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I have loaded up some black powder double ought buckshot to shoot through a between the wars German drilling. It is choked full and full. Is it OK to shoot buckshot through a full choke shotgun?

Thanks,

Mike

Yes, it is fine to shoot buckshot through a full choke gun.

Its even fine to shoot a slug.

Lead compresses easily.

I expect your pattern wont be very good, as the shot will be slammed and distorted as it passes through the tight choke.

Regards

GKT

Absolutely, Mike. I did it for years when we used to hunt the swamps around here for deer with shotguns. Sometimes it patterned very, very well. Sometimes not. Sometimes single ought would pattern better. Though buckshot is very large in size, obviously, it is still soft lead and passes through a full choke with no problem.

This part of the South was the stronghold for running deer with hounds for many decades and practically everyone used full chokes for lifetimes of shooting buckshot with never any choke or barrel damage. As long as the pressure of the load is acceptable for the gun in question it matters not if it is loaded with 00 buck or #9 birdshot.

All my best, Stan

There exist a few old guns that have a bulged barrel, compliments of hot double 0 buck loads.
Thin walled Browning A5s with full choke are notorious victims.
Bulged barrels were a fact before steel shot.
Best,
Ted

Back in the day the loading companies only offered the 16-gauge loaded with 12 number 1 Buck, and the 20-gauge with 20 number 3 Buck. From one of my old Western Ammo books those were the optimum pellet size to fit thru those gauges chokes.

Thanks for the information. That was all very helpful.

Best,

Mike

Buckshot are normally loaded in layers. My 1913 Lefever Arms Co catalog (reprint) suggests when loading buckshot to try them in the muzzle of the gun & not to load a size of which one layer will not fit in the muzzle. I have not loaded buckshot, but think this might be good advise. I personally would not want to deoend upon the compression of the lead on a tight choked gun of older vintage with quite possibly thin walls in the choke section.
PS; Slugs are almost always smaller than even a full choke in the solid portion, with the skirt expanding to fit the bor. This thin "Hollow" skirt section will squeeze back down to allow passage. The marking "Not for Ball" which originally appeared on choke bored bbls from the proof houses dealt with the fact that then current round balls were larger than the choke dia & not recommended for use, A ball smaller than the choke size was OK.

Three double out buckshot fit exactly in one layer in the MagTech brass case, which has an inside diameter of .701 which is a lot more than the full choke muzzle diameter. Oh well, easy to pull the over the shot card out and do something else. Thanks again for all the replies.

Best,

Mike

Once again and hopefully for the last time ever on a forum with a purportedly enlighted membership:
Anything that can be loaded into a modern shotgun shell from buckshot to slugs to chilled No 2 cow poop can be safely fired out of a modern shotgun if the gun is in good condition.
I guess this all goes back to some English guns that were built in the dark ages and were marked "Not For Ball"!! Be that as it may you could still probably fire chilled cow poop out of one of these as well
Jim

AmarilloMike, You may find this interesting.

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot44_2.htm

Pete