Lyman 12ga Foster Slug

[Shedhunter]

Ok guys, I have some Lyman 12ga foster slugs made but not finding much for reloading data. I would like to work up a load using Federal Gold Medal hulls and Federal 12S3 wads using HS6 powder. What grain powder would be a good starting point?

Should I use a nitro card under the slug? I have 16ga and 20ga 1/8" cards already.

Next I have a bag of Fiocchi 2 3/4" clear hulls that I would like to use for slugs also. Does anybody use these and what components do you use?

[turmech]

I have no personal experiance with that slug but that IIRC is full bore slug that does not use a plastic wad with shot cup (like 12S3). You would use felt and cork wads/cards.

I could look them up in the Lyman manual if you wish the data listed.

[Shedhunter]

I have the lyman 4th edition but there isn't much data on the gold medal hull. Any info would be appreciated.

[longbow]

From the questions you are asking, I have to assume that you are new to slug loading.

You should get yourself a good reloading manual or two. The Lyman Shotshell Reloading Handbook is good, Reloading for Shotgunners also good and the BPI Slug Loading manual is good. All have lots of slug loads.

There are also loads listed by powder manufacturers. For example:

http://data.hodgdon.com/shotshell_load.asp

Just in case you aren't aware, reloading slugs or shotshells in general is not the same as reloading for metallic cartridges. You can't assume that you can use any old components and work up a load. Small changes in components can lead to large pressure differences.

Unless you have your own pressure testing barrel you should stick with published load recipes from reliable sources like the powder manufacturers and good reloading manuals.

I have not loaded any Lyman Foster slugs using the components you list but there may be recipes in one or more manual.

I have used Lyman recipes for their Foster slug and found that I got dismal results.

The Lyman Foster generally casts at around 0.705" so too large for shotcup and way to small for bore size. They tend to slug up to fit the bore. In my experience they slug up differently and unevenly for the most part. I could never get accuracy better than about 8" groups at 50 yards.

Round balls do far better than that.

When you do load them up, yes a nitro card wad under the slug is a good idea. The skirts are thin and cavity large so wads tend to blow into the cavity unless there is a solid base under the slug ~ in my experience anyway.

Just my $0.02 worth.

Longbow

[GBertolet]

Another point that I experienced, was that when firing this slug, using the recommended lead or soft alloy, the base often collapses and folds in on itself, destroying any chance of accuracy. I think the slug sides are too thin. I may get around to trying linotype or some other enriched alloy to see what happens. Also for an experiment I chucked the mold blocks in my lathe and with a boring bar opened the mold cavity up to .729. As the sides of the slug were still collapsing, I haven't gotten any meaningful feedback yet.

[Shedhunter]

Looks like I'll be ordering some more reading material, thanks for the input.

[longbow]

So far in pretty much all the testing of hollow base slugs I have done, recovered slugs show skirt distortion. That applies to commercial moulds of Lyman and Rapine, several slugs from home made moulds, slugs provided by other people for testing and commercial slugs along with slugs I have recovered that others have shot mostly factory Fosters, Lyman sabot slugs and Lee Drive Key slugs.

If they slug up consistently I guess there is no good reason they wouldn't be reasonable accurate but in the testing I have done the only slugs that have held up with minimal or no skirt distortion were thick skirted and oven heat treated. Pure lead or soft alloys need not apply! Even Gualandi DGS slugs showed significant skirt distortion.

I am talking smoothbore here not rifled barrel.

I spent one winter shooting lots of slugs in heavy snow then recovered them in the spring. I learned a lot about slugs that year.

Some have success with hollow base but so far I have found them lacking ~ unless heavy skirt of 0.100" or thicker and oven heat treated.

If you do a search for SluggerDoug, he put together a procedure for "rifling" Lyman Foster slugs to bring them up to bore size with good results.

There's lots of good info on this site too if you do some reading of past posts. There is a lot of knowledge in those posts. Lots of good stuff from turbo1889, greg5278, Vdomemories to name a few.

Longbow

[SuperBlazingSabots]

Good morning Shed Hunter, I'm glad LongBow gently painted a clear picture about the Foster slug.
Try pushing just the slug through different chokes to see if its a bit of a snug fit at the point of your choke, if you can push it with 5 to 10 lbs pressure then load a few and check at 50 yards,
it just might surprise you.

Lets not forget most deer are harvested within 50 yards.

You can cut the mold to .730 dia. and turn it into a one piece with wad attached like this
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee75/Dantebeowulf/HollowBaseSlugswithstem.jpg
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee75/Dantebeowulf/SlugswithStemcopy.jpg
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee75/Dantebeowulf/HollowBasePins.jpg
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee75/Dantebeowulf/SlugMouldsPIns.jpg
Start cooking your own slugs.
Ajay
BlazingSabots@Gmail.com
Blazing Sabots, LLC
www.BlazingSabots.com
www.PreciousVideoMemories.com

[Shedhunter]

Good info, thanks fellas.

[OnHoPr]

Possibly heavily zinc WW could help in a few of these slug mold designs. Providing a very stiff alloy for the slug. The zinc WW would probably change OD also, so take that into consideration. Though, I would also recommend considerations on the choke of smooth bores, such as full and modified. I don't think a deer could tell the difference.