can of worms.....lee slug questions

[gutpile]

I just know this is a minefield ...and I am wearing snowshoes.

using a Lee 1oz wheelweight slug..........can it be loaded to minute of pie plate @ 50 yards? And i am looking for load data for Low or reasonable recoil in smoothbores. Or is this the time to trade off this mold for a roundball mold?
just looking for something that is easy to load and will not beat you to death.....(kids and wives) for practice and REAL close in deer(25 yards or less)
I love this place!
Gutpile

[longbow]

I can't answer directly on the Lee slug from personal experience... yet. I got a mould a while ago and cast but just have not had time to test them out yet.

Decent round ball loads will definitely give you minute of pie plate and smaller at 50 yards. I generally get 3" to 4" groups with good round ball loads from my smoothbores (you are talking smoothbore right?). I have had some hollow base slugs do as well but not many.

Do some searching here and you will find lots of Lee slug info and I think from what I have read that you should do way better than minute of pie plate at 50 yards. I am hoping to find out myself shortly.

It seems to me that I have seen low recoil loads listed too which should suit your purpose. I may even have some so will look later. If I find any I will post them.

I am sure you will get lots of responses as the Lee slug is pretty common in both smoothbore and rifled guns.

Longbow

[beex215]

minute of pie plate wouldnt be hard at all. i shoot at 25 yards with the lee 1oz, hitting a 8x11 paper with ease and im not use to a bead sight yet.

[longbow]

Good point beex215!

I have rifle sights on my smoothbores and that helps a lot with accuracy. Just a plain bead can be used but is not near as precise and consistent as a decent set of sights.

Haven't had a chance to look for loads yet.

I had to blow snow then varnish snowshoes. it is winter here!

Longbow

[turmech]

56140

Bottom corner of target show results I got with smooth bore bead sight barrel at 25 yards. rifled barrel did even better. these were not light loads however they were pretty stout blue dot loads.

[Tonto]

You can play with 1 oz light loads meant for shot charges at the low end safely with the Lee slugs, no sense bloodying your nose to sight in slug loads. Great for kids and newbies.....

[SuperBlazingSabots]

Hello GutPile, I'm assuming you have a smooth bore, lets see if I can be of some help.
1. We need to first see which wad and slug combo has a better snug fit in your gun for accuracy:
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee75/Dantebeowulf/Wadslugfitinbarrelcopy.jpg
2. Some powder's can take up a lot more hull space and leave not enough hull space for crimp so choose your powder wisely
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee75/Dantebeowulf/NewFinalPowderHullspace.jpg
3. http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee75/Dantebeowulf/LeeDriveKeysluginwadcopy.jpg
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee75/Dantebeowulf/Leesluginwad.jpg
You need to use a .125 thick nitro card in wad below the slug, first to give it a solid firm base at launch and secondly to help release the slug from wad instantly!
Another little trick that too will help:
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee75/Dantebeowulf/Holeinwad.jpg

Since every one wants faster speed so Lee had to make them look good add some very very hot loads in their data.
With Blue Dot do not go over 42 to 44 gr,
HS-6, most shooters do not load over 32 to 33 gr,
Herco, most shooters stop around 32 to 33 gr too.

Start loading 2 gr below what I am suggesting and come up 1/2 at a time till you can bear the recoil!
Feel free to read some of my other posts and see if it helps.

Warmest regards,

Ajay
BlazingSabots@Gmail.com
Blazing Sabots, LLC
www.BlazingSabots.com
http://www.facebook.com/BlazingSabots?ref=hl
www.PreciousVideoMemories.com

[35remington]

Yes, that standard will be attainable with a bead sight at fifty. It is easy to beat the accuracy your run of the mill Glock pistol displays at 25 yards with a bead front sighted shotgun with the Lee slug and the mild loads you desire. Accuracy will get much worse past about sixty to seventy yards, but at fifty or less quite decent practice can be had.

Example:

I would suggest the trapload powders rather than the much greater amounts needed of slower powders. Reducing slow powders too much results in undesirably low pressures and a dirtier burn once a certain threshold is passed. There is a better way for light loads.

16.5 to 18 grains Red Dot (17 grains Clays or 700X may be used; simply use a 1150-1200 fps load that is for one ounce of shot) and the Winchester WAA12SL (pink) wad. Winchester because the cheaper clone wads don't hold up as well and lose their crush section or more petals which doesn't help accuracy. Slugs are much harder on wads than shot.

1150 to 1200 fps depending upon load, mild recoil you desire, much cheaper to shoot, great for practice. I use Winchester 209 primers and Remington or Winchester tapered hull cases. The Winchester HS shell is less "tight" than the Remingtons in terms of wad seating pressure when inserting the slug, and this may have some implications in terms of wad petal survival. I actually like the really cheap Winchester Universal hulls for this use, and they are free from my range's dumpster in great quantity. Shoot a couple of times and toss them without regret. Velocity is about 50 fps lower with a given load due to the thinner plastic but they are fine for the wad mentioned as they also have a tapered interior, and crimp quite decently if your press is set correctly. I've shot over a thousand slugs this year....or more.

Great fun!

A caution: if you range has mild steel pistol swingers this will really rock them, not so much in terms of denting the steel, as it's fairly reasonable in that regard, but in breaking the welds with repeated hits. Better for knocking down the heavier, tougher reaction targets.

[gutpile]

casted up 100 with ACWW holidays get over i will start with 16.5 to 18 grains of reddot and see where we go from there
I will post results.....

[NZSarge]

This was using the 1oz Lee slug at 35m.

Sgle barrel, full choke, H and R.

Bead sight and the first loads using 30 grains HS6 just to see if I could get them on paper. Not aiming real well either.

http://i1093.photobucket.com/albums/i427/Sarge8087/Lead013_zpsda34c506.jpg