RB, 7/8oz, or 1oz slugs for deer?

[John in WI]

I'm seriously thinking of starting to cast slugs for my shotgun. Here in WI I'm in a "shotgun county" and that means slugs.

I have a Mossy 500 with a rifled, vented slug barrel and also a smoothbore with cylinder choke (I hope it's ok to fire slugs with the cylinder choke in place?).

Do you guys have some recomendations for a good 12 gauge deer load?

I'm trying to catch up on all the RB and Lee slug threads. I guess my gut feeling is that if I could get the 7/8oz slug to shoot straight, I would go with it. It would be plenty of weight and knockdown power for the local deer. That and it would use less lead per slug than either a 1oz or a large RB.

But it seems like getting Lee slugs to shoot straight can be a kind of tricky deal. I'm hoping to get it going fairly soon so I have a couple months to toy around with it and get it dialed in by fall.

thanks for any advice!

[TRG3]

My experience with the 1 oz 12 gauge Lee Key Drive and Lyman 525 sabot in my H&R USH was 3" groups at 50 yards from the bench, plenty good enough for deer hunting here in Southern Illinois and I took deer with these. However, my 1" group experience with the .690 round ball from that same distance made me a believer in that projectile and I used it to take a couple of does last season. The .690 roundball may take a little more lead but, for me, that is an insignificant trade-off for the number of shots one will fire in a season or at the bench for the accuracy gained. In the end, whether you choose the Lee, Lyman, or roundball you will probably find that any of them will do the job within the range that most deer are taken since shot placement will be the over-riding factor determining success.

[John in WI]

Thanks TRG3. So it's your opinion that any of them have the POTENTIAL for accuracy? If that's the case, I sort of like the idea of going with a round ball. It seems to me they would be easier to cast in the first place and get them truly "perfect". Maybe some fiddling around to figure out the right wad layout (if it needs a little paper to shim it, or a fiber disc to bring up the height, or whatever tricks you might need to play).

[TRG3]

John...Here's my load for the H&R USH 12 gauge using a new 2 3/4" Fiocchi hull, as follows: (In my shotgun, this load is milder than factory slugs; however, your firearm will be different, so use caution.)

27.0 grains of Herco
Over powder thin card
Federal S3 wad
.125 20 gauge hard card in base of S3 wad
.690 roundball resting on the hard card in the S3 wad
Roll crimp

A couple of things that I do that may or may not improve accuracy, as follows:

Continue pouring the roundball for a few moments to guarantee that the sprue will not have a hollow spot under it.
After trimming the sprue, roll between two hard flat plates (I use iron) to remove the remainder of the sprue.
Put a black dot (magic marker) where the sprue was and load it "up".
(Lee has the .690 roundball mold for under $20.)
This can all be loaded without the use of a loader, but a crimper is essential and, with care, can be successfully used in a hand drill. With little effort, you can hold the hull with your fingers while roll crimping or make a hull gripper by drilling an appropriately large hole in a piece of wood, then split it through the center of the hole, and loosely re-attaching one end so that it acts like a pair of scissors, squeezing the hull by applying pressure to the open end. There's a post about it on this site, I believe.
I have reloaded the Fiocchi hulls by using a pair of pliers twisted in the hull's mouth to open it up. With a little coaxing, you can push the stiffer components through the contorted mouth of the fired hull. If you already have other components, some of the Lyman books have roundball loads.

One doe I shot last season was only 20 yards away but facing me. The .690 roundball entered in the lower neck and exited out a hind quarter. The deer ran about 30 yards. The second doe was broadside at about 30 yards and ran about 50 yards. I have noticed over the years of traditional muzzleload hunting using roundballs as well as with the .690 roundball in the shotgun that the roundball, while deadly, does not have the "drop 'em in their tracks" kind of power, rather you need to be sure of your shot and, if they run out of sight, follow in that direction because chances are you made a killing shot and the deer will be less than 100 yards away with it's white belly just a shinin'!! Best of luck with your loading.

[John in WI]

I think I just found some of your posts over at "Shotgun World". I'll read those before I keep bugging you with specific questions!