Smoothbore 12 Ga. and LEE 1 oz. slug

[CANUCK]

I am in the early stages of testing the LEE 1 oz. key driven slug in my smoothbore 12 Ga and I thought I would post some results. In my opinion the groups are OK, they could be better or they could be worse.
My gun is a Squires Bingham Model 30DG with 20" barrel and a muzzle of about 0.729" - 0.730"
121680

My load is based on the LEE data included with the mould.
-Remington Gun Club 12 ga 2 3/4" hull
-Win 209 primer
-32.0 grs Winchester 540 (data lists HS-6 which is supposedly the same)
-WAA12SL Claybuster clone (with shortened petals)
-16 ga mini-N/C in bottom of shotcup
-LEE 1 oz slug cast from pure lead
-fold crimp

I shortened the wad petals so they don't extend up over the end of the slug. I prefer the 16 ga. card over the 20 ga. as it gives a wider base for the slug to sit on to. The wad/slug assembly seats in the hull a little hard due to the 16 ga. card expanding the wads petals slightly but there are no other issues.
Wad/card/slug ready to load:
121681

The wad/slug assembly fit in the barrel is just snug and can be pushed through the entire length with my finger.
121682

The crimps turned out pretty good:
121683

I shoot at 40 yards as this is my average distance for deer hunting.I use a Black & Decker Workmate for a rest. The 5 shot group:
121684

I was able to recover 4 of 5 wads and are a little rough but complete:
121685

Recoil is medium.
I was able to recover 2 of the slugs. They penetrated approximately 6" into North American Red spruce.
The slug on the left is new for reference:
121686

All comments good or bad are welcome.

[longbow]

Looks like that is working well for you. I wouldn't complain about that group from a smoothbore. you might be able to tighten it up a little but it is not bad in my opinion.

I like 16 ga. nitro card wads too.

I agree with your fit as well. I find that a slight bit of drag is a good fit. Ajay recommended a tighter fit requiring 6 to 10 lbs. (IIRC) to get the slug through the barrel but I found that for my loads and guns a somewhat looser fit worked better for me. Could well depend on the gun or simply all components working together for a given load.

Anyway, look like you have a good load there.

Longbow

[jmort]

I think that is a good group for a smooth bore and Lee slug. Group is better than "OK" in my opinion. That will hunt for sure.

[Hogtamer]

Canuck, that's a keeper! Very nice results and thanks for sharing! Seems there's a fit for every gun and you found yours quickly.

[littlejack]

Not bad at all for smooth bore.
You hit a deer with one of those, he/she's gonna run. About 24" straight down.

[acoop101]

You might also look at the Lee 7/8 oz slug, they are better balanced and are less prone to tumbling.

[Abert Rim]

Canuck, you are on to something with that load. Any idea of the velocity?

[Knotlost]

Try this
Cut cases down 3/8 inch or better keep the case off the nose of the lead.
Grease the lead slugs very lightly before loading.
Cut the peddles of the wad down so just the length of the slug.

Biggest destroyer of accuracy is the wad hanging onto the slug.

[sundog]

20 ga felt wad in bottom of wad - between the wad and bottom of the slug - helps the release.

[CANUCK]

You might also look at the Lee 7/8 oz slug, they are better balanced and are less prone to tumbling.

The 7/8 oz slug mould is on my wish list.
Perhaps Santa will bring me one.:smile:

[CANUCK]

Canuck, you are on to something with that load. Any idea of the velocity?

Sorry but no.
The Lee data claims 1450 f/s @ 36.0 gr of HS6 so would have to estimate from that.

[Walstr]

Awe great info here, thanks CANUCK. I volunteered to help #3 son reduce cost of his 3-Gun matches, by casting 7/8 oz. slugs & developing a gentile load. It's a slow process to make fillers & install them into the wads, etc. I'd like to eliminate the 'petal cutting' operation for sure.

My powder loads will be a fraction of hunting loads, so I'm searching [unsuccessfully] for a TALL wad w/short petals, to help eliminate the fillers. Would you pls. post or PM the wad height you're using. If it would help your development efforts, I'd be glad to send you some 7/8 oz. LEE Drive Key slugs, or to anyone else curious to experiment.

Play safe my friends,

Wally

[Hogtamer]

Walstr, the 7/8 lee is a perfect fit in Trap Commander wads from BPI. 1 - 20 ga nitro card in the shotcup, then a 16 ga card and you will get a good fit in a AA hull. 20 grns of Clays powder and you've got a load you can shoot all day with plenty of punch. Others have used red dot as well.

[CANUCK]

Awe great info here, thanks CANUCK. I volunteered to help #3 son reduce cost of his 3-Gun matches, by casting 7/8 oz. slugs & developing a gentile load. It's a slow process to make fillers & install them into the wads, etc. I'd like to eliminate the 'petal cutting' operation for sure.

My powder loads will be a fraction of hunting loads, so I'm searching [unsuccessfully] for a TALL wad w/short petals, to help eliminate the fillers. Would you pls. post or PM the wad height you're using. If it would help your development efforts, I'd be glad to send you some 7/8 oz. LEE Drive Key slugs, or to anyone else curious to experiment.

Play safe my friends,

Wally

123330

The uncut wad (left) measures about 1.68" OAL
The cut wad (right) measures about 1.6" OAL
Cup depth on uncut wad (left) measures about 0.7"
Cup depth on cut wad (right) measures about 0.62"
I used a mini 16 Ga N/C in the bottom of the shotcup (under the slug) measuring approx 0.080" thick.
I found that by using a N/C under the slug my groups improved as compared to not using any in my smoothbore. The recovered wads showed that they were pushing up inside the base of the slug and I am assuming the slug/wad may not have been separating like it should.
Thanks for the generous offer of the 7/8 Oz slugs but Santa is supposed to be bringing me a mould soon.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Canuck; I think your results are pretty damn good for a smoothbore shot gun.

When you consider that a smoothbore shotgun is a 60 yard gun in most cases to begin with, a 3" group at 40 yards is going to do what is necessary just fine.

Even if that group opened up to 6" it would still be in the kill zone for any deer or Moose you might shoot.

You have a hunting weapon, not a bench rest gun and as such figuring out what is good enough for the intended purpose is where it is at. I'm all for accuracy, but only with respect to what you need from the system. Beyond that is nice but not necessary to be classed as good performance.

I have my Mossberg 500 with roundballs for shooting 3 gun matches and the targets range from 25 to 50 yards. I have not missed one shot yet with that load and gun combination.

I doubt you will either.

Randy