AA#5 and 1oz lee slug...NO!

[DeanWinchester]

My data says 38.5g of AA#5 in a AA hull with an SL wad for a Lee 1oz slug. I loaded 35.0g and a nice roll crimp made for a very snug set up.

I shot at a bowling ball at 25 yards and hit it 3 out of 3 times. Not bad from a 18 inch cylinder bore.

Recoil was FEROCIOUS! What scared me the most was the hulls. I picked them up and looked them over and the plastic looked scorched. Like you'd got them too close to a heat source for few seconds. YIKES!

Needless to say, I won't be going further.


Wonder what I did wrong?

[dverna]

Check your scale.

[DeanWinchester]

Scale is good. I check zero every time I use it.

[longbow]

Check wad fit and gas seals on recovered wads. I have had some gas seals fail and the leakage wreaks havoc on hulls and wad petals.

If that's not it then you got me... assuming the data is correct and no substitutions were used anyway.

Mind you, usually if there is significant leakage the powder doesn't burn well so less "BOOOM" and less recoil.

Recovered wads may give some indication though.

Longbow

[upnorthwis]

The only hulls I've ever seen WITHOUT scorching are once fired factory. Once you start reloading them they are all going to be scorched at some point. Some sooner, some later. I load them until they have only one shot left in them. Then shoot them at a 3 gun or sporting clays course where they are ejected and never seen again. Yah, those "Book loads" for slugs are brutal. I back them off 8 grains or so because I'm only shooting cardboard targets at an action match.

[dreadpiraterobberts]

Just a shot in the dark here, but does the original load data call for a roll crimp? Most if not all load data I have found for the Lee 1oz sabot slug calls for a fold crimp. The roll crimp may be causing excessive chamber pressure, which in turn is adding to your recoil. I would be very curious as to your muzzle velocity. If you get a chance to run your loads through a chronograph, please post.

[FullTang]

It sounds as though this load worked exactly the way it was supposed to, but there seems to be some misunderstanding about how shotgun powders work. In order to get hunting velocities out of target hulls and wads, the folks at Lee put together some crazy loads, with huge amounts of slow-burning powders. This means that you'll use a lot of powder, get a lot of recoil, but much of that powder will remain unburned (similar to black powder, for the muzzleloaders out there!) That is the source of the soot (it's not scorching, it's powder residue.)

They recently posted a number of new Lee slug loads at the BPI web site, in the "Load of the Week" section, and these are more realistic loads with more efficient, modern combinations of wads and powders. I've shot a few of these, and they are much cleaner and more fun to shoot: http://www.ballisticproducts.com/load14_04_25.htm

[DeanWinchester]

I'm pretty thick but I know what powder residue is. This hull was scorched. It looked like you got it a little too close to open flame.
Appreciate the input from each of you.

[FullTang]

Seems like a perfect use for those Winchester Universal throw-away hulls. Load them once with these full-house slug loads, and they'll be done. That's the way I loads slugs---the more powerful the load, the crappier the hull I use for it! Still, it seems like this load is a little too much of a good thing, and you'd improve it by backing off a grain or two, as upnorthwis suggested.