Hey, this may have been answered already as a question within another thread but is there any reason to spend the cash to get 4/0 rather than just crafting more regular buckshot and magnums? I play on 360, so I check the Vault for all my weapon/ammo stats and they seem to be identical except for number of projectiles. Given that the damage is usually rated "per projectile" wouldn't that make them less effective?

Damage is divided among projectiles, so fewer projectiles means more damage per projectile. If targets have light armor, it helps the individual projectiles overcome that marginal DT more easily.

ahhhhh...thanks Sawyer!

So it's between a normal round and a slug?

Yeah, more damage potential than a slug but less than 7 pellet buckshot. 12 gauge 4/0 and 20 gauge 3/0 are most useful against enemies that have enough DT to defeat normal buckshot before picking up Shotgun Surgeon perk. Now if you have "Shotgun Surgeon" this stuff becomes fairly mediocre and if you have "And Stay Back!" it's not worth using at all.

Before you get those two shotgun perks these rounds are really helpful with slugs being saved for 10+ DT enemies.

Everything is obsolete due to Dragon's Breath. Just sayin'.

It hits things like a 20mm artillery shell.

Which should be a weapon.

Bigger but fewer pellets. An ounce of 00 (2/0) buckshot won't penetrate as much as an ounce of 0000 (4/0) buckshot, but there'll be less hits on the target.

I notice 000 in 20 gauge is damn good early game as you can take out stuff like Radscorpions with it, which tended to need slugs before (which aren't sold much).

Sergeant RL-3,

12 gauge is pretty close to 20mm in diameter (18.5mm actually).

20mm artillery?

I want the 40 cm/45 Type 94 naval gun!
And 30mm Bushmaster II Mk.44, which could be carried by power armored soldier or super mutant as it weights "only" ~150kg.

Still looking for them to add a recipe for http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzerfaust .

I wouldn't hold your breath for the 'ole Tank Fist.

But the point of this ammunition is exactly this, without those perks you are still effective with a shotgun.