multigauge
Member
I have been reading THR for 2 years but I have never posted a thread. In checking the archives I only found one reference to this topic. Buckshot loading patterns were made over a century ago based on the size of buckshot and bores.
With the advent of shotcups in the 1960's buckshot was usually still loaded without a shotcup since it was considered a short-range load. Recently with shooters not wanting lead streaks in their barrels and a longer range load, buckshot has been loaded in shotcups, sometimes with buffering. The problem is that the average shotcup wall is about .030" so the inside of the cup is about .060" smaller. This is roughly about the difference as one gauge smaller.
Shooters who wanted the standard 12 gauge load with 9 pellets of 00 Buck with 3 layers of 3 found it would not fit in a shotcup which was the size of a 16 gauge. So some maunfacturers started using .315 shot for 00 Buck instead of .330. Fiocchi, for example makes no mention of this fact on their box. With each pellet weighing 13% less, what was a 1 1/8 ounce load is now less than an ounce.
I would guess that any buckshot load with a shotcup either uses undersized buckshot, a different stacking pattern, or the pellets are out of round from being forced into too small of an opening. A possible exception could be Federal which uses its "patented spiral stacking process." I don't know the details of this but such a stacking pattern could not have a flat top or bottom on the shot column.
I am not saying that these are bad loads, I just think that it's not right for maunfacturers to do this without telling the customers. Has anyone else measured other loads to see if this is the case?
With the advent of shotcups in the 1960's buckshot was usually still loaded without a shotcup since it was considered a short-range load. Recently with shooters not wanting lead streaks in their barrels and a longer range load, buckshot has been loaded in shotcups, sometimes with buffering. The problem is that the average shotcup wall is about .030" so the inside of the cup is about .060" smaller. This is roughly about the difference as one gauge smaller.
Shooters who wanted the standard 12 gauge load with 9 pellets of 00 Buck with 3 layers of 3 found it would not fit in a shotcup which was the size of a 16 gauge. So some maunfacturers started using .315 shot for 00 Buck instead of .330. Fiocchi, for example makes no mention of this fact on their box. With each pellet weighing 13% less, what was a 1 1/8 ounce load is now less than an ounce.
I would guess that any buckshot load with a shotcup either uses undersized buckshot, a different stacking pattern, or the pellets are out of round from being forced into too small of an opening. A possible exception could be Federal which uses its "patented spiral stacking process." I don't know the details of this but such a stacking pattern could not have a flat top or bottom on the shot column.
I am not saying that these are bad loads, I just think that it's not right for maunfacturers to do this without telling the customers. Has anyone else measured other loads to see if this is the case?
