Shot my own slugs today, OOHH YAA

[speedjunkies]

Hey Guys. After reading lots on here, went and ordered a Lee Load All 2 and a 1oz Lee slug mold. Used some #8 shot to make about 300 1oz slugs.

Loaded them up in 5 different ways and took them to the range today.
Used my 870 Police with an 18.5” barrel, Imp Cylinder choke and ghost ring sights.

All 5 shot groups at 25 meters. I’m in Canada eh.

#1 Winchester target loads 1 1/8oz of shot, 2 3/4 Dram with the top cut off and Slug inserted.
1st 5 ¾”
2nd 6 ¼”
3rd 5 ¼”
All the wads are missing a pedal??

#2 Winchester target loads 1 1/8oz of shot, 3 Dram with top cut off and Slug inserted.
1st 11 ½ “ stopped shooting these because the recoil was stupid. My shoulder was already sore from shooting yesterday. I know I am a wussy. I will try this again next week.

#3 Once fired Winchester Target hulls, 17.4g Green Dot, Cheddite 209, WAA12SL wads, Lee 1oz Slug.
1st 6”
2nd 8”
3rd 9 ½”
4 6”
All the wads are Okay, no sign of damage.

#4 Once fired Winchester Target hulls, 17.4g Green Dot, Cheddite 209, Federal 12S3 Wads, Lee 1oz Slug.
1st 11 ¾”
2nd 5 ½”
3rd 4 ½”
4th 5”
Only 2 wads found, and the pedals are bent right backwards, the wads must be sticking to the slugs.

#5 Once fired AA hulls, 17.4g Green Dot, Cheddite 209, Federal 12S3 wads, Lee 1oz Slug.
1st 6 ¼”
2nd 6”
No wads found, must be sticking to the slug?


I am going to order the 16g nitro cards for under the slug and cut the pedals down with my next batch. Going get a Crony too.

Thanks for all your help
SJR
[/IMG]

[mckutzy]

Loaded them up in 5 different ways and took them to the range today.
Used my 870 Police with an 18.5” barrel, Imp Cylinder choke and ghost ring sights.

All 5 shot groups at 25 meters. I’m in Canada eh.

#1 Winchester target loads 1 1/8oz of shot, 2 3/4 Dram with the top cut off and Slug inserted.
1st 5 ¾”
2nd 6 ¼”
3rd 5 ¼”
All the wads are missing a pedal??

Good to hear, I have some alright results with a similar method of loading.

I am curious as to your description of your results. What does " 1st5 ¾” " mean, this is that distance from point of aim or group size of the first batch?

All in all this is a cheap method of shooting and fun too. and where abouts u located, its nice to see another Canuck brother on the the Boolits.

[speedjunkies]

Hey Mckutzy
These slugs are lots of fun for me and the kids.
I am in the KW area of Ontario.
Yeah the 5 3/4 is the Group size. Sorry

I am trying the Shotshell calculator right now to figure out my reloading cost.

[chambers]

You may want to try the Lyman 12 gauge sabot slug with winchester wad and follow the recipe as they do work well. I had great result at 100 yards 3" group on a windy day with 12 gauge remington 1100 with rifled barrel. I was really impressed. I did find the pedals were sometimes cut and were about 30 yards from where I fired. I made a bunch and plan to deer hunt with.

[jmsj]

speedjunkies,
First off welcome to castboolits,
Looking at your pictures it looks like you are leaving your wads at full length. Vdomemorie has done some posts showing how he cuts the wads down so they don't fold over the top of the slug. This is what I do and I believe it helps the wad release the slug faster or more consistently and accuracy has been a lot better than before.
Do a search on his posts and you will find lots of good info.
Good luck, jmsj

[speedjunkies]

Hey Chambers.
I will check out the Lyman Slug after I get these IPSC shotgun loads worked out.
Shotgun Deer season is only 6 months away. I would love to get a deer with my own slug.
Thanks
SJR

Hey JMSJ
Found the posts and loaded up some shells with pedasl cut down and homemade shot cards under the slugs.
Thanks
SJR

I will post results after test. Still trying to find a Chronograph in stock some where close to me.

[longbow]

It looks like you have got a good start but you should be able to tighten those groups up quite a bit by playing with wads and slug support.

I haven't tried the Lee slug yet but so far I have had poor results from most hollow based slugs I have tried. I know others get decent groups but so far I have done better with round balls.

I am shooting smoothbore and can count on 4" +/- groups at 50 meters with good round ball loads. They do open up at longer ranges though.

I have had best results so far with AQ's, Brenneke's and home made clones of them or round balls.

There are a number of folks doing well with the Lee slugs in both smooth and rifled guns though. The moulds are not expensive so I will have to get one just to try.

As JMSJ mentioned, Vdomemorie has done a lot of work with many different slugs and has things down to an art. Once I get a Lee mould I will be looking up his posts again as well!

Good luck and keep us posted.

Longbow

[skeettx]

Anyone here ever try
Win 209 primer
29 grains of Unique,
two AAs Red Wads with petals cut off,
with Lyman Cast Slug (Forster)
and roll crimped hull ?
Works great for me.
REMEMBER START LOW AND WORK UP
CHARGES FOR YOUR GUNS

Mike

[longbow]

skeettx:

I can recall the exact load but I used a Lyman slug recipe that listed Unique, AA Red Wads with petals cut off and Lyman Foster slug. No decent accuracy at all.

In fact I tried several Lyman loads and many others with the Lyman Foster slug and never did get it to perform well from my guns.

Mine casts at 0.705" so way under bore size. Slugs recovered from snow showed uneven obturation and distorted skirts.

Best accuracy I ever got was paper patching to bore diameter which worked not bad but I get as good or better accuracy with RB out to at least 50 yards so I gave up on the Lyman Foster slug.

My old Browning has I/C choke and my single shot is cylinder bore. What choke if any is on you gun?

Longbow

[skeettx]

YUP,
With the undersize slug, a modified is helpful
Mike

[swheeler]

"No wads found, must be sticking to the slug?"
I've had this happen with the Lee slugs, 50 yd target will show the "wad print" looks like a Maltese cross, switch to stiffer wad or put 20 ga card under it.

[speedjunkies]

Hey Guys got out again today with my new Chrony.
There were a ton of people at my club so it was hard to get group sizes.
These are all shot from my 18.5" 870P wit a lee 1oz slug at 25 Meters
#1
Winchester Target hulls
Clay Buster WAA12SL Wads
17.4g Green Dot
Cheddite 209
Average FPS 1034
20 shots all over the 18" x 18" paper
Wads torn up or missing.

#2
Winchester Target hulls
Fed 12S3 Wad with a nitro card under slug.
17.4g Green Dot
Cheddite 209
Average FPS 1065
20 rounds fired. Had to use same target as 1st group so no accuracy results.
Will test some more.

#3
Winchester Target hulls
Fed 12S3 Wad with a nitro card under slug and 1/4" of the pedals cut off.
17.4g Green Dot
Cheddite 209
Average FPS 1053
Could not change targets so I shot a 9" 20 shot group.
Wads were in Okay condition.

#4
Remington STS Hull
Fed 12S3 wad with a Nitro card under the slug
17.4g Green Dot
Cheddite 209
Average FPS 1051
These shot a nice 9" 20 shot group too.
The STS hulls crimp really nice with this setup.
Wads were in not too bad a shape.

#5
Remington STS Hull
Fed 12S3 wad with a Nitro card under the slug
17.4g Green Dot
Cheddite 209
Average FPS 1059
These shot a nice 8" 20 shot group.
The STS hulls crimp really nice with this setup.
Wads were in not too bad a shape.


Not sure what my next step is but it all seems to be going in the right direction.
These are just IPSC load so the FPS is great on all of them.
Going to bump up the powder in some of these loads and see what happens.

Thanks for all the help.
SJR

[diehard]

I haven't tried the Lee slug yet but so far I have had poor results from most hollow based slugs I have tried. I know others get decent groups but so far I have done better with round balls.

Longbow,
I've shot many, many, many Lee and Lyman Wads slugs at short range using shot data and they all did well enough for me doing combat drills and the like. Lately I've been obsessed with developing a good hunting load. I may have finally found a few. It has taken a lot of work to find the right combos for my guns--a Mossberg 500 with a screw in rifled choke tube, and a smoothbore Stevens single shot. Both have hard sights, because I don't like scopes when I am brush hunting, and where I live that's all there is to do.

Here's how my labor of love played out: (boring details...ADHD folks can skip to the pictures.)

On two different days I shot for 7 hours each day, lining up targets in 2 rows of eight, and shooting five or sometimes six rounds per target-- and shooting as many as 9 sets per day. Yes...it wears on you. Today I shot 7 sets. I have tried every published load I could find for both types of slugs, plus many loads I "fudged" from shot data. I have used Universal, Blue Dot, Green Dot, Unique, AA#5, WSF, HS-6, and SR 4756. I have tried many, many types of hulls (straight walled and tapered), and many, many types of wads ( OEM and specialty wads).

What I found was that at 50 yards many of the combinations of powders, hulls and wads shot excellent "boiler room" sized groups offhand and from the bench. I'm good with that. I have to be, because my testing methods are always tainted by my impatience ( I have ADHD, really I do), and I usually shoot off six rounds at a pace of about one shot every two seconds--- so fast the barrel is sometimes too hot to touch. Anyway, using my "method" I found two consistent performers listed below:

Straight from the Lee Data sheet, with the added modifications suggested many times on this and other forums by Vdomemorie (Thanks, AJAY!):

WAA Hull (trimmed for roll crimping)
Win 209
38.5 grains of AA#5
WAA12 with petals trimmed 1/2 way down.
1 oz Lee slug ( hard cast and water quenched)
NO card wads used due soI could get the "drive key" effect from the rifled choke tube
Roll Crimped
Lee lists this load at 1494fps.

WAA Hull
Win 209
36.5 grains of SR 4756
WAA12R with petals trimmed 1/2 way down.
Lyman 525 grain wad slug
(1) .125" Nitro card under the slug
1441 fps 99100 psi
fold crimped
Precision reloading Manual p. 124

Also, as Ajay has suggested I get much better results if I sort all the slugs by weight.

An "average" target from the Lee Slug load listed above.

An "average" target from the Lyman Slug load listed above. Note the keyholing!!!!!


I didn't measure any groups, only took a decent looking "target" from the pile. (it was raining today, so only waxed paper plates would stay on the target frame). The numbers on the targets are set and target numbers for reference in my range book.



BTW....I can't get .690" RB's to group at all when using the rifled choke...which is probably no surprise.

One more thing.....I had very little luck with pre-primed Fiocchi hulls and pre-primed Cheddite hulls even though I was using the right wads for them. This surprised me, since I actually paid for those. The Win Hull used for the Lyman slugs were actually Win Universals dug out of a trash can.

Anyway I babbled enough. I'll lapse back into the lurk mode for awhile.

[SuperBlazingSabots]

Some times a nitro card can do wonders.
Hope it helps.
You all are wonderful.
Ajay
Video Memories
www.PreciousVideoMemories.Com

[speedjunkies]

Thanks for all the help guys.

What do you think about this as a Nitro Card? Copper disk from my work???

I ordered Nitro cards from Dixie Gun Works but Canada Post is on strike. lol
So reloading slugs is kinda on hold till Nitro Cards get here.
Made this up for cutting the wads down.
Sam

[diehard]

That's a clever little device for trimming wads. I use a piece of dowel, but I like yours better.

As far as nitro cards go you can make your own in a pinch. I do it all the time, mostly because I hate paying $8.99 shipping for $7.50 worth of nitro cards. Here's part of a post I made on another forum to offer help to another person in your same situation:

"Anyway, this is what I do (it works for me): I cut pieces of cereal boxes and the like into large rectangular sheets. Using Elmer's Spray-on Adhesive (cheap), I spray the top side of each sheet liberally, stack them together, press out the air, and weigh them down on a flat surface until they dry (usually overnight). I keep these sheets available for when I want them. Then I use a mallet and a punch to make a hundred or so wads in about 20 minutes ( and I don't have to wait for the UPS man!) The neat thing about this system is you can make them any thickness you want. They are stiff, and very serviceable. I make no claim that they are better than Circle Fly wads, but I do claim that most shot or slug loads will not suffer from substituting them for the "real thing."

One more thing: I can get a lot of great cushioned foam/cardboard filler wads from a single presentation board...the type of thing kids use at school for their projects. "

All you need is a 5/8" wad punch, pressed cardboard, some glue and go to it.

Actually, for my close range practice rounds I often just stack layers of punched out cardboard under the slug...no glue needed. I really like the cardboard that comes from the back of a writing tablet for this. Works the same as a nitro card and it's free. Gook luck, hope you get shooting soon.

[SuperBlazingSabots]

Hello SpeedJunkies, indeed a neat idea for shortening the wad petals, make another one with 1/16 inch longer too.
A lot of time the bottom of the wad is too narrow for the slug to be seated, so a nitro card of .100 or .125 will raise the foundation for the wad to accept the slug and give it a solid foundation!
Good job.
Ajay
Video Memories
www.PreciousVideoMemories.Com

[jmsj]

speedjunkies,
I like your trim gauge. I made something similar, I filed down the nose of a Lee 1 oz. till it was at the proper height and put in the wad nose first and used the base as the cutting gauge.
Let us know how your progress goes.
jmsj

[speedjunkies]

All you need is a 5/8" wad punch, presse I really like the cardboard that comes from the back of a writing tablet for this. Works the same as a nitro card and it's free. Gook luck, hope you get shooting soon.

Hey Diehard thanks for the info.
I got some .150 thick cardboard at work and went into our test lab where they had a punch machine. I have now made about 1000 of these nitro cards. I will make a 1000 or so every week now. Take them while they are free.


[

give it a solid foundation!
www.PreciousVideoMemories.Com

Hey Ajay thanks for all the pictures and info. I loaded up over 200 rounds with my new Nitro cards and what a difference. Some results below.

speedjunkies,
Let us know how your progress goes.
jmsj

Hey jmsj thanks for the help and here are my results.

All my loads were 17.4g Green Dot and they were all going about 1050 FPS.
Out of the 6 combinations, 25 shells of each type, only one is worth writing about.

Rem STS hull
Federal 12S3 with trimmed petals
1 of my Nitro cards
Cheddite 209
5 shot groups at 25 meters. All groups under 5" and 3 groups with all the holes touching.
These seem to have alot of recoil ???? for slugs going 1050 FPS.


So I am still waiting for the Canada Post strike to be over. lol
I got some PB powder and loaded up these.


Win AA hull
18.4g PB powder
Fed 12S4 hull with trimmed petals
1 of my Nitro cards
Cheddite 209


Rem STS hull
18.4g PB powder
Fed 12S3 hull with trimmed petals
1 of my Nitro cards
Cheddite 209


Again great fourm and thanks for all the help.
Sam

[JIMinPHX]

All my loads were 17.4g Green Dot and they were all going about 1050 FPS.
...
5 shot groups at 25 meters. All groups under 5" and 3 groups with all the holes touching.
These seem to have alot of recoil ???? for slugs going 1050 FPS.


Sam

That's pretty impressive accuracy for a shot gun slug.

The heavy recoil has my curious though. I used a very similar load with Green Dot around 1,000fps & found the recoil to be quite modest, even out of a lite weight 18.5" shotgun with an aluminum frame. Something seems strange.