10 ga buckshot

[charlie cleveland]

i loaded up some short 10 ga buckshot loads...used 000 buck 8 pellets to theshell...equal out to 1 1/2 ounce....shot this load at 50 long steps at 30 inch circle...used a 10 ga lc smith with full choke barrels it will put all 8 pellets in the circle most of the time...ive fired the gun 5 times and it patterned the same all 5 times...one of the shells only put 7 pellets in circle but i must say all patterns were very good...all of pellets were usally with in a 16 to 20 inch area....i must change that 5 times fierd to 8 times fired....cant wait till i can try it in the field....by the way old lc smith is a damascus barreled gun.... charlie

[Pete Lester]

Charlie, I am giving some thought to loading some 00 buckshot for the short ten. I was reading a little bit about loading buckshot and the different sizes of it. I read it is best to use buckshot that stack in 3 pellet layers for the best patterns. This would mean either 9 pellets of 00 (1 1/8 ounce) or 12 pellets (1 1/2 ounce). Given the old wood I think I will stick with the 9 pellet load and use some polystyrene buffer. I plan to shoot at 40 yards at a 30" circle however I believe the goal with buckshot is to see how many pellets are in a 12" circle since that is about the size of the vitals on the average whitetail.

Thoughts/experience with buckshot anyone?

[charlie cleveland]

pete the 9 or 12 00 will certainly make a good round for sure...many years ago i would read of the choke selection for buckshot useback then the factory favored the full choke for buckshot but today a open choke is favored..i hope you get to pattern your load in both the full choke and a open choke gun...would like to know which is best choke for buckshot..i tend to think the full choke is best...if a deer is hit with all 9 or 12 pellets in aheart shot area it will go down very quickly...let us know the results of your testing... charlie

[scott kittredge]

I loaded some with 13 00 copper coated pellets and at 40 yds with .025 choke I got 12 hits in 30 inch every time I shot it and 5 to 6 in side a 14 inch center, have not try it with full choke yet. scott

[Pete Lester]

Charlie, Scott was with me tonight and we put the buckshot to the paper at 30 yards. Load was Federal Hull 2 7/8", Fiocchi 616 primer, 20gr Red Dot, SP10 wad, 1/2" 16ga fiber filler wad, Nine 00 buckshot, polystyrene buffer, roll crimp.

Shot the Remington '94 first with the left barrel and .045 of choke. All 9 pellets were in a 15 3/4" circle, with 6 pellets making a 10" circle.

Next shot was through my Parker NH 10ga with .025 choke in the right barrel. Only 7 pellets out of 9 were inside the 30" circle. Those 7 made a 20 inch circle, the tightest cluster was 4 pellets in a 12" circle.

It's night and day looking at the patterns, the more choke for buckshot the better.

[charlie cleveland]

pete it look like you have just proved what the old shot shell charts usto say about shooting buckshot they recommended full choke..i wish i had a old chart to post to all see.. im sure glad that old remington done so well..all she needs now is a big fat deer in front of you this comeing season... the old parker ive got shoots about like your rem. 10 i also have shot buckshot in a old 10 ga english gun with modified choke it did not do well shooting buckshot...this reminds me ive got to renew my buckshot supply...i hope you try the 12 pellets of buckshot and see how it patterns..i ve tried the triple 000 buch in the short ten and 8 pellets was the most that could be placed in the shell and crimp right..

[CraigThompson]

I got a load out of Reloader Magazine that Ross Seyfried had in an article he wrote maybe 10-15 years ago . Seems he has a W&C just like mine but in what appears to be slightly better condition .

Anyway he said use Remington 10 gauge hulls primed with the WIN or CCI 209 primer , 1 1/4 ounce of whatever size LEAD shot you want and pushed with 30 grains of SR7625 and using the Remington SP-10 wad . One also needs to put a 16 gauge 1/4 card wad in the bottom of the shot cup and an overshot wad on top the shot .

So I use the same charge with twelve 00 Buck pellets and without the 1/4 wad and overshot wad . Worked nicely in my W&C . With the 00 Buck I put 3 in a layer in that wad and stack them 4 layers .

When using #1 Buck I put them four to the layer and again four layers for 16 pellets . With the #3 Buck I use 28 pellets dropped as you're wasting your time trying to stack them .

Those three did very nicely in my W&C short 10 , Ithaca NID short 10 and now my new to me LC Smith short 10 !