Buckshot

[Magungo1066]

Hello all! I have a 16 gauge fowler that shoots roundballs very nicely. I have been messing around with buckshot (for fun) and have been pretty underwhelmed with the results... What have you experienced with buckshot loads in a similar gauge?

[smylee grouch]

What are you calling " buckshot " and how were you loading it?

[Daryl]

The US army issued buckshot loads for their .69 caliber muskets, having 9, I think they were, 00 buck.(.32")
These "loads" were in paper ctg. form, so I assume there was some sort of divider between the powder and shot.
The reason, I suspect the why of Smylee's question, is that some people call all shot sizes, "buck shot".

Lead Buckshot size names, depended on the country (I assume) or maker and usually ran, #4 #3, #2 #1. 0, 00, 000 as well as SG, SSG.
BB is not a buck shot, but a heavy bird .177" and also suggested for fox shooting. Back in the 1960's, #4 was .280" in diameter. Today, it is
.250" seems to me. Taylor uses it in his .25 Flinter.
Some commercial buck shot is hardened with 3% to 5% antimony and some is pure lead. Too, the sizes sold today, are not all true to the 'old
sizing charts'. An example of that is Hornady's 000 buck, which they sell and is .350", whereas 000 buck in the old charts, is .360" in diameter.

In guns without chokes,  patterns are usually dependent on the type and arrangement of wad columns.

[rich pierce]

It’s not going to shoot tighter than birdshot and there are few of them. Beyond 20 yards I don’t know what it’s good for as far as hunting is concerned.

[Panzerschwein]

Not a bad load for camp defense, especially in a short “canoe gun” style smoothbore.

[RichG]

I've tried #4 in cyl bore and choked muzzle loaders. Loaded bare, no plastic wad ,no buffering, a coyote is safe at 30yds. Maybe a modern turkey type wad unslit with some buffering might work. I'm trying to stay more HC and plastic wads are hard to load in chocked guns.

[Daryl]

If using plastic, should use a card wad between the plastic and the powder.  In BP suppository shot loads, I found the plastic melted onto the bore
if not separated from the powder by a card wad.

[RichG]

If using plastic wads, I would use a card wad over powder.

[Eric Krewson]

I have never heard anyone mentioning a Skychief load for buckshot, I wonder if it would make a difference, it sure made a dramatic difference in my turkey load patterns.

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/skychief-smoothbore-load-recipe.113195/

[Daryl]

That's what experimentation is all about.Oft times, no 2 guns are alike in what they WANT.

[hanshi]

I've fired a good amount of buckshot in modern guns and in ML shotguns.  What I've learned about it is that across the room or over a card table it works okay - but I'm talking feet not yards.  At 25 yards a animate target stands an excellent chance of escaping unharmed.  In any hunting situation it's only the very unlucky critters that might catch a ball. 

For any Revolutionary era formation of soldiers buckshot will hit a few.  For deer it's a wounder, not a reliable killer. 

[Daryl]

The whole idea of the buck and ball as well as the buckshot "ctgs" in the musket era in the US of A, was to increase "hits", IE: wounding.
My cousin back in Ontario tried buckshot for deer in his back yard, but soon switched to slugs as all he was able to do with buckshot was
 wound the deer. He was using a choked gun, as well.

[tim crowe]

OO buck worked well for us in the jungle with black powder, on plenty of deer, tapir, caiman, & wild hog. Full chokes or modified barrels. We did experiment using square loads.