Tests of LEE 7/8 oz slug with Blue Dot

[Adam604]

Hi Folks,

Adam604

I've been doing a bit more research and reloading of 12 gauge slugs:

I've performed a few test loads:

Federal Hull
Winchester W209 Primer
35 grains Blue Dot
Federal 12S3 wad (pink)
1/8 inch Hard wad
1.3 cc COW ( LEE Scoop)
Lee 7/8 oz Key Drive Slug (~370 grains)

Federal Hull
Winchester W209 Primer
36 grains Blue Dot
Federal 12S3 wad (pink)
1/8 inch Hard wad
1.3 cc COW ( LEE Scoop)
Lee 7/8 oz Key Drive Slug (~370 grains)

Federal Hull
Winchester W209 Primer
37 grains Blue Dot
Federal 12S3 wad (pink)
1/8 inch Hard wad
1.3 cc COW ( LEE Scoop)
Lee 7/8 oz Key Drive Slug (~370 grains)

Federal Hull
Winchester W209 Primer
38 grains Blue Dot
Federal 12S4 wad (Brown)
1/8 inch Hard wad
1.9 cc COW ( LEE Scoop)
Lee 7/8 oz Key Drive Slug (~370 grains)

Federal Hull
Winchester W209 Primer
39 grains Blue Dot
Federal 12S4 wad (Brown)
1/8 inch Hard wad
1.9 cc COW ( LEE Scoop)
Lee 7/8 oz Key Drive Slug (~370 grains)


Loaded in a Lee Load ALL 1 press

I weighed each load with a scale.

I loaded 5 rounds of each

What I was testing was the performance of different loads on grouping and recoil

The day was pretty wet, raining pretty hard on and off while shooting a bit windy too I'm using a Mossberg 500 with cylinder bore barrel with a Browning Rifled screw in choke.

The recoil as you can imagine did go up

I really liked the results at 38 grains of Blue Dot.. That was 3 slugs in that hole..

Pictures show the results...

[garandsrus]

Adam,

Where are you putting the Cream of Wheat, inside the slug hollow, on top, or underneath?

Thanks,
John

[Adam604]

John,

I load the Cream of Wheat on top of the hard wad with a Lee scoop, then I press the Lee Slug down on top of it. I found when I use it the petals of the wad don't get torn off very often and the pattern seemed to tighten up about a inch.

Adam

[longbow]

Adam:

I'm assuming those are 100 yard groups again?

Are you using pure lead slug or wheelweights?

Longbow

[Adam604]

Longbow,

Actually all these shots were at 50 yards. I wanted to test the loads at a range where I can mostly subtract the effect of wind and my not so good or consistent shooting ability.

So far I have only cast LEE slugs from WW lead dropped into water at casting.

I use the Lee Loadall so I am crimping all of the hulls with a standard 8 segment crimp.

I try to provide the same force for each load on compressing the wad over the powder when I insert the wad and hard card.

I also try to provide the same force for each load on compressing the COW and the slug.

See my other 2 posts from today about primers and further tests of the 38 grain Blue Dot load

Adam

[longbow]

You might also try softer alloy or pure lead.

I am not positive with the Lee Drive Key slug but certainly my Lyman Foster is quite undersize and with soft lead it "slugs up" and swells to bore size giving me better performance than harder alloys. This is from smoothbore though ~ and accuracy is still far from stellar.

With the Lee, pure lead may slug up and give better fit to the rifling so better more consistent accuracy.

What does Lee recommend?

Longbow

[mikenbarb]

Adam, Im loading the 1 oz. slug and the softer the lead the better they are and it may be why the petals are ripping off. They say pure lead should be used for them but I have used WW lead and it worked fine. The pure lead will most likely make a huge exit hole from the expansion and I have great results when fired into wet phone books with loose pages. Im shooting the 1oz. loads with Herco powder and AA wads and have gotten it down to about a 6"+- group @ 150yds with a Badger fully rifled barrel topped with a Burris 3-9X scope.

[Adam604]

Longbow,

Lee says:

"Slugs must be cast from pure lead. Other alloys, like wheel weights, will stick to the core pin and be nearly impossible to remove. Pure Lead assures proper weight and good expansion"

I've worked on my Lee Slug mold and have deburred and polished the core pin and have no problem with slug drop out.

From what I have read, I don't really need expansion at the target..

But, as you say, it may help it fit the barrel. So when I cast some more slugs I will try some out of stick on wheel weights (supposedly pure lead) and give them a try.

Thanks for the input


Adam

[Johnch]

Witch Federal hull ??
They have at least 4 2 3/4" hulls
The 2 you will run into most often are the Fed. Gold Medal hull , says GoldMedal on the base most of the time
Mainly trap , skeet or sporting clays loads
Plastic base wad

And the Top Gun / Estate / Federal Highpower hull
A fiber or wound paper base

John

[Adam604]

John,

I'm actually new to shotgun reloading and keep forgetting to provide hull data and complete details of my reloading recipe and process... I only load slugs and round ball for shotgun. (I reload and cast several pistol and rifle calibers)

I sort all my Hulls before reloading. I re-use my hulls (Walmart 100 pack Trap&Field fiber base wad) until I start to see blow by around the primer pocket or primers are a loose fit, or that the crimp portion of the hull starts to get rips past the fold area or the crimp area gets too tattered looking.

I do not wash or clean my used hulls. So far I haven't needed too. But the wet season is upon me, so they might be starting to get muddy.

I full length re size all of my hulls with my LEE press before loading. I have not noticed any increase in re sizing effort with this load.

Federal Hull (Walmart 100 pack Trap&Field fiber base wad)
Winchester W209 Primer
38 grains Blue Dot
Federal 12S4 wad (Brown)
1/8 inch Hard wad
1.9 cc COW ( LEE Scoop)
Lee 7/8 oz Key Drive Slug (~370 grains) WCWW
Standard 8 segment crimp

So far I have only cast LEE slugs from WW lead dropped into water at casting. Slug hardness cast this way should be about 18 BHN. I have not lubed my slugs at all as I figure they don't touch anything but the plastic wad.

I now load the powder with my LEE Press. I weighed the amount of powder dropped using the largest powder bushing (six times) and it was several grains low with my lot of Blue Dot. I modified my lee press a bit... I added a shim tube inside of the 7/8 oz shot bushing to drop 38 grains of Blue Dot, (trial and error it took me about 8 tries to get it to work). I have weighed the powder dropped during my last loading session and found it to be pretty consistent, 38 grains +- .1 grains. So I am using the shot hopper to hold my powder.

I am planning on setting up the powder hopper on my LEE press to hold my Cream of Wheat..

I load the Cream of Wheat on top of the hard wad with a Lee scoop, then I press the Lee Slug down on top of it. I found when I use it the petals of the wad don't get torn off very often and the pattern seemed to tighten up about a inch.

I use the Lee Loadall so I am crimping all of the hulls with a standard 8 segment crimp.

I try to provide the same force for each load on compressing the wad over the powder when I insert the wad and hard card.

I also try to provide the same force for each load on compressing the COW and the slug.

The Hard Wad is homemade from cheap 1/8 th inch paneling. I use a 3/4 inch galvanized pipe nipple that I have sharpened with a grinder and hardened to a blue temper and water quenched. It cuts a wad about .626". I can't find any 20 gauge hard cards around where I live, and I am shooting on a budget. Hard cards are available on line, but shipping and handling more than double the cost.

I switched from using the Federal 12S3 wad because I was having crimp issues as the load stack up was too long. The Federal 12S4 wad has a bit shorter cushion section and crimps well with this load stack up.

I re-use my hulls (Walmart 100 pack Trap&Field fiber base wad) until I start to see blow by around the primer pocket or primers are a loose fit, or that the crimp portion of the hull starts to get rips. I am getting about 6-10 reloads per hull.

This load is quite a bit hotter than my earlier loads and recoil is stout. I am not seeing any problems with pressure or extraction of the hulls. Last outing I shot 50 rounds of this load and sported a shoulder bruise from it. I do have a Pachmyr recoil pad on my Mossy. It really helps.

I have a cheap long eye relief scope on my Mossy that I have mounted on the vent rib with a homemade mount using Leupold see through 22 rings. This has really improved my accuracy at even 50 yards, at 100 yards the front bead totally covers the target. With the sight (set to 4x) I can see it pretty well.

The Browning rifled choke tube I am using has really helped tighten up the groups. Before I was getting 4+ inches at 50 yards. At 100 yards I could not even consistently hit a 3'x3' target at all. Now I can get groups of better than 2.5 inches at 50 yards and on NO wind days, less than 5 inches at 100 yards.

I have never shot a target past 100 yards with slugs

This load is also supersonic as there is a very pronounced "Crack" when fired. I do not have a crono, so I do not know the velocity of this load, but I believe it is in the 1450-1550 range at the muzzle. This is supported somewhat by the target impact position compared to expected position from ballistic charts.

Even though this load is fast, the ballistic coefficient of a slug is pretty low and wind drift is significant... a 10 mph breeze from the side will produce a 3 inch drift at 50 yards and over 6 inches at 100 yards... Looking at a ballistic chart was quite illuminating.. I am really going to need to learn about reading the wind! My last outing it was pretty rainy and windy and I didn't take that into account on any of my shots, no wonder my grouping was less than I was hoping for..

Adam