Poor Mans Buckshot

Probably a pretty erratic pattern.
I've seen old reloading manuals that have instructions on how to cut sheet lead on a guillotine style paper cutter if you can't find shot for reloading. If you get them consistently into near perfect cubes they pattern okay from what I read. Never tried it myself.
 
This has been done in the past as a battlefield expedient during emergencies. In what is now South Africa in the 1830s there was a deadly fight between Trekkers (white settlers) and the Zulu nation at what is called, The Battle of Blood River and is considered the spiritual beginning of the new nation of SA. The settlers literally chained their wagons into a small sheltered bastion. Using their flintlock smoothbores as their primary fighting arm along with a few small cannon, they used nearby water reeds as a field expedient buckshot mold similar to, what is used here in this thread.
Miraculously they did not suffer any deaths save for 4 wounded men. And pushed back the Zulu masses after 4 massive attacks.

a true story

Edit: I do believe Pretoria was the leader of this wagon train. Hence they named the nation's capital after him in his honor.
 
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Poor man's buck shot is bits of nails, stones, cut up chain and just about anything else. Think blunderbuss.
His high safety standards are exactly why you do not use YouTube for educating yourself.
 
No shooter is so poor that they can't afford a lee buckshot mold. The time savings over this method would have it pay for itself in a day....
 
He says the patterns are not far from the factory loads.
The difference could be because factory buckshot is buffered which is known to shrink the spread.
I wouldnt' try it because of the sand caught in the lead "pellets" but in a survival situation I would definitely go for it.
 
legi0n said:
He says the patterns are not far from the factory loads.
The difference could be because factory buckshot is buffered which is known to shrink the spread.
I wouldnt' try it because of the sand caught in the lead "pellets" but in a survival situation I would definitely go for it.
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At what distance?

They might be the same at 14 yards & be totally different at 22 yards.

He could be only telling half the truth here.
 
Brutus said:
At what distance?

They might be the same at 14 yards & be totally different at 22 yards.

He could be only telling half the truth here.
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All depends on what you're using it for... door breaching... just fine... cuttin down small trees nice and close... just fine... blowin' up pumpkins out to 10 yards... just fine...
 
Mark-II said:
No shooter is so poor that they can't afford a lee buckshot mold. The time savings over this method would have it pay for itself in a day....
Click to expand...

I know a guy just like this, I think his balls and his wallet is in his wifes purse. I'm all for being creative, but other than an exercise to see if it's possible, it appears to be a time vampire.
 
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