"Brush Wads" for 20 gauge buckshot?

[Crosshair]

Since 20 gauge buckshot is so expensive I've started reloading it. As a total newbie at this I just grabbed some AA-20 wads. I've found out that I can only fit 16 pellets into the 2.75" shell instead of the factory 20. Looking at a factory buckshot shell I see that they don't use a full wad, they use one that just seals the base. After some searching I find that this seems to be called a "Brush Wad"

These seem to be the only ones available, made by BPI.



Are there any other wads I should look into that would serve my need?

[rogn]

Do a google for Ballistic Products , BPI, Id guess and check out their on line catalogue. They have a tremendous data base for hiperformance loads and their product line services these needs better than any other merchandisers.

[snuffy]

Do a Google for Ballistic Products

Looks like he knows about BPI.

After some searching I find that this seems to be called a "Brush Wad"

These seem to be the only ones available, made by BPI.

http://www.ballisticproducts.com/

That "brush wad" would work IF you still have room for the 20 #4 buck, AND be able to get a firm crimp.

If I were to load that combo, I would go with a plain gas seal, and a felt wad to make up the wad column.

first the over powder gas seal;

http://www.ballisticproducts.com/20g...uctinfo/02020/

Then the fiber cushion wad;

http://www.ballisticproducts.com/20g...ductinfo/FC20/

Those ½ inch fiber wads are easily cut/split to make up the needed wad column height to achieve a good crimp. In other words, the wad column is easily adjustable.

[Crosshair]

Do a google for Ballistic Products

I did. That's where I found these wads. I posted the pic from sportsmans guide because I liked it better than the one they had on their site.

Though after posting last night I did some more digging and found that they sell "Obturator Wads" too.



Would these be a better choice or should I perhaps stick to the Brush Wad?

Perhaps I should just order a bag of 250 of each and just test them out and then order a case of whatever one works best for what I want. The Obturator Wads will let me fit more buckshot, but the Brush Wad looks like what the factory Buckshot loads use.

Not sure the Obturator wads are supposed to be used by themselves for shot loads. I can easily see the wad getting tilted a bit and losing the gas seal. perhaps I should just fire them off an email and see what I get back.

[snuffy]

Not sure the Obturator wads are supposed to be used by themselves for shot loads. I can easily see the wad getting tilted a bit and losing the gas seal. perhaps I should just fire them off an email and see what I get back.

NO! They cannot be used by themselves. You HAVE TO use a filler/cushion wad between the obturator wad and the payload. Read my post again, then follow the link I provided to the fiber filler/cushion wads.

I've never used the brush wads for any loading I do. I always use a gas seal,(obturator), or BPGS wad and a filler wad to make up a buckshot load.

[zippy13]

As a total newbie at this I just grabbed some AA-20 wads.

With more experience you would have known that a WAA20 wad is for target shooting, and similar, loads and the larger capacity WAA20F1 might be more appropriate. But, that wasn't your first mistake… you don't start by "just grabbing" anything. You're not the first newbie to get off on the wrong foot, with shot shell reloading you need to have an exact recipe to follow.

There are plenty of recipe sources for reloading with bird shot, but buck shot is a different story. With bird shot you load by weight and with big buck you load by the ball count (plus or minus one small bird shot pellet is insignificant, but plus or minus one ball of 00 buck is a huge difference). Then there is the subject of buffering the voids in buck shot loads -- to buffer, or not to buffer?

For a newbie, loading buck shot is akin to leaning to swim by jumping into the deep end at the pool. As snuffy suggests, go to the BPI site and order out a buck shot loading manual. After you've become intimately familiar with its contents, then you can select an appropriate recipe and assemble your components. I've been loading bird shot in 12, 20, 28-ga & .410-bore for 45 years, but I wouldn't think about doing buck shot, or slugs, without first doing some significant research.

[Crosshair]

OK, I'll grab some Brush Wads, a dedicated manual, and perhaps get some felt. I didn't see your post snuffy as I had already loaded the page before you posted your reply.

With more experience you would have known that a WAA20 wad is for target shooting, and similar, loads

Yea, but it does give me decent longer range patterns. So that load will have some use. Who says 50 yard handgun shooting is hard.

[rg1]

Lyman's 5th Edition Shotshell manual has 4 loads for Win AA hulls and all use Remington SP20 wads with the petals removed. Just cut the petals off and you're left with the wad column only. All 4 loads use Winchester 209 primers. All use 20 pellets of #4 buckshot.
powders used are: 800X--19 grains--1250fps---10900psi
..........................SR4756-21 grains--1220fps---10300psi
...........................HS-7----25 grains--1245fps---10800psi
...........................Blue Dot---26 grains---1295fps--11100psi
Like already mentioned, do not change any component in the loading of shotshells. You can easily damage your shotgun and likely yourself. Use the EXACT data and components. BPI Ballistic Products and Lyman's 5th manuals are very good. BPI publishes a BuckShot III reloading manual and sells all components and tools you might need to load buckshot. Be safe.

[Crosshair]

Oh Geeze, I'm way underloaded then if that's the load data for 20 pellets and I'm only loading 16. I still like the load I have because it's easy to shoot out of a pistol.

Thanks for the help.