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Ambrose
01-31-2016, 11:43 PM
There are, it seems far fewer 12 ga slug molds than we might like, but here are he ones that I'm aware of so far:

Lee:

-1oz drive key: A readily available single cavity aluminum mold priced in the low to mid $20s results appear mixed from my reading ( i ahve oen but havent' used it enough to be able to give a really accurate take on it yet)

-7/8 oz drive key: A readily available single cavity aluminum mold priced in the low to mid $20s (from what I have read, he 7/8ths seems to generally b felt to be more accurate and it uses a bit less lead, so is probably the more desirable of the two, though their price is low enough to not be a major issue)

Lyman

Lyman 525 Sabot Mold: A single cavity iron (as I recall) mold. price is around $70, does not come with handles (which are another $35 or so). the Lyman 525 is generally considered more accurate than the lee drive key molds, and to be a better hunting round. that holds true in Smoothbore, and doubly so in rifled.


Forster Mold: A single cavity iron ( as i recall) mold. price is around $70, does not come with handles 9which are another $35 or so). The mold has a reputation for dropping und4rsize slugs that are highly inaccurate.

Hammerhead Slug mold from Slugsrus
A newer slug offering, the hammerhead is a specialty slug that is only meant for use in their specialty sabot wads (which run a fairly expensive $0.40 each). Reported results are pretty good in smoothbores ( I can't recall if there are an rifled reports). The mold is basically a single cavity Lee, but with a custom machined slug shape, and runs just under $70.. ( handles included)


am I missing any, or misjudging any?

jmort
02-01-2016, 01:01 AM
The .678" and .735 Lyman Round balls will do as "slugs"

FullTang
02-01-2016, 01:29 AM
Don't forget the Lee .690 round ball; cheap to buy and easy to use. Most of us wish that Lee made this in .680, to fit in most wads, but it can still be made to work well in smooth or rifled barrels.

longbow
02-01-2016, 02:47 AM
Also, don't forget Accurate Molds has a good selection of solid 12 ga. slugs for rifled guns and Brooks has made custom slug moulds for members as well. (turbo1889 for one).

And another round ball mould that works well is the Lyman 0.662" ball mould for ball in a shotcup. Oh! And the Lyman 0.715" ball mould though like the 0.690" ball it is too big for shotcups (0.690" apparently fits some) so would need a donut wad or inverted shotcup or something to keep it centered.

bikerbeans
02-01-2016, 01:37 PM
+1 for Brooks Mold & Knife, I had them make a 10 ga HB mold and they did a great job.

BB

jmort
02-01-2016, 01:49 PM
There are also the .50 cal sabots from BPI and Slugs R Us, and the 12-58 Hubel Sabots which work well as slugs with cast bullet slugs of .50" or .575".

Smoke4320
02-01-2016, 02:13 PM
MiHec makes a 2 cav brass copy of the Lyman 525 GR 12 ga

bottomline
02-01-2016, 09:43 PM
I tried the BPI RSS rigid sabot, but could not get it to perform with any consistency (I was using a Sierra 50 cal j-word). crazy wild shots sometimes 12" apart at 50 yards.

In addition to the RSS sabot I had to add 3/8" felt wad to fill the space between the powder and sabot.

Maybe I wasn't doing something right. I looks like it should work,maybe I'll try a CB.

Blood Trail
02-05-2016, 03:28 PM
I tried the BPI RSS rigid sabot, but could not get it to perform with any consistency (I was using a Sierra 50 cal j-word). crazy wild shots sometimes 12" apart at 50 yards.

In addition to the RSS sabot I had to add 3/8" felt wad to fill the space between the powder and sabot.

Maybe I wasn't doing something right. I looks like it should work,maybe I'll try a CB.

You should never place a felt wad between the powder and sabot. Use a gas seal. I like X12X or BPGS. I was working these loads using .500 SW 350 gr XTP with great results until my data book got washed in the rain so now I'm back to square one.

Blood Trail
02-05-2016, 03:33 PM
So far, the easiest slug to get accurate for me was the Hammerhead Slugs. The only time I've shot them I got 2-3 inch groups at 50. Plan on playing around with them a bit more once I clean my garage. 160021

Blood Trail
02-05-2016, 03:35 PM
Here's the blue sabots with 25 grs if Longshot at 50 yards. That's on the light side as I was only getting about 1100 fps. 160023

MarkP
02-05-2016, 04:41 PM
The 525 gr Lyman mold works well in my rifled 12 ga guns, better than the 1 oz Lee. As mentioned above 0.690" round balls work as well.

The Lee 575-470M (Target Mini) works well in a rifled 20 ga;
Could make a similar 12 ga mold using an 11/16" to drill out an old lee mold.