7/8 oz lee slugs and red dot, how fast can you go

[mike_kaleigh]

i have been loading lee 7/8 slugs in aa hulls and aa pink wads with 18 grains of red dot. i get about 1200 fps. the wads 95% of the time have all the pedals and look good. but the cuts are deep from the back of the slug. my load should be around 9000psi and the recoil is medium. so i am wondering what the max load is ( all i can find is 19grains from alliants site) and will probably be my next step. but i am wondering if the wad can handle over 10000psi and if my accuracy will fall off. or if i need to get different wads to go faster. i am open for suggestions. right now i get a solid 6" or less at 50yards. i also do have unique right now so a load with that is an option.

thanks for the help

[35remington]

To go substantially faster, you need a different powder not a different wad. Try the loads from the instructions obtained with the mould. The OEM wads as you have found hold up better than the cheaper clones.

The fingers on the wad are spelled "petals" like the petals of a flower. Pedals accelerate bikes and cars. FWIW.

[longbow]

It sounds like you need to get yourself a few loading manuals. The more info you have the more recipes you will find. Slug loading info is a bit scarce... or at least certainly not as readily available as birdshot loads. Stick with published load recipes using the components listed.

I would have to look to see if I have any info on red Dot and slugs but as 35remington said, you will likely need a slower powder than Red Dot. Unique may be a good choice and I know I have load recipes for Unique and 1 oz. slugs that should produce around 1500 FPS. those would be safe for the 7/8 oz slug too.

Something that should help the wad is to put a 1/8" nitro card wad under the slug. That will help keep the wad from trying to shove itself into the hollow cavity.

Longbow

[mike_kaleigh]

longbow, i have a couple manuals but it is funny how each one is different with the same components. i usually take the average of all of the sources and work up. i have my lyman right next to me now. i do put cardboard under the slugs but i might have to get some nitro card wads. i am interested in what you worked up with unique.

35remington, i SUCK at spelling if it was not for spell check nobody would be able to read my stuff. i got tons of mechanical skills from my dad, but not much in the way of spelling or sports. my buddies tell me i can even run right. but i can shoot better than all of them![smilie=s

[35remington]

I'm really not a spelling Nazi. Just thought you might want to know.

[longbow]

Let me take a look later. I know I have several recipes for the BPI AQ slug which is 445 grs. so any of those loads would be safe with your 7/8 oz. slug.

Yeah, plain old card board is not anywhere near as solid as nitro card wads. If you don't have nitro card wads handy, you might try buying a kids "Magic Carpet" snow slider which is a sheet of polyethylene. I have punched disks out of that using a 3/4" gasket punch (or you can make a punch) and set them into the bottom of shotcups when I had trouble with wads and vaned slugs. The disks are so tough they deformed a bit but kept the rest of the card and shotcup where is is supposed to be.

When you say "i usually take the average of all of the sources and work up." please tell me you aren't going past book powder charges or swapping primers. Shotshell reloading is not like metallic cartridge reloading.

In any case, I will try to take a look for Unique recipes later and let you know what I find.

Longbow

[mike_kaleigh]

i know, my smiley did not show up

[longbow]

Okay then, I had a look through 4 or 5 books and several other load sources and while I have a lot of slug loads using Unique, I have almost no info for Winchester AA hulls!

The best I have is:

From Lyman Shotshell Reloading Handbook 4th Ed:

- Hull = Win AA 2 3/4"
- Primer = Win 209
- Powder = Unique @ 28 grs.
- wad = Win AA 12 (with petals cut off for Lyman Foster slug)
- Slug = 1 oz. Lyman Foster
- crimp = roll
- Pressure = 10,400 PSI
- Velocity = 1383 FPS

This same load is used with 4 different wad columns and all run within 400 PSI.

From Alliant site (several years ago):

- Hull = Win AA 2 3/4"
- Primer = Win 209
- Powder = Unique @ 34.5 grs.
- wad = .135" card + 0.25" Fiber + (2) .135" card
- Slug = 7/8 oz.
- crimp = roll
- Pressure = 9,800 PSI
- Velocity = 1,570 FPS

From BPI:

- Hull = Win AA 2 3/4"
- Primer = Fiocchi 616
- Powder = Unique @ 33 grs.
- wad = BPGS (plastic gas seal) + 1/2" hard card wad
- Slug = 1 oz. (445 gr.) BPI AQ
- Crimp = roll
- Pressure = 10,800 PSI
- Velocity = 1,560 FPS

WARNING!

1) All three loads shown are roll crimp and from what I see mostly, roll crimp develops less pressure than fold crimp I would drop charges about 10% if using fold crimp.

2) The second load DOES NOT use a plastic gas seal so if you substitute a plastic wad it will develop more pressure. So double dilema here! Both roll crimp and no plastic gas seal.

3) For the third load you would have to substitute a cushion leg wad for the wad column suggested. This would not worry me as both have plastic gas seals. Again, it uses roll crimp so I would reduce charge about 10% if using fold crimp.

I try not to make substitutions except equal weight of slug or wad columns that are similar.

I have lots of load data for Unique and 1 oz. slugs at velocities from about 1400 FPS to almost 1600 FPS but most is for large volume straight walled hulls like Activ, Fiocchi, Cheddite, Federal Gold Medal. I have almost none for Win AA as they are tapered small volume hulls.

I hope that helps.

Longbow

[mike_kaleigh]

longbow, thanks for the info, and you don't have to worry, i didn't mean "i just throw anything together that i have". i meant that you can have two of the exact same loads in two different books or websites with two totally different pressures. and in that case i chose the more conservative one. i know everything in a shot shell matters and there really is not pressure signs. and i do not exceed any published data. actually you guys here are more liberal about changing things in a shot shell, ----gunworld guys freak out if you say you can substitute a slug in a shot load of the same weight. even though i found in one of the bpi manuals that says you can.

but anyway thanks for the data. right now i am looking for more unique data, but my local dealer does have blue dot and nitro cards so i just might be heading there soon.