Imperial 12ga boxes stamped AAA or F ?

Got a few boxes with stamp as per title and wondering if anyone kniw much about them ?

Imperial AAA was number 4 BUCK diameter .24
Imperial SSG was 00 BUCK diameter .33

I'm assuming the F is steel shot?? If so diameter around .21 or .22.
 
Shot a ton of them back in the day goose hunting prior to the lead ban in the 90's
Little light for coyotes with a .20" pellet diameter
Not sure what they would be good for today
Cheers

Why would AAA/T be too small for coyotes? BB lead is what has been used for a long time on them.
 
Why would AAA/T be too small for coyotes? BB lead is what has been used for a long time on them.

T would be steel shot and not very effective. I remember a few we opened up on that attacked our decoys within 30 yards and they just ran away to bleed to death
AAA and BB LEAD maybe OK pending where you hunt coyotes in this country
Those little things out west no problem. The ones we have here in eastern canada are much bigger dogs and the choice load is no.4 buck min
Cheers
 
T would be steel shot and not very effective. I remember a few we opened up on that attacked our decoys within 30 yards and they just ran away to bleed to death
AAA and BB LEAD maybe OK pending where you hunt coyotes in this country
Those little things out west no problem. The ones we have here in eastern canada are much bigger dogs and the choice load is no.4 buck min
Cheers

AAA and T are simply size designations, this person was asking about old Imperial ammo, I thought that we established that AAA Imperial was lead, if it is lead then it is bigger than BB and would kill Eastern Coyotes with no problem at all, that is what has been used for generations on them being pushed by dogs in Ontario. A 40lb dog does not require No 4 Buck min, #2 lead will kill them no problem, No 4 Buck in most cases has very few pellets and can actually hurt your ability to kill a running yote with a dog on its butt. Sorry but saying No 4 Buck minimum for coyote is like saying you need a 30-06 min for deer.
 
I have a 5 pack of Imperial 16 gauge SG. I assume that is #1 buckshot? IIRC SSG was 0 buck and Imperial offered a Special SSG which was 00. 3 Macs will know he was around in the hay days of Canadian shotgunning. When I lived in southern Ontario we ran coyotes with Walker hounds. The "old timers" used SSG in their shotguns and us younger more enlightened guys used AAA or #4 buckshot. I found that shooting through stuff (coyotes always seem to get something between them and you, rail fence, grasses cattails etc) the AAA or 4 buck worked great. We used 2's and BB shot for jack rabbits. This is just what we used I have no doubt BB lead shot would wallop a coyote inside 45 yards. I remember the day one of the guys showed up with a box of Federal #4 buckshot. It was like seeing a celebrity. All we could buy those days in our area was Imperial in the large shot. (1970's) That fellow was a part time guide and I believe he got that ammo from an American sport.



Darryl
 
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AAA and T are simply size designations, this person was asking about old Imperial ammo, I thought that we established that AAA Imperial was lead, if it is lead then it is bigger than BB and would kill Eastern Coyotes with no problem at all, that is what has been used for generations on them being pushed by dogs in Ontario. A 40lb dog does not require No 4 Buck min, #2 lead will kill them no problem, No 4 Buck in most cases has very few pellets and can actually hurt your ability to kill a running yote with a dog on its butt. Sorry but saying No 4 Buck minimum for coyote is like saying you need a 30-06 min for deer.

To each their own . AAA were not coyote loads here back in the day and mainly geese
When I hunted coyotes in Ontario the guys I went with used 4 buck also but that was some years ago
I still reload an amount of buck shot and no.4 gives me the best pattern in the old 10ga
Cheers
 
I have a 5 pack of Imperial 16 gauge SG. I assume that is #1 buckshot?

I picked up a pile of the SG in 16ga, I still have to break one down and check but I am pretty sure it is closer to O buck than #1 Buck, although I cannot find clarity on the sizes as different countries use different numbers. Based on the linked chart it could be O buck but I was told when I was growing up that SSG was bigger than SG but yet SSG here shows to be #1 or #2 buck.

http://www.hallowellco.com/shot_size_chart.htm
 
One thing I remember for sure in 12ga Imperial loaded the ssg with both a 0 buck and a 00 buck
One was 9 pellets and one was 12 pellets
They also made a ssg magnum with a pellet a hair bigger than a 00 I bet that is the special one you remember Darryl
I honestly didnot have any experience with the 16ga ones
Cheers
 
One thing I remember for sure in 12ga Imperial loaded the ssg with both a 0 buck and a 00 buck
One was 9 pellets and one was 12 pellets
They also made a ssg magnum with a pellet a hair bigger than a 00 I bet that is the special one you remember Darryl
I honestly didnot have any experience with the 16ga ones
Cheers

The stuff I have is a paper hull, not the original box, no clue the actual pellet count. I do know that before they loaded plastic hulls with plastic wads there were different pellet counts just based on how they stacked, you could get 9 or 12 in a 12ga 2 3/4" shell depending on how the shell was made and the base wad, unless you measured the pellets they may have all been the same size.

These SG rounds were picked up at a gun show, in great shape, I hold on to some when upland game hunting, just in case I twist an ankle badly or something like that, something that keeps me in the bush for a night or two, nice to have something larger than #6 bird shot.
 
My 16 gauge SG is in the original Imperial 5 round box. It is IVI not CIL. I would date it around 1980ish. Box indicates 12 pellets. That is the same count as some Federal 16 gauge #1 buckshot loads I have. If they are the same diameter I have no idea.

Darryl
 
Don't know about the dia of Imperial AAA or U.S. Number 4 buck shot.All I remember is ,that it was said back in the day ,that Canadian AAA was the equivalent of U.S. Number 4 buck shot.
 
Don't know about the dia of Imperial AAA or U.S. Number 4 buck shot.All I remember is ,that it was said back in the day ,that Canadian AAA was the equivalent of U.S. Number 4 buck shot.

Agree, also IIRC the boxes showed that there were 34 pellets in the shell.
 
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