First off, to the OP, I think your data is wrong-- 95 of those pellets weight 1-1/8oz almost perfectly. I just took a picture for you showing 481.9gr for 95 pellets, so 97 pellets was 492gr. That is a load that I make all the time, I even have primer trays taped off to give me exactly 97 copperhead B's specifically for that load! So your statement that it's only 1/2oz or so is wrong, what were you using to weigh that and how ever did you arrive at 1/2oz? This 95 pellet 9/8oz load is talked about quite often at Duckhuntingchat.com, and I've posted pictures of that exact load before, even using the clear Fiocchi hulls myself (cuz they look cool with copper shot in them
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The Daisy style "BBs" for a "BB gun" are actually #B sized as noted above.
Yes, they are harder than normal steel shot.
HOWEVER, they're not as hard as tungsten shot, and that gets shot alllll the time-- it's perfectly fine for your gun provided you use the correct wads. Here and there are comments about the Bshot from daisy being harder, unannealed commercial shot and to not use it (RSI has some in their books), but I find zero compelling logic to support this position so long as the appropriate wads/barrel-protection are used. Much harder tungsten based HW13, 15, and TSS are absolutely standard pellets now, and thicker wads are available for them.
Loading it above a gascheck without a wad is 100% sure to score your barrel though, and asking that tells me you don't probably know much about steel shot reloading--no insult. But it's completely different for pressures and you must follow a defined and published steel load, using a steel shot or tungsten shot wad. Pressures are completely different from lead shot.
Anyways, back to #B size shot from Daisy or Copperhead. I LOVE this stuff. It can be purchased everywhere, in convenient sizes for reloading, at a great price. It's high quality shape and coated nicely. More important however is that IMO #B is just the perfect size for handloading a 3" 12ga goose load.
--1550fps, 1000'msl, 32F, 2.25" ballistic gel penetration used for goose lethality estimate. KPY ballistics.
-- 1-1/4oz load is about what you can handload using CSD114 or LBC50 wad and what data is available for, using 3" hulls.
-- that's 106 pellets (well over the 55 in pattern CONSEP chart advises), which will penetrate to 41 yds or so. Conversely BBB only gives 76 pellets, which with a 80% choke will give you just 60 pellets in the pattern... maybe hard to achieve at their max calculated comparison range of 56 yds.
Since I plan on stopping my shots at 40yds or so, I therefore like the #B steel better for pattern density and more head/neck hit chances. A lot of folks like #1 or #2 steel even better for these reasons. Using steel shot, #B is as large as I go and then I jump to HW13#6 or #4.
