LEE Shotgun Slugs 1 ounce

[Philster]

Hi Guys, I am new here and thanks for bearing with me. I have been reloading for rifle and pistol since the 70's and at one time was an avid bird hunter. I always bought my shotgun shells and never reloaded them. Since they don't allow shooting shot at my local range, we took my defense shotguns and shot some slugs through them. I can't tell you how much fun we had. What a hoot. Anyway at nearly a dollar per round I decided to cast my own slugs and bought a little Lee Load all 2. I will be using Herco Military Surplus powder, Win AA hulls and WAA12 wads and the 1 ounce lee slug and Win 209 Primers. I have also purchased some various nitro wads in case needed. The Lee guide only states maximum charge of 36 grains Herco. I have thus far been unable to find any other herco loads for the lee slugs. If this charge is listed as maximum, are there any lower loads listed anywhere? I was just going to reduce 10% starting out, but as I am new at any form of shot shell reloading I want to proceed with caution and work up to max. I want to use the herco because I have 6 pounds I just acquired. I also have some waa12R wads if needed. Any pointers or advice in regards to loading up these slugs would be appreciated as well. Kind regards, Phil

[hatcreek]

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee75/Dantebeowulf/LeeSlugDataBlueDot-Hercocopy.jpg%7Eoriginal36gr of Herco is a hot load, better to start with 33, i load 34 grs of herco in federal gold medal hulls set in a trap commander wad, its a good shooter, and recoil is manageable, Good luck, HC

[FullTang]

Hi Phil,

You're going to have a lot of fun with this, and my advice would be to feel free to experiment a little, within reasonable limits. That official Herco load is for a full-power hunting load, and you can tone that down a lot. Indeed, I wonder about some of these official Lee slug loads---wouldn't be surprised if some of them are actually over SAAMI specs. In any case, the worst thing that can happen if you reduce too much is that you'll get a blooper; that's not especially likely with Herco, which isn't really slow burning. Most of the official Lee loads are using very slow burning powders with very light loads; ordinarily, that doesn't work too well, so you have to use a lot of the slow burning powder to really get the party started. You could start with 30-32 grains, and I think you'll find that plenty stout.

[Philster]

Thanks for the response. So if I reduce the charge to say 32 grains I should use nitro wad(s) over the top of slug if needed for proper crimp. And no need for wads anywhere else? Besides the Waa12.

[FullTang]

Indeed---over the slug if you just want to take up space, under the slug if you want to prevent the drive key from sticking in the wad (ie for smoothbore shooting.) May not be needed for this modest reduction.

[Philster]

FullTang: Thank you, Phil