RD, the .690" ball is large enough that it should center itself in a 12 ga. shotcup, you'll probably want a nitro card in the cup under the ball though.
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RD, the .690" ball is large enough that it should center itself in a 12 ga. shotcup, you'll probably want a nitro card in the cup under the ball though.
RD,
I have good luck with a lee 69 cal RB sitting on 20ga nitro cards inside a 12s3 wad. I can't remember if it was one or two 0.125" NCs. Just want the RB to open the crimp not the petals. 23g of unique gives mid 1,300 fps from a 18.5" rifled barrel.
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I'm surprised that a 0.690" RB will fit into the Federal wads. From what Randy said, they are much thicker than the Winchester 1 1/8 to 1 1/4 oz. wads I have right now. Hah! In fact I've said many times I couldn't find many wads they fit in but I have on had right now two different wads they fit! DOH!
However, last time I found a wad they fit in with decent push fit through the bore the petals sheared so no go anyway... but I think those were Claybuster Win clones.
Now that I know I have two different wads they fit, I guess I'll have to try again!
In the right wad they should be a darn good slug as they are a nice weight and almost full bore but should get through a choke if they ever met one so should be choke safe... except maybe for tight full or extra full.
Should be good in a rifled gun though. I think I posted in another thread that TRG3 said he used 0.690" RB's in a shotcup with 2 opposing petals cut off for his USH and he said accuracy was very good.
Seems odd to remove 2 opposing petals as diametral fit is the same with the 2 remaining petals but bore friction would be less. Regardless he said it worked well. Can't recall what shotcups he was using though so not a lot of help.
Not really sure if there is any advantage to using RB's in shotcups over using a 0.735" RB in rifled or smoothbore except for ease of loading. Its nice to just drop a nitro card wad or two in a shotcup then the ball and crimp. Easier than building custom wad columns. That's another reason those Hammerheads are nice, they are all unitized, just load 'em up. I wish they worked in smoothbore! Maybe that's another hint I should get a rifled gun! Or rifled barrel anyway.
Longbow
I use a .662 RB with a Claybuster WAA12 Clone wad with a 1/4" felt wad under the ball. This brings the ball up to where it supports the crimp perfectly.
This is my standard Trap load of 20 gr of Green Dot substituting the ball and felt for the 1 1/8 oz of #8 shot. The wad measures .725 with the ball in place.
The choke on My Tac Gun is .735 (full bore) with a bore that was back bored to .755.
The choke on the Mikuro Slug barrel for the A5 is .715 so the petals will get compressed slightly on the trip thru but should work well.
Hoping the Foster Slugs and the Lyman Sabot Slugs will work thru that barrel as well.
Some interesting things to explore here.
Randy
LB,
The petals are mangled or missing on my 69 cal loads but the RB flies okay. I never try the push thru test. If the loaded shell will chamber i am happy. I shoot these same 69 cal RB loads offhand from a bead sighted Mercury SxS full/full and get 1/2 minute of pie plate at 50 yards.
My thought on round balls and slugs is the OD must be big enough to center the round in the chamber. If the projectile is loose or off center when you pull the trigger it will be off center down the bore. If the projectile is over bore diameter the forcing cone will double as a bullet sizing die.
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