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Thread: .690 round ball wad.

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy TonyfromItaly's Avatar
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    .690 round ball wad.

    Used here in italy since the 70's to load 12 ga round ball for hog hunting, they are noted for their precision up to 50 meters and beyond. Unfortunately no tests have been done on targets at 100 yards. Anyway, just wanted to pass it on to give you guys some ideas on reloading round balls.

    the cup is cut on the second line and provides and nice seating for centering the ball.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails gualandi eco 009.jpg   gualandi eco 006.jpg  

  2. #2
    Boolit Buddy
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    Hi Tony,

    Looks similar to this one:Click image for larger version. 

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    They appear to both be made by Gualandi, but I've never seen the version you showed for sale in the US.

    Is that one I showed ever used in Italy for roundball?

  3. #3
    Boolit Grand Master

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    I have never seen that one either.

    I gave up on 0.690" RB's long ago in favour of 0.662". 0.678" both of which fit standard wads well and 0.735" naked. Those three work well enough for me. Had I been able to get those cup like wads I might actually have saved some money on moulds! 0.690" was my first shotgun "slug" mould. Still have it too. I bought is used about 45 years ago.

    Longbow

  4. #4
    Boolit Buddy TonyfromItaly's Avatar
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    Hello FullTang, The wad you see was made by gualandi in the 70's and 80's. They no longer make it. However a private enterprise bought up the molds and they are now remaking it. It is excellent for birdshot.

    The shortcup you posted is excellent for bird shot, i use it myself. It can be used to reload round balls, but the traditonal way to to reload round ball in ga 12 here was over gas seal- felt wad. Before the invention of the gas seal, they just used overpowder disc, felt wad. All these for hog hunting.
    Last edited by TonyfromItaly; 04-03-2014 at 02:11 AM.

  5. #5
    Boolit Buddy
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    Hi Tony,

    I didn't realize that hog hunting was popular in Italy. Combine wild boar with Italian cuisine---sounds delicious!

  6. #6
    Boolit Buddy TonyfromItaly's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by FullTang View Post
    Hi Tony,

    I didn't realize that hog hunting was popular in Italy. Combine wild boar with Italian cuisine---sounds delicious!
    Yes, amazing dishes with wild hog meat. My favourite is hog steak with porcini mushroom sauce.

    We hunt hogs in groups of 30-50 hunters surrounding a large area. The dogs and drivers, drive them to our positions. Other members of the club are on surrounding roads with firecrackers in case the hogs try to bypass the encircling. We are all connected by radio headphones to be in constant contact. In other words, it is like a militia operation!!! This year we got 38 in one hunt.

  7. #7
    Boolit Buddy
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    Wow, that's a lot of meat!

    I also meant to ask about the slug in your profile picture; is that a custom slug, or something available near you?

  8. #8
    Boolit Buddy TonyfromItaly's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by FullTang View Post
    Wow, that's a lot of meat!

    I also meant to ask about the slug in your profile picture; is that a custom slug, or something available near you?
    it is a custom slug!

  9. #9
    Boolit Buddy
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    That looks like a very nice slug---looks like it would work well in a smoothbore or a rifled barrel. Limited bore contact, but those flanges would help it ride the bore tightly, and still give a little room to squeeze through a choke.

  10. #10
    Boolit Buddy TonyfromItaly's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by FullTang View Post
    That looks like a very nice slug---looks like it would work well in a smoothbore or a rifled barrel. Limited bore contact, but those flanges would help it ride the bore tightly, and still give a little room to squeeze through a choke.
    Yes, after i make it, i run it trough a resizer and make it exactly the diameter of my cilinder bore barrel. To use it in a rifled barrel, it should be oversized so that the flanges engage the rifling. It is very accurate. I also run liquid aloix on the slug to somewhat reduce lead fauling of the barrel.

  11. #11
    Boolit Buddy
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    I wonder if I should try some Lee Liquid Alox on my .69 RBs when I shoot them in my rifled barrel. They do seem to engage the rifling (much more accurate) but I never find any leading---I've always assumed that the edge of the LB12 cup engages the rifling, rather than the ball itself. May be worth a try; in my muzzleloader, I get no leading or fouling when I use LLA on conical bullets---works really well.

  12. #12
    Boolit Master AlaskanGuy's Avatar
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    Well tony, i contacted the company that makes those wads, and no reply at all... Sure would love to get some of those....

    AG

  13. #13
    Boolit Buddy TonyfromItaly's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by AlaskanGuy View Post
    Well tony, i contacted the company that makes those wads, and no reply at all... Sure would love to get some of those....

    AG

    how many do you need?

  14. #14
    Boolit Buddy Fla9-40's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TonyfromItaly View Post
    how many do you need?
    Tony do you have a contact for those that you use?

    What is a good wad available here in the states to use for the .690?
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  15. #15
    Boolit Master AlaskanGuy's Avatar
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    Tony gave me contact information for the company where he gets them, and I wrote them in Italian using google translate, but received no replay on how to get some here in the states.... I can post the link, but be prepared for Italian...

    http://www.domonaco.it/

    AG

  16. #16
    Boolit Bub
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    This is a timely thread. About an hour ago I cast my first batch of .690 RB for use in my 12 GA Coach Gun . They measure .688 and just drop through my barrels (both have been reamed to cylinder). Then I measured the petals of my 12WAA clear wads at 0.020"(x2). This caused me some concern and I came here to see what others do.

    Could I could use the WAA12 wad as a gas seal, cut the petals below the ball, and cup the ball in paper? Are there wads with much thinner petals? I have Fiocchi primed hulls and Rocky Mountain Cartridge full-length brass hulls.

    I just bought a Lee Load All. I have Unique, Blue Dot, and Red Dot and Win 209 primers. Could you suggest a starting load? This is just for fun. I want to see how accurate I can get with RB at 50 yards.

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    Last edited by CTI1USNRET; 04-13-2014 at 06:49 PM.

  17. #17
    Boolit Grand Master

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    In my opinion, 0.690" RB's are an unfortunate diameter that is too big for most wads or at least most I can find. BPI lists a wad for 0.690" so I have to think it fits. They have inexpensive load data on individual sheets if you look at their site and I ordered the 0.690" RB load data sheet. Pretty limited data but all pressure tested so good. The Lyman shotshell reloading manual (at least one I have also lists 0.690" RB data but again very limited.

    You can use equivalent weight shot data so 1 1/8 oz. would be fine. Not as potent as dedicated slug data but usable and safe.

    Since I have been unsuccessful with the 0.690" RB I can't provide components that will give decent accuracy but I have had very good success with 0.662" RB's, 0.678" RB's and 0.735" RB's. Good loads with any will stay under 4" at 50 yards ~ better than most hollow base slugs I have tried (home cast and loaded anyway). It takes good ball/wad fit to bore (I like a slide fit with little resistance) and a good wad column with support for the ball and also to avoid distortion of the cushion leg if you are using shotcups. I set one or two 1/8" nitro card wads into the shotcup then a small scoop of Cream 'O Wheat then the ball.

    As long as you get good ball/wad fit to bore and good wad column, you should get pretty decent accuracy to at least 50 yards.

    I lean towards Blue Dot for my slug/ball loads.

    Longbow

  18. #18
    Boolit Buddy
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    I agree with Longbow that .69 is an unfortunate diameter, since it's just a little too large for most wads made these days. A .675 RB would have been perfect! However, you should not despair, for this is a wonderful roundball, and perfect in its own way. Use those Fiocchi hulls with a Federal 12S0 wad, or a 12S3 with a nitro card under it, and you'll find salvation (if you trim the petals!). Try a Gualandi LB12 (from BPI) with a thin OS card, or a Flex Seal 12 with a 1/2 fiber cushion wad and you will achieve enlightenment.
    Last edited by FullTang; 04-14-2014 at 12:13 AM.

  19. #19
    Boolit Buddy Fla9-40's Avatar
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    BPI lists a wad for 0.690" so I have to think it fits.
    Hey Longbow do you have a link for these? I did a search on their site and came up with no hits....

    Thanks
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  20. #20
    Boolit Buddy Fla9-40's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by AlaskanGuy View Post
    Tony gave me contact information for the company where he gets them, and I wrote them in Italian using google translate, but received no replay on how to get some here in the states.... I can post the link, but be prepared for Italian...

    http://www.domonaco.it/

    AG
    Thanks for the link AlaskanGuy...I'll get my sister to translate for me...she's speaks Italian fluent.

    Although I don't know if it would be feasible to ship to the US =)
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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check