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<  16ga. Ammunition & Reloading  ~  1 1/8 oz. buffered #5 at 60 yards
WyoChukar
PostPosted: Tue Sep 17, 2019 9:11 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 16 Jul 2015
Posts: 2124
Location: Hudson,Wy

I thought I would share this in order to show just what is possible in a good buffered hand load. The following pattern was fired from what I consider the full choke side of my Fox Sterlingworth 16 ga. (allegedly modified barrel according to seller I bought the gun from). Distance from muzzle to paper was measured at 60 yards with a Lieca 1600 yard range finder. Yes, 60 yards.

The load is 1 1/8 oz. of West Coast Magnum lead #5 and is buffered with ordinary household flour. Powder is Longshot and wad is a modified Claybuster WAA16 clone (gas cup flared out to stop powder leakage common to this powder). Herter's hull. The load is a mild load producing approximately 1200 fps. A mild load was chosen for two reasons: 1) slower loads pattern tighter. 2) Using flour as a buffer raises pressures noticeably.

The pattern isn't quite centered on the paper, but it shows enough that you get the idea as to what can be accomplished with the right components and concepts. Sharptail grouse fear this load. It's not too shabby for a mere 1 1/8 oz. charge of 5's.
[[URL=http://www.jpgbox.com/page/57947_980x768/] [/URL]][/img]

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putz463
PostPosted: Wed Sep 18, 2019 2:00 am  Reply with quote
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Impressive, that would make a heck of Duck load. Did you try the buffering powder offered by BP before settling on flour?

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MSM2019
PostPosted: Wed Sep 18, 2019 4:40 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 04 Mar 2019
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Location: Central ND

Good stuff Wyo!!

#5's respond really well to buffer, a little better than #6's. Though I have never tried flour, only the spherical buffer.

That West Coast shot never fails to produce nice patterns.

How much actual constriction is in that barrel/choke?

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double vision
PostPosted: Wed Sep 18, 2019 5:30 am  Reply with quote
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That is quite impressive, Wyo.
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MSM2019
PostPosted: Wed Sep 18, 2019 5:54 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 04 Mar 2019
Posts: 1819
Location: Central ND

If I may Wyochukar.....what we see there is an excellent pattern for the yardage that it was shot at.......60 yards is a very long way for that tight of a pattern. This is truly outstanding shotgun performance.

A few FYI's,

Flour is probably the best and easiest buffer to use from the standpoint of getting the buffer to where it belongs, in the spaces between the pellets and not keeping the pellets from touching each other. It packs very well, which keeps the pellets round.

The downside is that flour really raises pressures, usually the most of any other buffer material. You cannot just add it to any load and it will be OK.

Flour cannot get wet.

BUT, wow does it work!!

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Savage16
PostPosted: Wed Sep 18, 2019 6:33 am  Reply with quote
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Wyo, I'd forgotten that Back in my teens ,I used to put flour in my 12 ga duck loads. No idea where I got the idea or how much I put in. How much are you putting in these?

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WyoChukar
PostPosted: Thu Sep 19, 2019 11:43 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 16 Jul 2015
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Location: Hudson,Wy

I never tried BP buffer. I have used Borax, corn meal, and flour. I recall Tom Roster's research from years ago and at the time nothing did as well as flour, even commercially available ground plastics (including BP stuff). The short version is that the finer the material, the better it does at filling all available air spaces between pellets so that the lead has no empty spaces to be displaced/ pressed/ deformed into.

I have contemplated using a sanding disc and sanding plastic into a fine powder, but that get's messy and the static properties of plastic might make it very difficult to get the stuff to settle into the shot charge. I need to look at the physical properties of various plastics to see if I can find a suitable material that won't hold a static charge.

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WyoChukar
PostPosted: Thu Sep 19, 2019 11:46 am  Reply with quote



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I don't have a specific weight of flour I use. I made a dipper that holds just enough that it will fill in the shot charge without excess. Once vibrated into the shot charge, the buffer is visible in the top layer of shot, without actually raising the column height. Tedious work, loading buffered shells, but worth it when shots will likely be taken at long range.

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UncleDanFan
PostPosted: Thu Sep 19, 2019 12:54 pm  Reply with quote
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I would like to experiment with buffer for my 1880's cyl/ic choked Lefever 16, as I would love to use it for chukars, but the pressure spike rules it out. Skeettx's suggestion of wrapping the wad with clear tape also works to some degree.

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WyoChukar
PostPosted: Thu Sep 19, 2019 7:45 pm  Reply with quote



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I bet you could load buffered stuff for that gun. I have seen some load data with pressures close to 4,500 psi, some less. Even if the buffer raised pressures 2,500 psi, you would still only be at 7,000.

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Ohio Wirehair
PostPosted: Thu Sep 19, 2019 8:44 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 24 Jul 2016
Posts: 546
Location: Ohio

Precision Reloadings' buffer is by far the the best commercial buffer out there. One small bottle will supply a lifetime of reloading.Plus you can leave the rest to your heirs. Laughing It makes a great bismuth load.
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putz463
PostPosted: Fri Sep 20, 2019 2:43 am  Reply with quote
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Something to consider....If you know anybody in the rotomolding industry that plays with polyethylene maybe give them a shout. I no longer do so hording my stash. Usually has an anti stat component in its chemistry and normally a pretty fine mesh/screen so by nature flows into the shot column very well. Inert and extremely low hygroscopic. And oddly enough looks a heck of alot like RSI & BP's buffer.

+ available in lavender. Very Happy

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MSM2019
PostPosted: Fri Sep 20, 2019 4:30 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 04 Mar 2019
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Precision's buffer is actually Polystyrene beads, before it gets made into styrofoam.

Super easy to work with as it requires minimal vibration, no real static problem and it is unaffected if it gets wet.

Of all the buffers it probably works the best......not sure if it will match flour, but it will be pretty close.

You can thank the folks at Bigfoot Goose Decoys for bringing it to Precision's attention back in the 1980's.

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fn16ga
PostPosted: Fri Sep 20, 2019 4:52 am  Reply with quote
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MSM2019 wrote:
Good stuff Wyo!

How much actual constriction is in that barrel/choke?
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Benjo
PostPosted: Fri Sep 20, 2019 5:46 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 24 Dec 2007
Posts: 63
Location: N E OHIO

WOW, That is one heck of a pattern. .........

I've been struggling with getting good patterns out of some of my 16"s for turkey.

Even with 1 1/4oz. loads. I have a stash of paper Federal 1 1/8oz. no. 5's.

On a whim I tried a couple, pleasantly surprised..... but nothing like that.

Thanks for sharing...
Benjo

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