lyman 20 gauge sabot

[Harmon_Greer]

will the lyman 2o gauge wad slug shoot without tumbling in a smooth bore? i have a mossberg 500 with 26 inch vent rib barrel and about 500 activ 2 3/4 inch new never fired hulls and thousands of wads

i would like to know if someone could sell me a few of the 345 grain fosters or the 350 sabots or the lyman 58 caliber 315 grain muzzle loading bullet to try. currently shooting the winchester factory fosters out of the gun with good results. 3-4 inches at 80 yards out of the modified choke tube. plan on buying the carlsons rifled choke tube to see if i can get some factory sabots to shoot...or a 58 caliber round ball or minie bullet to shoot..


thanks in advance guys.

[tomme boy]

Skip the Lyman. It needs a rifled barrel.

[UNIQUEDOT]

Don't know about the 20 gauge, but the 12 gauge version does just fine in a smoothbore.

[Harmon_Greer]

needs the rifled barrel for stability or accuracy? will they fly point forward in the smoothbore?

[UNIQUEDOT]

will they fly point forward in the smoothbore?

Yes they should, but that doesn't mean they will be stable. The design of the slug should perform fine in a smoothbore although they are intended for rifled bores. You will have to try them in your gun with a variety of loads and see. The 12 ga. version has performed pretty good in a few smoothbores.

[Harmon_Greer]

i think a .620-.625 round ball would be a better bet. or a .575 ball in a shot cup.

[nfg]

.6230-.625 OD is TOO large with a shot cup unless it is a cylinder bore and THEN you better measure it.

My High Standard with a full choke has a 1 1/4" long choke that measures 0.603" I've been trying some brass slugs up to 0.550" with RP20 and WAA20 shot cups and they are NOT STABILE at the diameter...hit the target sideways an dWAY the heck away from the center at 20 yds. This is with a 25gr load of Blue Dot and the slug weighing in a ~460gr...basically a 1 1/8 oz load from the Lyman 4th Ed shotshell reloading handbook.

A 0.565" brass slug with either of those wads fits inside the muzzle firmly so that is the limit I will go with a solid brass slug. That size basically leaves the thickness of the wad petals so hopefully it won't cause any problems. Time will tell.

Luck

[1kshooter]

I don't shoot a 20ga slug gun but...would a riffled choke work for this?
as for the Lymans I have shot a boat load of the 12ga through a smooth bore and I like the way they shoot

[Harmon_Greer]

i was not planning on placing a full bore diameter round ball into a shotcup. either a full bore ball, or a 575 ball in a shotcup. I am leaning towards the full bore ball..

[Muskrat Mike]

If you are still looking for some 20 ga Lyman sabot slugs I could send you some and I also have the 20 ga Lyman foster slugs but in 369-370 grain if you want to try both.
Just PM me and you can have a handful of each for the price of postage.
Mike

[Harmon_Greer]

muskrat mike sent me some of both to try. i shot 350 sabot loaded into a federal multi-load that i opened up the crimp and replaced the shot with a that slug. 30 yards out of my mossberg 500 smoothbore with a 26 inch barrel and cyl choke tube the slug went straight and true. . it was dark so serious shooting was not going to happen.

im gonna order the rifled choke tube for this gun. fwiw. the foster slugs are a snug fit in the modified tube that came with the gun..i plan on loading those with 57 grains of H4227 over a .125 nitro card, 1/2 inch felt and another nitro card in a federal hull for about 1600 fps. slugs are coated with liquid alox and the hollow is filled with quick steel.

this should be fun..

[cattleskinner]

Just wanted to see if 57 gr of 4227 was right or is it a misprint?

[Harmon_Greer]

57 grains is correct. right out of the lyman load book

[Muskrat Mike]

Harmon, I finally got to the range this am to shoot the slug guns. The mossberg 500 is rifled with a bushnell 1 1/2 to 4.5 scope and the other old Mossberg is an old bolt action smoothbore with the choked section cut off and ported and with a Williams rec. sight.

The lyman sabot slug loaded in Win AA cases, win 209 primer, 19.5 grains of 800X, in a Orange Duster wad replacement for Win wad with the fold crimp shot 5 shot groups of 3" at 50 yards in the rifled barrel. That's the best results I've had with my limited slug loading and testing so far. The smooth bore didn't like the load nearly as well. the recoil was manageable and it shot to the same POI as the Remington Buckhammer managed recoil 7/8 oz 1275fps slugs which shoot 2 1/2" 5 shot groups at 50yds in the rifled barrel. After 46 rounds off the sand bags I was starting to flinch and the rain chased me off the range so I didn't get to shoot them at 100yds. However I think I've found an inexpensive reload to practice with and hunt with if needed and I'll stock up on the Factory remingtons for hunting.
The smoothbore likes Winchester 3/4 oz 1600fps slugs but didn't like my 370grain foster slugs at all so I've got
a factory hunting load for it but have some work to do on my reloaded slugs for it.
I stopped at the sport shop and ordered two Limbsaver recoil pads to replace the two rock hard ones on the guns. that will make testing much more fun!:coffee:
Mike

[Muskrat Mike]

I don't know if it makes any difference but I knurled the sabot slugs on a file as someone here suggested in another post.

[Harmon_Greer]

i saw where some of the ones you sent me were knurled. im ordering a rifled choke tube for my mossberg. i think the foster slugs will shoot better in the modified choke than any other..it is a slip fit through my choke tube when the slugs are dry and i coated them with liquid alox...just because i hate leading. i need some good sights..either the williams slugger or an aimtech rib rider with a red dot sight.

I plan on trying the lee .575 470 grain modern minie target bullet in a RXP20 wad as well. loaded over alliant 2400 powder.


more to follow..