12 Gauge from hell

[roverboy]

Wow, it could really be from hell. Lol.

[megasupermagnum]

Why would you say lead molds are limited? Accurate molds will make you anything within their tooling capabilities. That means pretty much unlimited design options for a bullet this big. I guess a copper bullet is longer, but when you are only shooting one or two rounds a week, is it that hard to just add a felt wad under the slug? At the same time, a $2 each copper bullet is not that bad when shot at such a low quantity?

[pashiner]

This may not apply to shotgun slugs from hell, but good water quenched, powder-coated hardcast lead can really stand up to some velocity. I've sent light-for-caliber hardcast .45-70 bullets downrange at some pretty terrifying speeds and had them hold together. 250-260gn flat or round nose .452 or .454 pistol bullets cast from coww+ some tin and copper, and then heavily powder coated will blast through a good size pine log at well over 2000fps and still stay in one piece.
I would imagine those fury slugs use a soft swaged lead core, a thin non-bonded copper jacket, and are splattering on impact. While the brass slug sure is interesting, very similar performance can be achieved for pennies on the dollar. I would look for a fullbore russian mold, or an Accurate or NOE .729 mold that approximates a flat base pistol bullet (paradox?) with plenty of bearing surface, then cook up a good hard (bhn 20-ish) batch of lead and rock out with it.
you're looking at a cost of about $100-150 plus some basic casting and powder coating equipment, but you'd have a lifetime supply of whopper slugs that you can adjust hardness to suit your needs.
This wouldn't address the loading density issue that you're currently fighting, but maybe a nitro card and some filler under the slug would get you in the ballpark?
I have no doubt that at the energy levels you're playing with, either the brass lehigh slug, or a home-brew hardcast creation will blast lengthwise through a buffalo.
You've got yourself an anti-material shotgun right there, buddy!

[Bigbore.729]

Still waiting on the design draft and quote from Lehigh. Dave said I should have something to look at by middle of this week. As soon as I hear something I will post here. Also, a thought that I had. Loading this heavy of a slug in a normal 12 gauge could be hairy as there is no data out there. I believe it's possible to run a subsonic load for this but it would take experimenting. But one thought I had was loading this with a sabot for 10 gauge. Might be interesting there and would be supersonic. I shoot 1.75 oz factory slugs in my 10 gauge. These slugs will be 1.65 oz.

[Earlwb]

I am totally impressed with that monster you developed. Nice. But I can see someone getting a concussion or retinal tear from shooting it too. Now all you need are some T-Rex dinosaurs to hunt.

[megasupermagnum]

People have shot a lot heaver loads in a standard 12 gauge than that. Plenty of 1 3/4 ounce data. A rifled barrel 10 gauge has never been made, so no go there.

[ASSASSIN]

A rifled barrel 10 gauge has never been made, so no go there.

Not true! 10 ga. RIFLED SLUG BARRELS have been built around the H&R Ultra Slug gun, which is a 10 ga. receiver. Slug loads are 3 1/2" brass hulls loaded with 2 7/8 oz. semi wadcutter full bore diameter slugs @ 1,100 fps..

As far as I know, there have been only 18 of these guns made here in the U.S.A.

[pashiner]

You'd probably get more velocity at less pressure with a 10 gauge. How accurate does this need to be? An attached wad slug in a smooth bore would be easier than finding a rifle barrel.

[megasupermagnum]

Not true! 10 ga. RIFLED SLUG BARRELS have been built around the H&R Ultra Slug gun, which is a 10 ga. receiver. Slug loads are 3 1/2" brass hulls loaded with 2 7/8 oz. semi wadcutter full bore diameter slugs @ 1,100 fps..

As far as I know, there have been only 18 of these guns made here in the U.S.A.

Well good, you and the 17 others can buy all these copper bullets. And so starts the 10 gauge from hell.

[Bigbore.729]

Big, big, update! Unfortunately, the Lehigh defense slugs will not be happening. Too much back and forth with not enough action. I don't want to disparage them at all, they make fantastic products. This was just out of their wheelhouse and they admitted so. So, not wanting to give up my goal of a copper solid, I contacted Jason at Badlandsprecision.com. Right away, Jason gave me his cellphone number and had me call to discuss what I wanted, my specs, ect. The next day, he sent me a design. I looked over the design and sent him what I wanted changed. The next day, he sent me the revised design which I approved.



I made the payment the following week and he said he'd start when he got the material. Fast forward to yesterday, less than a week from when we last spoke, he send me an email confirming that the design is what I wanted, and that he would get the equipment set up. Today, he sends me an email with the first slug to come off the lathe.



A few hours later, he sent me a final email saying that he had finished my order of 200 slugs, and that I'd have them in a week. I cannot reccomend his company enough. Fantastic to deal with from start to finish. And boy are these slugs pretty!!



In less than 3 weeks, he went from a design to a real thing. The slugs are 726 grains of solif copper. My load development will start over, but I am completely fine with that. I cannot wait to get these in hand!

[ASSASSIN]

Dang those sure are pretty!

Are you going to put them in a sabot, or make them full bore riders? What kind of accuracy do you expect to get at 100 yards from a bench with them, or are they designed more for close range work, like hog or bear hunting?

[Bigbore.729]

They are full bore at .729". For accuracy IDK! That's the experimental part. Jason used his bullet designing program to make sure it would stabilize with my twist rate. If it's accurate to 100 yards that's about the max it would be for range. The drop will be insane with this weight. And for game, more like buffalo lol.

[ASSASSIN]

Understood! Hope they work out or your full expectations.

[Bigbore.729]

Slugs came in! He even gave me 5 extra! Reduced loads at first, 180 gr of RE17. Will report back tomorrow.

[ASSASSIN]

Those look great! Looking forward to a range report.

[tbx-4]

Slugs came in! He even gave me 5 extra! Reduced loads at first, 180 gr of RE17. Will report back tomorrow.

So, how much whiskey do you have to drink before you pull the trigger on that thing?!

Just asking for a friend...

[Bigbore.729]

It didn't explode! Bested my expectations!

https://youtu.be/4HfXx-pEywg

https://youtu.be/lFcQy8fN_NM

[skeettx]

GREAT report
Thanks

[Bigbore.729]

Load data for the 200 grain charge

Firearm- H&R Ultra Slug Hunter

Projectile- 726 gr copper solid

Seating depth- .548

Powder- Reloader 17

Charge- 200 grains

Primer- 209 magnum

Velocity- 1,822 FPS

Muzzle Energy- 5,352 FT-LBS

Notes: Light charge to make sure pressure isn't excessive. As my grove diameter comes to .731" and the slugs are .729", I used a gas seal in conjunction with the cushion wads. Went through 2 steel rims and almost through the third. Deflected downward and was buried 4" into clay. Good Bear load.

[Bigbore.729]

Reloading video for those curious to the process.

https://youtu.be/hcjbN88J6fM

This video isn't very good quality as the phone would randomly quit recording. Got some good data though. I was testing the effects neck tension had on velocity with the new slug. Turns out it's quite a bit. First two had .005" and produced 2016 fps for the first shot. Second shot wasn't recorded as the recoil unplugged my chronograph, but it was right around the same velocity according to my shoulder. Last two shots were the same load, but with .003" of tension. They produced 1928 fps and 1940 fps. That's a difference of 12 fps, which is probably due to an inconsistency in the loading process (probably on powder measurements- want a nicer scale). That isn't too horrible of a deviation, but I'd like to get that spread lower. Need to add more weight to the gun. The recoil impulse on these slugs is vastly different than the lead. Much, much sharper. I had planned on firing a 210 gr charge, but didn't have it in me.

Very mild language warning

https://youtu.be/97yFyipemTs