Hi!
I was wundering if any of you use/or have used Buckshots for hunting?? what sort of hunting? how did they work? maybe someone have used them on black bear?
I have heard that they are very effective as a "stopper" at close range 0-25 yards.
//Overkill

I've used them for whitetail hunting on several occasions and I won't hesitate to carry my 12ga loaded w/ 3" OOO if blood trailing a deer if it is available.

I've tried the smaller pellets and they are useless IMO although I know several guys that have good luck w/ them.

W/ the 3" OOO Buck you have 9 .36 cal pellets and they are extremely deadly on deer sized animals out to 50+ yards. I've had Bang Flops w/ the OOOs but not the smaller sizes. Can't help you on bear. All I can tell you is that they(OOO) will give full penetration on Whitetails at reasonable ranges.

Good Luck

Reloader

I've processed about a dozen big hogs dropped with 00 and 000. Good way to turn a 200 lb hog into about 20Lbs of useable meat.

If you weren't going to eat the bear I guess it wouldn't matter but 15-20 yds is about max for me and anything that bites. More than that and I'd worry about too much shot spread for maximum effect.

I've not shot any bear with buckshot but it is effective against hogs. I find that #3 buck will penetrate a large hog on a broadside shot within 30 yards, and that the large sizes(0/00/000) pattern poorly in my guns, regardless of gauge. My rule of thumb for using buckshot is to make a determination as to what range you can place most if not all of the shot from your gun in the vital zone. Generally speaking I've found hog an deer size game within range inside of 35 yards for my guns and loads. That varies from animal to animal of course, and from gun to gun. Up to you to figure it out for your quarry and gun. Good luck!

Overkill- we had this discussion on buckshot for lion and leopard a few months back on African forum do a search!

But summery from my side- Having used No 4 buck, SSG ( roughly No 2 Buck), SpSG (O buck) OO buck and LG (OOO) on people, and dissected plenty of folks shot with buckshot and several lion and leopard-

1) I will not use a shotgun on leopard! It works fine but peletes bounce off the skull, and at charge ranges you might as well have a rifle in your hands and have the hydrostatic shock effect as well

2) Bigger is better! We settled on 2½" OO buck or Preferably Rottweil SP/LG ( .35 cal pellets) for anti poaching operations.

3) Not all brands are equal! Rottweil ammo is much higher velocity than any other brand I have Chronographed-They use hard lead pellets- it is the most effective, and Lou halimore- a well known local PH who favours a shotgun for back up on leopard - will only use Rottweil ammo.

4)Plated shot bounces off bones- particularly skulls! Soft lead pelets- particularly the smaller ones like AAA and No 4 flatten on skulls - and while they may crack it, they don't penetrate! ( and then you have a sore paocher with an AK 47, or a sore leopard with hundreds of teeth, claws and real attitude!).

5) I have found Brenneke slugs to be very effective on animals up to 300lbs. Much more so that shot - and much more so than foster type slugs. I have used both original Brenneke, Rottweil loaded ones, and South African copies - All worked well. The hard core- to which the wad is screwed penetrate far, whilst the outer bit tears itself to pieces, shredding alot of tissue. That big, blunt, "cookie" cutter profile leaves a clean cut entry wound that bleeds- no problem finding a blood spore!

There is a way to load 000 buck stacked in columns in a 3 1/2" 10 gauge that is awesome and lethal on deer to 100 yds.
The information is at Ballistic Products Inc and Federal hulls work the best. Mine are stacked in 3 columns of 4 using felt wads and a teflon wrap as the cup and buffer material.

It is time consuming to load this way but I don't use that many of them.