20 ga round ball loads

[big bore 99]

I have a 20 ga coach gun and want to try out some round ball loads. Is anyone doing this? Using a shot cup? or wad column? What size ball? Appreciate any help.

[rancher1913]

I too am interested in this.

[GrayTech]

Tried rb in my 12ga with plastic wad cup with poor accuracy. The Lee slugs are way better in my opinion. May try a bore sized ball with no cup at some point but happy with the Lee slug for now.
I've read good reports on bore size slugs poured in an appropriate size socket too.

[curator]

I have had reasonable success with .600 round balls in AA wad columns, but not at first. When I picked up the fired wad columns I discovered the base of the shot cup was ruptured and the "cushion" part damaged. Putting two 28 gauge Hard over-powder card wads in the bottom of the shot cup before dropping in the round ball made all the difference. I have fired these in both smooth bore and rifled 20 gauge barrels with good results. Much better than the Lyman "foster" slug.

[Hogtamer]

yes with .575 balls in wad. will look up info later

[hatcreek]

Here are some loads AJ posted some years back, good luck. HC

[hatcreek]

I load the blue dot load mentioned above, only I drop 35grs of blue dot and use a federal 209a primer, very accurate out of a rifled barrel, again good luck, and be safe. HC P.S. if you search this forum for AJ's loads it should come up he has tons of info on slug loading both 12 and 20ga, SuperBlazingSabots, I think was his handle.

[RPRNY]

Yes. .626" ball over 93grs Old Eynsford FFg. 1350 fps from a 24" RIFLED barrel.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...6-Pigpocalypse

[cpileri]

heres a few ive tried:

Triball:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...anion-buckshot

and some various:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...=1#post2750205

and:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...nd-20ga-w-pics!!!

[richhodg66]

I tried this with a .600 RB. Just used 7/8 ounce target load data and cut the wads off a standard bird shot wad, a little corn meal on top to make the crimp work right. Shot them at about 30 yards through a cheap Rossi break open I keep behind the shop door, modified choke, single bead. They grouped into about 2 1/2-3" with that set up, which would be accurate enough for most of my close in deer hunting.

Shot the same thing through a little Savage 24 which did a little better, probably because of the better sights.

[rhouser]

20 ga LEE 575 round ball load: 1 compact gas seal + 1/8" 28 ga mini nitro to fill the top of the gas seal + 1/4" fiber wad + 1 BPI commander with 1/8" 28ga nitro card to seal the gas base + 1/4" 28ga felt wad in the wad cup + .575 lee RB + roll crimp over 18gr Pro Reach.

Low recoil and very accurate through 50 yards from my Savage 220.

rch

[MrMarsHill]

Very old post here, but the most relevant one regarding my current situation. I am a fan of the 20 guage shotgun for lots of reasons. Either way, I was super jealous when I saw 12 guage "pumpkin ball"shells on a YouTube video. That's just what us southerners call round ball shotshell I reckon... maybe yanks too,lol? I'm just getting into reloading/loading. I have a 20 guage lee load all on the way, I already have my hogdgen "longshot" powder(its what they had at my local shop), I've got a few hundred 20 guage primed hulls, 28 guage wads and filler cards(I also have 20 guage wads and filler cards because I purchased before I knew exactly what I needed I guess?) how could you go wrong getting 20 guage wads and cards for 20 guage shells, lol? I hope I can find a use them. I also have a shotshell reliading manual I will follow to a "T" as well as read and rese as rich before starting. I'm in no hurry, just want to get this skill under my belt. Either way, the thing that started my whole mission to ACTUALLY start loading NOW was a score on a Lyman .562 cal 2 cavity roundball mold. I cast a few balls of pure lead just to test. I set a cast ball on top of my shotgun barrel and it just sat there. It looked like I could squeeze it in, but it didnt fall through the barrel. Ive heard these roundballs need to be a low pressure "push fit" ie, with a cleaning rod etc, inside the wad or its unsafe to shoot? That didnt make sense because I know slugs are bigger cal than these balls and my pump shoots slugs just fine. My gun is a H&R Pardner Pump with a modified choke tube(I also have a Cylinder choke for home defense I havent tested yet). I see you guys using much bigger roundballs than my .562 cal... should I try and score a bigger mold? Is my .562 acceptable? I'm not expecting to hunt with these pumpkin ball shells or anything, just fun shooting for a decent price, good videos, etc. Not to say I wouldnt attempt to improve the rounds until they could be used for hunting... I'm just not at that point yet. I am a perfectionist though(not grammatically lol), so I also expect some level of accuracy and/or power if I load properly( though I'm sure it will take some experience).My question I guess is, will my .562 roundballs be ok to load up to correct specs and fire in my 20 guage? Could I go bigger(I think I obviously can from the above posts, but must ask)? Do you think I could do a " double ball" load if I can get the fit right? I dont see any problem fitting in the hull anyway. And I wonder if anybody else has any specific round ball loads for the 20 guage they have had luck with? This thread is a great starting point for me, and I've been around the internet searching the subject hard... but also researching loading all together since I am a noob. It's a good bit of info to process. Is there anything else I should buy? I have a 15mm punch I was advised can be used to make over shot cards for the 20 guage from paper, plastic, etc. So I do plan to have over shot cards. Can I use my 20 guage wads in my 20 guage hulls? Can I use my 20 guage waxed cards in the 20 guage hulls? I dont want them to go to waste... but wont risk anything either. I appreciate any replies to this dead thread, I really just feel this was the best place for my question/questions since it was a discussion of the exact topic, lol. Thanks for the above info too, I have a few good starting points to work with already! Sorry for the rambling, I literally canr help it. I do appreciate any advice or further help very much!
Jim Brown
Bonez Customs and Collectables

[toallmy]

I would try wrapping the ball up in diameter to fit the shot cup , stack the components to adjust the stack height to get a good crimp , then load over a modest book powder charge , and try a single ball load .
I understand your interested in a 2 ball load , but getting one ball on target would be a really good start .

[megasupermagnum]

I had found a very accurate load in my NEF Tracker II in 20 gauge. For some reason they went with a 20 gauge bore diameter, and with rifling, the grooves ended up around .628". Most 20 gauge guns seem to be closer to .615" to .620" in the grooves. Because of this, nothing commercially available shoots good at all.

What does work is a .631" ball. In a normal 20 gauge, about .625" would be more appropriate. This load is pulled straight from the Lyman shotshell manual for the 350 grain sabot slug. These .631" balls weigh right at 350 grains.

20 gauge Federal 3" hull
Federal 209A primer
34gr Bluedot
Federal 20S1 wad with petals cut off
scoop of PSB buffer
.631" ball lubed in alox
fold crimp

This load ran right around 1700 fps!

[Landy88]

Have any of you done any work in 20ga with other than lead alloys? Another thread on bismuth, noting the foibles of these other than lead alloys for metallic loading, caused me to wonder if some of those might be solved by letting a shot cup or sabot handle the gas, heat, and rifling. Both the bismuth and zinc alternative alloys suffer also in terminal performance compared to lead, but if you begin with 20 ga balls...?

[megasupermagnum]

The usual go to is Zinc, and seems to be a better option than Bismuth. I've never tried them, as I don't like to take chances on a live animal unless legally mandated.

[MrMarsHill]

So if I'm understanding correctly, the balls do not need to be able to slip fit through my barrel? I have some random .61 caliber balls that may be just the trick. With my cylinder bore choke installed, the 61 cal ball just sits on the top of the muzzle. I dont think I could even push it in honestly. I found that 1 of my .562 balls and 6 of my #2 buckshot weigh exactly 1 oz. Well, 1.01 oz... but close. They stack well too. 3x#2 buck, 3x#2 buck, 562 ball on top. I see in my lyman shotshell load manual that a very modest powder load would be about 18 grains. That's leaning toward the minimum loads listed on hogdgon website for a 1oz lead load. I wonder, does anybody have any advice on what I should do with my components and equipment now? I have a lee load all 2 20 gauge, a roll crimper, some waxed cards some 20 guage wads, some 28 guage wads, Hogdgon longshot powder and lots of roundballs and buckshot. What would you guys do first? Hiw can I find appropriate recipes, or even just safe tests, for loads such as this? I've purchased another book now on it's way, but I dont think it covers pumpkin balks and buck and ball etc. Can I just load these as one would buckshot, since none of the balls fit tightly in the bore? Should I load them as slugs, since they are close to bore sized? I'm new to this and am just hoping to have fun, keep my shooting interesting and cheap and be SAFE! I am having trouble finding specific info for the products I have... should I be getting advice, then making po purchases? What would you guys do with what I have to load a single ball round? What about the 1oz buck and ball round? What would you buy to make these rounds for yourself? Can I use what I have to safely start loading these roundballs(accurate or not?) I'm just interested in getting started and shooting some of my own shells. Once i have that under my belt, I'll be ready to dive in much deeper, Haha. I really appreciate the advice. Remember, I'm a total noob so SIMPLE clear and thorough explanations please. Any specific recipes for my round ball or buck and ball loads with my 3" fio hulls and hogdgon longshot powder? I will be checking back to see what anybody might say. Thanks so much!

[centershot]

Simple. As you are new to the game, I would advise that you stick to buckshot ONLY, or round ball ONLY, in your loads for now. Once you gain some experience you'll be better able to decide if you want to pursue buck n' ball loads.

Loading round balls, if accuracy is a consideration at all, you'll want a close fit of ball to bore. If encased in a plastic shotcup you still want the ball to be a snug fit, so a paper or cloth patch can be used to achieve that. OTOH, your buckshot loads want a looser fit in the bore/wad so as not to deform the pellets. Use an approriate wad and pellet size. Round pellets produce tighter patterns, the less jumbled they get, the better. This applies to choke selection also; RB's and slugs, generally, prefer a more open choke, but buckshot......you're just gonna' have to try different constrictions to see what works for YOUR gun and load.

Like I said, simple! LOL!

[MrMarsHill]

Thanks for the input!Yeah, I'm planning to stick with my round balls until my #4 buckshot mold arrives,then I will move to more buckshot and try some buck and ball. I just figured working up a 1oz load(the 562 ball and 6 #2 bucks were 1oz) I could load up a modest 1oz lead shot load and atleast be safe. I plan to work my way up from just making shotshells that fire, to making shotshells I can hunt with etc. Not my goal as of yet. I'm really just feeling the ammo shortage and getting tired of hunting out powerful buckshot etc for my 20 guage. It's harder than one might think. The pumpkin balls is more of a hobby/just to say I did it type thing. But I'm very interested in getting some roundballs downrange from my 20! I still could use a clear answer on the wad and card size ... am I looking for 28 guage wads and cards etc for my 20 guage shotshells? I cant get a clear answer it seems anywhere. I have 20 guage hulls and 20 guage wads and they fit nice and snug. I just dont want to do something wrong here. If I need to use only the 28 guage wads etc, I'll be sure to get rid of the 20 guage wads that I have just to be safe. Thanks again!

[missionary5155]

Good morning
We shoot a variety of muzzle loaders in calibers .54 -.62 diameter. I can assure you that a .58 round ball cast of range scrap will complete penetrate two (2) large does standing side by side launched at a modest 1250 fps. The near one took it through the spine at about 25 yards and the 3 yards away doe through the lungs clipping the heart. Was a very foggy morning and #2 was just in the wrong place.
So do not think a .562 RB will not be lethal at most any range under 50 yards starting out at 1250 fps.