.735 Round Ball and H&R Ultra Slug Hunter

[leadhead 500]

Got around to trying out some .735 round ball loads out of my H&R Ultra Slug Hunter today at 50 yards and this was a 3 shot group. I think I might just stick with these,some of the best loads I have built yet

[nanuk]

Nice.

now, can you try it at 100yds?

[leadhead 500]

Going to try some 100 yard groups when the weather gets better.

[GBertolet]

I have occasionally gotten similar groups with my NEF Slug Hunter with the .735 RB. Unfortunately, not occasionally enough. What load, and components are you using? The .735 RB is awsome!

[Hogtamer]

How about leading? Great group so let's have the particulars!

[leadhead 500]

I have only worked up 2 loads with the .735 round ball and both are one hole out of my H&R.

Remington 3 inch Nitro Hull with yellow .200 basewad
Fed. 209 primer
32 grains of Longshot
claybuster 12S3 wad with petals removed
3/8" hard card on top of the 12S3 wad
Claybuster AA12 gas seal inverted on top of the hard card wad
.735 round ball into hull with the spur up and then fold crimped
This is the load that shot the above group


The other load is

Remington 3 inch Nitro Hull with yellow .200 basewad
Fed. 209 primer
44 grains of Blue Dot
Claybuster 12S3 wad with petals removed
Claybuster AA12 gas seal inverted
.735 Round Ball loaded with the spur up and fold crimped


Both of these will shoot one hole from my gun and show no over preasure signs. I started out with these loads on Fiocchi 3" hulls with the 7mm base wad and they showed no signs of preasure.

[Hogtamer]

Thanks leadhead, please follow up with the 100 yd results!

[longbow]

I based my 0.735" RB load on the Precision Rifle Piledriver slug load which was a 610 gr. slug over up to 44 grs. of Blue Dot in a straight walled hull. I started at 36 grs. and topped out at 38 grs. That was as much recoil as I wanted using a light single shot. Their 44 gr. load developed 12,500 PSI which seemed a bit steep to me so I wouldn't have gone there anyway. The 0.735" RB is a bit lighter so some safety factor there.

I found that hard card wad columns over a plastic gas seal gave me best accuracy from smoothbore and the same loads shot several ~2" groups at 50 yards from a borrowed Rifled Remington 870. I think the load and gun would have done better but I was getting a bit punchy by then after shooting a number of groups from the smoothbore first.

I got no leading at all using the naked ball in either smoothbore or rifled guns though in fairness I only shot five, five shot groups from the rifled gun. If leading were a problem then a light tumble lubing or a lubed wad in the wad column should fix it.

I like the 0.735" RB.

44 grs. of Blue Dot must generate substantial recoil but I guess that bull barrel helps absorb some.

Longbow

[leadhead 500]

I am in the process of putting a Savage 210 together with a Nikon Slughunter scope and going to try some of these out of it. The 44 grains of Blue Dot will keep you paying attention for sure!
For a heads up go to gunbroker and search 12 gauge hulls and there is a guy that sells the Remington 3 inch and Federal 3 inch hulls Cheap. I am mixing 15# of soft lead with 5# of magnum lead shot and making the round balls.

[longbow]

Yes, I should have included that I cast all the 0.735" RB's from range scrap so close to wheelweights in hardness, not pure lead. Soft lead could result in more leading if not lubed.

Hmmm, that makes me wonder about causes of leading in "other" firearms. I was just reading the old thread of Molly's where he mentions causes of leading and lead rubbing off boolits was not one of them but since most slugs sit on top of a wad column and a plastic gas seal, gas cutting is not a likely candidate in slug loads yet leading occurs.

Having said that, I have not really had any leading issues with slug loads including Lyman Foster slugs cast from very soft lead. Some do claim they get serious leading though.

I should try that inverted gas seal under the ball. While accuracy from my smoothbore is pretty good at 3" to 4" at 50 yards, I have recovered 0.735" balls that showed a skewed band around the equator from a partial roll in the bore. Now whether that happened in the forcing cone or bore is a question. With undersize balls in shotcups I always use a scoop of COW under the ball to act as a seat for the ball and it seems to help accuracy but with the 0.735" balls, I tried a fiber wad right under the ball then hard card and accuracy went away so I went back to all hard card wads.

Normally I shoot the undersize balls in shotcups partially because I am paranoid about a 0.735" RB finding it's way into a choked barrel and partly because it is quicker and easier to load the smaller balls into shotcups.

However, if I was shooting a rifled gun I think 0.735" RB's is what I would use. Easy to cast, no "fit" issues (full bore) and there is something about that big 'ol round ball!

Yes, please do follow up with a report on 100 yard accuracy.

Longbow

[leadhead 500]

I will try to fire a few off tomarrow if the weather permits at 100 yards and will post some pics of both loads.

[FullTang]

The conventional wisdom is that leading in a rifled barrel is caused by gas cutting at the base of the bullet---thus the rationale for copper gas checks on higher pressure/velocity cast bullets. It may be much more complex than this, but this may explain why shotgun slugs and roundballs (or shot loads, for that matter) don't show much leading, even when there is clearly direct bore contact (ie no shot cup or Teflon wrap.) You'll always have a gas seal of some kind (the lead is not exposed to the gases), but I wonder if the folks who do have leading of some kind are using less efficient gas seals, like vented seals or nitro cards.

[bikerbeans]

44 grs. of Blue Dot must generate substantial recoil but I guess that bull barrel helps absorb some.

Longbow

LB,

I "was" shooting 600g FB hollowbase slugs over 44g of Blue Dot in an H&R rifled slug gun with standard contour barrel. Gun and scope was about 7.5 pounds, it did kick a bit. This same load in a 12ga USH was a lot more user friendly from the bench.

BB

[leadhead 500]

Here is a 3 shot group at 100 yards today with the .735 roundball and the Longshot load. I wanted to try the Blue Dot load but the weather is not good raining and 45 degrees. Also here is one of the recovered round balls

[longbow]

Looks pretty good to me!

When I zoom in on the recovered ball resolution isn't great but it looks like nice even rifling around the equator. What was the ball shot into? It appears to have performed well and doesn't look like it tumbled at all at impact.

Thanks for the follow up.

You should find the thread on 100 yard accuracy and enter a target or two.

As for bikerbean's comment "... it did kick a bit..." I bet! I was punch drunk after shooting about 50 rounds of 0.735" RB loads off the bench and that was at 38 grs. of Blue Dot. I am pretty sure that accumulated recoil has caused a few brain cells to die off!

Longbow

[jmort]

That is a really good group. Better than most any I have seen at 100 yards. That is a proverbial freight train.
Thanks for posts/photos.

[leadhead 500]

The ball was recovered from the dirt mound behind the target.

[leadhead 500]

I weigh each ball and keep them within 1/2 grain and weigh each powder charge when it comes to these 100 yard trials

[jmort]

The care involved shows. I need one of those molds. Was concerned about the sprue, but with those results, who cares.

[Hogtamer]

Well, color me impressed! Dang it, I need to work on another load like I need a toothache but I cant stand this. So, a few more questions please. Longbow please feel free to chime in too.

1)What mold are you using and how much does that honker weigh?
2)Pure lead vs. melted recycled trap range shot...pros and cons?
3)No go on either of those powders...800x and steel is what I have to work with for big loads.
4)How stout is the crush section on the 12s3 wad? Idon't have those but a good selection of others. but I'm thinkin Steel powder, the BPI x12x gas seal (great seals!), a couple of 1/4" felt wads, a hard card, then the inverted shot cup.
Nice work leadhead.