#1 Buck, anyone?

Yeah man, the ammo situation is a real bummer.

I mean we all have a stash, but jeez...

I was fortunate enough to find some #4 turkey loads an clearance and purchased 4 boxes, last year I found some #2shot and after patterning it wished I'd bought more, I saw son 0 but wasn't willing to pay their prices, I've not seen any #1 in years around here.

I have been wanting to make my own buckshot loads using my .310 mold for my .32 squirrel rifle.

I have a good supply of 12ga in various ammo pouches for use. I also have a 50cal ammo box I stuffed full two years ago...I cracked it open today, to remind myself what was there...
50rds S&B 00 buck
30rds S&B #4 buck
3 15rd boxes Winchester slugs
1 15rd box Winchester 00 buck
10rds Winchester 3” 00 buck (surprised by this, I usually don’t buy 3”}.
5rds Hornady Varmint Express #4 buck
5rds Hornady Critical Defense 00 buck

Not bad for a single 50cal can...completely fills it.

I bought a bit of #1 and #4 before/between the various panics.

I was able to find a couple of boxes of Hornady 000 buckshot a few weeks ago. It took me a bit to find them. I like using the 000 buckshot for my 3" 410 shells that work great out of my 14" Shockwave and the 18" barrel on my Mossberg 500.

I have a few gang moulds for various shot sizes. I really dislike them, and far prefer store-bought, but I find them oddly comforting "in these trying times".

I'm also really enjoying my bows these days. Being able to shoot without worrying about using up ammunition is a good thing right now...

I have some '0' Buck I could lend ya....

Ok so I have to ask, why the #1?

I ask because I am a practitioner and student of buckshot hunting. In my research there has been 2 items that have cropped up more than a few times by folks who have more experience than me.

Assuming one patterns their shotgun (which any and all shotgunners should do regardless of circumstance):

1. Aim for the neck just in front of the shoulder. This makes a hit in any area from the head back the vitals likely and a hit anywhere in that area is also likely lethal.

2. Use buckshot smaller than 00. Somewhere along the line 00 became standard. It is unclear if it became standard for hunting or defense/offense. Either way it is more common.

Smaller shot size yields greater pellet counts and greater pellet counts meant higher likelihood of a lethal hit. True the hole is smaller but this can be compared to using a 223 rifle instead of a 30-06. If shot placement is there, the animal will eventually die and usually expediently. So if a lethal hit is scored with smaller buckshot, the end result will still be the same.

So oddly, #1 buckshot was chosen by a few different folks independently of each other. This was the compromise between pellet count and shot size (penetration). My research material is decades old and maybe #1 buckshot was more common then.

So in a world where 00 is dominant, how did you come to choose #1?

Armored farmer said:

I have been wanting to make my own buckshot loads using my .310 mold for my .32 squirrel rifle.

Click to expand...

I have been doing just that.
I think that diameter falls between #1 buck and 0 buck.
Picked up 200 3" once fired Remington hulls and I've been trying a few.
Got the data from Bubba Rountree Outdoors on Youtube. You should check him out if you're contemplating loading buckshot. Great info and he tests the loads on camera.

earlthegoat2 said:

True the hole is smaller but this can be compared to using a 223 rifle instead of a 30-06.

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Not a valid comparison. .22 Hornet vs. .30-06 is closer. There are more pellets, true, but the total energy delivered is spread between more pellets, so each pellet itself delivers less energy the smaller they get. (This is why birdshot is outlawed for big game.) Terminal ballistics for each individual pellet decreases. Unless one has a CNS or double lung hit with smaller shot, and the closer the better, you might be in for some tracking.
A shot size chart, just for fun.

entropy said:

Not a valid comparison. .22 Hornet vs. .30-06 is closer. There are more pellets, true, but the total energy delivered is spread between more pellets, so each pellet itself delivers less energy the smaller they get. (This is why birdshot is outlawed for big game.) Terminal ballistics for each individual pellet decreases. Unless one has a CNS or double lung hit with smaller shot, and the closer the better, you might be in for some tracking.
A shot size chart, just for fun.

View attachment 928340

Click to expand...

Please don’t define my entire post by that statement. It was a fast and loose comparison.

Your point is valid though and I vaguely addressed it later on in my post regarding the compromise one must make between larger and smaller shot sizes.

I freely admit I am using anecdotes and no hard data. Just a query as to why the choice of #1 when it just happened that would also be my choice after delving into what I believe to be a pretty often ignored subject in the world of hunting arms.

I would guess FL-NC chose #1 Buck because it is .30 cal. The reason I have '0' Buck is in post #7 here:

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/ammo-shopping-etiquette-in-this-day-in-age.871225/

Here's the reason I use (and recommend) 00 buck in the standard 2 3/4 round is that it's deadly effective and commonly available everywhere... Can't think of a better fight ender with a single shot at distances short of 15 meters. Train and/or familiarize yourself with what you'll actually be using on the one heart stopping moment when it's all on the line... At least that's how I've operated in the past. I hope and pray I'll never be in that situation ever again, period.

As with many other ammunition types the supply situation is slim pickings lately.

I just went through this with 20 gauge buckshot. Started out trying to find some #1 or #2 buck to pattern in a 20 gauge 870 I inherited from my dad. He left me plenty of the smaller birdshot sizes, but little in the way of buckshot and not owning a 20 gauge of my own I had none in my stores. Heh. It didn't take long to discover that not only could I not find any #1or2 buckshot, I could not find ANY 20 gauge buckshot after hours of Internet searches.

So, a buddy of mine and I took a road trip through several counties visiting gun stores. Twenty gauge buckshot was not the sole reason for our trip, just one of them. At the ninth store I finally found some so I bought half of what they had and left the rest in case someone else needed it. If ever the supply situation loosens up again I'm going to lay in a good bit more, but I have enough for now.

Fortunately I have plenty of twelve gauge buckshot, but another friend of mine who wants to increase what he has is going through the same struggles you are. "Out of stock" has become the phrase of the month and maybe the year. You may have to do what I did and start hitting as many local gun stores as you can find.

I got a $25 Cabela's gift card for dads day...
Their ammo was cleaned out.
Birdshot, yes. Super expensive turkey and waterfowl loads, yes.
Not a single slug or buck round
Handguns? Empty shelves except for oddball big bore hunting rounds and some 32acp. Oh yeah, a bunch of 5.7.

I happen to like #1 buck, if I’m being picky. My Mossberg 500 stands loaded with five flitecontrol #1’s, with two Remington managed recoil 00’s set to come out of the mag first.
I picked up four five round boxes of Winchester #1 buck when I saw it at the LGS pre-pandemic. Nice full powered, buffered load, shoots great.
#4 buck is a useful load...it doesn’t get much respect these days, but it was popular with the SEAL’s in Vietnam, and some cops I knew swore by it.
I guess what I’m saying is, when it comes to self defense with the 12ga, I’m good with anything, as long as it’s buckshot, lol.

earlthegoat2 said:

Ok so I have to ask, why the #1?

I ask because I am a practitioner and student of buckshot hunting. In my research there has been 2 items that have cropped up more than a few times by folks who have more experience than me.


2. Use buckshot smaller than 00. Somewhere along the line 00 became standard. It is unclear if it became standard for hunting or defense/offense. Either way it is more common.

Smaller shot size yields greater pellet counts and greater pellet counts meant higher likelihood of a lethal hit. True the hole is smaller but this can be compared to using a 223 rifle instead of a 30-06. If shot placement is there, the animal will eventually die and usually expediently. So if a lethal hit is scored with smaller buckshot, the end result will still be the same.

Click to expand...

entropy said:

Not a valid comparison. .22 Hornet vs. .30-06 is closer. There are more pellets, true, but the total energy delivered is spread between more pellets, so each pellet itself delivers less energy the smaller they get. (This is why birdshot is outlawed for big game.) Terminal ballistics for each individual pellet decreases. Unless one has a CNS or double lung hit with smaller shot, and the closer the better, you might be in for some tracking.
A shot size chart, just for fun.

Click to expand...

I once worked for my state's Prison department; when in training we learned that we'd carry #4 buckshot loads in the Rem. 870 shotguns we'd be issued when on tower duty or work details outside the compound. The department had researched the best size buckshot, and while this doesn't directly relate to hunting, the logic is pretty much the same. More pellets mean a greater chance of a hit at distance, the overall pattern is greater and accuracy in a rushed shot is less critical. #4 buckshot isn't all that much smaller than 000 in the grand scheme of shot size, #4 buck still carries significant energy to take down a man-sized target with only a few of the total pellets in a shell. While maximum range might be decreased between 000 and #4 buckshot, it would still be effective out to ranges where the pattern spread far enough that you could expect less than half the pellets to strike a target. In range shooting, we saw that #4 buck would still penetrate a steel car door at 50 yards, so soft tissue shouldn't be a problem at 75 yards or more, although we were trained that shots greater than 50 yards would be less likely to stop a fleeing felon.

The lesson we were told to carry was not to let them get that far away.

lemaymiami said:

Here's the reason I use (and recommend) 00 buck in the standard 2 3/4 round is that it's deadly effective and commonly available everywhere... Can't think of a better fight ender with a single shot at distances short of 15 meters. Train and/or familiarize yourself with what you'll actually be using on the one heart stopping moment when it's all on the line... At least that's how I've operated in the past. I hope and pray I'll never be in that situation ever again, period.

Click to expand...

That's my theory too.

FL-NC said:

I need some more 3" #1 to pattern for an upcoming hog hunt

Click to expand...

Why not use slugs or a rifle? Everyone’s situation is different so I’m not projecting my situation on to yours. I don’t like buckshot for hogs so I’m curious.