Something a little different: 12 gauge

[Yoteski]

So, I'm dabbling with the idea of doing a little shotgun shell reloading and wanted to pick everyone's brain about my idea(s). My goal is to make a real solid coyote load. Components wise, I'm thinking an MG42 wad in a 3" hull over a charge of Longshot (only powder I have). Now here's the kicker, I've been wanting to play with the TSS shot, however the cost is very prohibitive. My thoughts were to load a duplex load of nickel plated lead F shot with some #2 TSS. Like a 1.5 oz. load, .75 of each shot. Was thinking of some ITX buffer with an overshot card and a roll crimp. From what I've read, I should probably use a mylar wrap with the TSS shot.
Now, I have no idea if this will work, i.e. throw random patterns, turn my barrel into a blunderbuss, or achieve my goal of a cost and performance effective shotgun load. Any and all suggestions, tips, and pointers are welcome!

 

[308Gunner]

When me and a buddy used to shoot trap all the time we would load some 1 3/8 oz loads for when we were backed up. Annie Oakley not registered trap, this load was with 5 shot and it worked great on song dogs out to 50 yards. If you can find some 5 or even 6 shot that will be plenty, we always used extra hard shot and extra full chokes. You will have to play with powder just like a rifle but we found the best patterns at 1200fps.

 

[sjmpcc022]

I've been shooting trap and loading 12ga shells since the mid nineties,

A few thoughts on your plan........

I have some Longshot but never used it for shotgun shells. According to the recipe on the bottle you need a stupid amount of it per shell. My 1oz trap load is Claydot or Clays, 17-18gr, 1.125oz load is Unique, 20gr. Many other powders are at 18gr for a 1.125oz load as well, I just like the soft recoil of Unique. The botle of Longshot I have lists a 1.125oz load at either 33 or 37gr of Longshot. That is going to use up a significant amount of shell space, just saying.

I loaded some buckshot rounds years ago when I got a bunch of different size buckshot for free. 0, #2 and #4 buck I think it was. I used my 9000G, I just stacked the BB's by hand at the shot drop station. At 15-20 yards I could keep all 9 or 12 bb's in the head of an IPSC target, kind of bad ass.

You could save yourself a lot of time and use a 3" duplex turkey load, 2X4 or something similar.

The best choice would probably be a slug.

 

[Yoteski]

When me and a buddy used to shoot trap all the time we would load some 1 3/8 oz loads for when we were backed up. Annie Oakley not registered trap, this load was with 5 shot and it worked great on song dogs out to 50 yards. If you can find some 5 or even 6 shot that will be plenty, we always used extra hard shot and extra full chokes. You will have to play with powder just like a rifle but we found the best patterns at 1200fps.

Thank you for your suggestion but 5 or 6 shot is way too small for coyotes. I should have prefaced my post a little by stating that I'm pretty old hat at calling coyotes. Lead BB is as small as I would go. I'm looking at putting together what in my mind would be the most effective (cost and performance) load I can. The best factory load I've used is the Federal V-shok coyote load which was a Tungsten BB load which I believe was 15g/cc. Unfortunately they don't make these anymore and I'm running low on them. The new TSS shot I can reload is 18g/cc which provides superior penetration at distance compared to lead.

 

[Yoteski]

I've been shooting trap and loading 12ga shells since the mid nineties,

A few thoughts on your plan........

I have some Longshot but never used it for shotgun shells. According to the recipe on the bottle you need a stupid amount of it per shell. My 1oz trap load is Claydot or Clays, 17-18gr, 1.125oz load is Unique, 20gr. Many other powders are at 18gr for a 1.125oz load as well, I just like the soft recoil of Unique. The botle of Longshot I have lists a 1.125oz load at either 33 or 37gr of Longshot. That is going to use up a significant amount of shell space, just saying.

I loaded some buckshot rounds years ago when I got a bunch of different size buckshot for free. 0, #2 and #4 buck I think it was. I used my 9000G, I just stacked the BB's by hand at the shot drop station. At 15-20 yards I could keep all 9 or 12 bb's in the head of an IPSC target, kind of bad ass.

You could save yourself a lot of time and use a 3" duplex turkey load, 2X4 or something similar.

The best choice would probably be a slug.

From what I've been researching Longshot is one of the premier powders for buckshot based loads. It's looking like somewhere 27-29 grains. This project is more of a challenge to see if I can optimize a coyote shotshell load. I have a plethora of factory loads I've collected over the years, but just like reloading for a rifle, I'm trying to see if I can put together something better.

 

[n0glock]

If you can find an older Lyman shotshell Reloading book it had a section on doing what you are talking about, I would copy mine but my dog chewed is up several years ago

 

[sjmpcc022]

From what I've been researching Longshot is one of the premier powders for buckshot based loads. It's looking like somewhere 27-29 grains. This project is more of a challenge to see if I can optimize a coyote shotshell load. I have a plethora of factory loads I've collected over the years, but just like reloading for a rifle, I'm trying to see if I can put together something better.

Longshot is definately the go to for velocity. As I said, I haven't used it for shot shells, but I have used it for pistol reloading. It is always( almost) at the top of the list for velocity.

Another question..................... being an " old hat at calling", do you hunt morning, moonlight or dark with NV? I've had guys tell me I'm wasting my time with moonlight, they see you. NV is the way to go?

 

[Yoteski]

Longshot is definately the go to for velocity. As I said, I haven't used it for shot shells, but I have used it for pistol reloading. It is always( almost) at the top of the list for velocity.

Another question..................... being an " old hat at calling", do you hunt morning, moonlight or dark with NV? I've had guys tell me I'm wasting my time with moonlight, they see you. NV is the way to go?

I use handheld lights still when I hunt at night; can't afford the thermals yet and honestly I don't know that I kill that many less. Moon phase definitely has something to do with night hunting. Dark nights/no moon has always been best for me and everyone I know. If you can use handheld lights, start there. The key to using handheld lights is to use the minimal amount of light to see them coming in until you're ready to shoot. You need to keep them in the halo of the light, and when I say halo, I mean just enough to catch the glint off their eyes. If you hit them with the hot spot of the beam, chances are they're going to hold up or take off. It's almost a must to have a partner to call at night. I usually call and run the light, and partner shoots from a tripod.
I've called with guys using thermal right along side me running my lights. Hasn't really made any difference and I've shot just as many as they do. The only benefit they get is seeing them pop-up at 800+ yards, which is a benefit and a curse. One thing I think is a must with a thermal is a rangefinder. It seems like there is a struggle with depth perception and range. I also don't like scanning with a rifle mounted thermal. In a perfect world, I'd be able to afford a thermal monocular to scan with and have a mounted one on a rifle. For now, I'll keep running my red lights.