385 gr .459 as. 20g slug 7\8 oz

[Soundguy]

Has anyone tried this? Using a 385 gr .459 as a 20g 7/8 oz slug load, putting it inside the shot cup of the wad just like a Lee slug?

[megasupermagnum]

It would not even be close to working. A .575" diameter bullet is about right for in a wad cup for a 20 gauge.

[Soundguy]

Good point. Sounds like I need an appropriate weight 58 call ball / Minnie or REAL bullet then.

[megasupermagnum]

The Lee 575-472M works pretty good in 20 gauge if you are willing to shoot that much weight. It shot decent for me in a Mossberg 500. At that point though, I feel you are better off to shoot a full bore diameter bullet of .625", depending on your groove diameter. Something like the Accurate 62-425S. I might even try as heavy as the the 62-550B.

[Soundguy]

Interesting, thanks for the ideas.

Ps, I am glad I started with 12g then tried 20g. If I had started with 20 I might have quit.
Looked over the books today.. Settled on hero or unique for loading. Made up a few onsies of #4 target loads.tested.
Settled on unique because it has data for the widest range of hulls. ( I currently have rem, win AA and generic win). ( I had to hunt and find loads for waa20 wads as they are all I have.. But I did find a couple loads per hull type at least.).


I have about 60 generic win, 17 AA and 28 Remington.

Now... Crimping...

The rem crimp absolutely beautiful.
The AA crimp generally good... Once in a while you get an odd crimp..but still clean enough.

The generic win..striated hulls... Omg ***! I can't get a single acceptable crimp. I gave up after a dozen or so. Tried the second crimp starter on the load all..didnt help. Made sure length was good..etc. Every one has a deformed crimp. I mean... The will shoot... But dam.. Putting that bag aside for now.

What the heck?? Why good on the rem and mostly on as and not at all on generic win???

Am I missing something?

[MarkP]

LEE 58 Target Mini works well IIRC it is 1.125 oz

[bcp477]

I use a 54 caliber swaged lead ball (0.530" actual diameter)...placed inside a loose wrapped paper cup...inside a Claybusters wad. The ball is just a bit undersized for the wad (a 0.55" diameter ball would be about perfect as is)...so the paper cup serves to take up the extra space. You NEVER want a payload to be able to rattle around loosely inside the shot cup, as it will ruin accuracy.

The balls I use are about 225 grains. The load is: 14.0 grains of Hodgdon International powder, the aforementioned Claybusters wad (either CB 1075-20 or CB 1078-20)...the paper cup...1 overshot card on top...and paraffin wax to seal the shell. (I do NOT crimp my shells, as crimping just ruins the plastic hull).

I get 3" groups at 50 yards, through a cylinder bore, 20 gauge, side by side shotgun, with 20" barrels...over open sights. At 25 yards, the balls will almost go through one hole.

By the way, I would NOT recommend using an actual bullet, such as a Minie ball, as you have no stabilization with a smooth bore barrel. A round ball will fly accurately...a bullet will most likely tumble.

I don't know what velocity this load produces, but I am guessing around 1500- 1600 fps.

[barkerwc4362]

The Lee 58-440 REAL works very well in my 870 Remington rifled barrel. I use the Ballistic Products TC-20 wad, and consists of the TC-20 with the pedals removed, a 20 ga 3/8” fiber wad, a TC-20 shot cup, a 28 ga 1/8” fiber wad, and then a Lee 58-440 REAL. This is used in a new Cheddite 3” hull, Cheddite 209 primer, and 25.0 gr SR-4756 (in a once fired hull use ¼” in place of the 3/8”, I don’t know why, it just won’t fit otherwise) This also works with a Fiocchi 3” hull, Fiocchi 616 primer, and 24.0 gr Longshot (See middle wad stack in image below). Another load I found uses a WAA-20 wad, and consists of the WAA-20 with the pedals removed, a 20 ga 1/4” fiber wad, a WAA-20 shot cup, a 28 ga 1/4” fiber wad, and then a Lee 58-440 REAL. This is used in a Federal 3” hull, Winchester 209 primer, and 20.5 gr Longshot (See bottom wad stack in image below). All will stay in the 10 ring of an NRA SR-1 target at 50 yards.
Bill

[Soundguy]

Good stuff to think about.