Whatever happened to #1 buckshot?

00 Buckshot has been the standard in both law enforcement and the military for over 100 years. Due to that, it is the most popular buckshot, and therefore the easiest to find.

The military and most law enforcement agencies to this day specify per policy 00 Buckshot to be used as the issue/duty round in their shotguns.

From what I understand 00 Buckshot is easier and therefore cheaper to manufacture on high speed equipment since 00 Buckshot pellets stack easier inside the hull/shotcup (Three layers, 3 pellets each layer in a 2.75 inch 9 pellet round) than #1 Buckshot, which has 12-16 in a 2.75 and up to 24 in a 3 Inch Magnum.

00 Buckshot works.

Yes, multiple tests have shown that #1 Buckshot is the best of all worlds in regards to pellet count, pellet diameter, pattern density, and penetration, but until it is proven to be that much better than 00 Buckshot, it will still be hard to find.

IME most #1 Buckshot out there is available online except for the ghost like Federal Flitecontrol #1 Buckshot, which some people consider to be the best buckshot round ever created .

I tested all of the then currently availablle #1 Buckshot rounds here: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=727480&highlight=Rama

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

There was a small movement several years ago that tried to sway LE to #1 buck. But it came at about the same time the patrol rifle was begining to catch on. That pretty much ended it. LE is slow to change (look how long it took for the semiauto pistol to gain traction), because change is driven from the top down by administrators rather than from the bottom up by experience.

#1 also had qualification scoring working against it. The (then) shotgun qualifier was 10 rounds, 5 slug and 5 buckshot. If you score 2 points for each hit, 5 rounds of 00 will make 45 holes for a score of 90. 5 rounds of slug @ 2 points each = 10. + 90 gives an even 100 points possible. Change that to 16 or 21 pellets for each round and the scoring becomes...different. And different is often frowned upon in LE.

That's my take on it. Others may differ.

I was fortunate to work with some federal trappers (now called Wildlife Services) who introduced me to #1. Specifically the #1 short magnum, a 2 3/4" shell with 21 pellets. Patterns were good, pattern density was good, and penetration was good. They used it on coyote and feral swine for aerial eradication and also for beaver control. It's a killer load on those species. That load is no longer available and I think the 3" load with 24 pellets is used now.

I haven't seen #1 Buck in a long time. 00 Buck is now required by many law enforcement agencies for their personnel. Many state regulating agencies that regulate law enforcement standards require 00 Buck for standardized training. Back when I was doing private security patrols and was allowed a shotgun by the company I used #1 Buck because I thought it was a very happy medium. Fortunately I never had to fire it on duty. It seemed to be a bridge between 00 and #4. Now being a police officer our shotguns must be loaded with 00 in accordance with regulations.

I recently stumbled into the double-barrel coach gun that I've been hankering for since i was a kid (it's just so cool!! ). The gun is a 20g, not a 12g, and the freind I got it from tossed in several boxes of plain game/target load stuff, and though it surely wouldn't be the first thing I'd grab in a SD scenario, I went in search of some sort of buckshot for it, just cuz.
Turns out most of the buckshot available in 20g seems to be #3, (though I did just come across some #2 buck in 3" shells, which this shotgun is compatible with).
Anyway, I figure twenty .25 caliber pellets moving at 1200 fps are still pretty nasty, especially in the pistol distances these things are most ideal for.
But, for my 12g toys, I didn't try to overthink it, and just stuck with good ol' 00buck ammo.

IME most #1 Buckshot out there is available online except for the ghost like Federal Flitecontrol #1 Buckshot, which some people consider to be the best buckshot round ever created .

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Oh, is it? I will never understand the love affair of wanting to turn a buckshot round into a slug. For LE work, it makes some sense but for home defense those flight control wads leave me scratching my head. Add reduced velocity to the #1 buck and will it won't penetrate much better than #4 buck.

I don't see how that round could possibly be any better than a standard #1 buckshot load that has one more pellet, hits harder, and won't be compressed into an area the size of a nickel at home defense distances.

The shot doesn't act like a slug once it enters the body:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhZf_x8Esms

I have never seen #1 buck in the store. Given that I have gone through the trouble of patterning my home defense shotgun with lots of different brands of 00 buck and bought ample supplies for home defense, it's unlikely I will change anything. It's a fair bit of work and expense to change something I know is tried and true. As for the controlled wads by Federal and Hornady, for inside the home, I want a small spread to minimize the chance of something missing the target. As best I can tell, once hitting the target, buckshot is less likely to over penetrate than a slug.

buckshot is less likely to over penetrate than a slug.

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Not necessarily.

If you look at the Winchester 12ga Super-X slug, it only penetrates to around 14.50" and expands to 1.24" in ballistic gel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKge3FF0Hx4

I bought a whole bunch of that Federal #1 Flitecontrol stuff last time SG had it in stock. Wish I had bought more, I haven't seen it for sale since.