Loading Buckshot can be a PITA and is frustrating sometimes, but I load an awful lot of it. I cast my own 0, 00, 000 and 0000 Buckshot, buy any other size I feel the urge to load. (I quit loading 0000, can't find a good way to fit the shot in the shell. They won't layer proper). If I could get molds for the smaller sizes, I'd cast them too. I don't buffer any loads, won't until I get a pressure barrel set-up, but can get goot patterns without the buffer.
Buying factory loads is a crapshoot. The last Federal and Winchester 00 Buck loads I took apart were loaded with balls slightly smaller than 0 Buck. 00 Buck doesn't layer in 3's in a shotcup, so they nt with smaller pellets, still calling it "00".
For longer range predator shooting, I like either T or F shot, also called T Buck or F Buck. Good pellet count and large enough to reach out a little.
DC