I have decades of experience Duck Hunting, but new to deer hunting with Buckshot. How do I tell how much gun powder is in all the different Buckshots? I don't want to be shooting 3.5s if the have the same powder as 2 3/4s. Any help or websites to find them please let me know.

Thanks,
Tommy

How do I tell how much powder?? Apparently you haven't done much reloading. There are hundreds of possible combinations. First you get some reliable data. Then you find the load you want & put it together following the directions! If you want to find out how much is in a loaded hull, you can brake it down & weigh the components but that won't do much good unless you can identify the powder. That would be very problematic at best. I would go buy some good quality buffered "OO" buckshot & do a little patterning so you know what to expect. It should put a minimum of 4 pellets in a "paper plate" size area at the maximum range you intend to shoot. I like more but that is just my humble opinion! Judge how far you should shoot at a deer by the patterns you get. Few gun load combinations are consistently effective beyond 40 yds.!

If you are asking about factory loads, most have a “dram equivalent “. I think it is a hold over from black powder days. A 3 1/2 inch shell should be significantly heavier then a 2 3/4.

Why are you worried about the amount of powder? Is that what you worry about when buying duck loads? Most people buy buckshot based on shot size and payload (# of pellets). A 2 3/4" shell will not hold as many OO pellets as a 3" shell, and a 3" shell won"t hold as many OO pellets as a 3.5" shell. Velocities can be different between the different length shells, but I never heard of anyone buying based on the amount of gun powder.