Brenneke slugs - light at the end of the tunnel...

[Ballistics in Scotland]

The nose of the propeller-head slug looks a shade larger than the Gualandi's and I think it is unlikely that it would set off a primer under normal shotgun recoil. But Elvas is right, and ''think it unlikely'' is something it might be an idea to improve on. A concave ejector pin would very likely be enough.

I don't know that ballistic coefficient is such a great issue with shotgun slugs. Everybody is some way off having their range limited by loss of velocity rather than loss of accuracy. A possibility worth considering, though, would be a plastic sabot covering the nose, into which the lead part is inserted from the rear. The nose in plastic could be any shape you like, and besides primer detonation, would deal with the tendency of a slug cartridge to fall on and dent the slug nose when dropped. I don't think lead could ever decelerate faster than plastic. It would probably need a plastic plug to fill the space behind the slug.

[uncle dino]

Cap'n. Those look fabulous, it's amazing the different ideas we all can come up with. Thanks for sharing. D

[longbow]

Yes, I agree, ballistic coefficient is the least of anyone's worries with shotgun slugs. If you can get good consistent accuracy to 100 or maybe 125 yards that is a winner! Then maybe see if increasing the ballistic coefficient will gain a few more yards but I doubt you will be reaching past 150 yards with any sort of "flat" trajectory with any full bore lead slug.

I am wanting to see some field reports. I am living vicariously through your work these days!

Longbow

[victorfox]

Captain, as a matter of fact, I've been reading a lot on my shotgun revolver adventures and I happened to read somewhere (will try to find it and tell you correctly) that today's shotguns, mostly European made are in fact underbored, some actually about 14 or 13ga and what they are calling "overbored" is actually putting the gun on the size it was supposed to be. Can't remember if it was in some gunsmithing or reloading book I read this information or if it was Bob Brisker's book. Will check and post.BTW what wonderful slug you got sir. Also they look a lot manlier than some previous specimens. LOL.

[Cap'n Morgan]

I finally got around to try my "propeller head" sleeve-slug design. The idea was that the "fins" on the nose would cause the slug to rotate during flight, thereby increasing accuracy. That was the plan anyway, but even if it didn't improved accuracy, the slugs should still shoot as well as a more traditional nose design - or so I thought...



The five shot group at the right side of the target is almost five inches. Not very impressive since the range was only 30 meters. I had five more with a different type of plastic (HDPE) and hoping for a better result I started on the left target. The first two shots landed four inches apart and since you don't have to empty the whole bottle to discover the milk is sour, I decided to quit.

I had brought along three rounds of a previous sleeve-slug - same load, same sleeve, but a more traditional nose design. I shot them for comparison at the center target and got a nice two inch group! Of course, it could be a fluke, but I will do some more testing at different ranges.

As for the propeller head design, it is dead and buried!