Hi all,I am an experienced UK reloader of pistols and full bore rifles but new to shotgun slug reloading. I have a Hatsan MPA and want to shoot slug from it with a view to shooting what in the UK is known as Target Shotgun. My Hatsan ejects almost everything commercial,shotshells,slug,buckshot. It wont eject my reloads! At the moment,because it is a cheaper option,I am cutting off the petals of shotshells and replacing the shot with a slug to my own design which is carefully sized to my bore diameter which is .720" It drops straight in the de-pettalled case and is then roll crimped. It is very accurate at 20 yards,all the holes touching in a 6 round group standing, supported but doesnt eject every time .If it does the cases just fall at my feet wheras the commercial slug,buck and shot fly as they should about 6 er 8 feet. I have tried lots of different powders,which are difficult to obtain at the moment but the ejection is aways poor. My latest theory is that my slug is such a good ,slide fit in the bore that it is not creating enough back pressure to reliably work the action. As I understand it,shot tends to bunch up on firing and create more pressure than a bore riding slug. Commercial slugs are probaly bigger and buck is just quick. They all work. A friends reloaded shell worked OK and he tells me it is .732" diameter,some .012" bigger! I was initially concerned when I starte slug reloading about too tight a fit leading to pressure overload but perhaps I have been too cautious and need a bit more diameter. As an engineer ,I am able to produce most of my tooling and the mould is a bit like a cotton reel so has a small bearing surface which can squash down .
After all this preamble,i think my question to all you experience sluggers is how tight can I make the slug to allow the pressure to increase a bit. Has anyone got any figures of how much force it needs to push a slug down a barrel. At present my slug can be simply pushed through the barrel with light taps from the cleaning rod. Any info on how tight it should be? I have seen 10 pounds force for a plastic wadded slug but mine is just lead.
Any comment would be helpful.
I should add that I am rubbish with computers and dont know much about Forums!