Fiocchi High-Velocity OO Buck 9-pellet

[Floyd9 30]

Bought some Fiocchi buckshot the other day to try out through my Saiga. I figure I'd had good luck with rifle/pistol Fiocchi rounds before, seemed of good quality. Stuff looks like this -

Now, I've never had a misfeed, FTE, or any malfunction of any sort with any buckshot load in my Saiga (Minus one shell that seemed to come from the factory with no powder...the shot literally dumped out of the end of the barrel.) I guess I have mainly ran Remington 2 3/4 9 pellet and the 3" 15 pellet magnum loads through it, but have ran at least three-hundred rounds of 00 buck through it. So I loaded up 9 in a mag and went to blasting, or so I thought. Kinda hung when I slid the safety off (I cut a notch for a BHO) but still chambered. Blam! And stop...pull the charging handle, dump shell casing out, let fly, Blam! And stop. Same thing. And so on and so forth for the rest of the magazine. Not much fun. Had to kinda dig half of them out of the way of the bolt. Well, somethin' obviously ain't right. So I switch magazines. 5 into the factory. Same results. I think perhaps the gun is malfunctioning, so I load 5 Remington 2 3/4 9 pellets into the factory mag. Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! So at this point I'm thinking WTF? I ran 100 rounds of Winchester universal through it in the same session. Not one malfunction. It also eats Federal bulk-pack 100%. So, what is different about this ammo thats causing the malfunction? I searched the forum and came up with couple more posts that some other people had problems with this stuff. Note this is not the reduced-recoil load, but the 1325fps stuff. Not sure if its an extraction issue or the carrier isn't going far enough back. Seems to me like its not giving the gun enough gas? You gotta be kidding me. Anyone else have problems with this?

[Spartacus 1,619]

Don't remember the details, but yeah somebody else said that stuff is pretty weak for buck.

[msrdiver 42]

Before gas port adjustments:

 

The Low Recoil Fiocchi is absolutely awful for cycling in most Siaga-12 guns. I was able to get the 1150fps stuff to cycle using Gunfixer's plug on setting #3 and with the CSS reduced recoil spring installed.

 

With that said, after Cadiz GW adjusted my ports, I was able to fire the Fiocchi 1150fps Low Recoil OO shouldered using gas setting #3 and the factory spring.

 

The Fiocchi 1325fps 27 pellet 4 Buck using Gunfixer's plug on setting #-1 cycles on and off shoulder with either Factory mag, AGP, and MD20 and standard spring installed. Good stuff!

[The_Caged_Bird 474]

I've never been a fan of Fiocchi, I tried to shoot 20 rounds of the stuff through my SKS and it was basically a bolt-gun the whole time. I decided not to buy Fiocchi from then on.

[kw4tx 0]

I have never liked any fiocchi rounds... I used them a long time ago on a dove hunt with a pump and I had FTF and FTE's ON A PUMP!

 

Never again!

[skiboatsp 111]

As usaual someone's going to say they never have a issue with it.

 

my 8", 18" guns cycle fine

 

00 buck 9 pellet 2 3/4" seems a little dirty but price is good

[sillydiabetic 0]

I haven't used shotgun ammo from Fiocchi, but I could swear by their 9mm and .45 as being some of my favorite for pistol plinking. I would have gladly bought a few boxes of their shells if I hadn't read this post - thanks for the heads up!

[Floyd9 30]

I wonder if perhaps they had a bad run, I think I'll chrony some and see what kind of results I get.

[Floyd9 30]

Well, went and ran some shotshells over the chrony this weekend, and came up with the following numbers -

 

Remington 2 3/4" 00 9-pellet Buck

 

1223

1136

1328

 

Nobelsport #4 Buck 27-pellet Law enforcement load

1176

1216

1197

1213

1209

 

Winchester SXZ12 Personal Defense 00 buck

1145

1224

1236

1242

1261

 

Fiocchi High-Velocity 00 Buck 9-pellet

1235 (FTE)

1236 (FTE)

1237 (FTE)

1216 (FTE)

1217

 

Amazingly consistant, and the speed was up there where it should be, but still not cycling the gun! The very last round actually ejected. The only thing I can think that would affect the cycling is perhaps the way the powder burns, and there isn't enough pressure when the wad passes the gas port. This doesn't seem likely to me though. Other people have used it without issue. I'm stumped.

[techent 0]

We went to Knob creek last Wednesday, and the same thing happened to me. I thought I hadn't broken the gun in well enough yet (less than 150 rds total). However even low brass bird shot was ejecting and feeding better than the Fiocchi buck described in the first post.

[BpS12 512]

Couldit be the extractor is not catching? Compare rims and see if there is a noticible difference.

[Floyd9 30]

Couldit be the extractor is not catching? Compare rims and see if there is a noticible difference.

 

Actually it did cross my mind, and I think this is the most likely culprit due to the way its not flipping the shell out like it should. I actually ran video of myself chronographing it so I could see what was going on. Perhaps the extractor IS slipping off. I did look at all the brass, and didn't see any differences, I remember my father and I actually paid particular attention to the extractor marks, and didn't see a problem. He mentioned it as well. We also mic'd the brass. Rims and bases were all within .003, between all brands. I forgot to mention earlier, I used the factory russian 5-rounder since it is considered the most reliable, in my opinion and as far as I know, everyone elses. It certainly is catching it, because it brings it rearward and prevents the bolt-carrier from stripping another shell due to the blockage. Almost like its dragging to hard on the shell underneath, but I don't know why. The last shell in the 5-rounder DID eject, but it was the first one out of 20 rounds. I have emailed Fiocchi about this, I don't know if they will respond, since this seems to be Saiga-12 specific. Something is going on though.

[VanKiller 322]

If you cut one of the rounds open and weigh the shot / payload , I think you will find this to be a very light load weight wise. This makes for a High velocity load that does not have enough back pressure to cycle the action.

Basically the load sucks for semi autos, but great marketing on the part of Fiocchi.

 

Now I really like their HV loads for 1 1/4 oz number 4,5 or 6's. They cycle strong and work well in the full autos.

[Floyd9 30]

If you cut one of the rounds open and weigh the shot / payload , I think you will find this to be a very light load weight wise. This makes for a High velocity load that does not have enough back pressure to cycle the action.

Basically the load sucks for semi autos, but great marketing on the part of Fiocchi.

 

Now I really like their HV loads for 1 1/4 oz number 4,5 or 6's. They cycle strong and work well in the full autos.

 

Interesting idea, I think I will. 414 grains for the shot. 34.4 grains for the shotcup. Here is the powder - 18.4 grains, looks like standard shotty powder I'll let you guys decide

and then another 130 grains for the leftovers, not that it matters.

[vtec16 0]

I was able to shoot these rounds at the range because the guy next to me wanted to shoot my S12. Being a fan of Fiocchi ammo. I loaded up a 5 round magazine and then let fly, mind you I'm using the TAC 47 Autoplug so gas should be no problem. 1st round fired but stove piped. I have already adjusted the Autoplug for low brass Federal and Winchester Universal, which both shoot flawlessly. 2nd round fired fine. 3rd & 4th round, stovepipe. 5th round, fired. This time the guy tried, stove pipe on all 5 rounds. What gives with this shot? Loaded 5 rounds Federal low brass, all cycled. Is this just a marketing ploy from Fiocchi to get rid of some sub par ammo. I can tell you, not a fan of this 00 buck. I'll stick with Winchester Military 00 buck.

[msrdiver 42]

What is the lot number of the 9 pellet OO Fiocchi buckshot you used. The lot number I shot was 1016743024. I had to tuck the gun in tight and had the Gunfixer's plug set on 3.

 

 

First

 

I think you found your answer, in part, weighing the shot. 437.5 grains equals one ounce. So the lead in these rounds weigh less than 1 ounce. You are probably not getting enough pressure and the occasional shell ejection is the outlier, higher pressure, not the norm.

 

So test various brands of ~1200 fps 1 ounce loads and let us know if your gun cycles those without problems. I expect they'll fail to eject just the same.

 

I reload 426 grains of lead, 12 pellet 1 Buck, and had a few issues with sub one ounce light loads. After I had ballistics testing done, I increased my powder weight and had more testing done. I thus increased pressure and velocity and haven't had any problems since.

 

Second

 

My gun needs needs the buckshot rounds to produce about 4500 psi and about 1200fps to always cycle. Your gun may also require higher pressures and/or faster velocity.

 

Don't get down on Fiocchi just yet. Try their heavy 27 pellet, 1325fps, 4 Buck rounds. They cycle and open up really well at 25 feet(insert sinister laughing here).

[Nailbomb 10,221]

I've never tried it in the digital monster, but my original 4 port saiga runs it fine.

 

The same gun also hates universal winchester to this day.

[banshee 69]

Bought some Fiocchi buckshot the other day to try out through my Saiga. I figure I'd had good luck with rifle/pistol Fiocchi rounds before, seemed of good quality. Stuff looks like this -

 

Now, I've never had a misfeed, FTE, or any malfunction of any sort with any buckshot load in my Saiga (Minus one shell that seemed to come from the factory with no powder...the shot literally dumped out of the end of the barrel.) I guess I have mainly ran Remington 2 3/4 9 pellet and the 3" 15 pellet magnum loads through it, but have ran at least three-hundred rounds of 00 buck through it. So I loaded up 9 in a mag and went to blasting, or so I thought. Kinda hung when I slid the safety off (I cut a notch for a BHO) but still chambered. Blam! And stop...pull the charging handle, dump shell casing out, let fly, Blam! And stop. Same thing. And so on and so forth for the rest of the magazine. Not much fun. Had to kinda dig half of them out of the way of the bolt. Well, somethin' obviously ain't right. So I switch magazines. 5 into the factory. Same results. I think perhaps the gun is malfunctioning, so I load 5 Remington 2 3/4 9 pellets into the factory mag. Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! So at this point I'm thinking WTF? I ran 100 rounds of Winchester universal through it in the same session. Not one malfunction. It also eats Federal bulk-pack 100%. So, what is different about this ammo thats causing the malfunction? I searched the forum and came up with couple more posts that some other people had problems with this stuff. Note this is not the reduced-recoil load, but the 1325fps stuff. Not sure if its an extraction issue or the carrier isn't going far enough back. Seems to me like its not giving the gun enough gas? You gotta be kidding me. Anyone else have problems with this?

 

 

I ran about ten boxes of it in my Tromix SBS and it ran just fine with no problems at all.

[Floyd9 30]