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[Receo]

Hello all, new guy here.

I inherited a lee load all 2, lee 7/8 ounce slug mold. 8 pounds of hodgdon universal powder.

I have reloaded pistol and rifle but never shotgun. I have a respectable supply of pure lead and would like to load up a bunch of slugs. I would like to roll crimp my slugs for easy identification and obviously use the universal powder.

I've been searching the net for a few days and have had only minor luck finding loads that use the slug, powder and crimp requirements.

I was considering using the fiocchi 2.75 clear unskived pre primed hulls. Could anyone recommend a wad and powder combination? Being new to shotgun I've noticed that it is not advised to change any component on published loads. I'm use to a starting load and working my way up to accuracy. Would just hate to waste this powder.

[longbow]

Try here:

http://leeprecision.com/cgi-data/instruct/SM%203529.pdf

They only list loads for Federal Gold Medal hulls though and oddly same load for both 7/8 oz and 1 oz slugs.

Get you some Gold Medal hulls and go shooting!

Longbow

[PerpetualStudent]

I was just reading the 4th edition of reloading for shotgunners. In its section for slugs it mentions using old stacked card style loads. This makes some sense to me because my understanding is that stacked card loads use more powder but have less pressure. It would also be a lot easier to adjust stack height to exactly where you want it. They do NOT have the lee 7/8 ounce slug but they do have the 7/8 slugmaster lead slug. It might be worth looking into that manual's chapter. And since that's from 1997- there's probably a 5th edition which might actually have the lee slug.

As far published data- the reloading curmudgeon does have some as well: http://www.ballisticproducts.com/load14_04_25.htm

[longbow]

A little expansion on your comment about substituting components just so you are aware.

There are basically two main types of hulls ~ straight walled and tapered. Fiocchi, Federal, and Cheddite are all straight walled hulls Win AA and Remington RXP are tapered hulls. There are many other brands of hulls of both types as well and powder charges are different for straight walled and tapered hulls so they are not interchangeable.

Wads can also make a difference though in most cases not so much other than column height and crimp but they can affect pressure some too.

Primers are something to be wary of. A primer change can affect pressure by up to about 3000 PSI so very significant especially if you are running near max pressure or near min because 3000 PSI increase at max could be disastrous and 3000 PSI decrease from min may result in a blooper leaving wad and/or slug in the bore.

And to add to it, all the components work together to produce a consistent set velocity at safe pressure which is what shotshells are loaded to do for consistent wing shooting. Slug and buckshot loads tend to be loaded more like rifle loads to squeeze max velocity out at safe pressure however, due to the nature of the components and how they work together it is much different than loading for metallic cartridge. So, random changes in components can have significant and possibly unpredictable effects on the pressure.

The best solution in my opinion is to get several reloading books and use info from powder manufacturer's websites so you can compare load data and make informed decisions. I find that where I am I do not have a decent selection of components so often have to make substitutions though I try to minimize any subs I do and search several sources of load recipes.

There are a number of good reloading manuals that have sections on slug loading which may offer some options to the Federal Gold Medal hulls and Universal powder that Lee shows in their load data. Also, it is generally considered safe to substitute a slug for equal weight of shot in a recipe because slugs generate less pressure than shot loads due to less bore friction. So if you are lacking load data for the 7/8 oz. slug you can use shot load data safely though generally velocities will be limited to around 1200 FPS (maybe a little higher using the slug sub). That may not help in using up that Universal powder though.

In any case, the Lee data shows Federal Gold Medal hulls and Universal powder for that slug so that is a good place to start. Buy some Federal GM hulls and correct primers and wads then load up!

Longbow

[OBCoal]

I have had good results using federal and Remington hulls.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...-and-Universal

[Receo]

Thanks for all of the help and suggestions. I'm having trouble sourcing new federal gm hulls. I have found these but they don't say GM or gold medal.

http://www.ballisticproducts.com/Fed...tinfo/0621275/

Is this an acceptable substitute for the GM hulls?

[richhodg66]

I haven't loaded any of those slugs, but seems like any 7/8 ounce load is supposed to work.

I have two Load Alls and have begun playing with shotgun reloading recently, 12 and 20. I like the Load All. I know they're bottom wrung loaders, but I don't plan on loading thousands of shells and both mine seem to work well.

[GhostHawk]

Currently I am buying the rio hulls at 9 cents each like crazy. 9 cents, primed, shipped to your door, no hazmat? How do you beat that?

As to wads I am using bpi's PT 1215, and pt 1205 wads. Reasonably priced, the 05's are short enough that I don't need to trim petals.

Reloading data is where you find it, powder makers site, BPI has some data, including a lot of data for their PT115, I bought the Lyman shotgun manual, and I would recomend either it or similar. I will have the BPI Advantages manual here in a day or 2.

I also have the Lee 7/8ths oz slug, have a box or 2 loaded. Just need to get a nice day and get out and shoot.