Lyman slug base wad...preliminary results

[uncle dino]

This base wad is just a tapered plastic pin, which the Lyman pellet slug sits on. The pin holds slug centered in the bore, and the hull crimp holds it in place. .the slugs I used are .680 diameter. Courtesy of rancher..they weigh in at 502 grains..no lead touches the barrel, no sheared wad petals, and hopefully as testing progresses, more consistency shot to shot without the fliers..

Load was steel powder, x12x, hard card, base wad then slug, federal white hull, fold crimp. I shot these out of a benelli m1 semi auto with a bead sight..75 yds...I found 2 of the base wads 50 yds down range. So I think they are staying with the slug for a while. I haven't recovered slugs yet.
Base wad should work with any hollow base slug. As long as plastic peg matches base. Lee key drives are next.. D

[longbow]

Doesn't look bad to me from smoothbore at 75 yards... in fact pretty good if all the slugs land in a 5" group.

I'd be interested to see how they do from a rifled gun. That wad should keep the skirt from collapsing making for better accuracy. I think anyway.

From smoothbore however, I doubt you are going to do much if any better at that range. I have read claims of rifle like accuracy with some slugs from smoothbore out to 100 yards but I have as yet to see posted targets. Once doesn't make it true, repeatable accuracy is required.

Another potential issue with the Lyman slugs is stability at transonic velocity. turboo1889 posted that the Lyman sabot slug becomes unstable at transonic velocity due to the extreme meplat. Not sure if that is true or not but turbo knows his stuff so I will take his word for it until proven otherwise. I am guessing those slugs are going through the transonic stage not too far after 50 yards if launched at typical velocities of 1400+ FPS. Not an issue in rifled guns. only smoothbore (assuming it is an issue).

You might want to try shooting some targets at 50 yards to compare with your 75 yard target and then some at 100 yards to see if the slugs remain stable or not.

Are those slugs soft lead or hard alloy?

Good stuff. Thanks for posting and thanks for all the experimenting. You are doing things most of us do not have the skill or equipment to do.

Longbow

[uncle dino]

Lb. I'm not sure of the alloy...but they seem harder than pure lead..I'm not so sure how they will do out of rifled gun, as slug just sits on wad. Maybe there would be enough friction between the two to spin slug some. As slug is too small to contact barrel. These were the first 3 I loaded up, hopefully it's repeatable. D

[Hogtamer]

Do I see a liitle yaw in those holes or just old plywood? May verify LB's observation...and how do you mold that plastic? Swaged too? Pretty amazing!

[uncle dino]

Ht plywood was leaning back against a couple of cardboard boxes.. Close inspection of holes show no signs of yawing. Nice and round.. Need to send many more rounds down range for sure.

[rancher1913]

they should be soft or pretty close to soft, they were roof flashing and old shower pans. I can check hardness on one of the ingots if it is needed. if you run out during the test phase just let me know and george can drop off some more. its good to see that the laymans can be accurate.

[longbow]

If loaded into the proper size shotcup (petal thickness) they should shoot well from rifled gun as that is what they are intended for. Some folks apparently roll the slugs under a coarse file to roughen them up so the shotcup petals grip the slug better.

This is a slug I have not tested mostly because I do not have a rifled gun and because turbo told me my home made slugs should do just as well from smoothbore. Also, I would prefer to see a somewhat smaller meplat and TC nose but that's just personal preference.

I got to get out to the range more! I think I am going through slug shooting withdrawal... well shooting withdrawal in general. Too much to do and too little time.

Longbow

[vepr12dude]

Have you done anything else with this base wad?

[uncle dino]

I haven't had a chance to play with it.. It is very promising..but without injection molding machine, is very labor intensive.. D

[vepr12dude]

I wonder if 3d printing would work

[uncle dino]

I'm sure it would...but would be slow..

[skeettx]

I just use TWO Winchester AA RED wads with the petals cut off
for my One ounce Lyman moulded slugs.
Mike

[uncle dino]

The idea is to keep undersized slug centered in bore while supporting the base from uneven obturation..improving accuracy. .unfortunately any shotgun wad without petals does neither. D

[vepr12dude]

I'm sure it would...but would be slow..

Ha ha, it would be more than slow

[cpileri]

Dino I swear, man, if I had your equipment I would never leave the house (except to shoot).

I always love reading your inventions!