Rifleman Q&A: 00 Buckshot In 20 Gauge?

Q. I’ve been asking my local retailers for 20-ga. 00 buck shotshells. Their response is “good luck finding that.” Were these shells ever made available by any company?

A. Major shotshell manufacturers do not load 00 buckshot in 20 gauge for the simple reason that so few of the large pellets can be loaded into a 20-ga. hull. They do, however, offer 20-ga., 2 3/4” loads that contain enough No. 3 buckshot—20 pellets on average—to provide sufficient energy for lethal hits.

A 2 3/4″ 12-ga. hull will hold only nine 00 pellets, which illustrates how few a 20-ga. shell of similar length would be able to hold.