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Joined: 26 Jan 2009 Posts: 9 Location: Washington

ive been doing alot of reading online and in books, and im about to try to load this round and was wondering if anyone could tell me if im on the right track: Purple Fed hull, SP16 wad, 1 1/4oz 00 (10 pellets), 22-23gr Unique.

sound about right? ive also thought of swapping 0 buck or 9 pellet 00. any ideas on maybe trimming petals or anything extra? ill be putting this through a 870 with 18" cylinder bore if that makes a difference

Joined: 23 Jan 2008 Posts: 224

I don't think you are on the right track with that load. Unique is more suited for a lighter load. You will either have signifigant pressure problems, or have a load that is incredibly slow. I have been working on a 10 pellet OO buck load for some time, and think I have it right now...I just need to get it to Tom Armbrust to test again after winter is over. I tried using longshot, and even that gave me pressures that were too high for the components I was using.

Now, if you want to work with what you have listed, you will definately need to cut the petals off the SP-16. The OO will not fit inside that wad. O buck doesn't fit very well either. You can stack #1 buck inside that wad 2X2, and get a decent shooting shell. (Just use a 1 1/8 oz load using the SP-16 wad off the Hodgdons data webite (or other reputable data source), and substitute 12 #1 buck. ) I do have a 10 pellet O buck load that shoots about 1225 fps, at a pressure of around 11,300 psi using a cheddite hull. (I'm guessing on the numbers, as I don't have the data in front of me.) I submitted the load to the LPG, although I still haven't seen the data posted on the site.

I really enjoy making buckshot load, and have tried a lot of different components. Let me know if you want anymore info.

Joined: 23 Jan 2008 Posts: 224

If you want to stick with Unique...try this load from the Alliant website:

2 3/4-in. Federal Plastic Hi Power Shells with Paper Base Wad
Fed209A primer
1 1/8 oz lead shot
SP-16 wad
21.5 gr Unique (1185 fps, 8,900 psi) to 22.5 gr Unique (1240 fps, 9600 psi)

You will have to sub 9 pellets of OO buck. You can try and use the petals on the wad, but I don't think you will get a good fit. If you cut off the petals, you can stack OO 2x2 (it is tight)...but then you get an odd pellet. You might even want to consider dropping to 8 pellets and make a 1 oz load.

What is your end goal for this load? Hunting or defense or both?

NOTE THAT ANY LOAD MODIFIED FROM AN EXISTING RECIPE SHOULD BE CONSIDERED UNSAFE UNTIL TESTED.

Joined: 23 Jan 2008 Posts: 224

Also, remember that not all buckshot is the same. Always weigh your brand of buckshot first.

For instance, my brother bought some Ballistic Products buckshot that was advertised as nickel plated OO buck. Well, by diameter and weight it is actually nickel plated O buck. So make sure you know what you have at hand. A remington OO might not weigh the same as a Hornady.

One more thing...for the 1 1/8 oz load listed above, you could use 12 #1 buck (slightly less than 1 1/8 oz), 10 O buck (slightly more than 1 1/8 oz), or 9 OO buck (about 1 1/8 oz). (For Hornady Buck)

Joined: 26 Jan 2009 Posts: 9 Location: Washington

this would be a HD/pumpkin hunting load Twisted Evil

funny thing, i actually used the alliant data as a base for this load.. the reason why i had unique in there is thats what i got, and id rather not go out and buy a lb of something else for a few boxes of buckshot rounds. i have part of a 5lb box of 00 hornady so i thought id load that up what i can get.

so maybe i take it down to 8-9 pellets, use 22.5gr Unique and cut off the petals? does this sound like a decent 30-40yd or less load?

Joined: 23 Jan 2008 Posts: 224

22.5 gr Unique should work for a 9 pellet load. And yes cut off the petals. Just know that this load is probable going to spread like crazy...because the pellets are going to be random, there is nothing around them to protect them (like wad petals or a teflon wrap), and there is no buffer. If you want a spreading load, this should do it...especially in a cylinder choke.

If you want to use an 8 -pellet load, then use an equivalent amount of powder for a 1 oz load. (I'm not sure what that would be.)

Remember, use at your own risk.

Joined: 23 Jan 2008 Posts: 224

Spolar93,

After getting home and taking a look at some components, I'm going to say that a 9 pellet OO load should not be used. They just don't stack right. You'll end up with a nice stack of 8 and then 1 odd pellet on top. That will not make for a good shell.

An 8 stack OO load (1 oz) stacks nice, but is going to need a lot of filler to take up the space. Looks like you would need a 1/4" cork or fiber wad at least.

You could try a 10 pellet load using bluedot. Alliant lists a 1 1/4 oz load that you could adjust.

And also consider that you may get powder migration using the SP-16 in a more open hull.

Just be cautious. My first attempt at a 10 pellet load produced a shell that shot and patterned great...unfortunately, when I had it tested the pressure was in the 17000+ psi range. Not a safe load. I strongly recommend you test any load with Tom Armbrust first. Now, I have since learned my starting recipe was not safe to begin with, even though it was from a published source.

Eventually, I'm going to get that load retested using Alliant Steel. But I have to wait for spring time.

Be safe.

Joined: 26 Jan 2009 Posts: 9 Location: Washington

sounds like alot of variables right now on the 00 load, maybe ill save the shot until i pay for the reloading group data and buy the right components instead of tryin to make due