12 gauge Slug equipment?

[dk17hmr]

Last weekend I bought a Ithaca 66 buckbuster in 12 gauge, its a smooth bore with rifle sights, I only gave $110 for it.

I have never loaded shotgun before so what type of equipment would I need to do so, not looking to make shotshells just slug loads.

Does anyone make a slug that will work out of a smooth bore that will give a good group out to 50 yards for deer hunting?

[kycrawler]

lee and lyman both make slug moulds i use the lee mould and it shoots fine for deer or 3 gun match i did have to work with the load data some as imho some of the data the provide is pretty stout

lee slug win aa hull win white wad and 36 gr of herco was giving me 1600 fps and would unlock the action of a mossberg 500 the remington would stay locked but recoil was stiff with both i have since worked a load wo get it down to 1200 for hunting loads and 950 for 3 gun stuff

if you do use the lee put a 20 ga nitro card wad in between the wad and slug this cut my groups in half as the wads seemed to be pushing into the base of the slug

if you want some lee slugs to try out i can send you some

[dk17hmr]

A guy cant load 12 gauge on a normal RCBS Rock Chucker, can he?

I see soem Lee Load All presses on ebay rather cheap, is that what I need to load slugs?

[kycrawler]

yes i use a lee load all that i bought on ebay i dont use the powder or shot function just the sizer , prime and crimp parts , takes a while to get used to crimping but even the ugly crimps shoot ok i use a lee dipper to measure the powder you can also load your own buckshot cheap after you get the press and wads hulls i use a 2 cavity lee .311 round ball mould to make buck shot pellets six cavity mould would be lots better/faster but the $15 for the 2 cav sealed the deal

[DLCTEX]

Lyman Shotshell Handbook #3 has great info on reloading buckshot and slugs, including roundballs. Dale

[mparks]

Shoot me a PM if you're interested in a Lyman 12ga mould. It's old Minie ball type not the newer airgun pellet shape.

[JMax]

I use a .678" Lyman round ball (1 1/16 oz) spru up in a WW 1oz wad sitting on top of 2 1/8" 20 ga nitro wads and use any trap or field equivalent load. Mild recoil and accurate out beyond 50 yds.

[crowbeaner]

Loading shotgun slugs is a study in itself. There are several types and weights, and only the gun knows which load it prefers. You have to load them carefully and watch you loading technique. DON"T fold crimp if it says roll crimp! Follow the directions and throw your charges with a measure not a bushing. The companies have pressure equipment, and they have tried the listed combinations. I'm still trying to find a happy combination that my A5 likes. I've tried 8 different loads with 2 different slugs and still don't have an accurate combo. Load 5-10 of each and try them in your gun; that's the only way to find out. CB.

[longbow]

crowbeaner:

What sort of accuracy are you getting? Or for that matter, what sort of accuracy is anyone getting from a smoothbore?

I am currently playing with several round ball moulds and Foster slug moulds. I have round ball moulds to fit shotcups like JMax and some up to bore size. So far with home loaded slugs the round balls in shotcups give the best and consistent accuracy but not great at about 6" at 50 yards.

The Fosters have been terrible. No keyholes just very large groups. Paper patching helped but I still got fliers.

Oddly factory loaded Fosters have been pretty good. My Lyman mould is very much undersized though at 0.705" so that can't be good for accuracy.

I have also tried AQ slugs and Brennekes and found both quite accurate from the smoothbore. The AQ's gave me 6" groups at 100 yards and I only had 1 box of 25 so not extensive testing and load development. They are a little pricey to shoot lots of but they do shoot well.

All shot out of a Browning BPS with factory slug barrel having an I/C choke and open sights.

The bore size balls won't be going through this barrel - the squeeze through the choke (0.711") may be a bit much.

Longbow

[EMC45]

I have had great results with Remington Slugger Slugs. I was shooting them out of a Rem Wingmaster W/20 in. rifle sighted barrel. It is a smoothbore imp cyl barrel in 12 ga. I have pushed them out to about 75 yds and they will hold nice and tight. Let us now how it turns out.