8 gauge pre 1920 buckshot
 

I recently saw a Parker letter for an 8 gauge with special instructions “to pattern close with buckshot” . This got me wondering if there actually was factory loaded 8 gauge buckshot once upon a time ?

UMC 1900 Catalog $2.50 extra charge

Wow 1000 rounds of 8 gauge for $80-100 ! I’d be happy paying that amount for a 100 .

There are a few entries in the Order and Stock books for 8 and 10 gauge guns specifying close (tight) patterns with large buckshot for use on wolves and bears.

The gun I saw the letter on was sent to Florida . Seems a bit unusual I thought . I have an EH factory original 28” gun that was asked to be choked “close” in the right barrel from what Chuck put in the letter . Now that ones either been opened up or they meant close shots in that particular gun . As that one has I think 8 or so points of construction . That EH didn’t stipulate coarse shot or buck just “close” .

I have some 8 ga Winchester brass shells loaded in buckshot I believe them to be factory loaded the way they are crimped...I have yet to see a factory loaded 8 ga paper shell in buckshot but I m sure there were some that were loaded by the factory..i also have some 8 ga paper shells loaded with 7 drams of black powder and 2 1/4 ounce of shot...this is the heavest American factory load I have seen...but I know that in Europe the 8 ga was loaded up to 3 ounces of shot..i forget how much powder was used....charlie

One duck wouldn't be enough incentive to get me to touch off one of those. I'd have to be flock shooting to do it.

Craig:

I find you comment interesting based on "close and buckshot". When I was a kid growing up in New Jersey (read 50's and 60's) all we could use on deer was buckshot. My Dad sent two 12 gauge guns and a bunch of ammo down to some guy in South Carolina, as I remember, and had the barrels worked on to shoot tight patterns with what I believe was OO out to +30 yards or so. They both threw amazing patterns as I recall and many years later when I measured the chokes they were about .010 or IC. Unfortunately, both guns are gone now.

Those guns sure did a job on deer.

I never had an intrest or need to try buckshot until I inherited my grandfathers W&C Scott crystal indicator 10 gauge . This gun however is tighter than normal and on the underside of both barrels it’s stamped “no ball shot only” or something like that . Anyway I started with a Ross Seyfried load for 1 1/4 ounces of shot pushed with 30 grains of SR7625 and adapted the basic load for buckshot round ball and slugs granted I only tried buckshot in the Scott . Anyway during that hunting season about ten years ago I knocked over my first deer ever using 00 in the Scott . Since that time I’ve killed quite a few deer using various 10 gauge doubles also a couple with a Parker 16 and my Handloaded buckshot . Now the kicker in this whole thing is the fact that rifles are legal in my county so generally I’ll climb a tree and bring a rifle and shotgun along if the deers inside thirty yards and I’m comfortable with the shot the shotgun will boom if it’s further or I think I can’t get the shotgun load to the deer well enough I’ll plunk it with a rifle . I’ve had a couple instances where I’d plunk one with a shotgun others would run off a ways and I’d plunk a second with a rifle . I should say I’m not overly worried about trophy racks I tend to shoot Uhm as I see uhm . And we have doe days all season with a limit of two per day so my yearly totals sometimes creep up a bit .

I've not seen a catalog listing of factory loaded brass shells. From the 1870 into the 1930s our ammunition companies offered brass NPEs for Nimrods to load with black powder only. From the 1923 Remington catalog --

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The only factory loaded brass shells I know of is the 00 Buck 12-gauge shells for the government from WW-II to Viet Nam --

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the Ducks Unlimited 25th Anniversary 12-gauge shells from Remington --

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And the U.S. Cartridge Co. brass 2-inch .410-bore shells that held the 3/8 ounce load of the 2 1/2 inch paper shell in a 2-inch shell.

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