20 gauge ball load

[silas oberhauser]

hello, this is my first post on here but ive been lurking for a while.i am new to reloading in general. i have always had the mind set to try new things and to figure out how to do things on my own. i do what i can with out fancy tools and what not.
i got some 20 gauge reloading componets ( a bag of rio 3" hulls, 2.75" ched hulls, some wads from bp a roll crimper, and some alliant 20/28 powder.) i also had some 54 cal lead balls that were laying around. i figured out that they fit snugly in SG20L wads from bp, so i sat down and thought up a load, what i have came up with is 14 gr of 20/28(very similar to unique from what i have read) a single 1 layer square of toilet paper rolled into a ball for a spacer, sg20l wad with a teaspoon of flower to bring the ball to the right height, .54 lead ball, over shot card of card board with a roll crimp. most of the load data for 20/28 is 14-16.5 from what i have read and a .54 lead ball isnt near as heavy as a shot payload. i havent had time to test these yet, thats on the agenda for tm.
how does this sound? like i said i am new to reloading so any advice will be great. also i plan on shooting these out of my smooth bore remington 870.

[SuperBlazingSabots]

Good morning Silas, a hearty welcome to this family of slug shooter's.

Since I have done a lot of RB testing, you will find my post helpfull but be sure to have a warm cup of coffee ready as there is a lot to digest, go slow.

The bad news is I have not tested 20/28 powder at all, perhaps some one with your powder can help you better.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?150140-VdoMemorie-Blazing-Sabot!/page12

I wish you the very best, feel free to ask questions.

Thank you.

Best regards,
Ajay
BlazingSabots@Gmail.com
Blazing Sabots, LLC
www.facebook.com/BlazingSabots?ref=hl

[silas oberhauser]

just did some shooting, i cant find my chrony so that will have to wait. at 25 yards a five shot group was 6 inches including a flyer. i think that the tp spacing is the cause of it. last night i bought some cork board to punch out wading from. i loaded two loads, one with 14 gr and one with 15 gr, they both shot the same. but the 15gr hulls were quite dirty. also my roll crimps are pretty short. so it leaves the end of the hulls kinda square looking from heat deformation.

[SuperBlazingSabots]

Hello Silas, had you read my post it would have helped you understand why I prefer to fold crimp!
Any time you load a slug or RB you are loading for accuracy, therefore all components must help support the next in line for success!

Happy shooting.

Best regards,
Ajay
BlazingSabots@Gmail.com
Blazing Sabots, LLC
www.facebook.com/BlazingSabots?ref=hl

[silas oberhauser]

good news, i worked up another load, shots were all with in 2 inches at 35yrds. was shooting into a stump to try and catch bullets but they were too deep. this load was:
ched hull 15 gr 20/28 one .125 felt wad one .25 cork wad shot cup .25" 28 gaugeish cork wad inside shot cup .54 ball over shot card and roll crimp. i dont have a way to fold crimp so i will have to work with what i have. i think i am going to try the non discarding sabot idea with this shotcup. ive got some super glue...

[turbo1889]

The only thing I have to add to the discussion beyond what has already been said is that it might be wise for you to use COW (Cream Of Wheat dry hot cereal mix) in your loads instead of using flower. COW does not pack and its hard little grains flow like sand and thus it makes a good safe buffer and used as such by a great many builders of home-brew loads for a very long time going all the way back to black power loads pre-WWII. Using flower which is much finer and can pack has lead to hot pressures in some loading experimentation by some people and I have been warned off of using it and I've got a few old BP shot load books that specifically warn against making buffered shot loads using flower and say to use COW instead.

Shouldn't be near of an issue with a ball slug load as with a buffered shot or buck-shot load but still the old wisdom that said not to use flower because it packs but instead use COW or a similar flowing granular substance (other brands of the same sort of thing or "Cream of Rice" or such instead are fine as well) still stands as a general "safe & sane" rule of thumb for home-brew loads.

[silas oberhauser]

some pictures685436854468545

[SuperBlazingSabots]

Hello Silas, I do not want to be a pain but if you look at your picture #3 you will notice that the roll crimp will be resting on the wad petals, those wads petals are
not rigid enough to be able to push open the roll crimp and thus in the process will get all mangled up.

Now look at it this way if you were to raise the ball a bit more in wad by adding nitro cards:
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee75/Dantebeowulf/20gaNondiscardingsabotscopy_zps42b65323.jpg (http://s232.photobucket.com/user/Dantebeowulf/media/20gaNondiscardingsabotscopy_zps42b65323.jpg.html)
the way it shows on the right in this picture, then you can easily fold crimp and the RB will push the fold crimp open without mangling the wad petals.

I hope it help.

Best regards,
Ajay
BlazingSabots@Gmail.com
Blazing Sabots, LLC
www.facebook.com/BlazingSabots?ref=hl

[silas oberhauser]

i am using an over shot card to counter act that. all of the wads that i have recovered all seem like i could almost reuse them. also since turbo1889 sugested not using flower for safety reasons i have done away with it. only using a .25 cork wad under the ball for support and to raise it up. i have some aircraft grade liquid steel that i am thinking of using to make non discarding wads/sabots.


how would one find the max load for a load like mine? since i am using basicly half an ounce payload how many grains of powder could one get away with? what are the signs of over pressure? i havent had any hulls stick in the chamber at all, no flattened primers or extractor marks.

also, the reason i dont fold crimp is because the only tool i have is a roll crimper. i would love to get a load all or something along those lines but i dont have a huge budget. i am thinking of making my own version... i have a 12 gauge progressive loader that has a fold crimping station. and from what i have read the crimp starter is universal. so in theory i could start it with the 12gauge crimper and use a tube with the same ID as the shells OD with a plunger of sorts to push the started crimp flat and flush. any ideas?