Getting started in shotgun slug casting, which mould?

[stubbicatt]

Guys. I've read many postings here, which are all full of information. I haven't casted or even reloaded shotgun slugs yet. Having a smooth bore 870, I wonder if there is a consensus of which slug mould I should get? I like Lyman moulds generally, but if I have read things here right, I would need a rifled barrel to shoot those air rifle pellet shaped sabot slugs dropped from a Lyman mould, right?

The Lee is attractive due to its low price, but I have read of folks having issues with Lee moulds. I understand the Lee slug is OK in a smoothbore?

Is there another option you recommend?

I've lost my old Lyman casting handbook somewhere. I'm buying the 4th Edition, which folks seem to pan on, but its all I can find. Can't find a 3rd Edition anywhere, though there is a reprint on flea bay. Any good suggestions for a manual that will give answers and a primer on shot shell reloading?

Thanks in advance.

[bikerbeans]

Good question, but there isn't a good answer.

BB

[jmort]

"Any good suggestions for a manual that will give answers and a primer on shot shell reloading?"

Have and recommend this

http://www.ballisticproducts.com/Slug-Loading-Manual-5th-edition/productinfo/00MSLUG/

[glenr1]

+3 on any of the BPI tech sheets, and other manuals, they also have a load of the week section. with a number of loads that for erou hulls and different loads not found in the big dog manuals. I will say that I too am new to shot shell loading. I will be only loading slugs either round ball and Lee key drive with low recoil because I shoot at an in door range. I have learned a lot from the ones I have bought, along with the web site, and can't beat the sales on primed skived ready to load hulls and the other tools one needs.
Also check out my other posts with the links to cleaning up the Lee molds.
I will add they have a great customer phone staff, and are willing to answer questions about what they sell and reloading in general

[cpileri]

What are you trying to accomplish w the slug?
Accuracy out to 50 yds?
Out to 100yds?
Target shooting vs hunting?
A little of everything?

C-

[FullTang]

Start with a Lee 7/8 oz mold, pick a load from BPIs "Load of the Week" archive, and try not to over-think the issue. Over-thinking this issue is basically what this forum is all about, but that's not for beginners. Once you've tried a few of these basic loads, you'll have a better idea of your specific needs.

[Screwbolts]

With my LEE 1 oz 12 ga slug mold came loading Data for that slug. I have cast and loader the LEE and Lyman 525 gr slugs, using Lee's Data for Lee and Lyman's Data for Lyman's, both were loaded with fold crimps, both shot well from smooth bore, rifled barrels and barrels with rifle choke tubes. I believe in the current NRA rag sheet there is an add/rite up for subsonic slugs, I would not hesitate to Harvest any head of game in the North East with either slug at any speed from 900 FPS up to what I was loading them at, Brutal recoil, 1500 FPS over my crony.

Ken

[Cerberus62]

The easy place to start is with a simple mold like a Lee .690 round ball, or a classis like the Lyman hollow base Foster type slug. The Lee ball is fast and easy to cast and has a wide variety of loading options where you can get good results in any smoothbore. An undersize ball in a shot cup is also a very good option.

The Lyman Foster slug is just as fast/slow to cast as the heavier 525 Diabolo slug, but is doesn't use a shotcup carrier. The 525 Diabolo is a nose heavy design that will fly true in a smoothbore, so take your pick, either will work.

I have not used the Lee Drive Key molds yet, but I do like the Lee molds in general. Lee and Lyman (and old Ideal) make up nearly all my 100+ mold collection. RCBS makes good molds too, with some round ball options that would work.

[jmort]

I would try the .678 Lyman round ball mold. Many have tried .690 round balls and there are many threads on on the .690 which stand for the proposition it is too big. One of the days I will Try and get a Lee group buy going for a Lee mold around .678.

[bikerbeans]

Thanks for making my point on this. Six moulds have been suggested by name and I don't know how many more are named in the BPI data. For every slug someone says works for them I can find another reloader who hates it. The problem of trying to handload an accurate slug isn't always easy to solve.

BB

[longbow]

In my opinion, to 50 yards go with round ball in shotcup. Good sizes in available moulds:



0.662" (A bit small for most shotcups but works well and can be "patched" up to fit better. Lyman makes a mould for sure)
0.678" (Lyman and RCBS standard. Fit many regular shotcups well)
0.690" (Lyman and Lee make these but so far I have failed to get decent accuracy with any shotcups I can find)


Next is 0.735" bull bore RB. Lyman makes a mould for these. Cannot be shot through a choke ~ cylinder bore only!

My experience with the Lyman Foster slug are very negative. They cast extremely undersize (not sure why but mine cast 0.705" and some report casting as small as 0.685"). Total waste of money and time testing as far as I am concerned. YMMV.

The Lyman sabot slug is supposed to work from smoothbore giving decent accuracy to about 50 yards. No experience here.

The Lee Drive key slug moulds seem to work fairly well from smoothbores though so far I get better accuracy to 50 yards with a round ball than my 1 oz. Lee Drive Key slugs.

So, my opinion ~ if shooting 50 yards or a little further a round ball in shotcup is the easiest and should provide under 6" groups with good loads. I can generally depend on 3" to 4" groups to 50 yards. If using round ball, put a 1/8" nitro card wad under the ball and a scoop of Cream 'O Wheat or cornmeal on that then the ball. Quick to cast, easy to load and plenty accurate to 50 yards.

Longbow

[stubbicatt]

Seems to be consensus that round ball is a good start. Assuming the 678 ball, which wads and powders and hulls and whatnot do you recommend?

For me the use I have is simply shooting a debris or plinking, and maybe, if I ever do it again, 3 gun competition (well, I'm not very competitive, but you gotta have slugs in some of those stages.)

I have a bunch of 231 powder, so I can use that in any loads recommended. I'm shooting an 870 so I don't need velocity or gas pressure to cycle the action. All I need is basically for the ball to exit the barrel and strike steel at comparatively short ranges.

Thanks guys for your help.

Again, if there is a good primer or something which I can read and learn what to do, I sure would appreciate your suggestions.

Regards,
Stubb

[FullTang]

A while ago someone said that Sharpshooter had made a prototype .68 RB mold for them that would cast 8 or 10 at a time. I haven't heard or seen anything about that since; anyone have an update? That would be a great solution for fast casting RB plinking.

[jmort]

Sharpshooter sent me a prototype and Ajay sent me his as well. They work real good.. They will make them if you ask. Since I am in the process of moving/packing, I hit the jackpot of hidden/forgotten treasures, two NIB HM2 molds I ordered at .679, marked .680, three cavity and real nice. How do I forget cool stuff like this? Found the original thread which I posted/linked below. Miss ole JT he was a handy guy to have around. Still would like to get a Lee group buy at .678.

HM2, Round Ball molds, you pick your size
The time is apon us to finly start the group buy on round balls. All the prices and options are on my website. Go to the Round Ball section and find you size.

I am away from the shop till Monday so just post here what you want and we will use this thread as the group buy list. I will start running these as soon as I get back to the shop so get your orders in. If you have any questions send me a PM and I will get back to you.

The mold blocks are our standard 3" long 7075-T6 aluminum blocks. Right now the largest I can do is a 3 cav around .680 or so in this block. As you go smaller I can do more cavs. I test cut a .680 mold for my 12ga befor I left and it came out great. A lot of people will ask me about size tolerance. And to that I say I cut them to drop as close to your desired size as possible. Thing I found put about pure lead is you can get it to drop just about any size with in a + or - .002 range. I don't have a lot of experience casting round balls out of pure but the casting I did with the .680 showed that the larger thy get the harder it is to nail it spot on in size. Like I said I do my very best but there is tolerance I take into account when making them. With my 680 mold I swore I cut it small. Then I cranked the heat even higher and it fell right on size. Then I went hotter and it went a tad .001-.002 over my desired size. The onley reason I bring this up is to make you aware of this in your selection of your round ball size.
Price is determined by the size of the round ball and the number if cavs. I have all the pricing on my web site. Just select round balls and look for your size range and then select the number of cavs. Less cavs are less money so each cav you remove drops the price by a set amount for that ball size range. If you have any questions send me a PM and I will get back to you.
Thanks guys

Here is the group buy list. double check your order to make sure I got it down correct.
some people requested ball sizes in a higher cav count than can fit in our mold blocks. I changed these to the correct cav count.

quasi: 1@ .688
jmortimer: 2@ .679
turbo1889: 2@.411 5cav, 2@.679 3cav, 1@.626 3cav
redriverhunter: 1@.411 5cav
WMB30: 1@.610 .3cav
nanuk: 1@.679 3cav
curator: 1@.480 3cav
Dean D:1@.590, 1@.424, 1@.311
Buckshot Bill: 2@.330 6cav
rxp46: 1@.495 4cav, 1@.575 3cav
Grantb: 1@.624 3cav
masscaster: 1@.311 6cav
huntnman: 1@.679 3cav
SNEAKY NL: 1@.311 6cav

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?242600-HM2-Round-Ball-molds-you-pick-your-size&p=2790151#post2790151

[longbow]

I use Winchester "yellow" wads can't recall the number currently. I have pink (1 oz. IIRC) and two different yellow which I think are 1 1/8 oz. and 1 1/4 oz. Petal thickness does vary a bit but the 0.678" ball is a good fit in most.

Again, I use at least one nitro card wad in the bottom of the cup then a scoop of COW or cornmeal on that then the ball. Nitro card wads and filler are adjusted to get good crimp depending on wad used.

Also, I generally use a slowish powder for round ball/slugs like Blue Dot or IMR4756 but one of the advantages of using the 0.678" ball is that it weighs just over an ounce depending on alloy so any 1 oz. or 1 1/8 oz. birdshot or slug load can be used and there are about a zillion birdshot and lots of slug load recipes to choose form for mild to wild velocities and resultant recoil.

These should be very good loads to 50 or maybe 60 yards then groups start to open up due to random spin picked up by the ball. Sometimes good to 100 yards and sometimes not but to 50 yards they are dependable.

I like 'em anyway.

Longbow

[FullTang]

Thanks for the feedback on the Sharpshooter molds; I'll check with Rick Plank about this! Really seems like the way to go if you're looking for high-volume plinking ammo.

[cpileri]

Here is a great pic of which size wad to use w your round ball. need to slug your bore first.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?190170-Shooting-round-balls-Range-report&p=2109160&highlight=#post2109160

[cpileri]

I wish Ajay were still around.
Just sayin'

[jmort]

"I wish Ajay were still around.
Just sayin'"

Ain't that the truth. Miss that man. He was all about freely sharing really solid information. He is still progressing but ever so slowly.

[Hogtamer]

Count me with Cpileri and Jmort....if you had to pick one thread with the most slug loading info from a lot of contributors it would be the long VDOmemories one.

[marguerite]

Hi, I'm working on a show about the War Between the States and I'm looking for images of bullets being cast. If you have any photos or drawings you'd be open to sharing on our program, please reach out to me at margueritedtv at gmail dot com. Thank you!