Power of Size 00 Buckshot

[runner724]

00 Buckshot is a popular round for home defense, at least according to many personal accounts I have read over the years. I picked up a box of "Remington Magnum Buckshot" today and noticed that Black Bear was on the recommended game list. It seems odd that one can go after a bear with a shotgun, so I was wondering if anybody has tried. Would I kill the bear, or really piss it off?

Here are the statistics on the box:
12 Gauge
3 Length
1225 FPS
15 Pellets
00BK

 

[BAT1]

00 Buck

I've heard that the 2 3/4" is even better. I use 000 buck. Any thing shot in the face with that has got to haul ass the other way.

 

[Fast Frank]

I've never tried to shoot a black bear with buckshot.

Heck, I've never even SEEN a black bear!

I have, however, blown up a wide variety of inanimate objects using the stuff.

Watermelons? Double ought works fine.

Junk TV sets? Ditto.

Abandoned cars? One shot, one kill.

Bricks? Powder.

To tell you the truth, pretty much everything I ever used as an excuse to unload a round of good old "00" was either blown to bits or flattened right there on the spot.

I don't know that I would pick up my shotgun and load it with double ought with the specific intention of finding myself a bear to shoot, but if I found myself alone in the woods with a bear trying to make dinner out of me...

That load of buckshot would be my best friend!

 

[mnrivrat]

Standard 00 Buckshot with 9 pellets at about 1290 fps carries a total load of 484 grains of lead at an energy level of almost 1,800 foot lbs at the muzzle.

The 3 inch your talking about has even more energy to transfer to the target and should do just fine on black bear that typically are in the 250 to 350 lb weight class.

I know there are states that allow deer hunting with buckshot as well - personaly, I would use a slug.

 

[Dave McCracken]

00, when placed correctly, does a good job on deer. Larger stuff, including bruins bigger than a Teddy and swine, slugs are a better choice.

 

[Fred Fuller]

Except for a genune emergency, I'd not tackle a black bear- even a small one- with 00 buck. Brenneke slugs just work better for some jobs than buckshot does.

lpl/nc

 

[RMc]

Big Hard Buckshot: Another Option.

Gentlemen:

There are times when more penetration is needed than small conventional swaged lead buckshot can deliver. Here are two option you may have overlooked.

Dixie Tri-Ball II 12 Gauge 3" Buckshot -
Three .60 caliber, 315 grain hard cast buckshot at 1050 fps.
The Tri-Ball III (3.5") drives the same payload to 1150 fps.

Short range penetration results in wet pack newspaper:
Tri-Ball II
19" the balls divided into 3 separate wound channels
24" found two balls
29" found 1 ball

At 30 ft the three balls struck the test medium in line.

Patterns with Dixie Tri-Ball II run:
4-6 inches with Full chokes at 40 yards.
6-8 inches with Cylinder chokes at 25 yards.

In my testing, the Tri-Ball II pattern centers 1.5 to 2 inches above point of aim at forty yards with Remington 870s with 26 inch vent rib barrels

The Tri-Ball III (3.5" Mag.) patterns to the point of aim at 40 yards in the 870Super Mag with 26" barrel using just the vent rib with bead. This load patterns even tighter.

Since Dixie Tri-Ball can be safely fired in chokes down to .660" exit diameter,
your turkey blaster can become a quick switch hitter if you encounter wild hogs. The gristle shield on a big hog will not stop these hard lead .60 caliber balls.

-----------------------------------------------------

For comparison:

Short range penetration results with conventional small buckshot in wet pack newspaper:

#4 Buckshot (.24 / 21 grains): 3.5 inches

#1 Buckshot (.30 / 40 grains): 5 inches

#00 Buckshot (.33 / 54 grains): 7 inches

30-30, 170 grain soft point:
Close range penetration in wet-pack newspaper: 14 inches

------------------------------------------

Tri-Ball Buckshot - 3/4 ounce per pellet.

00 Buckshot - 1/8 ounce per pellet.

Each Tri-Ball pellet weighs the same as 6 "00B"

RMc

 

[RP88]

shoot anything with 00 buck at effective range and you can bet that it either will be dead, bleeding to death, or not going to mess with you ever again.

 

[rcmodel]

00 Buck has long been a favorite of African Professional Hunters who have to go into the thick stuff after wounded dangerous game.

If it will stop a wounded lion or tiger, it will surely stop a PO'd black bear.

The problem with using it for hunting black bear is, it will kill them easily at 10 - 20 yards, but only badly wound them at 40 - 50 because of pattern dispersion.
You will only get a very few pellets on a bear out of most shotguns at that range.

rcmodel

 

[rbernie]

If it will stop a wounded lion or tiger, it will surely stop a PO'd black bear.

Dunno if I'd make that extrapolation. Cats are relatively lightly built compared to most bruins.

 

[W.E.G.]

One 00 buckshot pellet carries the same wallop as one round of .32 H&R magnum.

Extremely effective at very close range due to the effect of simultaneous impact of multiple projectiles.

A very poor choice for targets at any substantial distance.

Think of buckshot-hunting like upland bird hunting.
If you are close enough that you would take the shot at a bird with birdshot, you are close enough to take the shot at large game with buckshot.

Outside that distance, you will probably only wound it, or "make it mad."

And of course, even at close range, you still have to put the pattern squarely on the target.

At 20 yards, a well-centered round of buckshot in the brisket should do in a black bear.

 

[Jeff F]

Black bears are not in the same league as brown or grizzly bears. On occasion you hear of an exceptional large black bear but they are rare. I would not be afraid to hunt black bear with OO buck as long as you keep within the range of the round. I have killed four black bear with a 30-30, three were dropped with one shot dead, the other was down but not out and took a second shot when I got within 20 feet, lights out. With the right load in a 12 Gauge, good pattern, 40 yards or less I think the big buckshot would work just fine.

 

[jmr40]

African Professional Hunters often use buckshot to go after leopard which weigh much less than 200 lbs typically. Most countries require a minimum of .375 H&H magnum to legally hunt lion.

Beyond 15-20 yards buckshot is overrated for use against humans in my opinion. If it were all I had I would use it in a self defense situation against a bear but would never reccomend it to someone hunting. Yea, it will kill a bear under the right circumstances but there are many better choices. If you are going to hunt bear with a shotgun use slugs.