Home Forums Reloading Shotshells Making Buckshot shells from Birdshot shells ?

Another one


Also had a Yamaha Mini Enduro I would ride out to the rice fields with my shotgun, had alot of fun except fouled a plug once.

there are some you tube video's about cutting the end of the loaded shell off and then using a roll crimp for the buckshot. Pay load is Pay load, so be sure they match. Buckshot loads usually do not weigh as much as you think in 00, #4 is another issue.

I know that during early WWII European resistants commonly melted down birdshot and recast the lead into buckshot and solid single ball loads to use as guerrilla ammo in their "rabbit guns." They probably quit doing this once the US and Brits started supplying them with Stens and Brens and M1 Carbines, but I imagine those rabbit guns killed a few Axis soldiers and their collaborators--whose Axis issue arms ended up killing more! The "dystopian past"....

As Mag410 reports, buck shells are done in layers. In theory, we might say 1 oz. = 1 oz. However, you also have to consider stack height. Buck is fluffier, which means that the stack of buck + wad will be taller than the stack of birdshot of similar weight. The shell won’t crimp properly unless the stack is the right height.

Related, some shells and some wads are like truncated cones, not like cylinders, which means if you have room for 3 buck at the bottom, the space is roomy at the top, or if it fits at the top (like a 3 ball layer) does it fit at the bottom. This is important because extra space means shot can deform and ruin a pattern. Or asking the hypothetical question, if you only have two 00 balls in that bottom layer, will the stack accelerate evenly and is the wad sufficiently rigid to contain the gas properly if the load isn’t even?

Finally, powders behave differently with different loads. No ballistics expert here, but powder companies only produce loads with a limited number of components.

Yes and as a few others have mentioned, you’re fine as long as you stay at the original shot weight or less. I believe that the newer tech in buckshot wads provides a specific cushioning for the concentrated pressure points created by the larger pellets. If you’re considering split shot, however, it won’t make a difference. I have to assume their designs will catch wind and create more flyers than the flat spots you may create.

Consider a hand or cheap (Lee) press. The only reason I suggest it is the crimp. I guess you can monkey with the folds until you get em back down, but for $25 - $65, you can have a more consistent crimp.

Just my 2 cents.

I already have a Lee Hand press as I mentioned