Lee 7/8 oz. slug problem

[jsizemore]

I followed a few threads about the Lee 7/8 oz. slug and watched a few videos on youtube. I decided to get one to bring a Grafs order over the minimum. Got it about a week ago but didn't get around to casting with it till today. I cast most of a pot of 50/50+1% in 44mag swc's. Had about a inch left in the pot so grabbed the slug mold that I had sprayed with Brakleen earlier. Stuck the front of the mold in the melt till it none sticked and then waited for the pot temp to get 700degF. About the first 3 or 4 didn't fill the skirt but then they started dropping perfect with one or two taps. Got done with 63 great looking slugs in a short amount of time. Took a 2hr break and started playing. Tried 12S0, 12S4, WAA12R, and a few others and nothing would remotely slip down any cylinder bore barrel or choke.
Dial caliper said the slug/wad combo was .740+. Yikes. I have some WAA12SL that got that number to .732+. I put my Starret mic on a bunch of 'em and they measured .686-.688. Lee's site says they should be .681.
Is this common or have I got a stinker? I can cast some with straight Pb but that ain't gonna bring it down enough. Thanks for any help.

[Hogtamer]

hmmmm, let me check mine tomorrow and will get back to you. Cast some last week myself.

[longbow]

I don't know about Lee saying they should be 0.681" but mine cast at 0.685" +/- a thou or so but pretty round and pretty consistent for both the 1 oz. and 7/8 oz. moulds. Seems to me the 7/8 oz. may cast a couple thou smaller.

Both mine fit into Winchester 1 oz. and 1 1/4 oz shotcups and mic small. I have to add a paper wrap to get to 0.730". As is they almost drop through my 0.733" bore single shot and should be right on for my Mossberg Slugster smoothbore which slugs at 0.729"/0.730".

So, if your mould is casting at 0.685" I'd say you are good.

Okay, I just decided to quickly mic a few 7/8 oz. slugs. I get 0.680" at the smallest and 0.687" right at the seam. For the most part they run about 0.683" and are slightly out of round. The 1 oz. runs about 0.685".

I find that even with a micrometer I tend to get large measurements unless I squeeze the petals to flatten them out when taking a reading. That would be even harder with a vernier.

In any case for me using Winchester and Claybuster wads they are slightly small so not sure just why your Winchester wads seem to have thicker petals. The Federal wads I have not tried but Randy Buchanan posted petal thickness and taper and they are considerably thicker and have more taper than Winchester wads... or the Winchester wads I have anyway.

To be honest, I wouldn't worry about it. Use a Lee recommended wad and recipe and give them a try. Even if cast from wheelweights they should swage through an I/C or modified choke fine. I suspect the wad petals would shear if the combo was shot through a full choke with hard lead slugs.

You might try using pure lead. Lee recommends pure lead. I use straight wheelweights and no issues so far.

Longbow

[jsizemore]

Thanks for the reply. Seems mine casts about like yours. I read a bit of the posts by Blazing Sabots and his using a dowel to push with 6-10lbs of pressure the slug/wad through the muzzle. I tried that with a 12S0 wad (like Blazing Sabots) and had to pull the barrel and knock it out with a dowel and mallet. I find it hard to load that and pull the trigger with confidence. Maybe a string would be better.

The .681 came from Lee's website with dimensions of the slug.

[Ginsing]

I use wheel weights air cooled. My 1 oz slugs mic at .684" and .686" at the seam. Mine are loaded into ww12 (white) wads and I am not able to push them through my I.C. choke yet they shoot great with no sheared petals. In the summer I shot some through my 870 with a mod choke and they were acceptable in accuracy. Some petal damage but still went strait. Pie plate at 50 yards accurate

[Ginsing]

If it concerns you you can always trim the petals back past the widest diameter of the slug. That's what I do with my .690" round ball loads

[gpidaho]

My 7/8th Lee mould drops slugs at the same measurement as the O.P.s I haven't had any problems with them seated in WAA wads or the Claybuster clones. Gp

[SuperBlazingSabots]

Greetings to all, If one is using rifled barrel then they do not have to worry about wad slug fiction fit ! !


The above measurements were taken quite a few years back with only name brand wads only.
Ajay K. Madan
Super Blazing Sabots

[rsrocket1]

Use the Claybuster Windjammer or Lightning clones CB-4118-12B or CB-4100-12B respectively. These 8 petal wads have thinner petals than most 4 petal wads and they fit perfectly inside a Remington Gun Club hull (or any other Remington plastic hull).

CB-4100-12B on the left, CB-4118-12B on the right. Lee 1 ounce slug.


You can play around with pillow stuffing or cardboard disks to make the slug sit higher. I use the Lee 1 ounce slug and get a perfect stack up with 18g Titegroup, CB-4100-12B and the Gun Club hull.





The Blue Windjammer wad has shorter legs and will work better with bigger charges of bulky powder such as Unique



The 24g Unique load with the CB-4118-12B is probably the most accurate for my 26" Remington 1100 with IC choke but it packs a wallop and I'm only shooting with a vent rib with a single front bead as a sight. For general blasting, the Titegroup load gives me 1200 fps and is good enough for the kids to have fun with.



I love casting with the 1 oz slug mold. Once the mold and base gets up to temperature, the slugs drop out with nothing more than a gentle tap.



I can then load them in my Mec 9000GN progressive loader and make up 100 in a short amount of time.