Lee 1 oz slug buldging in Hull

[jimmyUT]

So I am still new to casting and 12g loading. Finally got some lee 1oz slugs made up and wanted to make some dummy rounds to see how they load.

I am using data from Hodgdon site below (Rem STS hulls)
Lead Slugs 12 1 oz. Lee Precision HS-6 Win. 209 WAA12SL 36 10,200 PSI 1450
(same info as on the sheet that came with the mold)

When I seat the wad and slug (30 psi on sizemaster) I am getting a huge buldge in the hull, not allowing it to chamber.

My cast slugs are around .690 diameter and I am using Claybuster CB1100-12 ( which says same as WAA12SL on the bag)

What Am I doing wrong? I even tried loading a live round, thinking the powder might make a difference, but still same buldge.

[mr_nice_guy228]

Where is the location of the bulge? At the slug, at the crimp, at the bottom of the wad?

[jimmyUT]

right about in the middle of the slug where its seated in the wad

[mr_nice_guy228]

Cut a petal off of a wad and measure to see if it has a taper to it towards the bottom, if it does you might have to use some card wads below the slug to raise it up a bit, and clear the taper. It'll take some playing with to get everything right.

[GBertolet]

Two things I would look for. First, how thick are the petals on your wads? The thinnest I can find are AA white wads, which are .050 petal thickness. Add a .690 slug to that, and you are at .740, which is pretty fat. Also some of the aftermarket clone wads have ribs inside the petals of the shotcups. If yours do, this makes them unsuitable for the Lee slugs, as the diameter will be way too big. The Winchester wads are smooth inside. Many reloaders stay away from the clones and stick with the true Winchester wads for this reason.
Secondly, .690 for your slug is a little on the large side for most shotcups. Are you using pure lead? My Lee drops at about .682, and I made push through sizers of different diameters to reduce the size even more if needed for experimenting.

[lka]

I load a ton of these, thousands,, what type of hull are you using? I've been thinking about posting pics of how I do it. I do buck a lot too.. The main thing I've noticed was the wad, you have to get the right one that doesn't taper, I cut the wad fingers for the buck and punch thin cardboard disks for both, this really helps getting a nice crimp. I shoot them out of my benelli semi-auto. I use 700x, sr7625, green and red dot powders all 209 primers.

[TCStehle]

I've loaded a couple hundred of the Lee 1oz slugs using the exact same components you're using including the Claybuster 1100-12 wads without any problems. However, my Remington STS hulls and Claybuster wads are old, probably from the early 90's. Maybe the internals of the Claybuster wad petals have changed since I bought mine? I did just measure one of the slugs and the largest diameter I could find was .682.

[HiVelocity]

For me, it tells me that I'm more than likely crushing the wad to the point that its bulging. To solve this problem, I only use Federal FS3's for both the Lee 1 oz slugs and the Lyman 535 grain slugs. Just food for thought.

HV

[jimmyUT]

Two things I would look for. First, how thick are the petals on your wads? The thinnest I can find are AA white wads, which are .050 petal thickness. Add a .690 slug to that, and you are at .740, which is pretty fat. Also some of the aftermarket clone wads have ribs inside the petals of the shotcups. If yours do, this makes them unsuitable for the Lee slugs, as the diameter will be way too big. The Winchester wads are smooth inside. Many reloaders stay away from the clones and stick with the true Winchester wads for this reason.
Secondly, .690 for your slug is a little on the large side for most shotcups. Are you using pure lead? My Lee drops at about .682, and I made push through sizers of different diameters to reduce the size even more if needed for experimenting.


The pedal thickness is about .34 (each side)
I noticed the bottom of my slugs taper down to about .674, but the middle before it starts to taper up to the point is about .690 avg. Should there be that much difference?

I am using pure lead tested at 5.0BHN

[jimmyUT]

Here is a pic of the buldge and the widest spot on the slug
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/05/gabyhary.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/05/ruba3ypa.jpg

[Hogtamer]

federal hulls....

[TCStehle]

The "skirts" of the Lee slugs are suppose to taper down. I'm only guessing, but that might have been in an attempt to address the taper of the wad petals increasing at the bottom of the wad cup.

[jimmyUT]

So I just tried again this time with Win AA HS grey hulls. Seats fine no bulge. Unfortunately I cant find load data for the HS hulls and lee slugs with this wad, so i will have to pick up some of the WAA12 and WAA12f114 wads to see if those work with the AA hulls and dont buldge

Or maybe I should get a new slug mold as .690 seems too big :)

[Hogtamer]

You need one or two 20 ga 1/8" hard cards under slug in wad cup, use 1oz load data.

[lka]

Maybe your seating them too hard? I put the wad in without the slug, pull from the press about 50 at a time, push the slugs in by hand, place a cut cardboard (I punch them myself) then I have a socket that fits tight-ish and give a tap with a rubber mallet then put them back I to the press for crimping.

[lka]

I use 1oz fed wads and load with data for 1oz loads, I usually end up right at the book, I always start lower by a couple grs then work up until it moves the action then crony them (for new recipes)

[jimmyUT]

So its ok to use 1oz shot data for a 1oz slug?

[Hogtamer]

generally accepted practice, yes.

[lka]

So its ok to use 1oz shot data for a 1oz slug?

I do but start a little lower and work your way up,, if you kill yourself it's not my fault because I'm an idiot :D

But that's what I do and haven't killed myself or broke a gun yet. For the lee cast OO buck I load 9 at 1-1/8 oz load data with 1-1/8 wad cut petals to base of wad...... I use cardboard overload disks on both for purdy crimp, I'm gonna mess with roll crimping in the next week or so just for fun, fold crimp have worked flawlessly so far.

[jimmyUT]

I do but start a little lower and work your way up,, if you kill yourself it's not my fault because I'm an idiot :D

But that's what I do and haven't killed myself or broke a gun yet. For the lee cast OO buck I load 9 at 1-1/8 oz load data with 1-1/8 wad cut petals to base of wad...... I use cardboard overload disks on both for purdy crimp, I'm gonna mess with roll crimping in the next week or so just for fun, fold crimp have worked flawlessly so far.

What wads do you use for the buck?

[hatcreek]

I agree with Hogtamer, federal hulls are straight walled, as are cheddie and fiocchi. Good luck let us know how you make out. HC

[lka]

What wads do you use for the buck?

95668
Fed 1 1/8 oz for fiocchi new primed hulls (same as fed) I cut the wings off and load with 1-1/8oz data from lyman book
95669
Put 9 pellets in and tap card in (cut from thin cardboard) with socket
95670

[lka]

95671

Back in press
95672

Crimp and shoot,

95673

[lka]

Don't tell my wife I'm using her scissors, and man I need to clean the bench top lol

[Squeeze]

I use A-A shells and WAA wads for slug with no probs, but I use a Lyman sabat slug.

[longbow]

What Hogtamer said ~ you need to space that slug up some by putting nitro card wads under it. The bulge in that hull is pretty far down.

The nose of the slug should sit flush with the top of the petals or even a bit higher. How do they crimp?

Longbow

[TCStehle]

However, my Remington STS hulls and Claybuster wads are old, probably from the early 90's. Maybe the internals of the Claybuster wad petals have changed since I bought mine?

After reading some other threads it appears my circa 90's pink Claybuster 1100-12 wads might be different from current production? The old pink Claybusters I have do not have a rib that runs down each petal and the petal thickness is very thin and the same from the top to the base of the shot cup. Apparently this allows the Lee 1oz slug to sit flush on the bottom of the shot cup with no bulging of the hull when loaded. When I run out of these old wads I'll definitely be buying genuine Winchester wads.

[weweber3]

No CB wads...ever!!! Not with lee 1oz slugs. Genuine Winchester wads do not bulge.

[weweber3]

Buckshot is way more forgiving and I use CB wads all the time with no issue.

[crashguy]

I used the same components for a slug load..... it's the claybusters ..... they have a rib or thicker center portion on the pedal that get thicker toward the bottom of the cup..... a nitro under the slug may help you out, that should get the slug up far enough that it wont bulge. FWIW Many guys recommend using a nitro card with lee slugs so they release from the wad quickly .. the key drive design will cause the wad to get jammed into the recess resulting in a less that smooth release.

[crashguy]

Just so you don't think you are alone.... here is the link to my adventure into casting for shotguns. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?204858-Would-like-some-feed-back

[lka]

Just got my old school roll crimper,
95882

It works very well and easy, only a few secs, made some testers for tomorrow,,

Lee 1ozers
95883

We will see how they do tomorrow, I loaded them a little lighter then my FCs tho I've heard it doesn't matter,,

[Hogtamer]

Nice!

[jimmyUT]

Man its easier finding powder than wincheater brand wads. No one local and ctd wants almost 35 bucks for 500 when you factor in shipping

[lka]

Man its easier finding powder than wincheater brand wads. No one local and ctd wants almost 35 bucks for 500 when you factor in shipping

Look for the claybuster brand, I get a bag for around 10.00.

[lka]

And if you're loading slugs I would use the fed 1oz wad by clay buster, they are the same size but the fed doesn't have a taper.

[jmort]

I would recommend Down Range over Claybuster wads.

[jimmyUT]

And if you're loading slugs I would use the fed 1oz wad by clay buster, they are the same size but the fed doesn't have a taper.

Do you have any load data for this wad? Also what is the claybuster wad #?


The claybuster waa12sl clones are the ones I had issues with bulging

[lka]

Do you have any load data for this wad? Also what is the claybuster wad #?


The claybuster waa12sl clones are the ones I had issues with bulging

For 1oz slugs I use these in aa and fed hulls,

96074

They hold the slugs nicely,
96075

Here it is compared to a Winchester 1 ounce hull,
96076

The base height is the same with shorter wings and doesn't have the taper this makes it best (IMO) for lee 1oz cast slugs

[jimmyUT]

Do you fold or roll crimp those?

[lka]

I fold crimp mainly, the one in the pic is trimmed because I'm messin with roll crimping. I just got an old roll crimper off eBay the other day, I have literally loaded over a thousand with the fold crimp, same stuff I'm just trimming them now for the roll. My FnL gives me slabs of soft lead and I have to make him slugs/buck in exchange lol, he builds sail boats for fun and gets lead from them. There are no issues with fold crimping the lee slugs. I took a dozen rolled ones out on Friday and they seen to fly straighter then the fold, I'll conform (again just my opinion) by the end of next week if rolled provides a straighter slug shot.

Did you get the bulge under control? I would assume inserting the slug by hand after the wad is installed cured the issue?

And I saw another poster say he liked a different brand better then the clay buster, I've never used the other brand so I can't say anything about slug fit, I have brought many bags of clay busters and factory ones trying to get a good slug fit lol and the one I've been talking about have worked best for me ;)

[evan price]

The claybuster wad petals are ribbed inside which makes them thicker. The Winchester wads do not have this rib. Claybusters are not identical to Winchester.