got a LEE 00 buckshot mould today

m-134

m-134

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Thunder Bay, ON
last week i orderd a LEE 00 buckshot mould and it arrived today. got some casted already and hopeing to get some more done tomorow. it is still brand new so it need to be worked in, but i just dont care for how long it takes the mould to warm up so it forms the shot nicely. aslong as the weather stays nice i plan on getting atleast one ice cream pail full by the end of tomorow. i am thinking of ordering a no. 4 buckshot mould aswell, for $60 cant go wrong.:)
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I haven't tried mine yet, but I was told that putting them in a wooden box for a week or so, in the back of your truck, will help to make them rounder. Just let them roll around for a week on your way to work etc... Seems like it could work. Worth trying anyway.
 
I like to leave the mold on the pot while the pot warms up. This mold does take even longer than others to get to a temp that gives good fill out though.

After cutting all the BBs apart you can put them in an empty tumbler with a bit of pencil lead (graphite) and they will be round and coated.
 
they turned out pretty round, sofar anyways.

ahlsy said:
I haven't tried mine yet, but I was told that putting them in a wooden box for a week or so, in the back of your truck, will help to make them rounder. Just let them roll around for a week on your way to work etc... Seems like it could work. Worth trying anyway.
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I never thought about reloading buckshot. How do you like your home made rounds vs factory? Can you reload any hulls or just special ones?
 
Good luck loading these into a shotcup without bulging the hull.
Mine cast at around .335; way too big to stack in 3s without bulging the hull. Some hulls(namely the STS hulls) bulged so badly that the shell wouldn't chamber...
 
digitalblue said:
Good luck loading these into a shotcup without bulging the hull.
Mine cast at around .335; way too big to stack in 3s without bulging the hull. Some hulls(namely the STS hulls) bulged so badly that the shell wouldn't chamber...
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ive loaded a couple already and they are tight but no bulging. i realy like them,might be going to the range or make a trip to the bush tomorrow to try them out.
 
Check out the Sharpshooter molds. I just ordered a #1 and a #00 for $84 delivered.
$35 each plus $13 shipping to Canada for up to 3 molds.
They have good reviews and were cheaper than any Lee I could find.
 
digitalblue said:
Good luck loading these into a shotcup without bulging the hull.
Mine cast at around .335; way too big to stack in 3s without bulging the hull. Some hulls(namely the STS hulls) bulged so badly that the shell wouldn't chamber...
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Cut off the cup petals and use a cardboard sleeve instead. Or no sleeve at all.
 
legi0n said:
Cut off the cup petals and use a cardboard sleeve instead. Or no sleeve at all.
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That's what I ended up doing for a while. I used a strip of poly vapor barrier as a shot wrap, patterns were very nice and tight.

I eventually switched to 8 pellet 00 buck loads for ease of loading; all of my buckshot is for paper/plinking so any improvement in patterning is wasted...
 
I have tested both 3x3 and 2x4 loads from the Lee mould with and without buffer (cream of wheat.) Also compared them to factory Remington 00 buckshot loads.

I have fired ~150 shells with the 3x3 stacks with the pedals left on so they bulged. Only ran into one shell that wouldn't chamber in my 870 express but many where tight.

I did notice a 6% decrease in muzzle energy (5 shot average) with the pedals cut off than with them left on using the load I worked up. My guess is the pedals are pressed against the sides by the load inside and it provides a better seal. If you cut open a bunch of factory buckshot shells you will find that many that are stacked in 3's have no pedals or sleeve at all. The shot just sits on top of the cushion wad.

With everything but the shot left the same there was 5% more muzzle energy with the 2x4 stacked and buffered loads than the 3x3 stacked and buffered loads (pedals left on.) Remember that velocity counts more than weight for kinetic energy so this could be the reason.

Also because the shot sit differently when stacked by 2's instead of 3's you can fit a 2x4 stack in the same height as a 3x3 stack.

From 5-25 yards the grouping averages of 5 shots through a Mossberg 500 where the same for 2x4 and 3x3 loads (both with buffer). Once you pass 25 yards though the 3x3 pattern really starts opening up. The 2x4 patterns where 25% smaller than the 3x3 patterns at 30 and 35 yards (as far as I tested.)

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TL;DR
In my testing 2x4 stacked 00 shot is superior to 3x3 stacked 00 shot in every regard.
 
I have one from henry N above, great service from him.

The mold casts big shot so like someone mentioned you will not stack it 3x3 (9 balls) with a standard shotcup, without bulging (in STS/gunclub hulls).

I just stack 2x4 (8 balls)and use standard shot data, works fairly well

LITNIT, could you give me your load data/components for the 2x4 unbuffered loads???
 
luke s said:
I have one from henry N above, great service from him.

The mold casts big shot so like someone mentioned you will not stack it 3x3 (9 balls) with a standard shotcup, without bulging (in STS/gunclub hulls).

I just stack 2x4 (8 balls)and use standard shot data, works fairly well

LITNIT, could you give me your load data/components for the 2x4 unbuffered loads???
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Check out the buckshot section of the IMR manual, they have some fairly hot 8 pellet loads for the STS hull.
I personally use a Win AA hull, 32gr of 800X, WAA12R wads, Win209 primer and 8 pellets of 00 buck(I omit the buffer).
This load produces a stupidly large fireball(~7ft long) when fired from a 20" barrel, it's not very super accurate without the buffer though...

My pet plinking load for the STS/Gun club hull, is 22gr 800X, Win209, WAA12/WT12 wad and 8 pellets of 00 buck.
I typically use a small square of cardstock as an overshot card to get a nice crimp.
Gives about 1300fps with average patterning(10"circle at 10yds).
 
luke s said:
LITNIT, could you give me your load data/components for the 2x4 unbuffered loads???
Click to expand...

Winchester AA hulls
35 grains of blue dot
CCI 209M primers
WAA12R claybuster clone wads

Stacked in 4 layers of 2 shot each and standard 8 fold star crimp.

I didn't use a reloading manual and just used components I had on hand and worked it up from 25 grains looking for over pressure indicators on the primers. I have loaded them to 40 grains of blue dot but the recoil is excessive in my opinion. At 45 grains I was starting to get the primers to flatten out so definitely too much pressure.

Out of a 20" cylinder bore barrel on a Mossberg 500 with 5 shot averages I had the following groups.

2x4 buffered:
10 yards - 11"
20 yards - 15"
30 yards - 25"

2x4 no buffer:
10 yards - 11"
20 yards - 19"
30 yards - 27"

3x3 buffered:
10 yards - 7"
20 yards - 15"
30 yards - 33"

3x3 no buffer:
10 yards - 7"
20 yards - 17"
30 yards - 36"

Unfortunately I used my friends shotgun to pattern these and want to redo them in my 18.5" 870.
 
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