Buckshot in a 20 gauge

stevejones

stevejones

Regular
Rating - 100%
82   0   1
Location
Courtenay, BC
Hello. I have a 20 gauge shotgun I want to use for deer hunting in our local "shot guns with shot only" area. The BC hunting reg's state that the smallest size shot that can be used is #1 buck. I can only find factory buckshot in #2 thus making it illegal. Has anyone out there have any loading data to share?

Cheers, Steve.
 
stevejones said:
Hello. I have a 20 gauge shotgun I want to use for deer hunting in our local "shot guns with shot only" area. The BC hunting reg's state that the smallest size shot that can be used is #1 buck. I can only find factory buckshot in #2 thus making it illegal. Has anyone out there have any loading data to share?

Cheers, Steve.
Click to expand...

What hulls, primer, powder, wad do you planning on using?
 
I have "opened" up some 2 3/4" buck 12ga before so I could load 20ga 3" buck. I used filler around the shot inside the cup to make a really tight load, hand measuring by counting pellets. Don't over crimp. I like using the old loader that makes "just there" crimps.

AS for factory rounds in 20ga pre-made... don't know.
 
mlehtovaara said:
Why not slugs?

Buckshot is useless with todays slugs being so accurate. IMHO
Click to expand...

Its a "shotguns with shot only" area. "The use of a firearm using a single projectile is prohibited". As quoted from the reg's. Buckshot is pretty close to useless though. If anyone here has ever patterned it in their guns you will see that in most guns after 25 yards the pattern is so open a deer could walk through it. Fortunately, the bush here makes Cambodia look like Kansas, so 25 yards is your average shot (my closest being under 5. No Kidding!). So back to how to reload for 20 gauge...

Cheers, Steve.
 
I've just picked up a 5 pound box of buckshot from Elwood Epps and plan to try reloading factory rounds for my wife to use. Ontario has minimum size double ought for shot to hunt dear. I really like how her Mossberg Bantam 500 tosses a slug out to 100 yards, but she want to try buckshot for some of the brushy close range watches. Will let you know how it goes. Plan to pattern a few rounds before the hunt. Other research found the 00 won't nest or stack as well as it does in 12 gauge, apparently the 03 size fits nicely in the 20 gauge.

Cheers,

Dave
 
Good luck with that my friend!
Are we going to very soon hear a sad story of "the one that got away" again?
Last story I heard here of a combination of a sub-gauge/buckshot on deer, close up, the poster wounded and lost his buck. (a 16 gauge with number 1 buckshot from a treestand)
Take some advice and buy/borrow a 12 or 10 gauge please, and use the heaviest 000 buckshot you can get and keep your shots below 40 yards. There is just too little room in a 20 gauge for a proper stack of #1 pellets and your pattern will be weak with big & uneven holes in it. Just like Longwalker pointed out.
In Saskatchewan I once used factory loaded #2 buckshot with a 20 gauge on a jackrabbit @25 yards. Thankfully one pellet hit his heart. The rest of the pattern totally missed my intended target.

It was an underwhelming experience buddy!

I strongly suspect #1 buckshot load delivered from a 20 gauge will be equally sad on a deer.....
(unless you are standing on him when you pull the trigger)
Please use the best tools available to you, big game deserve it.
 
Last edited:
Ruger300WinMag said:
. Ontario has minimum size double ought for shot to hunt dear.
Click to expand...

No.

It's #1 buck and only if SMALLER than 20 gauge.

So #4 buck is fine for 12 and 20ga. 28 and .410 must be > or = to #1

Edit: See below, I was proven wrong.

No buck in anything smaller than 20ga and no buck smaller than #1
 
Last edited:
Go to wallmart and in the fishing dept go to round ball lead split weights,find the size you

like (usually about 20 )for 99 cents! Then take some of your shot shells and dump the

lead ,becarefull and open the criimp with a small screwdriver and small needle nose plyers.


Just cram the shell with enough to fill it ,and be able to fold the crimp back,I have used

a wooden dowel to tamp the crimp back tight. If you get too many in the shell caseing

will get a little deformed,No problem on a pump. But you will need to put one or two

less to get a perfect round . Try these on something hard(plywood)and see how they

penetrate as fishing lead is very soft,as is most BP loadings but they still get game!


Just a thought or you could just open up a 12 guage buck shot shell and put that in

your shotgun shell,you won't get as many in your shell but it would be hard.

Anyway I think your state should change it's hunting laws unless your population is

such that rifles cannot be fired safely. Thats the China Sydrome.

Good luck Bob
 
Double check the BC regs as I think there may also be a minimum number of pellets required...9? I have some old Imperial buckshot "AAAA" but I think it' too small to be legal. The pellets stack in layers of 4 so if you went to a bigger pellet they wouldn't stack very well and you might not get the minimum count. Good luck.
 
No.

It's #1 buck and only if SMALLER than 20 gauge.

So #4 buck is fine for 12 and 20ga. 28 and .410 must be > or = to #1


I don't believe this is correct. It reads no person may use a shotgun smaller than 20ga when loaded with shot, or any shotgun loaded with shot smaller than #1 buck.

Save the #4 Buck for the coyotes.
 
fwm said:
No.

It's #1 buck and only if SMALLER than 20 gauge.

So #4 buck is fine for 12 and 20ga. 28 and .410 must be > or = to #1


I don't believe this is correct. It reads no person may use a shotgun smaller than 20ga when loaded with shot, or any shotgun loaded with shot smaller than #1 buck.

Save the #4 Buck for the coyotes.
Click to expand...

You're right. I misread.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom