What are those bulk skeet shells good for?

[Poopypants]

I don't think the inverted crimp will cause any problems because it's seated on the slug itself and should open up normally when it's fired.

Looking forward to hearing a range report

+1........There will be no problem with those crimps opening as normal when fired. I have had crimps like that with the LEE slugs and round balls in some brands of plaswad cups which are a bit deeper than others.
I use the LEE LOADALL press to do the crimp.

The solution is to get a die .670" in diameter and a hammer and cut felt or cardboard discs to place in the shot cup under the slug. That takes the top of the slug up to the correct hieght. So then the crimp sits flat on top of it just nice and pretty like a factory crimp.

I have read somewhere that some people have placed a 20 gauge felt wad under the slug for the same effect ?

problem is, I want to make sure that the key drive fully engages the wad cause I have a rifled slug barrel on the way and I want the wad clad slug to successfully act as a sabot... don't want the card to create slippage between the wad and slug defeating the rifling effect on the slug.

plus I like seeing the slug through the top, making it readily identifiable as a slug in a clinch.

 

[nitesite]

You guys are some really smart reloaders! I'm loving this thread.

 

[Malagamarksman]

I don't think the inverted crimp will cause any problems because it's seated on the slug itself and should open up normally when it's fired.

Looking forward to hearing a range report

+1........There will be no problem with those crimps opening as normal when fired. I have had crimps like that with the LEE slugs and round balls in some brands of plaswad cups which are a bit deeper than others.
I use the LEE LOADALL press to do the crimp.

The solution is to get a die .670" in diameter and a hammer and cut felt or cardboard discs to place in the shot cup under the slug. That takes the top of the slug up to the correct hieght. So then the crimp sits flat on top of it just nice and pretty like a factory crimp.

I have read somewhere that some people have placed a 20 gauge felt wad under the slug for the same effect ?

problem is, I want to make sure that the key drive fully engages the wad cause I have a rifled slug barrel on the way and I want the wad clad slug to successfully act as a sabot... don't want the card to create slippage between the wad and slug defeating the rifling effect on the slug.

plus I like seeing the slug through the top, making it readily identifiable as a slug in a clinch.

There is no problem with that at all. A Spanish friend of mine who I shoot with here has a Mossberg 500 with a rifled barrel that has iron sights on it. He puts the felt wads under the LEE slug for two reasons.

Firstly to make the crimps uniform for consistent ignition and accuracy and they end up "factory looking".

Secondly he WANTS the slug to separate from the plaswad as it leaves the barrel. We have found the slugs ARE contained within the wad's cup as they engage the rifling as it travels down the barrel. We have tried cartridges with and without wads under the slug.

They were tested on IPSC cardboard targets at 50 metres. SOMETIMES not all the time without a felt wad under the slug the plaswad "sticks" to the slug all the way to the target. The slug went through the card leaving the wad stuck in the card target.

Needless to say with the wad under the slug, separation is achieved every time.

He hunts Jabali (wild pigs) up to 200 metres and the grouping is excellent, just like a rifle.

He shot one a few weeks ago that weighed 160 kilos from over 100 metres.

BTW just as a safety measure I ALWAYS use a permanent marker pen and write SLUG all over the reloaded shells.

You REAAAAALY wouldn't wanna be shooting one of those at steel targets close range by mistake thinking it was birdshot !!

 

[nitesite]

[
There is no problem with that at all. A Spanish friend of mine who I shoot with here has a Mossberg 500 with a rifled barrel that has iron sights on it. He puts the felt wads under the LEE slug for two reasons.

Firstly to make the crimps uniform for consistent ignition and accuracy and they end up "factory looking".

Secondly he WANTS the slug to separate from the plaswad as it leaves the barrel. We have found the slugs ARE contained within the wad's cup as they engage the rifling as it travels down the barrel. We have tried cartridges with and without wads under the slug.

They were tested on IPSC cardboard targets at 50 metres. SOMETIMES not all the time without a felt wad under the slug the plaswad "sticks" to the slug all the way to the target. The slug went through the card leaving the wad stuck in the card target.

Needless to say with the wad under the slug, separation is achieved every time.

He hunts Jabali (wild pigs) up to 200 metres and the grouping is excellent, just like a rifle.

He shot one a few weeks ago that weighed 160 kilos from over 100 metres.

BTW just as a safety measure I ALWAYS use a permanent marker pen and write SLUG all over the reloaded shells.

You REAAAAALY wouldn't wanna be shooting one of those at steel targets close range by mistake thinking it was birdshot !!

Sir, that was an EXCELLENT post you wrote. Thank you for contributing in a very big way to a great thread.

 

[Malagamarksman]

Nitesite

Denada hombre................Thank you, my pleasure. I have reloaded pistol and rifle ammunition since 1984 in the U.K prior to retiring to Spain five years ago.

I still reload pistol ammo 9mm and .45 acp and recently the shotgun ammo too. The price of ammunition here is obscene.

I need to be able to EAT as well as shoot on a cop's pension, so I cannot afford to be shooting shotgun slugs at 1 Euro 20 cents a bang hence the research and development, which to date touch wood has been very successful.

 

[Malagamarksman]

Here's another one I recently tried. If you shoot a lot of .22lr you will like me get a lot of duds. DON´T THROW THEM AWAY !!

Pull all the bullets out of the .22lr cartridges and set them to one side.

Take a 12 gauge 24 gram (7/8 ounce) clay shooting round and open the starcrimp with a pair of long nosed pliers, empty the birdshot and and keep it to one side to mould slugs with !!!!!

Then take SEVEN .22 bullets and with the long nosed pliers place them inside the shot cup. To get them all in some of them need to be inserted round nose INTO to the cartridge cup. Then re-crimp on your press.

Voila...............poor man's BUCKSHOT !

I have only tested these against cardboard targets out of my Maverick 88. The .22 bullets tumble making BIG HOLES in a nice tight group from 15 metres.

Possibly a good defensive load for the ladies or disabled people as there is practically ZERO recoil ?

 

[Poopypants]

There is no problem with that at all. A Spanish friend of mine who I shoot with here has a Mossberg 500 with a rifled barrel that has iron sights on it. He puts the felt wads under the LEE slug for two reasons.

Firstly to make the crimps uniform for consistent ignition and accuracy and they end up "factory looking".

Secondly he WANTS the slug to separate from the plaswad as it leaves the barrel. We have found the slugs ARE contained within the wad's cup as they engage the rifling as it travels down the barrel. We have tried cartridges with and without wads under the slug.

They were tested on IPSC cardboard targets at 50 metres. SOMETIMES not all the time without a felt wad under the slug the plaswad "sticks" to the slug all the way to the target. The slug went through the card leaving the wad stuck in the card target.

Needless to say with the wad under the slug, separation is achieved every time.

He hunts Jabali (wild pigs) up to 200 metres and the grouping is excellent, just like a rifle.

He shot one a few weeks ago that weighed 160 kilos from over 100 metres.

BTW just as a safety measure I ALWAYS use a permanent marker pen and write SLUG all over the reloaded shells.

You REAAAAALY wouldn't wanna be shooting one of those at steel targets close range by mistake thinking it was birdshot !!

good to know the slug will still maintain the rifling motion without the key directly engaging the wad. how thick are the shot cards used?

I've got 100 rounds I'm dedicating purely to testing out various loading methods in both my barrels, should be a lot of fun.

I like that .22 buckshot idea.

 

[MikeD]

I got my melting pot from Midway today (a month sooner than estimated for the backorder booyah!).

I'm hoping to find some time this weekend playing around with it. I also found a bag of shot that i didn't know I had buried in a cabinate. Sometimes i like surprises :-D

Sent from my Mossberg 930 using Tapatalk2

 

[Poopypants]

I got my melting pot from Midway today (a month sooner than estimated for the backorder booyah!).

I'm hoping to find some time this weekend playing around with it. I also found a bag of shot that i didn't know I had buried in a cabinate. Sometimes i like surprises :-D

Sent from my Mossberg 930 using Tapatalk2

just got my tracking number for mine from cabelas!

Can't wait to crank em out!

 

[Malagamarksman]

There is no problem with that at all. A Spanish friend of mine who I shoot with here has a Mossberg 500 with a rifled barrel that has iron sights on it. He puts the felt wads under the LEE slug for two reasons.

Firstly to make the crimps uniform for consistent ignition and accuracy and they end up "factory looking".

Secondly he WANTS the slug to separate from the plaswad as it leaves the barrel. We have found the slugs ARE contained within the wad's cup as they engage the rifling as it travels down the barrel. We have tried cartridges with and without wads under the slug.

They were tested on IPSC cardboard targets at 50 metres. SOMETIMES not all the time without a felt wad under the slug the plaswad "sticks" to the slug all the way to the target. The slug went through the card leaving the wad stuck in the card target.

Needless to say with the wad under the slug, separation is achieved every time.

He hunts Jabali (wild pigs) up to 200 metres and the grouping is excellent, just like a rifle.

He shot one a few weeks ago that weighed 160 kilos from over 100 metres.

BTW just as a safety measure I ALWAYS use a permanent marker pen and write SLUG all over the reloaded shells.

You REAAAAALY wouldn't wanna be shooting one of those at steel targets close range by mistake thinking it was birdshot !!

good to know the slug will still maintain the rifling motion without the key directly engaging the wad. how thick are the shot cards used?

I've got 100 rounds I'm dedicating purely to testing out various loading methods in both my barrels, should be a lot of fun.

I like that .22 buckshot idea.

The felt wads are about 6mm thick. Juan my friend who has the rifled barrel in the Mossberg 500 put me onto some ready made felt wads with sticky glue on the bottom. They sell them in hardware stores here and they are intended to be stuck to the bottom of chairlegs !!

They are .670" more or less and are a perfect fit in the bottom of the cup.

Yes the .22 buckshot. Seven .22 bullets come out at about 1/2 an ounce so it is a light load, hence ZERO recoil. However I'll bet if they were used against some two legged predator they would really spoil his day ??

 

[jgwills]

@Malagamarksman Great contribution to the thread. Worthy of a rep point which I've done for you. Digging the idea of salvaging any dud .22 projectiles. Good call.

Keep it rolling guys. Liking whats popping up in this thread. I've set aside 2 of those bulk packs and tried to forget them for a rainy day. I've got the slug mold and lead dipper on backorder myself now. As soon as it gets back in stock and ships I look forward to trying my hand out at this myself.

 

[Malagamarksman]

@Malagamarksman Great contribution to the thread. Worthy of a rep point which I've done for you. Digging the idea of salvaging any dud .22 projectiles. Good call.

Keep it rolling guys. Liking whats popping up in this thread. I've set aside 2 of those bulk packs and tried to forget them for a rainy day. I've got the slug mold and lead dipper on backorder myself now. As soon as it gets back in stock and ships I look forward to trying my hand out at this myself.

jgwills,

Thanks for that. I hope the information is of some help to you.

Back orders ? Wow.... I cannot believe the shortages you guys are experiencing in the U.S. unbelieveable.

I reckon Obama will go down in history as the greatest gun salesman that the United States have ever had !

 

[Malagamarksman]

On the subject of shortages guys. I hope I am not breaking any forum rules but have a look at Jeff Tanner

www.ballmoulds.co.uk

Jeff custom makes BRASS ball moulds in any size you want. They take Lee or any other handles.

Including manufacture and postage to the states you can have them in a matter of days for about 60 bucks.

Mine is .670" and is a perfect fit inside the shot cup in most 12 gauge shells.

 

[bossharp]

What Freedom we HAVE! 1200 fps is slow for 1 oz...Wht not use a turkey load??Maybe a little hotter?You might add a buckshot or 2 in the base of the slug to equal the weight of the turkey payload...

 

[oli700]

Way back when were PM'ing about this John.......I was worried ......I am still worried.

everyone should realize one wrong move on payload weight and boom.....shotgun chambers are very thin and this is not a scientific reloading process...in fact this isn’t reloading at all and there isn’t set parameters to follow......be careful folks is all I'm say'n

 

[MikeD]

Way back when were PM'ing about this John.......I was worried ......I am still worried.

everyone should realize one wrong move on payload weight and boom.....shotgun chambers are very thin and this is not a scientific reloading process...in fact this isn’t reloading at all and there isn’t set parameters to follow......be careful folks is all I'm say'n

Good reminder Oli.

I still havent been able to work with this. Too much personal and family stuff going on.

 

[Poopypants]

agreed, bird shot and Turkey load powders are typically faster burning powders that build up pressure faster.... I don't know that I would turn a magnum Turkey load into a slug, too much pressure too fast behind a solid object might be dangerous...

...although honestly with all these versatite and flight control wads which maintain a solid payload well past the barrel show us that the loads aren't just blowing apart in the barrel as is, so 1oz in a wad should be equal to 1oz in a wad regardless of the form it takes(I'm actually converting 1 1/8oz shot into a 1oz slug so should be easier to move the payload down the barrel).

 

[Malagamarksman]

agreed, bird shot and Turkey load powders are typically faster burning powders that build up pressure faster.... I don't know that I would turn a magnum Turkey load into a slug, too much pressure too fast behind a solid object might be dangerous...

...although honestly with all these versatite and flight control wads which maintain a solid payload well past the barrel show us that the loads aren't just blowing apart in the barrel as is, so 1oz in a wad should be equal to 1oz in a wad regardless of the form it takes(I'm actually converting 1 1/8oz shot into a 1oz slug so should be easier to move the payload down the barrel).

I agree. I am also converting 32 gram = 1 1/4 ounce birdshot to 1oz slug. Therefore there is LESS mass for the powder to send down the barrel. Therefore common sense tells me also LESS chamber pressure is generated. The same would not be true using a 7/8 ounce birdshot cartridge and sticking a 1oz slug in it.

As an example the same is true of a 9mm pistol cartridge load . Typically I load a 124gr bullet with 4.9 grains of Optima A (Spanish) powder. If I substitute a 115 grain bullet less weight, the pistol doesn't cycle properly. Because of less pressure generated.

 

[bossharp]

I think the best way to go is look for the fastest, heaviest field load in the 100# boxes..Next time Im at wallmart I will buy a few boxes and start rolling my own..I FEEL EMPOWERED! I hate paying so much for slugs and buck. I like shooting my 930 but feild loads are just not as satisfying as slugs are..If you had a good backstop you can retrieve your slugs and melt them down again.The shorter length slugs with a roll crimp would let you load 5 in the space normally 4 would fit.If and when one of you make a bunch and do accuracy testing I would love to hear the results.This is such a practical idea!

 

[jgwills]

@bosssharp, excellent idea for making a backstop trap and attempting to recovering/recycling slugs. Gonna have to remember that one.

Still waiting on my back order to fulfill but thinking of cancelling. I might check and see about Cabela's doing that site to store thing for me. They show having everything I need in stock online right now. I need to get up my sisters way soon anyhow so I'll be really close to the one just out of Austin. I'd love to try this myself at some point.