Dondalinger
10-31-2008, 07:56 PM
Hello, I am new here and have been reading about the Lee Drive Key slug for a few weeks. I live here in Eastern Virginia and some counties only allow shotguns for deer hunting. I currently have 2 rifled slug guns and simply cannot afford to shoot them much with factory ammo. I have been reloading rifle and handgun cartridges for years and decided to give the Lee slugs a try to save some cash. I had never cast any bullets prior to this experiment. I was able to get some old lead plumbing pipe (pure lead) and smelted it down into ingots. I ordered the Lee 1 ounce drive key mold, bought a MEC 600 Jr press and purchased all the components. After casting about 75 slugs, I put together 8 rounds and tested them this evening. Someone had mentioned the problem of the wad column being driven into the base of the slug causing erratic flight. Another had suggested placing a 20 ga nitro under the slug and yet another suggested lubing the slug with bore butter. I loaded 4 slugs using the bore butter and 4 dry. I feel the dry did better. The lubed ones casued the petals from the wad column to shear off. The dry ones did not. I did not get any that had the hummingbird whine going downrange. The slug did leave a slight imprint of the drive key inside the wad. I'm under the impression this is normal and gives the slug its spin.
Anyway, I shot 8 shots at 60 yards using my Mossberg 695 bolt action fully rifled with 22" barrel. I did not have a real good rest, so the groups are not spectacular, but IMO are decent for a first time trial.
I will continue to fine tune the load. I am looking forward to trying it out this year on a whitetail.
Thanks to all for the useful information I have gotten from this site.
I really enjoyed smelting the lead into ingots and casting the bullets.
Here is a recipe for the load I used.
Charge- 34 grains HS-6
Primer- Win. 209
Hull- Federal top gun 2 3/4"
Wad- Federal 12S3
Lee 1 ounce drive key cast from pure lead
The target on the left was the lubed slugs (notice the sheared petals)
Keep in mind, this was from a semi stable rest. I'm sure with a solid rest and a Bulls Bag, the groups will be much better.
Regards, Don Dalinger
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y133/DONDALINGER/DriveKey.jpg
Anyway, I shot 8 shots at 60 yards using my Mossberg 695 bolt action fully rifled with 22" barrel. I did not have a real good rest, so the groups are not spectacular, but IMO are decent for a first time trial.
I will continue to fine tune the load. I am looking forward to trying it out this year on a whitetail.
Thanks to all for the useful information I have gotten from this site.
I really enjoyed smelting the lead into ingots and casting the bullets.
Here is a recipe for the load I used.
Charge- 34 grains HS-6
Primer- Win. 209
Hull- Federal top gun 2 3/4"
Wad- Federal 12S3
Lee 1 ounce drive key cast from pure lead
The target on the left was the lubed slugs (notice the sheared petals)
Keep in mind, this was from a semi stable rest. I'm sure with a solid rest and a Bulls Bag, the groups will be much better.
Regards, Don Dalinger
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y133/DONDALINGER/DriveKey.jpg