Where did the sizes of buckshot come from?

J

jazzman111

New member
I have in front of me a papeweight with all the various shot sizes used in shotgun shooting. I've heard of 00 and 000 buck shot, but I discovered that there is also # 1,2,3&4 buck shot. Does anyone know how these sizes came to be developed? All four of them look awfully small to use to reliably bring down a deer. If not deer, were they typically used for other game? There are such informed people on this board, just wondered if anyone could fill me in on this.
 
Thanks. That Wikipedia is a font of information. Still doesn't satisfy my idle curiosity about how those smaller buck shot sizes came to be, but I'll bet some savvy reader of this forum will come up with an answer!
 
It's been awhile, but I remember long ago reading an article that the smaller, non-buckshot, sizes were determined in the days of muzzle loading shotguns. But why someone felt the need to come up with a shot sized 7 1/2 between 6 and 8 is definitely a mystery to me.
 
Jazzman, it makes as much sense as the 8 1/2 size used in trap shooting.... What I'm waiting on the the magical 9 1/2 for skeet shooters..... :rolleyes:
 
Good question

But why someone felt the need to come up with a shot sized 7 1/2 between 6 and 8 is definitely a mystery to me.
Click to expand...

It's my understanding that #7.5 is between #7, which is rarely if ever seen anymore, and #8. I forget where I heard this, but it makes sense. Of course, we're talking about shotgun nomenclature, so "makes sense" != "likely to be correct."

But I think there used to be a #7.

--Shannon
 
Looking in my trusty Lyman's Shotshell Reloading Manual I see 30 shot sizes:
Size Diameter (inches)
OOO Buck .36
OO Buck .33
O Buck .32
1 Buck .30
2 Buck .27
3 Buck .25
4 Buck .24
FF .23
F(TTT) .22
TT .21
T .20
BBB .19
BB .18
B .17
1 .16
2 .15
3 .14
4 .13
5 .12
6 .11
6.5 .105
7 .10
7.5 .095
8 .09
8.5 .085
9 .08
10 .07
11 .06
12 .05
Dust .04

So I'd guess that one (or more) of these sizes started from a "standard" made in the old shot tower fashion. I'd guess that sizes grew larger and smaller by one-one-hundredth of an inch from those "standard(s)". The 6.5, 7.5 and 8.5 probably are from the perceived necessity for a particular game, sport or tournament.

Just my 2 cents. If someone knows facts I'd like to know too.
 
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