.690 Round ball success

I don't know for sure if it was the new barrel I picked up yesterday or the new way of loading my RB I tried last night but it's finally come together.
The load is a .690 Lee RB, water quenched loaded on top of a believe it or not 19mm stick on felt furniture leg protector in a Winchester AS 1 1/8th oz shot cup pushed by 25.5gn of ADI AP70N (Hodgdon Universal) in a Champion high brass blue hull.

I picked up a 20" smooth bore barrel with fixed rifle sights for my Adler A110 lever action and wanted to test it out.
The 1st shot at 50 yards hit the bull followed by two touching an inch lower, I decided to try 2 more with the 4th shot a bit low and 5th touching the other two touching shots.
I patched out and decided to try another 5 shots and ended up with a 10 round group at 50 yards about 3.5"-4" I will it measure later.

I'm very happy with it and I've definitly got my 50-60 yard pig and deer load all sorted and I'm will to push it to 75 yards without flinching.
I'm going to to hunt with this gun now until I've got a deer on the deck, the pup needs the experience anyway.
But I've definitly got confidence in this load now.:guntootsmiley:
It's been a long road but it's all worth it in the end.
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felt furniture protector eh? sure looks like it works !

Nice! Interesting way to do it :)

I needed a simple cheap solution and had to use what I could find.
I think this works because the wads are 11mm in diameter and the felt things are 19mm, that makes them hug the ball and help keep them central like a doughnut wad.

Post up some pictures of this setup please !! I'd like to see how this load stacks up.

Scott

well done. tough to find a good shotgun load

Well done Bob!! May I ask the actual diameter of the Lee mold? I have an RCBS RB mold I've been wanting to work with in my drillings.

I will take some pictures tomorrow night when I cast some more, I loaded up my supply this arvo.
I will measure them while I'm at it.

Why are you water quenching? Is the allow WW where it would have some effect?

mY GOOGLE - FU must be bad today, I couldn't find Winchester AS 1 1/8th oz shot cup, just AA :(

What are the dimensions of the furniture pad, 19mm in diameter x? thick

did you trim the petals?

I am new to this shotgun rb/slug thread but I thought that by the dimensions the .690 ball used (fit) with a complete plastic shotcup, and the .735" was without shotcup or at least with the petals removed??

While my wad selection is pretty limited, I have only found one brand IIRC that will take a 0.690" RB with reasonable fit in my 0.733" bore but petals sheared and accuracy was poor.

BPI lists a 0.690" RB in shotcup load so there are obviously other shotcups that have thin enough petals... or tough enough to squish without shearing.

My 0.678" RB's are a very slightly loose fit in Winchester shotcups. One wrap of 0.003" paper snugs them up tight. That would make 0.684" so maybe 0.006" under the 0.690" RB, depending on actual cast size. However, I have had no luck at all with my Lyman 0.690" RB's in shotcups. Not sure if I have any cast as I haven't used the mould in a long time but I should check as cast size. Generally fit is very tight and petals shear.

Actually my favourite load is the 0.662" RB cloth patched into the hull/shotcup. Those have done very well for me... except it is a bit tedious loading them.

Now having said all that... There was a fellow that used to post here TRG3 (Tom). He said he used a 0.690" RB in a shotcup (can't recall brand or style) but he cut off two opposing petals. He claimed very good accuracy with this system. Not sure why it would work as that makes loose fit one way and very tight fit the other way but I have no reason to doubt him. These were shot in a USH which I understand tend to have large bores?

Also, I think it is 725 who loads a 0.702" call in shotcup and gets very good accuracy. How that makes it down a rifled bore I do not know but so it does. Seems to me he said he uses soft lead which may make a difference. I think most use range scrap or wheelweights for RB's in shotgun. I do anyway.

So, go figure! Just because I can't make it work doesn't mean it won't.

Longbow

They are 19mm x 3mm, the wads are AA my auto correct keeps changing things on me.

I don't trim the petals, I used to without the felt and also roll crimped but I've found this much better.

I can understand how cutting two opposing petals would work, they are just a guide like the rails on a crossbow.
What is important is even and equal pressure from shot to shot, but lucky for me these wads are thin enough that I don't need to get creative, I will have to play with them some more when my supply runs out as I don't think they are made anymore.

I'm going to cast a few more this afternoon, but it's got me thinking, I'd like a svarog .690 mold as they cast much nicer balls then the Lee mold do, but I'm wondering if I should get a .678 one instead, but now I've got the .690 working I'm worried that I shouldn't mess with it.

This is how the load stacks up, it's pretty simple.
Load the wad in the press as normal, then push in a 19x3mm felt wad, then .690 RB and crimp as normal.
Even I can't stuff that up.
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I would say it is hard to argue with success! You've got a good load working well for you.

It never hurts to have options but... sometimes options can distract a guy from what already works and that guy can wind up chasing his tail. I wouldn't be talking about me of course...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by upnorthwis

Why are you water quenching? Is the allow WW where it would have some effect?

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I use melted down Winchester lead shot, I figure if it's good enough as shot it should do for RB too.
It says super hard lead, I think from memory it's 5% antimony so it should harden some, it seams a little harder anyway.
But either way it either makes it harder or does nothing and I can handle it sooner so I've nothing to loose.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by longbow

...sometimes options can distract a guy from what already works and that guy can wind up chasing his tail. I wouldn't be talking about me of course...

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My first wife solved my tail chasing for me. She chewed mine off!;)

BB