pure lead vs range lead

[barnabus]

would there be a accuracy difference in a using pure vs range lead in a full bore slug out of a rifled barrel . also im powder coating the range lead slug now.if i used pure lead should i powder coat. lubing with standard lube might be messy since the slug is 700 grains accuracy has not been great or consistent,the recoil is pretty heavy and its hard to control the shotgun fps is about 1150

[turtlezx]

why 700 grs ? a 1 oz slug is enough ?

[barnabus]

why 700 grs ? a 1 oz slug is enough ?

why not? and thats pretty much what it takes to shoot a full bore slug

[Bigslug]

The classic rule of thumb for other shooting tasks is that pure lead is best at really slow pistol loads, patched round ball for muzzleloading, and certain paper patched loads for BPCR. Most of us playing in the realm of the middle pistol velocity range of your 1150 fps would choose a 10-12 BHN projectile for the task. This is also roughly the hardness range for the lead/tin rifle bullets of the early cartridge era - usually shot through pretty slow rates of twist similar to rifled shotguns at velocities not a great deal higher.

Where I'm ignorant is in how well are home-cast shotgun slugs typically fit to the bore. Are you counting on obturation to seal, or are you attempting the usual slight over-groove diameter?

Pretty much all my slug experience has been with factory Fosters that are pure lead or close enough as makes no difference, uncoated, unlubed, with only plastic or cardboard wad behind them for sealing - and 99.999% of those have been shot through smoothbores. They leave A LOT of lead fouling behind, which has prompted me to ask a couple factories to try powder coating in the hopes that it would reduce lead exposure for both shooters and armorers, and maybe improve accuracy by provided a more consistent bore condition from one shot to the next - - which of course grease lube will do for you as well.

Dunno. . .I think I'd be inclined to try powder coating for cleanliness and less materials used, but would keep conventional lube in my pocket as the proven tech.

[Manwe]

When I cast hard lead ball it's with WW. They do very well in my smoothbore and excel in loads without patches. With patches they also do quite well. I've tried them in a couple of rifles and they did about as well as soft lead prb. I loaded them the same as the soft lead ball.

[243winxb]

Lee Key drive slugs with pure lead, using Lee data. Works.

[Winger Ed.]

Range Lead will vary.

If you melt out jackets, it'll be more or less pure.
If you get a bunch of hand or commercial cast from a pistol range, it may or may not be pretty hard.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Every Boolit I cast is made from the same 1100 pounds of Tire Weights I got for $20. I just made about 250 .40 cal. Boolits for my .40 S&W Pistols and Rifles the other day. My Mihec Mold made nothing but perfect ones from the very first pour. Now I have to powder coat them all.

Everyone I have made so far over the last 20 years has worked just fine, so I'm not too concerned with Alloys. As long as it melts and looks good, I'm good to go, and don't need the headaches of another variable that I can't really control..

Randy

[Hamish]

why not? and thats pretty much what it takes to shoot a full bore slug

An ounce is 437.5 grains. What shotgun slug is 700 grains please. That’s over an ounce and a half.

[barnabus]

An ounce is 437.5 grains. What shotgun slug is 700 grains please. That’s over an ounce and a half.

accurate mold 700s

[W.R.Buchanan]

Hamish: Brenneke has two slug loads that are right up there. 3" Magnum Crush is 1.5 oz.(655gr) at 1604 Fps for a Taylor Knock Out value of 110. .458 Win Mag 500 gr Bullet at 2150 Fps has a TKO of 70!
They have another one called the "Black Magic" which is 1 3/8 oz. (600 gr) at 1500 Fps. TKO 94

These slugs come in boxes of five, but if you shoot one in a light gun you will probably have 4 left for a long time. They say the Magnum Crush is good for anything on this planet !!!

Randy

[Hamish]

Illinois was shotgun only until ‘90? ‘91? Back then most everything was 1oz at 1150-1250. I remember Remington came out with the copper solid at like 1400? They poked clean holes in deer that didn’t bleed much externally, hair and fat closed up the holes, they bled out into the cavity. My partner lost the meat on a big buck that we couldn’t find. (no brag, just fact, he and I are *very* good at tracking.)

We promptly went back to lead slugs and no problems with finding deer.

1600fps would be a Godsend here if we hadn’t *finally* followed Indiana and Michigans’s lead on single shot rifles of straight wall cartridges.

1 3/8oz.? 1 1/2oz? At high velocity? I can DEFINITELY see that for bears,,,,,

[GregLaROCHE]

Range Lead will vary.

If you melt out jackets, it'll be more or less pure.
If you get a bunch of hand or commercial cast from a pistol range, it may or may not be pretty hard.

This is so true! Range lead is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are getting. Most people complain that range lead is too soft. In my case what I get , it’s too hard. It worked well when I was shooting high speed smokeless powders, but now that I’ve been into BP and muzzle loading, I wish I had some of the soft lead, that I was always trying to harden up.

[trapper9260]

For me with shot gun slugs I use soft lead . I load them with a wad for what the data calls for . As for the test when I shot them in my bullet stop that is a 1/2 plywood and then sand . it makes a nice hole in the plywood and then when I recover it , it was flat like a pancake . Range lead at times i just it with a GC for hunting load . no problem.

[country gent]

Range lead will vary with the type of range it is. A pistol range will be a lot of hard cast lead from commercial cast bullets and some swaged. A muzzle loader range will be pretty much pure lead maybe a little added tin. A rifle range again hard cast and or pure from jacketed cores. Also may be lead tin from BPCR rounds. Recovered lead shot will be lead with a high antimony content. Where you "mine" your lead may determine its content more so than anything

[243winxb]

Sierra uses 4 different alloys for their bullet cores.

Slugs need to expand on firing. This is why pure lead is used to work at shotgun slug pressures. 11,500 PSI

Lyman does suggest WW for their slug.