Well, I finally got around to modifying my mould and making up a few slugs.
I have a selection ~ starting form the left of the photo:
- 0.654" TC solid with hot melt glue skirt (originally from a mould designed by someone else to be used with steel shot wads)
- 0.685" TC solid with hot melt glue skirt ~ this one has a nose band at 0.685" and body at 0.662" for use in shotcup
- Lee Drive Key slug with glue skirt
- 0.685" TC hollow base with heavy skirt (0.100"+) ~ same mould as used for the solid with glue skirt
All for 12 ga. smoothbore and all fit into shotcups.
Weights vary but all are between 1 oz. and 500 grs.
I have tested the 0.654" slugs several years ago and they worked quite well when patched up to fit standard shotcups so I left the frustrating (to me anyway) world of hollow base slugs and headed down Brenneke lane. Well, the lane has had some potholes! Anyway, these had given some pretty good accuracy so I thought I would make some more and retest.
I also took what I thought were "best features" and made a slightly larger version with a larger nose band and body to fit directly into a standard shotcup with no patching. So far these have not done too well but I have improved my cast on skirts. These ones were drilled through for screws but normally I use a pin to leave a screw hole in the base.
The Lee Drive Key slug with glue skirt was my lazy man's way of making a Brenneke and so far they aren't doing badly turning in under 6" groups at 50 yards in the first round. These also have improved cast on skirts. That taper of the slug was a bit of a problem but I made a new skirt form to accommodate the taper and these came out nicely.
The TC slugs with glue skirts have screws run into the base to retain the glue skirt.
Last is the TC hollow base. While I had given up on hollow base slugs because I have had about every type and thickness skirt distort, I decided to give them another go because if I can get them to work they are quicker and easier to make.
The goal here is decent accuracy at 100 yards from smoothbore 12 ga.
To 50 yards, and maybe to 60/70, yards it is tough to do better than a round ball in my experience. However, somewhere out past 50 yards they start to veer off course randomly and by 100 yards groups tend to be large and/or there are fliers too far out of group.
So, I have been trying to produce a slug and load that will shoot into 6" or less at 100 yards... consistently. It has been a long haul and I have not succeeded with home made slugs and loads.
I have gotten some 6" +/- groups using BPI AQ slugs and factory Foster slugs of a couple of brands but not yet with home made slugs and loads.
I hope to get these tested this coming weekend. Range report to follow. I will be punchy after this round as I will have to shoot at least 10 of each from the bench to be sure of groups being good or not so good. 40 to 50 rounds of slug loads usually beats me up some. A heavier gun would be nice but shoulder padding will have to do.
Wish me luck and speedy recovery!
Longbow