Help me identify this 12 ga. cast slug

[MW3840]

I bought a single cavity mold at a garage sale that casts a 1 oz. 3/4" long slug, that has rifling its entire length, and completely flat across the top. The width of the slug is the same as my other 12 ga. cast slugs.

My only thought that it might not be a slug mold is the fact that the rifling of the slug is its entire length, and I wouldn't think it would make a gas seal.

The mold doesn't open, is one sold block, and ejects the slug by lifting a handle underneath that pushes the slug from the mold.

Any help would be appreciated fom you veteran casters.

I'm trying to figure out how to place pictures on the computer, and when I do, I'll send one.

Thanks,
Mike

[Reload3006]

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee403/reload3006/250px-Brenneke.jpg

Does it look like this
If so its a brenneke slug

[thehouseproduct]

Sounds interesting. Hope to see pics.

[MW3840]

Reload 3006,

If you took the nose off and made it completely flat, and made the lands thinner, with more of them, that would be it. It appears that the slug in your photo has a solid base, however. My slug doesn't have that, the grooves run all the way to its base. That is what make me wonder if it is even a 12 ga. slug mold.

[longbow]

I made a push out slug mould that makes a slug very similar to what you describe.

Are there any manufacturer's name or marks on the mould?

Have you mic'd diameter and if so what is it. If around 0.725"/0.730" it is full bore and would sit over card wads and a gas seal. If more like 0.680" then it would fit into a shotcup.

Is there a hole in the middle of the base. If so then it is likely made to produce a Brenneke style slug like the one in Reload3006's pic.

If not then...?

Yes, pics would help a lot. I would like to see some.

Longbow

[turbo1889]

Technically speaking you don't absolutely need for there to be a continuous band at the base of the slug for gas sealing. The wadding column under the slug does the gas sealing so you could make a rifled slug mold with the rifling not being terminated at the base by a continuous band around the base. I do believe that for drag stabilized foster (hollow base) type rifled slugs having a solid band at the base does help with the stability.

The mold you have obtained is most likely either homemade or a "one off" custom mold.

As others have said pictures would be most helpful. As far as its potential goes is it a hollow base design? (Based on the 1-oz weight you gave and its length of 3/4" I don't see how it could be solid and not hollow base but asking anyway.)

[MW3840]

Longbow and Turbo, the diameter is 0.725". It has 10 lands and 10 grooves, both of which are much narrower than what the Brenneke are, and they run the full length of the slug at the same angle shown on Reload3006's photo of the Brennekes.

It has a hollow base. Like I said, the nose is completely flat with no rounded edge. It would seem that it wouldn't be very aerodynamic, but then what do I know.
The mold is one solid block of brass, with a single handle screwed into the block. It has no markings on it whatsoever.

Do you guys think I would be able to use the 1 oz. load data I have in several loading manuals for Lyman 1 oz. foster slugs? I wouldn't be able to enclose it in a wad like my sabots. If so, should I use a roll crimp, or fold crimp like I load for my Lyman 525 gr. sabot slug.

I still can't post any pictures. My wife left for Ohio with the camera as our daughter is expecting sometime this week.

[turbo1889]

Sounds like it would be best suited to more up close and personal work. A completely flat nose like that as you said isn't very aerodynamic but up close it is going to pack a real wallop on whatever it hits with a 100% meplat. Yes, the Lyman foster slug load data is a good place to start at least for the powder charge and wad column set-up. A roll crimp would probably be preferred but you can use a fold crimp as well.

If I were you I would cast with hard alloy, at least clip on WW or better preferably a WW base sweetened with a dash of tin and some type-metal. The diameter is a little small at 0.725" unless you have a shotgun with a tighter then normal bore diameter to shoot it out of and using harder alloy might give you a little more diameter and let you work what diameter you have for all the accuracy it is worth although it might make it harder to push the slugs out of the mold.

I'm thinking 50-yard or less smooth bore loads that will make "Dead Right There (DRT)" kills on the vast majority of critters with a hard alloy 100% meplat flat nosed slug but probably isn't going to be something you will want to push out to 70+ yards even if you can obtain accuracy at those extended ranges due to how quickly the energy is going to drop off over range with a 100% meplat flat nose on the slug.

[longbow]

I don't know of any commercial mould that makes a ribbed slug. Doesn't mean there isn't one but I have never seen it.

Most rifled slugs are swaged or cast then rifling swaged onto them.

I will post some photos of my home made mould with vertical ribs. My original intent was to reduce bore friction and provide crushable ribs in case a choke got in the way but after starting, I could see that I could make finned slugs so tried those first. They did look cool but I did not succeed in getting good accuracy or good enough accuracy anyway. So on to ribbed hollow base I went. In the ned I concluded that hollow base slugs are not for me so I am now making attached wad solid slugs with pretty good results so far.

Anyway, I suspect your mould is custom or home made. I would like to see pictures though. I am curious as to how the ribs are formed. In my case, I had a core slotted then bored the center out to leave steel fingers which mated with the outside diameter of the mould then made a hollow base core to fit inside. The result is a ribbed hollow base slug.

I will dig up photos and post.

Longbow

[stubshaft]

Sounds interesting, I hope you can post pics of it.

[Harmon_Greer]

a picture is worth a thousand words, video is worth 28000 words a second.