doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com buckshot patterns in the real world

Im looking for info on buckshot capabilities? Where i live (Sweden) theyre not legal for hunting, so my experinece is nill.

Ive just read WW Greeners book, and in it, came across the fabulous statements made by him and his customers.

Can anyone tell me about thier real world experiences please?

Axel, I kill between 6-8 deer ayear with 12b. 23/4" #4 buck. I have only ever had to shoot 1 deer twice and he was a massive (for this area) buck. I limit my range to 50 yd. with a tight choke.

Axel,

I can't comment on the Greener quote because I haven't seen it. Perhaps you could supply a link?

I can comment on the efficacy of buckshot; many years ago ago before Political Correctness strode the land I shot many fallow deer with the British equivalent of 00 Buck. I rarely took a running shot, always kept it below 30-ish yards, and never lost a beast. A simple neck shot, on target, and they never took another step.

What wicked fellows we were!

Eug

A rough guide is that it spreads about 1 inch per yard. That is for the standard 9 pellet any reduction in pellets or powder will generally tighten the pattern.

It is 9 .33 caliber round lead pellets hitting a being at the same time. It is rarely a survivable wound when it is absorbed by a human target at close range.

Most of my deer hunting was in the South of this country. South Carolina to be specific. It was with dogs moving the deer and men on stands. Shotguns and buckshot only by law.
The limit of deer killed by a shooter was 26 per season that lasted from Sept 'til the end of Dec.
I cannot tell you of the pattern but can say that no wounded deer were not tracked until found and brought in. The buck shot were effective and almost always were clean kills.
Of all the deer that I shot at were killed and almost always with one shot. Only one required a coup de gras with my pistol.
Best,
John

I have used them for hunting boar in Australia's tropics, they are devastating within about 30 yds. After that, the pattern spreads a bit and some pellets will probably miss.

On a recent culling trip, I shot a reasonable boar (~80 kg) at about 25yds, all 9 pellets were on the chest area and one penetrated completely and exited. Pattern diameter perhaps 15 inches.

Several of the pigs on this thread on NE.com were killed with SGs. The gun is a cut-down William Griffiths boxlock, which suffered muzzle damage in a previous life, now true cylinder-bore and regulated for slugs and SG.


...and just to add some colour to this post, here's a 90 kilo boar which caught 6 out of 9 pellets in the side of the head as it ran past me flat-out at around 18 metres distant. The other 3 probably went just over the forehead. Pattern diameter perhaps 12 inches.

For many years I ran deer dogs and kept a rifle and shotgun loaded in the truck all the time. So did most of the guys I hunted with. After a couple of bad experiences with buckshot, I ditched the shotgun. So did most of my friends, based on their experiencing or witnessing buckshot problems.

Even with 20 dogs on a deer, I have seen several get away with buckshot in them. So have all of my friends I hunted with.

My eyes have seen buckshot kill infinitely better on TV than behind a silver bead. It is hardly the death ray that has become hallowed lore in this country. Not toally useless, but far less powerful and a sure thing than most people think.