20ga buckshot size?
- Thread starter IM_Lugger
- Start date
Brutus
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Nothing bigger than #2 Buck in 3 inch, 20 bore....
Sure Algoma, maybe #2 Buckshot in a 3 inch, 18 pellet count, (Federal), and #3 Buck Remington/Winchester/Federal, 20 pellet count, in 2 3/4 inch 20 gauge.
Imperial used to, once upon a time manufacture larger buckshot in the gauges smaller than 12.
Unsure of 20 bore, but a friend had '0' buckshot for his 16 gauge.
Must have been a weird, staggered stack, of big pellets inside the shell.
I personally have never heard of recently made buckshot in larger sizes, than previously stated.
I once, had a Savage Model 24, that I used to fool around with.
There were reloaders, that apparently made #1 Buckshot fit, into a 20 gauge case, but IIRC they had to cut the petals off the plastic wad, to make it work.
Sure Algoma, maybe #2 Buckshot in a 3 inch, 18 pellet count, (Federal), and #3 Buck Remington/Winchester/Federal, 20 pellet count, in 2 3/4 inch 20 gauge.
Imperial used to, once upon a time manufacture larger buckshot in the gauges smaller than 12.
Unsure of 20 bore, but a friend had '0' buckshot for his 16 gauge.
Must have been a weird, staggered stack, of big pellets inside the shell.
I personally have never heard of recently made buckshot in larger sizes, than previously stated.
I once, had a Savage Model 24, that I used to fool around with.
There were reloaders, that apparently made #1 Buckshot fit, into a 20 gauge case, but IIRC they had to cut the petals off the plastic wad, to make it work.
Last edited:
madtrapper143
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Steep Rock Lake NWO
#3 Federals is all I have seen lately. They pattern well and are very effective out to about 30 yards on animals about the size of coyotes. Deer are possible with well placed patterns out to about 25 yards. Shoot on some patterning paper before you go hunting. My Light Twenty browing patterns it great with Invector Plus Modified tube.
cheers Darryl
cheers Darryl
- Location
- Saskatchewan
Why post a comment about something you obviously know nothing about! It just wastes everyone's time. 20 gauge is a LOT bigger than .410. Oh never mind...
Buckshot in the .410 is a single pellet or stacked in a single row, 3 - 5 pellets high. Winchester and Aguila factory loads hold 000 or 00 buck, not #3.
A 20 ga. simply has trouble with the arrangement of big pellets in it's relatively small bore compared to a 10 or 12 ga, not enough room.
Reloading your own buckshot loads would allow you to tailer your loads to match the hull. Try diff. sizes to see which uses the space best. One can buy diff. buckshot in pkg. of 100, this isn't really buckshot but round ball for muzzleloaders and should be avail. down to .32 cal.....I cast round ball down to smaller then that. One way or another, you should be able to reload good buckshot loads with a bit of experimenting and without any fancy reloading tools.
Longwalker, that time of the month again? That wasn't a comment I was making, it was a question in a thread I started. Don't like the question? don't reply.
You don't think I know about the size difference between 410 and 20ga? I don't own a .410 so the only reason I said #3 is because that is the largest buckshot size listed on Winchester website.
Ben, this is good point. I already reload for my handguns, so was thinking of getting a cheap lee press to load for my shotgun.
You don't think I know about the size difference between 410 and 20ga? I don't own a .410 so the only reason I said #3 is because that is the largest buckshot size listed on Winchester website.
Ben, this is good point. I already reload for my handguns, so was thinking of getting a cheap lee press to load for my shotgun.
- Location
- Saskatchewan
Sorry for being grumpy, but I do get tired of far too much idle speculaiton on this site... so, something more positive -
from the Winchester website:
XB41000 Super-X® 410 2-1/2 3 000
XB413 Super-X® 410 3 5 000
Pellet size is 000, pellet number is 3 or 5 in a single column depending on shell length.
Stacking big pellets requires that they nest together in some fashion. The most efficient system for the 20 gauge is layers of three, which limits shot size to #3 buck if using a shotcup or #2 with no shotcup. All loading recipies in my manuals list only #3 buck for the 20 ga. If you handloaded a bigger size, there would be very large voids between pellets, and irregular "stacking". If you went to "layers" of 2 large pellets they would bash each other upon firing so badly that the resulting flats would make them spin wildly out of the pattern within a few yards. Granulated buffer might help, but it is definitely a diminishing return to push the shot size too big. A 12 ga. handles buckshot much better, and a 10ga. better yet.
from the Winchester website:
XB41000 Super-X® 410 2-1/2 3 000
XB413 Super-X® 410 3 5 000
Pellet size is 000, pellet number is 3 or 5 in a single column depending on shell length.
Stacking big pellets requires that they nest together in some fashion. The most efficient system for the 20 gauge is layers of three, which limits shot size to #3 buck if using a shotcup or #2 with no shotcup. All loading recipies in my manuals list only #3 buck for the 20 ga. If you handloaded a bigger size, there would be very large voids between pellets, and irregular "stacking". If you went to "layers" of 2 large pellets they would bash each other upon firing so badly that the resulting flats would make them spin wildly out of the pattern within a few yards. Granulated buffer might help, but it is definitely a diminishing return to push the shot size too big. A 12 ga. handles buckshot much better, and a 10ga. better yet.
- Location
- Saskatchewan
OK , here's what you do - buy a bag of each size of buckshot made, and mix and match to your heart's content. You will likely be able to stuff some mixtures into a 20 ga. hull that have never been commercially loaded. Just for discussion, say the 20 ga. hull allows you three or four OO's and some #4's for filler, and then what? After spending a few hundred dollars and many hours at the load bench and pattern board you'll still have a crappy thin pattern of pellets that won't be any more effective than a well balanced load of #3 buck.
I guess it's been a while sense I owned a 20 gauge
