20 GA Buckshot

[dutchhunter]

I have and at 15 yards I floded a white tail on a dead run through the cedars.

[Big Jack]

The stuff I had was complete garbage.

Fox wants to know why all push for slugs and I gave him an answer based on my experience please share more about your positive experiences with this product.

What brand/size did you use?

Have you wounded deer with 20 ga buckshot as well or were all bang flop?

Do do you suggest using this for deer over a traditional slug?

What is the max range you recommend for this ammo?

[Fox]

Fox, have you ever shot anything living with 20 gauge buck? That is what we are talking about not 12 or any other gauge.

I have and my comments come from direct experience not from could or should guess work.

There is a reason most people dislike this stuff in general but in 20 it seems to loose whatever marginal value it has.

I have with a 12ga and 9 pellets of OO vs 12 pellets of #1 at 15 yards at the same exact speed would not phase me in the least. If you put the pellets in the boiler room the deer will not notice if they are .30" or .32" in diameter, I have taken my 16ga into that thick crap with #1 buck but did not kick one up that year.

They are very limited for range but there are uses for it if used in that restricted context. The issue with a slug in this particular location is safety, the buckshot is not getting out of that crap but a couple deflections off the brush and I have no clue what direction that slug is going. When I get through the thick crap I switch to slugs as my range stretched beyond 20 yards, therefore out of the range of buckshot. I have had spots on man dogged drives in that bush where deer came out and turned in the thick crap, not 5 yards away from me but with every shot with the slug I saw the trees blow apart. It is not a nice simple shot at a standing deer, it is a running shot at very close range, pretty much the only time buckshot trumps slugs.

You mention the 20ga vs the 12ga, I really do not see the difference when you actually look at pellet count and velocity, they are very similar in energies, again, simply at that very short distance. I would normally take the 12ga, gives me the highest pellet count, but my wife would not be bringing an 8lb 12ga through the bush, just too heavy a gun for her, but a 20ga youth stock with 3" shells is doable.

[Fox]

The stuff I had was complete garbage.

Fox wants to know why all push for slugs and I gave him an answer based on my experience please share more about your positive experiences with this product.

What brand/size did you use?

Have you wounded deer with 20 ga buckshot as well or were all bang flop?

Do do you suggest using this for deer over a traditional slug?

What is the max range you recommend for this ammo?

Answers as you asked them.

Brand - Pattern and see how they hit at close range, if they are no good then don't use them, I have shot some where all pellets are in a pie plate at 15 yards, some where they would be shooting legs off.

Bang Flop - Mine never went anywhere, one guy had one run but I shot 1 with a full bore slug through the heart that rang and 1 with a sabot slug through both lungs and it rang and I have watched a deer with a heart shot from a 180gr 30-06 Rem Cor Lok at 20 yards go 100 yards before falling.

When - Quick shots in tight spots with limited visibility

Range - 20 yards max, ideally 15 yards or closer

[Big Jack]

Fox - my last post was at Dutch.

Your posts reference your experience with 12 ga not 20 which has no bearing on the matter. Apples verses oranges. Theoretical verses actual which was not what I was asking for.

Dutch has actual experience with 20 gauge buck that is vastly different than my own.

I would like to know more about his actual experience.

[line052]

I reload 20 gauge buck shot in the same fashion that FOX says. For 12 gauge as well, using a 3" shell, I stack 12 X #0 (.32 cal), in shell, interspersed with with #4, #7 shot. 29 grains of HS 700. These are my close in coyote shells. Because it is difficult to get wads spacers or card wads to back the plastic wads, it does not pattern well after 20 yards. Inside of 20 yards it is devastating..

[Big Jack]

Great and fine for coyote but OP was talking deer not critters.

My question for Dutch stands but for what it's worth the number 3 has a place for critter control and I've shot my share of it close range.

[Fox]

Fox - my last post was at Dutch.

Your posts reference your experience with 12 ga not 20 which has no bearing on the matter. Apples verses oranges. Theoretical verses actual which was not what I was asking for.

Dutch has actual experience with 20 gauge buck that is vastly different than my own.

I would like to know more about his actual experience.

You say I have no experience and then replay that I have no experience then comment to dutch, makes sense.

Here is a question for you, if 12 #1 pellets are traveling at 1200fps do they have the same energy as 12 #1 pellets traveling at 1200fps?

If you answered the obvious, yes, then you may start to understand that we are comparing apples to apples when looking at 12ga vs 20ga if you have the same pellets of the same size traveling at the same speed, the bore size matters not if the pellets hit their target.

Big Jack, the original poster asked if anyone knows where they can get legal buckshot for a 20ga, not that you say it is crap and you use slugs only and on top of that the 20ga is marginal at best. They asked about big game legal 20ga buckshot, Rio makes it if you can find it and you can reload it as well but the recipes are not something I yet have a book for. A 3" 20ga hull without a shot cup, just a gas seal, as was done for many moons can hold 12 #1 buckshot pellets with a stack that is not too awful looking, you will actually need filler wads as well in this case.

I just found out that Parakelse manufactures OO buckshot loads in 20ga for the US which is 8 OO buck pellets in a 2 3/4" shell, so a 3" OO buck load reloaded is probably possible and would give you the same if not more pellets than a standard 2 3/4" 12ga load.

I have had this back and forth with people on here over and over again, I am done with it, there is the info that I have, I hope the original poster gets something out of this besides being told that the 20ga is useless and to buy a 12ga and slugs.

[Big Jack]

Fox

My experience is actual not theoretical. I've shot and used this stuff. The last box I bought was 25 plus years ago.

If you can't see the difference I can't help you.

Go try some and tell us how it works, pattern, penetration etc. Get off the keyboard and put the book down and go get some practical experience.

You ever wonder why this stuff isn't readily available?


I still hope Dutch will answer my questions - they were sincere.

[dutchhunter]

I am a walker so I do a ton of dogging for deer .for a few years ago carried a 20 pump.i would use buck shot in close range cedar swamps were you coming only see 20 yards max .a lot if time you will walk right up on bedded deer were thy will stand up and look back before running..I think I killed three deer this way with the 20g.all died very fast.with front quarter shots at less then 20 yards.i never had one get away well using the 20g..I do prefer the 12g but tried a 20g just to see how much different the weight was doing all that walking. The reason for buck shot was as fox says .slugs can go a long ways even in realy thick cover.