Russian Frag Slug

[nhithaca]

Kind of new here, but have been following the various threads on slugs in smooth bore barrels with great interest.

Got a Russian slug mold off e-bay last year and due to time have not shot it yet. Any suggestions? Used a BPI wad screwed to the base with a 0.040" plastic disk between the slug and the wad to better seat the two.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/152888985@N04/34503294960/in/dateposted-public/
Not sure if photo will come up.

[nhithaca]

Another photo
https://www.flickr.com/photos/152888985@N04/34503292230/in/dateposted-public/

[SuperBlazingSabots]

Greetings Nhithaca, the slug looks very nice and should be very deadly on any game.
Can't wait to hear more about your loading data etc.
You can roll crimp this slug, care to mention the actual slug weight without wad and OD of the slug?

Best regards,
Ajay Madan
Super Blazing Sabots

[nhithaca]

525 grain bare
570 grain w/ brass screw and wad
Cast from COWW alloy, pretty hard. Dropped them in water out of the mold.

Have a roll crimp from BPI, just need to take the time to load some up and get some new hulls for roll crimping.

[SuperBlazingSabots]

Good then you could safely use the Lyman 525 slug in wad loads by just reducing 2 to 3 grains of powder charge and come up 1/2 grain per charge on newer Fiocchi hull till you see this kind of marks:
https://i.imgur.com/M559kBH.jpg
You should do the push through check into the barrel if you are using the smooth bore for your own safety, if water quenching be careful if the push through requires a lot of pressure, the driving bands are not too thick. Might help.
https://i.imgur.com/2nkY5pd.jpg
The Lyman loading data for 525 gr slug in wad
https://i.imgur.com/xj0WdtU.jpg

Have fun loading your own and then come back and teach us all.

Best regards,
Ajay Madan
Super Blazing Sabots

[rancher1913]

if you use fine sandpaper and sand the "fins" a little smaller, then add a touch of tin, you will get complete fill out of the upper ring that holds the 4 pieces together. mine also liked to be run hot, around 800 degrees. took me 2 days of messing with this mold to get slugs that look like the advertised photo. I use a #4 by 1/2 inch screw.

[nhithaca]

I did exactly what you suggested. Front ring is now full circle. I do think I need more tin in the mix. Slug is full diameter @ 0.728" on the two rings.
Used a #4x3/4" screw for the first set, will be changing to a 1/2" size on next set. What wad did you use? I used the BW12 from BPI.
Just ordered some nitro cards and 3/8" fiber wads to try them. Will use what ever screw length fits. If it hangs out a little, it will just be in the powder column and shouldn't bother.

[nhithaca]

Any suggestions for load?

[SuperBlazingSabots]

Good morning Nhithaca, depends on what all powders you have at hand.
You have so many choices of powders, simply drop the charge you choose by 3 gr and then come up .5 gr each time, do keep an eye on the ext. marks for safety.
Quite a few shooters had ordered those molds and will gladly help with their favorite loads.

Best regards,
Ajay Madan
Super Blazing Sabots

[rancher1913]

I am using the gulandi wads like what are in the mold flyer, bpi had a sale on them.

[longbow]

At 570 grs. total weight I'd be looking at my standard Blue Dot load in a straight walled hull. I got the load from Precision Rifle site when they listed their 610 gr. full bore Piledriver slug:

- starting load was 36 grs. Blue Dot in a straight walled hull (quite vague load instructions but I cross referenced to heavy birdshot loads and they seemed reasonable so I tried them)
- top end load was 44 grs. Blue Dot with pressure of 12,500 PSI

I started at 36 grs. and got to 40 grs. That was plenty of recoil for me! I backed the load down to 38 grs. of Blue Dot which was still a potent load. I recently used 36 grs. of Blue Dot under some 565 gr. full bore HB slugs and some similar weight Russian Paradox slugs in Federal field hulls with Federal 209A primers. Not brutal but still gave me a thump!

That Piledriver load has been the basis of many of my slug loads. I am betting it will work for your slug too. I have had good results using Blue Dot with any moderate to heavy slugs (up to 800 grs.) with charge adjusted accordingly.

I tried some Gualandi wads some time ago but found the shotcup style don't have the sturdy cushion leg their DGS slugs have... or the ones I got didn't anyway. The attached wad tended to wind up "bent" after firing and accuracy as mediocre at best. A look at the DGS slug told me why, the difference was quite obvious. Not sure what they have available now though.

Longbow

[KrakenFan69]

I tried some Gualandi wads some time ago but found the shotcup style don't have the sturdy cushion leg their DGS slugs have... or the ones I got didn't anyway. The attached wad tended to wind up "bent" after firing and accuracy as mediocre at best. A look at the DGS slug told me why, the difference was quite obvious. Not sure what they have available now though.

Longbow

I'd love to see a comparison pic.

Kraken Fan #69

[longbow]

I'll have range trip part 3 posted this weekend with some pics of the recovered slugs and Gualandi slugs. Those Russian Paradox slugs suffered the same (similar) skirt damage as the Gaualandi's, that will show up in the pics.

Something I had forgotten about too is that I made a slug mould for Greg Sappington several years ago. This was to his design for a wad slug but solid base with large HP and designed for rifled gun. He didn't get the accuracy he wanted but found they shot fairly well when pressed into unslit CSD wads (IIRC). I have a few of those wads and tried them in my smoothbore. Accuracy wasn't great but not too bad either. That is a fairly simple way to make an attached wad slug.

He had another design that was for use in steel shot wads as well and it turns out that you can do the same thing with unslit steel shot wads. The cushion leg is the weak point there in my experience. If crushes and doesn't return dead in line with the rest of the wad and slug so is a bit like uneven fletching.

I'll see if I have slugs and wads left I can post pics of for interest sake. There may be a wad that works better. These are kinda like Hammerhead slugs. With slug being a tight fit in wad and the whole works stays together.

Longbow

[W.R.Buchanan]

How would that slug work if toned down to about 1200 fps? seems like it should work just fine.

I see it as being devastating on any meat it hits.

Randy

[Collimators]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iG_JOTWLWAWnLcKXL_Dk2irHLfU3lu53/view?usp=sharing