Whatever happened to "Buck & Ball" loads?

[Badger Arms]

Are these a thing of the past? I've heard many on this board and TFL speak about loading slugs altrenating with buckshot in their guns or maybe carrying slugs in the sidesaddle or the first three rounds buck with the last two slugs or some complicated, hard-to-remember manuals-of-arms for their HD shotguns.

Comnvential wisdom says that you should use large shot under 50 feet and slugs beyond. Yes, the numbers are arguable, but it's not arguable that shot is better at close range and slugs are better at longer range.

What I'd like to see is both, combined into one. Perhaps a half-ounce 'Buckhammer' style slug in front of a load of six 00 buck pellets. I'll spell out the advantages:

0-20 feet -- penetration. The slug will penetrate deeper than the buckshot. Also expect the buckshot to create separate wounds and therefore more potential blood loss therefore incapacitating the bear/home invader before they can do damage.

20-50 feet -- patterns. A slug alone might miss... especially in a stressful situation. The buckshot will increase the possibility of hits at that range.

50+ feet -- accuracy. The slug will hit point-of-aim. Buckshot alone would not produce reliable hits.

The primary reason for adopting this load is to prevent cartridge confusion where an operator might not know which load comes next or might get mixed-up in switching cartridges. With the Buck & Ball load, there is no thinking, just point (or aim) and shoot. The load in your gun is not perfect, but you will extend the versatility and speed of your manual of arms.

 

[SDC]

They're still available if you want to look for them; right now, I'm looking at a package of "Genco Duplex" ammo that shows a 12 gauge load of 9 #3 buckshot behind a 7/8s oz slug.

 

[Poodleshooter]

I'll bite:
There are some questions from a reloader/manufacturers point of view. First, how do you cushion the payload? If you use a wad to get a decent buckshot pattern, you're not going to get good bore contact with the slug which ruins accuracy. If you skip the wad and go with a close to bore size slug, your buckshot gets crushed and you get horrible patterns. One option is a card or fiber wad between buck and slug,but again, that messes up point of impact.
Second problem is space. A 12ga round ball or cylinder of bore diameter is accurate and takes up the least amount of space, but will weigh at least 1.3oz or 1/12 of a pound (remember regular rifled slugs have hollow bases which keep it light but take up more space). If you use something less than bore diameter (sabotted) you're going to lose weight fast and end up with a fancy shaped lightweight pellet unless you make it long and take up all the room you need for the buckshot and cushioning wad section. Even 6 OO buck weighing about 324grains (3/4oz) take up lots of space when stacked in layers of 3 on top of wadding to prevent deformation.
Anyway, long story short, it might work in a 3.5" shell, or if you took out 3 of your buck. I'd side with Genrl. Washington and pick it as first choice for charging lines of massed redcoats, but for LE, I'd be a bit skeptical.