Lyman 525 slug: Rifled vs smooth bore

[W.R.Buchanan]

OK guys what am I doing wrong ? I just shot a bunch of these thru my Vang Comped 18" barrel at 20 yards and they all went thru the target sideways. good group,, just sideways !.

Mine were loaded in Federal Blue Slug Hulls with 18 gr of GD and a CB Blue Wad and a .070 card under the slug Roll Crimped and they looked perfect!!! Slugs were cast from a Mihec mould and are as close to perfect as is possible.

I also shot some that I had loaded a year ago in AA hulls with a fold crimp Same thing! .

I know that this slug has to be launched perfectly square to the smooth bore or they will fly stupid, and I think the Vang Comp Back Bore of.745 allows the slug to cock one way or another in the barrel thus launching different each time. I have a rifled barrel and cylinder bore barrel for that gun I can try them in, But that makes these a "Specialized" round only usable in certain circumstances which probably won't ever occur. I personally don't see how these slugs can fly strait unless they are spinning like a boolit.

Mind you,,, Round Balls and Lee slugs were great, and Federal Low Recoil Buckshot went into <4" at 20 yards!

My Home made buckshot loads sucked outright and I made a mistake of loading 25 of them before trying a few and now I have a whole box of suck to dispose of.

They were new Rio Hulls with a WAA12 Wad 18 gr of GD, 9 cast .319 balls, cream of wheat buffer, plastic over shot card, and roll crimped. They were 10" + at 20 yards and compared to the factory load they were useless.

I have to do some more testing on these with the other barrels on this gun. I have too many of these Lyman slugs already made for them to be useless.

Maybe they'll work in the A5 with its barrels.

Randy

[tomme boy]

I have 2 unopened bags left of the originals. Just waiting if I get back into slugs again.

W.R., get a rifled choke tube. They help a lot.

[Blood Trail]

I could never get 525’s accurate when I roll crimped them. When I fold crimp, I shoot damn near same hole at 50 yards.

Pat, I would try a slower burning powder. Herco works wonders for me with this slug.


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[littlejack]

Ok Blood TraiI, I give. What's your recipe if you don't mind Sharing.
I use Herco (25 grains). One WAA12 wad. Lyman 525 slug, ww + 2% +/-. Sized .762 and/or unsized. Rem. Gun Club hulls. Fold crimp. Rem. 870 w/Imp. Cyl. Groups are the size of a cantaloupe @ 50. Then theres the flyers!
I know, somewhere you have already posted your recipe, maybe more than once, but I have slept since then. Please, please, please.

[smokeeter]

I've had good success with 32 grs of Herco , Red WAA wad and bases filled.

[littlejack]

Has any manufacturer made a replacement for the red wad? Are you shooting with a smooth bore or rifled bore?

[SuperBlazingSabots]

Greetings, The Lyman 525 slug in wad requires a firm base at launch, therefore you will need at least a good quality .125 thick nitro card in wad below slug ! I prefer the .170 darker nitro card, its very stiff and gives the best support from under the slug.

4 to 6 inch groups from a rifled barrel at 100 yards is considered very good, practice makes perfect.
Tighten the barrel lug nut all the way, then back off one notch for accuracy.

Have fun while you are at it.

Mis matching Components not fitting right causes havoc:





We sure could use a bit deeper rifling

Best regards,
Ajay K. Madan
Super Blazing Sabots

[djryan13]

SuperB, excellent post. What diameter card are you using? How does it impact book recipe? Just adjust the fold, crimp and go?

[SuperBlazingSabots]

Hello Djryan, some wads take 16 ga while others take 20 ga nitro cards for 12 gauge Lyman 525 slug in wad.
You will need to build your own depth gauge to help you out:



Polishing your forcing cone will help too:





Use fold crimp.

Best regards,
Ajay K. Madan
Super Blazing Sabots

[SuperBlazingSabots]

If one is using a smooth bore then different procedure needs to be followed like:

Here is a easy way to beef up the slug diameter:





Best regards,
Ajay K. Madan
Super Blazing Sabots

[djryan13]

Awesome info, SuperB. Thanks!

[Blood Trail]

Ok Blood TraiI, I give. What's your recipe if you don't mind Sharing.
I use Herco (25 grains). One WAA12 wad. Lyman 525 slug, ww + 2% +/-. Sized .762 and/or unsized. Rem. Gun Club hulls. Fold crimp. Rem. 870 w/Imp. Cyl. Groups are the size of a cantaloupe @ 50. Then theres the flyers!
I know, somewhere you have already posted your recipe, maybe more than once, but I have slept since then. Please, please, please.

Ah, I’m using the same data minus the nitro card under the slug.

And I’m using a rifled barrel.


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[littlejack]

Thank you Bloodtrail.
I did have a rifled barrel on my 870, but swapped over to smooth bore to keep the buckshot patterns from spreading so much. Looking to find a decently grouping 525 slug smooth bore load, and still have the ability of tighter buckshot loads.

[littlejack]

Super BS
Thank you for the great informational posts. Great pics.

[Hogtamer]

littlejack, use a .678 - .680 round ball out of your smoothbore combo.

[littlejack]

I will give them a shot. "pun"?
I tried round balls a couple years back in my rifled barrel. They did stay on the target, but nothing great about the groups. There was a lot of conversation here about to much spin being put on them with the 1-34" twist. I also posted "Supporting Our Round Balls" January of 2019.
My moulds drop closer to .675, but they fit my Helix Cushion Driver #18 wads very well. These are from BPI.
Back to the drawing board. Looks like my history is repeating itself.

[Hogtamer]

Those are not tapered wads if I recall....they work much better with their tight fit than any tapered wad, 525 or round balls. The only decent fit for tapered wads are the Lee slugs.

[littlejack]

You are correct.
That was one of the reasons for me sizing the lyman slug down. The top band in the WAA12 wad, was about .735. I didnt want to try to push that through the .720 Imp. Cyl. choke.
Also, even sized down to .672, the Lyman slugs are still to big in the HCD wad, to be pushed through a Imp. Cyl. I could get a Cylinder choke, but i'm happy with the buckshot patterns in the Imp. Cyl.

[megasupermagnum]

Don't worry about the size. You can send any slug you want through an I/C choke with no worries. Try them unsized.

[littlejack]

As I stated earlier on this post, the Lyman slug unsized in a WAA12 wad, has an outside diameter at the biggest point (top)of .735.
Shoving that through a .720 IC choke, seems excessive. Sized, to .763 drops the diameter of
the top to about .724, and the bottom to .725.
Even at those smaller diameters, the petals still get pinched off going through the IC choke.
In the HCD wad, the unsized slug measures .741, and the top being .735. Sized, the diameter measures .731 top and .734 bottom.