Buck and ball questions from a shotshell newbie

[kodiak6579]

Hi all, I've been reloading rifle and handgun ammo for 15+ years now so I'm no stranger to rolling your own.  However, i just recently received a Lee Load All in 12GA as a birthday gift, so now I'm going to get into shotshell reloading.  I've read the manual and am comfortable with how the reloading itself will go.  I do have a couple of questions regarding components, though...

1.  I have a mold for .451 roundballs (used in my blackpowder revolver).  If I do the math (0.451*2=0.902 or 0.173 over the width of a 12GA cylinder bore.  If i use my .451 roundballs for a "Big Buck" load, is there the possibility of two or more wedging in the bore and creating a dangerous situation or would it only be an issue if i were using a choked bore where they would get compressed at the end?

2.  Would that concern still be valid if I loaded a "bed" of my .311 roundballs (basically, No 1 buckshot) and topped it with a .451 roundball?  If i do the math that way I get 0.451+0.311=0.762 or 0.033 over the width of a 12GA bore.

3.  What about a bed of birdshot topped with a .451 or a couple of .311's for a "Bird and Ball" load?

All of this is assuming that I keep the weight in the 1 - 1.25 oz weight range.

Sorry about the multiple questions and all the math early on a Sunday but these are the questions that keep me up at night .  Thanks!

[mjyeagle]

been looking for a while but this is my first post now to the question not if you use hardcast balls at least water dropped wheel weights i have done this with all sorts of combos for 10 and 12 i have a .600 .395 .375 .350 and .311 they must be hard or you will run in to pressure problems fast and use a high quality wad or it will lead your barrel also the first ball will stay put and you will have a hole in the base of your wad i ran into this with a 10 ga .395 load i use bpi steel wads if you want to use a buck and bird load use the shot as buffer and vibrate it these can get heavy really fast

[keith44]

A true "buck and ball" load will have one bore diameter roundball and a number of buck shot sized balls.  Very tricky to keep the pressures in the safe area.  Hard shot with an equally hard ball will work, but weigh the payload carefully, and if you are using hard cast (high antimony) keep the choke as open as you can and still get a good pattern.  Which brings up another point.  Patterning these loads is iffy at best.  I've had promising results with buffer fillers, but nothing I'd actually brag about.  Now duplex shot loads is a whole new ballgame. (ie #6 and #4buck make great patterns)