waarp8nt
11-28-2015, 03:50 AM
Filled my either sex deer tag with a first this year. A rather lengthy story about a new gun, a homemade slug load and a successful deer hunt.
I started working on 20 gauge slug load in March. A little later, I picked up an H&R ultra-slug hunter having heard that Freedom Group had chosen to discontinue the H&R single shot line of products including the Ultra-slug and Handi-rifles. I wanted to purchase one of the ultra-slug guns before the price started to sky rocket as they became less and less readily available. Luckily enough, a quick phone call to one of my favorite gun shops led me to deciphering between four of them in stock. The model I was after was the 20 gauge ultra-slug in the youth stock / barrel configuration when, low and behold, there was one on the rack in its pristine newness. I am a carbine fan, so the short barrel of the youth model made sense to me. All I would have to do was get an adult butt stock to have the gun just the way I wanted it. When it was time to pick up the ultra-slug, the gun shop owner recommended a Boyds buttstock stock stating “they are cost effective and well built”. I went a different route and got a lightly used Harrington and Richardson take off from the internet. With the addition of a hardly used Leupold 4X EER scope to top it off, I was well on my way to having the perfect combination of simple ruggedness. The only endeavor that was missing was ammunition. A thorough search of the World Wide Web kept leading me back to the same website, which I had little to no activity previously. The site, www.castboolits.gunloads.com (http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/), contained information and ideas that proved to be invaluable.
Mid-March I was lucky enough to find an “old stock”, yet new in the box Ohaus muzzleloader mold on the online auction site, whose name we do not speak, at least not here on this forum. March 27th 2015, the recently delivered Ohaus mold #58400M was calling out to be put to its full potential casting out 400 grain hollow base .58 caliber boolits. This being my first real attempt at casting hollow base, I fell a little short of being efficient. Too often I found the hollow base handle setting in the pure molten lead as I was raising my Lyman ladle to fill the mold. The new “old stock” mold was looking used rather quickly due to my ignorance. After a little reorganization and several poorly cast boolits, I finally had a few boolits that were acceptable, not good, just acceptable. Casting many more and throwing several back into the pot, some were starting to turn out good. No more were there voids and lines in the castings, it’s time to call them good and get to the reloading bench. My intent was to just drop them in a Winchester AA wad and go to town reloading, but after a little more reading here on the forum, it prompted me to fill the hollow base. The alleged problem, if the base is not filled, the wad will push into the base causing a variety issues. So, I decided to push .410 gauge 3/8 fiber wads into the hollow bases of the recently cast boolits. They didn’t fit too well, however a little pressure and the fiber wads formed to the taper of the hollow base. With the projectile ready to go, the focus turned to the rest of the components. Winchester AA 2 ¾ casings, Winchester AA wads and Winchester 209 primers were all components on the reloading bench or stored away in the ammo cans, that choice was easy. The big question for me was what powder to use? I have a few powders on hand, a partial can of Green dot and a partial can of Red Dot from the days of shooting sporting clays. Some partial cans of Herco and a few flakes of Unique that were likely my Dads or Uncles, both of whom have long since passed on to the great hunting grounds in the sky. Not enough Unique to test, so Herco won out. Initial research and calculations found 15.9 to 17.0 grains of Herco to be safe under the 400 grain boolit. I starting loading as normal on a Lee Load-All, sizing and priming all cases with the above mentioned components. The powder was set up on a Lyman powder measure to drop 15 grains, the remaining .5 grains of each charge being added by a RCBS modified powder tickler (modified with electric motor and momentary push switch), tipping the Redding beam scale to the proper amount was achieved. After getting the charge weights correct for each shell, I switched to a MEC 600jr to set the wad and boolit at the same time with 40lbs of pressure being used to seat the wad. Crimping started on the Lee and finished on the MEC. I prefer the slight taper crimp of the MEC over the mushroom effect the Lee Load-All leaves on the finished products. I’m sure these operations can be done on one machine like the MEC Slugger, however poor people have poor ways, so what was on hand was used. With multiple different grain weights loaded and the sun having faded away, the slug reloading was done for the day.
On March 28th, 2015 it was time to shoot a few rounds into a poor boy’s ballistic gelatin, that being an old oak tree base that was somehow a hollowed out stump with only the outer shell remaining. The round shot out of the Ultra-slug with mild recoil and a nice crack noise. The stump worked well as the slugs would penetrate the old bark and sap wood of the front side while getting stuck in the back side. The upside of this poor boy’s gelatin is that it makes it fairly easy to pick out the boolit and see the results of the before mentioned load (See Pictures). The boolits retained weights ranging from 344.9 to 394.4 grains with an average weight of 370.3 grains. Another nice thing is the walk way to the stump is clear of brush so I was able to find a couple of wads laying on top of the grass (See Pictures). Wad engagement was decent, but not impressive. With the sunlight fading as it does so regularly each evening, the testing was done for the day.
172908
On March 30th, 2015 it was time to chronograph the rounds to see exactly how fast they were going. The Shooting Chrony was set on the jeep hood and the sun down enough behind the tree line that the shades were not needed. The hill behind the poor boy’s gelatin stump worked as a safe back stop and the following results were found;
15.0 grs of Herco = average of 1065
15.5 grs of Herco = average of 1109
16.0 grs of Herco = average of 1133
172909
Testing resumed in early November with deer season closing in fast here in Illinois. I picked up 2 cans of Unique over the summer and decided to use hot glue in the hollow base as it filled the hollow base more completely than the .410 fiber wad, especially around the edges. The previous testing showed acceptable wad to rifling engagement, my thoughts were it could be better. I decided to cast a few more boolits in a harder lead formula than the prior time. The slug formula settled in nicely on 16.0 grains of Unique under a Winchester AA wad under a 400 grain boolit wrapped up in a Winchester AA case set off by a Winchester 209 primer running at 1200 fps over the chrony. At this point a day at the range was needed, living less than 10 miles away from the Effingham County Sportsman Club I traveled there on November 14th, 2015 only to find the range standing room only as season started the very next weekend. While happy to see everyone sighting in there weapon of choice, I was disappointed not to get to shoot that day. The very next day was a Sunday and I was up before daybreak to get a jump start on the sight in and final testing. The range was like a ghost town of old with me being the sole patron. It was do or die at this point as there was not another day I could test before the opening morning. The day’s targets were impressive and several boolits were touching in three shot group sat the zeroing range of 50 yards. I went through more rounds than anticipated at the 100 yard mark as the boolit was dropping off the paper and hitting under the target. Once I figured out what was happening I taped an extra target just under the one I was shooting at. I was happy to see it was only a drop issue and the boolits were actually still touching, just several inches below the intended bullseye. My hunting area is woodsy and with the given number of trees a long shot would not guarantee a deer, in fact knowing most shots are 75 yards or less in my preferred area to hunt. I found these to be acceptable results, knowing the average drop if I did decide to take the long shot.
November 20th, 2015 Opening day of 1stseason. I walked a little out of the way to dance a jig into some goat feces, an odor familiar to the deer who pass through our hobby farm as we have owned goats for as long as I care to remember. Using the old cattle barn as a blind and the cleats of my gum boots full of random goat poop, I could see hints of the sun wanting to peak over the horizon. At 0601 hours the familiar vibration of my cell phone alerted me to a message from fellow forum member Thumbcocker reminding how “I love opening day of deer season. It’s like Christmas with guns”. A few hours went by before I seen any sign and then only does walking from 35 yards and farther out. At 8:43 am a young large body buck, with as mall lopsided rack, wandered by following an old doe whose coat was almost silver gray. I stood up from the blind and still couldn’t get the shot I was looking for so I took a few steps away from the cover of the blind. The buck and doe had no idea, the shot was now clean with no brush in the way and under 30 yards, so I raised the ultra-slug and slowly squeezed the trigger. It was such a steady pull on the trigger that it surprised me when it went off, but it was not a surprise when the young buck performed a mule kick and wondered off slowly. I have always heard wait a half hour before you go look for the deer, but curiosity got the best of me and I edged over the hill to find the last signs of life leaving the buck. He only ran a short distance following the creek bed, before piling up on the other side of the hill. I gave it a few minutes before going over to see the results, the slug had entered the chest and shot clean through the deer with perfect shot placement. Now that the fun was over it was time for the work to begin, upon opening the chest cavity it was no surprise to see the vitals destroyed and a chest full of soup. Both the slug load and the gun have proven themselves to be effective.
154331
I started working on 20 gauge slug load in March. A little later, I picked up an H&R ultra-slug hunter having heard that Freedom Group had chosen to discontinue the H&R single shot line of products including the Ultra-slug and Handi-rifles. I wanted to purchase one of the ultra-slug guns before the price started to sky rocket as they became less and less readily available. Luckily enough, a quick phone call to one of my favorite gun shops led me to deciphering between four of them in stock. The model I was after was the 20 gauge ultra-slug in the youth stock / barrel configuration when, low and behold, there was one on the rack in its pristine newness. I am a carbine fan, so the short barrel of the youth model made sense to me. All I would have to do was get an adult butt stock to have the gun just the way I wanted it. When it was time to pick up the ultra-slug, the gun shop owner recommended a Boyds buttstock stock stating “they are cost effective and well built”. I went a different route and got a lightly used Harrington and Richardson take off from the internet. With the addition of a hardly used Leupold 4X EER scope to top it off, I was well on my way to having the perfect combination of simple ruggedness. The only endeavor that was missing was ammunition. A thorough search of the World Wide Web kept leading me back to the same website, which I had little to no activity previously. The site, www.castboolits.gunloads.com (http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/), contained information and ideas that proved to be invaluable.
Mid-March I was lucky enough to find an “old stock”, yet new in the box Ohaus muzzleloader mold on the online auction site, whose name we do not speak, at least not here on this forum. March 27th 2015, the recently delivered Ohaus mold #58400M was calling out to be put to its full potential casting out 400 grain hollow base .58 caliber boolits. This being my first real attempt at casting hollow base, I fell a little short of being efficient. Too often I found the hollow base handle setting in the pure molten lead as I was raising my Lyman ladle to fill the mold. The new “old stock” mold was looking used rather quickly due to my ignorance. After a little reorganization and several poorly cast boolits, I finally had a few boolits that were acceptable, not good, just acceptable. Casting many more and throwing several back into the pot, some were starting to turn out good. No more were there voids and lines in the castings, it’s time to call them good and get to the reloading bench. My intent was to just drop them in a Winchester AA wad and go to town reloading, but after a little more reading here on the forum, it prompted me to fill the hollow base. The alleged problem, if the base is not filled, the wad will push into the base causing a variety issues. So, I decided to push .410 gauge 3/8 fiber wads into the hollow bases of the recently cast boolits. They didn’t fit too well, however a little pressure and the fiber wads formed to the taper of the hollow base. With the projectile ready to go, the focus turned to the rest of the components. Winchester AA 2 ¾ casings, Winchester AA wads and Winchester 209 primers were all components on the reloading bench or stored away in the ammo cans, that choice was easy. The big question for me was what powder to use? I have a few powders on hand, a partial can of Green dot and a partial can of Red Dot from the days of shooting sporting clays. Some partial cans of Herco and a few flakes of Unique that were likely my Dads or Uncles, both of whom have long since passed on to the great hunting grounds in the sky. Not enough Unique to test, so Herco won out. Initial research and calculations found 15.9 to 17.0 grains of Herco to be safe under the 400 grain boolit. I starting loading as normal on a Lee Load-All, sizing and priming all cases with the above mentioned components. The powder was set up on a Lyman powder measure to drop 15 grains, the remaining .5 grains of each charge being added by a RCBS modified powder tickler (modified with electric motor and momentary push switch), tipping the Redding beam scale to the proper amount was achieved. After getting the charge weights correct for each shell, I switched to a MEC 600jr to set the wad and boolit at the same time with 40lbs of pressure being used to seat the wad. Crimping started on the Lee and finished on the MEC. I prefer the slight taper crimp of the MEC over the mushroom effect the Lee Load-All leaves on the finished products. I’m sure these operations can be done on one machine like the MEC Slugger, however poor people have poor ways, so what was on hand was used. With multiple different grain weights loaded and the sun having faded away, the slug reloading was done for the day.
On March 28th, 2015 it was time to shoot a few rounds into a poor boy’s ballistic gelatin, that being an old oak tree base that was somehow a hollowed out stump with only the outer shell remaining. The round shot out of the Ultra-slug with mild recoil and a nice crack noise. The stump worked well as the slugs would penetrate the old bark and sap wood of the front side while getting stuck in the back side. The upside of this poor boy’s gelatin is that it makes it fairly easy to pick out the boolit and see the results of the before mentioned load (See Pictures). The boolits retained weights ranging from 344.9 to 394.4 grains with an average weight of 370.3 grains. Another nice thing is the walk way to the stump is clear of brush so I was able to find a couple of wads laying on top of the grass (See Pictures). Wad engagement was decent, but not impressive. With the sunlight fading as it does so regularly each evening, the testing was done for the day.
172908
On March 30th, 2015 it was time to chronograph the rounds to see exactly how fast they were going. The Shooting Chrony was set on the jeep hood and the sun down enough behind the tree line that the shades were not needed. The hill behind the poor boy’s gelatin stump worked as a safe back stop and the following results were found;
15.0 grs of Herco = average of 1065
15.5 grs of Herco = average of 1109
16.0 grs of Herco = average of 1133
172909
Testing resumed in early November with deer season closing in fast here in Illinois. I picked up 2 cans of Unique over the summer and decided to use hot glue in the hollow base as it filled the hollow base more completely than the .410 fiber wad, especially around the edges. The previous testing showed acceptable wad to rifling engagement, my thoughts were it could be better. I decided to cast a few more boolits in a harder lead formula than the prior time. The slug formula settled in nicely on 16.0 grains of Unique under a Winchester AA wad under a 400 grain boolit wrapped up in a Winchester AA case set off by a Winchester 209 primer running at 1200 fps over the chrony. At this point a day at the range was needed, living less than 10 miles away from the Effingham County Sportsman Club I traveled there on November 14th, 2015 only to find the range standing room only as season started the very next weekend. While happy to see everyone sighting in there weapon of choice, I was disappointed not to get to shoot that day. The very next day was a Sunday and I was up before daybreak to get a jump start on the sight in and final testing. The range was like a ghost town of old with me being the sole patron. It was do or die at this point as there was not another day I could test before the opening morning. The day’s targets were impressive and several boolits were touching in three shot group sat the zeroing range of 50 yards. I went through more rounds than anticipated at the 100 yard mark as the boolit was dropping off the paper and hitting under the target. Once I figured out what was happening I taped an extra target just under the one I was shooting at. I was happy to see it was only a drop issue and the boolits were actually still touching, just several inches below the intended bullseye. My hunting area is woodsy and with the given number of trees a long shot would not guarantee a deer, in fact knowing most shots are 75 yards or less in my preferred area to hunt. I found these to be acceptable results, knowing the average drop if I did decide to take the long shot.
November 20th, 2015 Opening day of 1stseason. I walked a little out of the way to dance a jig into some goat feces, an odor familiar to the deer who pass through our hobby farm as we have owned goats for as long as I care to remember. Using the old cattle barn as a blind and the cleats of my gum boots full of random goat poop, I could see hints of the sun wanting to peak over the horizon. At 0601 hours the familiar vibration of my cell phone alerted me to a message from fellow forum member Thumbcocker reminding how “I love opening day of deer season. It’s like Christmas with guns”. A few hours went by before I seen any sign and then only does walking from 35 yards and farther out. At 8:43 am a young large body buck, with as mall lopsided rack, wandered by following an old doe whose coat was almost silver gray. I stood up from the blind and still couldn’t get the shot I was looking for so I took a few steps away from the cover of the blind. The buck and doe had no idea, the shot was now clean with no brush in the way and under 30 yards, so I raised the ultra-slug and slowly squeezed the trigger. It was such a steady pull on the trigger that it surprised me when it went off, but it was not a surprise when the young buck performed a mule kick and wondered off slowly. I have always heard wait a half hour before you go look for the deer, but curiosity got the best of me and I edged over the hill to find the last signs of life leaving the buck. He only ran a short distance following the creek bed, before piling up on the other side of the hill. I gave it a few minutes before going over to see the results, the slug had entered the chest and shot clean through the deer with perfect shot placement. Now that the fun was over it was time for the work to begin, upon opening the chest cavity it was no surprise to see the vitals destroyed and a chest full of soup. Both the slug load and the gun have proven themselves to be effective.
154331