A new / different idea for a saboted slug

[Johnch]

Not realy a new idea , but a new way to use what I have on hand to load slugs

As I am a duck hunter and reload steel
I have a varity of odd ball wads , that most reloaders don't

I was sitting at the reloading bench , after finishing loading some 45's
I picked up a Lyman slug , designed to be put in a standard wad
Well I had a unslit steel shot wad also sitting in a bag on the bench

For grins I tryed pushing the slug into the wad
A real tight fit , I had to force the wad in
The slug dose apear to bulge the wad a bit and if I need to
I could size the slug slightly
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v312/johnch/slug.jpg

The wad in the pic , is a Balistic products CSD wad for 1 1/8 oz of steel shot
But I also have some designed for 7/8 oz of steel shot
But Balistic products also has lead loading data

I am planning on casting up a bunch more slugs
Then figuring out how much filler card wads I need to take up the excess space inside the wad

I figure the wad should stay with the slug
And act sort of like a Brennike (sp) slug

John

[45 2.1]

I've tried the steel shot unslit wads with buckshot loads. Those held everything in one piece and showed tipping at 50 yards on pattern boards. To get consistent accuracy and a tight pattern, I had to use a wad that was cut halfway down. Old knowledge from when steel shot loads were first introduced.

[Willbird]

Those "airgun pellet" slugs when cast in ww and air cooled look a LOT different after firing, in my experience they swage down to 1/2 their original length.

Bill

[longbow]

It is certainly worth a try.

Did you check for fit in the bore? You may have to size the slug so it doesn't cut the cup against the bore. As long as the fit is tight enough to keep the two together but not so tight as to cut cut the wad on firing it should work.

Slug set back or as Willbird says shotening of the slug may leave it below the mouth of the shotcup after firing though which wouldn't be good. With the slug nose flush with the top of the shotcup it is kind of a home made HammerHead.

Give it a go and let us know results.

Longbow

[Doc Holliday13]

Another bump to see if a conclusion had been arrived at?

[Johnch]

LOL , I plain forgot to post the results

Yes I shot them
Groups were decent , but not as good as factory Lightfeild saboted slugs that I normaly use at 100 yds

Velosity was lower than expected
But I could have probely bumped up the powder charge , as I started out with what I figured was at least 10% less than max ( maybe more )

I have more cast , ready to load
But other projects and work have gotten the way of further testing

John

[longbow]

I tried the same type of wad with a smaller solid slug but found that the cushion was the weak point and got distorted differently each shot ~ at least that is what I think happened.

Accuracy was not very good and holes were oval.

Recovered "sabot" slugs showed uneven cushions which looked like distortion from firing.

I had thought that the cushion legs on these shotcups looked a lot like the cushion legs on DGS slugs but they are not the same and are definitely lighter duty ~ at least for the steel shot wads I used.

Looks like johnch got better results than I did.

It was worth a try anyway!

Longbow