What are those bulk skeet shells good for?

[John A.]

Poopypants, the slugs are considerably smaller diameter than my open choke/cylinder barrel.

The slug itself will slide all the way through and out of the barrel and fall onto the ground (without sitting in a shot cup obviously).

So, guessing, I don't think it would bother a rifled barrel.

 

[Poopypants]

The slugs are considerably smaller diameter than my open choke/cylinder barrel.

The slug will slide all the way through and out of the barrel and fall onto the ground.

So, I don't think it would mess up a rifled barrel, though I have never used one out of a rifled barrel.

hmmmm... that make me curious now... is there a spec in the mold to tell you the size cal these lee molds make?

Do you have a micrometer to measure a finished slug after its cooled to account for shrinkage?

 

[John A.]

I don't have any that aren't loaded right now to measure, but they are certainly smaller than an open choke which is around ~.729'ish

I remember checking my first few just to make sure I didn't goof them up, but I can't remember what they measured.

Maybe Oli700 may have some he could measure for you real quick.

 

[oli700]

viewtopic.php?f=103&t=2154

this post holds some answers for you. About 10 or so posts down I picture the reason they work good in rifled barrels........

 

[jgwills]

My friend was very receptive to the idea. Since I live in an apartment I would have been asking to use his garage or back porch probably anyhow to do this. But suggesting halfsies saves me money lol.

So instead of a lead pot and doing alot at a time what about just doing one at a time? We were thinking of just using the lead dipper only by pouring the loose shot into it, heating it up with a propane torch or something and the once molten just pour into mold. Viola, instant slug. No hot pot full of lead to contend with and easy to keep track of everything. It would suck to open up a ton of shells, transfer shot into something else and then spill it all to have lead shot everywhere. Or even worse if the shells got knocked over and have powder everywhere. One at a time wouldn't be too bad if it got spilled. Minimal mess.

Looks like we could get this going for about 50/60 bucks in materials. Add in a few value boxes and for around 100 total its very tempting. If we got 200 or reasonably close of usable slug shells for approx 100 bucks initial run then I'd be super happy. After that cost is considerably less per batch.

As you said, its a concept thats been around forever to save for plinking and practicing but I've honestly never thought of this on my own. This idea is just full of win. Thank you, you really have inspired me sir.

Just hope we can convince his wife we won't blow something up. She gets testy whenever we start fiddling or even talking anything firearm related.

J

 

[John A.]

I'd wait until after you're done to tell her you used her good gravy dipper for the ladel

 

[old mossy]

I'd wait until after you're done to tell her you used her good gravy spoon for the ladel

,,,,not to mention her good pots and pans.

 

[Poopypants]

http://www.mossbergowners.com/viewtopic.php?f=103&t=2154

this post holds some answers for you. About 10 or so posts down I picture the reason they work good in rifled barrels........

sounds great to me! only question I've got for ya now is how are you crimping the tops of those slugs with no cards underneath? Is there too much room on top of em?

I'm thinking I'd like to use a roll crimp, but those wads look like they are too tall when the slug is dropped into it "sabot style".... don't want slugs jostling around inside that hull when I need to be sure it's engaging the key to the wad.

really I need to just get my stuff together and go through some trial and error... just trying to gather as much info and glean experience from others where I can until then.

 

[oli700]

For the way John is doing it, he is using a roll crimp……I have done it in the past but I didn’t bother crimping at all, I just let friction hold the slug but I wasn’t doing it for serious ammo …..the crimp is good insurance if they are going to be riding around for a while

I a reload from the ground up and am using a MEC 600 Jr to fold crimp.



I don’t get what you ask about the wads…….You can trim wad petals if it looks like they are going to mess with the crimp.

 

[John A.]

I roll crimped mine. I discussed many of your questions on page 3. I also posted some pics of the shortened shot cups as well.

But at the length that I cut the shells, the excess shell was just a little long for my taste and allowed the slugs to slightly wiggle under the crimp edge even with a really good crimp, so I bought some clear plastic overshot cards so the crimp would be tighter against the slug.

I personally think the overshot cards are a little "too thick" for my cut although they did the job but I wasn't terribly happy with the results of it either, so I have some thinner cardboard cards to try on the next batch.

If you try this, you'll do some trial and error on yours to find the exact recipe you're happy with too.

And as Oli has mentioned, even a few drops from a candle between the slug and shell will hold the slug in place if you're not going to war with them.

 

[John A.]

Since we had some bad storms this morning and flooding and power outages, I didn't have much else to do, so I fired up the camp stove and smelted some big 8 or 9 pound chunks of lead because they wouldn't fit in my melting pot to make them more managable.

Now each of the small cup cake size ignots are about 20 ounces each now.

 

[jgwills]

I'd wait until after you're done to tell her you used her good gravy dipper for the ladel

Nah, thats suicide man

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/286579 ... ead-dipper

That is the one I'm thinking of trying to obtain. The Lee and RCBS ones didn't get as favorable reviews. Any other ones I'm not aware of you can suggest?

 

[John A.]

I think it's a good looking dipper

Should work fine for pouring some slugs

 

[Poopypants]

I'd wait until after you're done to tell her you used her good gravy dipper for the ladel

Nah, thats suicide man

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/286579 ... ead-dipper

That is the one I'm thinking of trying to obtain. The Lee and RCBS ones didn't get as favorable reviews. Any other ones I'm not aware of you can suggest?

that's the dipper I was looking at cause I don't have a bbq or camping stove, but I do have a torch and plenty of propane bottles n can melt and pour each slug just using that dipper there...

eventually I'm sure I'll upgrade to the electric melting pot... but I'm on a budget for now.

 

[Poopypants]

I saw this video last night n just remembered I wanted to share it with you guys, seems to be quick and easy and should open well enough and not tear up the wad which I gather causes flyers...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIlmZ_xs45o[/youtube]

 

[old mossy]

great video,,,thanks for sharing.

 

[nitesite]

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/286579/lyman-lead-dipper

That is the one I'm thinking of trying to obtain. The Lee and RCBS ones didn't get as favorable reviews. Any other ones I'm not aware of you can suggest?

I have that Lyman dipper and it for sure would allow single smelts with a propane torch if you want to skip the lead pot and try one-at-a-time.

It's also possible to buy a $12 electric hot plate and a stainless steel small sauce pan that you can use with a ladle. Just make sure the pan handle is all metal!

John.... My cupcake/muffin pan ingots I took to the US Post Office and weighed several and they average just under 2.5-lbs each. How do yours weigh just 20-ounces? I'm guessing your cupcake pan is for the mini-muffins?

 

[John A.]

John.... My cupcake/muffin pan ingots I took to the US Post Office and weighed several and they average just under 2.5-lbs each. How do yours weigh just 20-ounces? I'm guessing your cupcake pan is for the mini-muffins?

Not sure, but I filled 6 of them about 1/2 to 3/4 the way full and after it cooled off, said it was 20 ounces.

I could probably fit 3 of them (maybe 4) pretty easily in my melting pot at the same time.

But I will say that this lead was a LOT cleaner than the #8 shot I melted down.

 

[Itsricmo]

Looking through this thread I am filled with Jealousy! Still some great work going through this thread and inspiring to the up and coming reloaders

 

[old mossy]

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/286579 ... ead-dipper

That is the one I'm thinking of trying to obtain. The Lee and RCBS ones didn't get as favorable reviews. Any other ones I'm not aware of you can suggest?[/quote]
that's the dipper I was looking at cause I don't have a bbq or camping stove, but I do have a torch and plenty of propane bottles n can melt and pour each slug just using that dipper there...

eventually I'm sure I'll upgrade to the electric melting pot... but I'm on a budget for now.[/quote]

dam,,,everyone is out of stock.