this cant be good....

[Harmon_Greer]

recovered some wads from shooting lee key drive slugs.

they are pretty mangled.

does this affect accuracy or is it just part of shooting these things?

claybuster 12r's

blue dot powder

lee 1 oz

19982

19983

they are pretty chewed up..

is the solution a nitro card under the slug? or wax fill the slug? these were discarded 14 yards from the muzzle and were in a neat stack that leads me to believe they are discarding quickly and not lingering with the slug.

what you think?>

Update!!!

Testing with high zoot factory ammo confirmed my secret assumption that the scope was going bad.

i couldnt hang 10 shots on a 18X18 target backer at 50 yards even with factory foster slugs, BRI sabots, and HORNADY sabot.
the lee and lyman slugs fell into the same boat.

I got to get another scope now, this was a simmons 2.5X shotgun scope bought when i got the gun, which was the FIRST NEF ultra slug gun to hit texas.

Harmon

[Spudgunr]

Do you have a rifled barrel or smooth? You know that it is called the lee "KEY DRIVE" slug right? Putting a nitro card under the slug will completely negate the point of the "key", which is to have the wad jammed into it so that a rifled barrel will impart spin to the slug ("driving" it) while still in the wad. If you have a smooth bore there will likely be no gain or loss would be my guess.

Try it and see! Worst that happens you use a few ounces of lead to see what will help you the most! I haven't done any accuracy testing on mine (and likely never really will, I'll sight it in and thats it, I won't be using them much). Even if somebody tells you "Yes, it helped accuracy tremendously using a nitro card" doesn't mean it will help you, or anybody else, only testing will tell you whether it will help you or not.

The petals getting messed up is probably happening at the choke is my guess. What choke were you using, if any?

[hcpookie]

I've read the slugs are NOT to have the wads stuck to the back side as that affects accuracy. Everything I've read about the slugs indicates you should have a shot card under the slug or fill the voids of the slug with hot glue, etc. to keep the wads from riding into the base of the slug.

I used both under-slug cards (20 gauge) and hot melt glue. I got the results I was looking for with both methods; the cards are easier to use.

[Kskybroom]

?? IMOP ??
The wad in your hand looks ok. Can you see where the slug was at the base of the shot cup? If so the wad is'nt coming apart in the barrel. When slug leaves the barrel the wad rips apart, ie Hits the air an rolls back if the wad is stuck to slug it will affact accurcay. Nito Card stops the wad from driving into the slug. Try to get wad height in the hull so it dont fold over the slug when you crimp the hull, Use a name brand wad thay are a little thicker. Keep trying see what happans.....

[SuperBlazingSabots]

Greetings Harmon Greer
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee75/Dantebeowulf/LeeKeyinFed12S4and12S3wad.jpg
The tight fit of the wad petalls with the slug in it will impart the spin from a rifled barrel. Use 8 point fold crimp.
Ajay
www.PreciousVideoMemories.Com

[Dixie Slugs]

Contrary to what many think....the original design of the Lee Key Slug was not designed for rifled barrels.....although some work has been done along those lines.
The orginal concept was to have the slugs cast from about pure lead. The "key" was to keep any wad from blowing into the base....as most Foster factory slugs do.
Now....the shooter/hunter wanted a harder cast slug and began using the Lee Slug. That works well, if one uses a wad that is smooth inside the petals. In most cases there needs to be a hard nitro card under the slug to adjust the proper crimp index.
Another help is to use a slow burn powder like Blue Dot. Care should be used as to not shoot hard cast Lee Slugs in a choked barrel as it put too much stress on the wad.
The Lee Key Slug is an ideal slug for the average reloader to use....if some simple rukes are followed.
Regards, James

[yondering]

Harmon, I've had similar results with those claybuster waa12r repro wads, with every slug I've tried. Whatever plastic material is used for those, seems to be inferior for slug use, compared to winchester or federal wads.

Another culprit can be if the slug is too soft, it will bump up too much and cut or tear the wad petals off.

Do you have a ported barrel? I'm having trouble with the ports in my rifled barrel tearing one petal off the wads.

[Harmon_Greer]

Unported. Fwiw it does it with winchester wads too. The mossberg rifled barrel does it the worst. I might just shoot em up in my smooth bore police shotgun and be done with lee key drive. I really liked the full bore idea better anyway.

[The10mmKid]

Harmon,
My wads look just as mangled as yours.
I don't think they'll ever look like a shot wad after shooting that solid slug through a choke. (I'm using an IC in a Remmy 870)

I'm using the yellow Claybuster w/HS6 and getting two well defined depressions where the wad deforms into the slug.

Getting ~6" groups at 50yrds. Can't figure that one flyer though.

Kinda fun tweaking things, trying for that elusive LEE Drive Key MOA shot. LoL

'da Kid

[Robertjk]

I use the CB 1114 wad with the Lee 1oz. I glue a 1/8" 20 ga cork wad in the bottom of the hull, mostly to raise the load to get a good crimp, but also to transfer spin to the projectile (I also use a Mossberg rifled). For some reason the wads are less mangled when I use cork as opposed to when I used hardcard. Perhaps the soft cork works as a cushion so that the sress on the wad is somewhat relieved. This combo generally shoots 3" 10 shot groups at at 60yards, which is more than good enough for the thick forest cover I hunt in (Actually I have never shot a deer that was further away than 45 yds)

[Harmon_Greer]

i filled some slugs hollow base with candle wax and trimmed the xcess of the petals off.

switched to Winchester brand wad and HS6 powder to see if i can get any better wad performance. the mossberg barrel has ALWAYs chewed any wad slug wad up regardless of brand.

[Blammer]

harmon, how is your accuracy? that will tell if you need to do something or not.

[Greg5278]

Harmon, measure the slugs when in the wad. See what the actual diameter is. You are shearing off the wads if they are too large, or the petals are of different thickness. I gave up on the normal type wads, asn have been using the CSD wads from BPI. You cannot use the Lee or Lyman slug in them, because the Petals are too thick. My slugs are .658-.664" to fit inside them, they never pinch off petals even in tight bores. I have one rifled bore that is .715" on the lands, and .727" on the grooves. It is common for the regular shot wads to have petal thickness variations of .006-.012" depending on the lot. The CSD series that I have were less than .003" on most of them. I did have one bag that was way out, but they are gone now.
Greg

[Harmon_Greer]

accuracy with the lee slugs is as good as factory winchester 1 oz at 1600 fps foster slugs but without the bore leading problems.

5 inches at 50 yds in the mossberg, less than that in the NEF ultra.

saturday night i get to try them out on hog, despite their shortcomings, i think they are minute of hog right now...

[Harmon_Greer]

bad scope blues, looking for a new scope...

the positive side is they shoot 3-4 inches out of my smoothbore gun...at 45 yards.

[sargenv]

I kind of gave up using any plastic wad and have switched to the old style Alcan gas seal and hard cardboard wad.. I had been cutting off the shotcup of the WAA12-grey wads to made them sit on top of that wad column so they appear to be centered right.. I may switch to some kind of paper patch or Teflon wrap to see if that improves things.. I shoot these out of a smooth bore Browning Gold Hunter with a Carlson extended Improved Cylinder choke. Accuracy is so-so but I've not really done any work on the project since about Last September.. I was getting minute of USPSA Metric target... which isn't all that great..

[Harmon_Greer]

i switched to nearly pure lead with a touch of tin to aid casting and the accuracy improved greatly.

im gonna shoot some more (i have 75 loaded) tomorrow providing the weather holds out.

Harmon

[eye shot]

Looks like too much pressure to me. I don't know how much powder your using but maybe cut back a little. Those wads shouldn't be blown into the slug cavity like your pic show.

[Harmon_Greer]

it doesnt do it with winchester brand wads...but does it with the claybusters.

i found another bag of winchesters in my closet....250 rounds till i have to find something else to shoot..