Help with Lee 7/8 oz slug mold load data

[Mleon]

Hi I am new to loading slugs and just purchased a Lee 7/8 oz mold, Lyman shotshell manual and a Lee Load All. I am having trouble finding all the components (wads primers and shells) listed in the Lee load data that came with the mold. The Lyman book clearly says do not stray from listed load data. Do you guys think it is a REAL problem to swap hulls, wads and primers as long as you stick with the listed powder charge? I am having problems finding the one piece Hulls listed in the book on line. How often do you guys swap hulls and wads and use the cheap straight walled hulls with insert at base? Has anyone had any luck with Fiocchi, BPI or Rio, etc hulls because these are the only ones you can find in stock. Yes I tried FC45LC on you tube and cant find the products he mentioned. Any load data with the available hulls and wads that are fairly accurate at 50 yards will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your help and wisdom.

[SuperBlazingSabots]

Greetings Mleon, welcome to our Nitro Express Load forum. W are all in it to win it, no rocket science here.
What you need is
A. clear 16 mm Fiocchi hulls.
B. Trap Commander wads.
C. You will need two 16 gauge .170 ga darker nitro cards to below slug in wad.
Look at the last one on the right with 7/8 Oz Lee slug. You want the top of the slug sticking out to help open the fold crimp without mangling the wad petals.
https://i.imgur.com/CigHhnF.jpg
If you notice powder seeping through then:
https://i.imgur.com/9yvwgC3.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/8SVSz3X.jpg

If you are using a smoothbore then please do this push through back wards without the nitro card for your own safety:
https://i.imgur.com/2nkY5pd.jpg
Please also check the barrel at the muzzle its OD and report back.
https://i.imgur.com/qhrOkRZ.jpg
I'll will keep updating my part so be on the look out.
Do not roll crimp instead fold crimp.
Some of the Lee loads that come with the mold are very hot ! !
Don't go above 31 to 32 gr of HS6, I'll soon load more information to help you.
Learn to read the pressure signs and extraction marks:
https://i.imgur.com/M559kBH.jpg

It might help by making this depth gauge of your own:
https://i.imgur.com/xvf8KPn.jpg
The " O " rings from a Dollar store.
https://i.imgur.com/l6JRnKc.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/8rfw5i6.jpg
This is a fun hobby and once you learn to cook your own it get better with time.

Hoping it helps.
Best regards,
Ajay Madan
Super Blazing Sabots

[Mleon]

Thank you so much for the reply, this helps and gets me almost there. Of course my local store doesn't have HS-6. Any luck with tite-group, which is what I already have

[SuperBlazingSabots]

Mleon, I did all my testing with 14 different powders but Tite-group is not one of them.
Other shooters who use Tite group will gladly come and help out.
In the meantime cast your slugs and order the Trap commander wads from BPI and the Fiocchi clear hulls along with 16 ga .170 darker nitro cards.
Do the push through backward test without the nitro card in the wad to check for fit, it should be 5 to 10 lbs pressure fiction fit.
Herco, Blue Dot, HS 6, Unique and Universal will be good.
Hoping it helps.
Best regards,
Ajay Madan
Super Blazing Sabots

[Mleon]

..Also cant find 16ga 0.170 nitro cards. I can only find 12 ga 0.170 at Ballistic products or 0.125" at midway in 16 or 20ga. Do you think I should go with the 12 Ga? thanks again

[SuperBlazingSabots]

Mleon, If you can't find 16 ga then go for 20 gauge nitro cards.
The top of th slug must be sticking out so use two or three nitro cards below the slug in wad.
Best regards,
Ajay Madan
Super Blazing Sabots

[Mleon]

I was only able to pick up Universal powder yesterday. Can you please recommend load range data with Universal? Thank you

[SuperBlazingSabots]

Good morning Mleon, here is the Universal loading data too.
https://i.imgur.com/i2DeHFj.jpg
Raise the Lee slug to the point that it looks like this in wad:
https://i.imgur.com/tp5FTLC.jpg
Put one .125 nitro card in the wad base cavity to re-enforce the wad, will only help ! !
Hoping it helps.

Ajay Madan
Super Blazing Sabots

[Mleon]

Thanks you are the best!

[longbow]

Take a look in the BPI Load of the Week archives too. They have some Lee data though they tend to use BPI products:

https://www.ballisticproducts.com/load14_04_25.htm

https://www.ballisticproducts.com/loadoftheweekarchive.htm

My take is that if a recipe calls for a straight walled hull like Fiocchi, Federal or others, they are very similar though base wad may be thicker or thinner. I get a wad column sorted out to suit. I have done most of my slug shooting using Fiocchi 2 3/4" hulls. Lately I've been using Federal Field hulls. I like the Fiocchi's better.

However, the compression formed hulls are a different animal and loads are not interchangeable.

Primers too. Not all 209 primers are the same so don't go randomly substituting primers without knowing their characteristics. They are not like rifle or pistol primers and each brand of shotgun primer performs differently. Tom Armbrust has published pressure test reports on shotshells with primer substitutions and crimp substitutions and you would be surprised at how much pressure can change with a simple primer sub... up to 3000 PSI! So sub a primer and put a heavier crimp on a load developing 11,000 PSI and it could become 14,000 PSI or more! Or... it could go the other way! If an 8000 PSI load it may become a blooper.

You can use equivalent weight birdshot loads for the slug too so it can be as simple as substituting the slug for shot and space it up on some nitro card wads to get good crimp height.

Having just gotten a Lee 7/8 oz. slug mould myself and using too slow a powder... I'd say stick to 1 oz. load data or lighter to suit that 7/8 oz. slug. Not sure what I was thinking but I used Unique which is good under 1 oz. slugs but the 7/8 was just too light and maybe too little bore friction so I got 3 bloopers out of 10 shots! Not good. Going to Green Dot I got much better results.

I have to say that I am pretty happy with both Lee slug moulds. I have the old style in 1 oz. and new style in 7/8 oz. I had to do a bit of deburring on the 1 oz. mould to get slugs to release from the core pin but they drop off easily now. The 7/8 oz. mould isn't bad as delivered, a little sticky but not bad. Both I think are good value for the price.

Back to slug recipes, it is best to stick to published recipes whenever possible and minimize substitutions. I don't worry about wads much as long as they are cushion leg and fit. Be careful of primer subs unless you know what you are doing. There are some more or less equivalents but some are not by a long shot.

Slug data is a bit scarce so I recommend buying a few manuals and go to powder manufacturer's websites for data. You can never have too much load data!

Longbow

[Mleon]

Great info thanks. I see the need for my lead sled and a long string.:bigsmyl2:

[longbow]

Now there's a guy that's thinking ahead. I just go to the range, sit at the bench and recoil a few more brain cells to death each trip. The dumber I get the less the recoil hurts though so there is that as an upside!

[Hogtamer]

I shot a bunch today loaded in Fed hulls and primers with 39 gr HS-6 in a wad like the trap commander with a 20, then a 16 ga hard card, fold crimp. All would have gone in your hat at 50 yds shot from police 870 w/ic choke, red dot in a stout crosswind. Got a date with some pigs next week.

[Mleon]

Ive had my share of black and blue shoulders trying to sight in slug scopes. Shoulder pads help too.

[dsh1106]

I shot a bunch today loaded in Fed hulls and primers with 39 gr HS-6 in a wad like the trap commander with a 20, then a 16 ga hard card, fold crimp. All would have gone in your hat at 50 yds shot from police 870 w/ic choke, red dot in a stout crosswind. Got a date with some pigs next week.

I've only shot a handful of .678 RB loaded with 38 gr of HS-6. The first two shots were accurate, but the operator got a little punchy after that. My Mossberg 500 beats me the **** out of me with that charge, I couldn't imagine shooting 39 or 40 grs of HS-6

Scott

[Hogtamer]

85 gr less weight than the .678 so not too bad....

[longbow]

Sounds like you've got that dialed in pretty well Hal. The pigs better be scared!

Out of curiosity, what is the pig limit there? Is it pretty much open season since they are a pest? Also, I can't recall if you've mentioned but do you bowhunt pigs?

[Hogtamer]

no season, no limit. The only thing I hunted with for 20 yrs or so was a recurve bow. Killed maybe 200 pigs and a bunch of deer.

[SuperBlazingSabots]

Hello Dsh1106, Lee 1oz slug the load data calls for 36 gr charge and most can't take it and have settled for 30 to 32 gr charge of HS6 for Lee Drive Key 1 oz.
You need to come down to say 31 gr then gradually come up .5 grains till you are comfortable. ( 31.5, 32, 32.5, 33, 33.5, 34 load one each and keep watching the hulls for pressure signs, besure to use newer hull for this )
Fire them on the same target and you might see the point of impact come up with speed.

Hoping it helps.

Ajay Madan
Super Blazing Sabots

[longbow]

I am not much of a hunter, more shooter and tinkerer both with gun and bow. I have hunted and have no problem with hunting it just isn't high on my to do list. I'm more of a fly fisherman when it comes to "food". I do like bird hunting though. However, while I don't want to say "I wish we had pigs here so I could hunt them" because I know they are a problem, I do wish I had access to pigs to hunt them. I'd be out with my .44 Marlin, 12 ga. and bow!

Last time we went to Hawaii I wanted to hunt pigs and figured it would be "easy" because they are a pest there but nope! Us foreigners still need all the licensing and a guide even to bowhunt pigs. I can see issues with guns and non-residents but bows or crossbows!?! And hunting for invading pests!?! Anyway, I wasn't going to pay for a guide, that would put me over budget (we're economy travelers).

I guess having pigs to hunt is a mixed blessing. Nice to be able to hunt them but you'd likely rather be rid of them.

Longbow

[Hogtamer]

Op said he was loading 7/8. In the chart above for 7/8 there is a load for 42 gr HS-6. I loaded 3 grn less, you could get by with 34-35, just don't want to risk squibs in the Fed hull.