some up around 1600 fps but there are also loads up to 2000fps.now that is fair honking along. Needs good wads and perfect shot to pattern well.we won't go into recoil but will say loads are LOUD. There has to be a middle ground load now that takes best of both. Something else is the heavi shot. Heavier than lead so smaller pellets and denser pattern still leathal and at ranges that have head scratching numbers to them. I imagine a heavishot load of BB going 1400fps inside a non slit steel shot was would be eye opening.

Great stuff in close, still have some 31/2 inch shells 27 Pellets

Buckshot 10 yds maximum I reckon however BBs now there's something that works. Use steel wads and you can get 1 1/2 oz in a 2 3/4 case murder on geese out to about 60 yds. I should try them on ground based things I suppose

Originally Posted by Marty Henry

Buckshot 10 yds maximum I reckon however BBs now there's something that works. Use steel wads and you can get 1 1/2 oz in a 2 3/4 case murder on geese out to about 60 yds. I should try them on ground based things I suppose

Our all time favourite wallaby load was Winchester superX in #2 closely followed by #BB. Both are awesome on geese too. Still need appropriate choke for the range but devestating. Strangely enough the steel loads of same size going faster with more pellets are in same league but boot hell of a lot more.

Did anybody use ‘waxed’ loads?

Hint: mark them so you know not to use them on ducks/small game!

Originally Posted by XR500

There was a VHS floating around back in the day of Brian Goodwin and his shooter in HLL meat shooting the northern Ruahines. Two semi auto shotguns, rotated by the shooter so he could keep up a decent volume of fire. 9 pellet 12 gauge buck, absolutely poleaxed all deer. But pretty much all head and neck shots.

He shot a lot of deer in the Rua's. Once we walked back to Ironbark from Colenso and when we got to the river there were 7 hot gut bags. Could hear the 500 hovering and the crack of the shottie. .

The only time I shot from a helicopter I used my REM 1100 and oo buckshot 9 pellet, it polaxed everything I shot at. Most shots about 25-30 yds.
I tried it on paper once and using the mod chock six out of nine were on the paper, switching to full chock all nine hit , this was at 30 yds.
One goat i shot was about 50 yds away on a bluff and he went down no worries , great fun shooting goats out of a chopper.

Originally Posted by Finnwolf

Did anybody use ‘waxed’ loads?

Hint: mark them so you know not to use them on ducks/small game!

My grandfather used to make them on the kitchen table, pry open a case drip wax from a candle onto the shot till it was full. Poor man's solids.