8 gauge pre 1920 buckshot

[6pt-Sika]

Originally Posted by Tom Flanigan

I never could understand the use of buckshot only in NJ. I would hate to have to hunt with it exclusively. I guess the reason was that it was a populous state. Even so, allowing the use of slugs was a wise decision.

I never took a shot over 40 yards with buckshot and made damn sure that I knew what my buckshot loads were capable of. i shot a lot of paper back in those days. The right modified barrel of the DHE was a sure killer at 40 yards with #1 buck but things fell apart after that.

The problem with buckshot is that the average hunter has no idea how his gun shoots with buckshot. He just grabs a box of 00 buck (I never had a gun that would pattern them worth a damn) and probably takes shots he shouldn't. I'll bet the percentage of wounded deer went down in NJ after slugs were allowed.

When I first started doing the buckshot thing with my grandfathers old Scott I only had 00 to load and it did okay to about 25-30 yards . Have an Ithaca NID 10 Super that we’d owned thirty years and never fired so I tried it on paper as well . Anyway to make a long story short over the last eighteen years I’ve spent a fair amount of time fooling with buckshot in everything from an 8 gauge down to the little 28 gauge . I’ve also put a decent amount of time in slugs for all the same gauges . To a lesser degree the punkin ball (round ball ) as well in the 8 , 10 and 12 . So in most cases now if I’m in a treestand the double barrel will have buck in whichever barrel patterns better and a slug in the barrel that shoots closer to point of aim at 25-30 yards . I’ve been fortunate with the 10 gauge having killed deer with every size buck from #3 up to 00000 . Also with all three of my 10 gauge suitable slugs although I’ve not plunked one with a punkin ball yet .