Buckshot
 

Anyone using buckshot on deer in damascus guns, and if so, what range do you limit yourself to?

After spending a considerable part of my early adulthood chasing deer in the woods and swamps with deer dogs, and using buckshot exclusively on them, I determined that 30 yards is about it for effectiveness. Sure, many have been killed with it at much longer ranges, but I've seen some spectacular failures with good hits on deer and lack of penetration, even with big blue whistlers like 00.

I've never used it out of damascus, but don't see why there'd be any significant difference between it and fluid steel barrels, as long as the pressures were in line with what we feel is safe for damascus.

I grew up in the South and buckshot was common -- as with Stan, it was shooting deer chased out of swamps by dogs. It's outlawed in the Mid-West. I'd sure use it if I could. I wish RST loaded buckshot (or had any shells for sale, for that matter!).

The trick to using buckshot to my mind is getting the chokes right based on the load you are going to shoot. My father sent two Remington Model 11 12ga. guns and several boxes of ammo (these were paper shells without shot cups) to some guy in the South when I was a kid (late 50's or early 60's) and had him work the chokes to shoot the stuff he sent with the guns.

I can say these loads and "worked" barrels were devastating to deer out to 40 yards or so. This was in New Jersey. I dont remember the loads but I do remember Dad saying they would put all the pellets inside an 18" circle with several pellets always grouping close together.

Buckshot is funny stuff especially 00...

I’ve killed plenty deer with buckshot from damascus barreled guns . All sizes #3 up to 00000 in the 10 gauge , 0 in the 12 , #1 in the 16 . Also fooled with 000000 in the 8 gauge . As Stan stated earlier thirty yards is a good max range . My parameters may not be as stringent as others but it’s worked for me . Also had a fair amount of success with home cast slugs in all gauges from the 8 down to the 28 and again my parameters are thirty yards or less . Punkin balls I’ve messed with in the 8 a fair amount and in the 10 a little . Bare in mind all the ammo I used in damascus/twist guns was Handloaded , buckshot sizes 0000 , 00000 and 000000 as well as slugs and punkin balls I cast myself .

I ve shot buckshot in Damascus andtwist most were full choke and modified....in a tight patterning gun 40 yards is death to a deer...if cly or improved cly 30 yards max...I m with craig on pumpkin balls 30 yards max. for average guns...my old 8 ga with pumpkin balls 30yards is the limit...wish I could do better with it...charlie

Thanks for the responses so far. My main reason for asking is that I've been fooling around with handloading 00 Buck in a full choked Lefever. The regular 00 has been pretty erratic out to around 30 yards, but when I switched to 8 pellets of Copper washed 00 the grouping has been much better. My best load so far has been 6 of the 8 in a 5 inch group ( with 2 fliers ) at about 40 yards. I believe the velocity was in the 1200 fps range. I will be checking that load for penetration and may up the velocity a little if not satisfied. Frankly, I was very pleased with the grouping and will use this load if the penetration seems adequate.

The whole more open choke to the larger pellets isn’t a bad starting point . However I’ve shot 00 and larger thru tight barrels with good results inside my own parameters . My own findings however haven’t always followed the gospel so to speak .

I found that the problem with buckshot at longer ranges wasn't with the inability to put pellets on target, it was with lack of penetration. I well remember an eleven pointer i shot dead on in the front of the chest at 35 yards with a 2 3/4" load of double aughts (00). He ran off and only bled a few drops. I killed him the next year with a .300 Savage and when I skinned him I dug out two or three pellets that were encased in a clearish gristle-like substance. They hadn't penetrated much over 1 1/2 inches, or if they had they worked back out towards the skin. Definitely not lethal penetration. I think people tend to not choose their shots with buckshot as critically as they do with a rifle. If you did, and only took broadside lung shots with buckshot, the kill rate would be much higher, and maybe could be depended on at more than 30 yards.

Copper plated buckshot always patterned much tighter for me than unplated. I remember well when Federal introduced the first copper plated buckshot rounds. They really patterned close out of my gun.

And hogs? It's even less effective on big hogs. That shield and tough skin reduces the effectiveness tremendously, in my experience.

I deconstructed some Federal "Tactical" rounds that contained copper plated 00 buck to begin my experimental handloads with. The wads used in those rounds were of a very thick un slit material, without a cushioning section, similar to Steel Shot wads. It is possible that these wads could tighten patterns even further but not having any baseline loading data and not knowing what powder was used by Federal I decided not to use them and opted for Federal 12S3 wads instead for my handloads. Is anyone familiar with the Federal "Tactical" rounds regarding pressure/velocity specs?
The penetration tests that I did this morning were encouraging. The 00 Buck passed through (6) 3/4 inch pine boards and were stopped by the seventh. Another round was fired into a live Oak and penetrated almost 1 1/2 inches. I also fired 3 rounds over my chronograph and got an average reading of 1236 fps.
Now all I need to do is find a deer.