Was thinking about this thread in middle of the night........troubled by the 15 pellet count of #1 buckshot. So on a hunch, went to BPI and looked up #1 buckshot. For all their super buck.....they publish a helpful table:

https://www.ballisticproducts.com/Super-Buck-Lead-1-8-lb_jar-300/productinfo/SBK01/

What you find is a 1 oz payload of this shot contains 10.6 pellets. So if you do the math, a 15 count payload would weigh 1.4+ oz. That is getting very close to a 1 1/2 oz payload in a 2 3/4" shell? In my book, that is getting deep into heavy magnum plus rounds and not something any of us has any business messing with reloading our own.

On the other hand, a 12 count load is closer to 1 1/8 oz. Assume those are stacked 3 x 4 = 12. With right wads and powders, that is very much doable, with easy to obtain, off the shelf components. There are nearly endless lists of published loads for 1 1/8 oz payloads. Nothing exotic or crazy to worry about. And most likely, exact same components could be used to load a 1 1/4 oz payload of BB's.

FWIW.

What’s crazy is back in the day my and my best friends parents went in together and bought us 12 year old boys and shotgun shell reloader and all necessary parts. We loaded everything from #8 shot to BB’s you’d buy at the corner store. We loaded rock salt and even metal shavings. We tried glass marbles and steel ball bearings.
All this without written instructions or supervision.

Our WMA’s and “hog” killing are the same. Whatever legal gauge/caliber/ammo is legal for the season that’s in, is what hogs can be shot with. The work during small game season is the fact that bobcat season is in and center fired rifles can be used for bobcats. So, we are always bobcat hunting, and the pesky hogs keep getting in our way. About the only time it’s an issue is during turkey season, but even the smallest size TSS will stone a hog at 40yds.

Have you looked at these? Cheaper than winchester.

Why don't you just shoot steel BB? They are easy to find.

range , pattern , penetration Steel lacks them all.

I totally disagree with what you are saying. They sell steel loads that have a MV of 1700+ fps. It penetrates well because it is so hard and going fast. Steel has come a long ways from what it was when it first came out.

I totally disagree with what you are saying. They sell steel loads that have a MV of 1700+ fps. It penetrates well because it is so hard and going fast. Steel has come a long ways from what it was when it first came out.

Buds has an even better deal on the Hornady stuff that came in my email today:
That would be your simplest route.
Now if you're just set on loading your own, regardless, well that's a different story.
In that case, nothing else will be satisfactory.
Good luck in your pursuit.

It would be easy enough to drop BB's into any shot cup used for #1 buckshot. Would have to adjust powder charge to account for the weight difference (BB's payload would likely weigh more dumped into same shot cup), but otherwise, ought to work.

That many #1 buck pellets would likely be stacked in 3s, so 3 x 5 = 15. A heavy load.

If payload for same shot cup full of BB's starts getting off the charts heavy, you can cut back on payload weight to get to same weight as the buckshot load by dropping in space filler.......nitro cards, overshot cards or even something simple like cherrios or puffed rice. Or switch to a different wad.

This "ought to work" is dangerous advice. You don't load shotgun shells by how much will fit in the wad.