Survivalist Forum banner

home made slugs

3K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  spitpatch 
#1 ·
I have a mold for a .66 round ball. In a Waa12 wad it slides nicely down the bore of an improved cylinder. Snug but not tight like the .69 round balls I used were ( I got 6 to 8 inch groups at 50 yards with .69 round balls:(). I consider the .66 ball perfect. I have not developed a load for these yet but will soon to shoot out of my smooth bore shotgun (deer barrel with sights). Now i have a bunch of single shots and when the smokeless powder disappeared a while back I loaded some shot shells with black powder and #6 shot and #1 buck shot. It works well in a single shot and cleanup is a snap with warm water. My .66 ball and wad will not fit down the modified choke of my single shot shotgun. However, I did put a lubed patch (bore butter) on it (like a B/P musket) and it seems to slide right down the barrel with a snug fit. Would like to hear peoples ideas on this. Loading some up with black powder would give me a slug load if I need it while out and about hunting during small game season (hogs are considered small game). Or a self defense round of sorts for close range in an emergency if all I had was my single shot shotgun. Think it will work? Anyone tried this?
 
#2 ·
I generally stick with Lee when it comes to molds for experiments. 20$ for something that doesn't work so good, vs 70$ for a Lyman or other mold. I bought a 1 oz Lee Slug mold, works pretty good.

I usually try to use what I have vs buying anything. I have a 54 RB mold, 69 RB, 457 RB and 490 RB. A 54 cal and 8 #4 will fit in a standard 20 ga shot cup. Never did any accuracy testing with the 69 RB out of a 12, and only use it in a short imp cyl barrel.
 
#3 ·
i had a lee slug mold but it did poorly from my smooth bore slug barrel. my .69 lee round ball only worked if i cut the petals of the wad in half. accuracy was poor with several powders. i measured the bore and the thickness of the petals on the wad and came up with a .66. got a custom brass mold from england with shipping included for $54. it works better than any mold i have had from lee. the brass just seems to cast better than aluminium. so yes i have spent some money on lee products that didn't work. i did have very good luck with a 240 grain mold for my .44 special. very accurate with 800x powder. but right now i need to get this round ball to work with smokeless and black powder.
 
#4 ·
I just made a .660" round ball mold recently. Made the mold the same way that I made my buckshot molds. I've got a dozen shells loaded up with them. I've not yet tested them but will soon.

I loaded them into Federal and also Winchester bulk box target loads. They rattled in the Federal shot cup so I patched them with paper towel and glued in an overshot card. They also rattled in the Winchester shot cup and the petals were too long so I cut down the petals a little and just put a dab of glue on one side of the ball to hold it into the shell.

I'll report back when I test them.
 
#6 ·
I have loaded a patched .600 RB in a 20 ga shell. First, I cut the crimp off of the casing. Load was 80 gr 3F real BP, 6 pieces of Styrofoam egg carton used as a wad, pillow ticking and a lee .600 RB seated tight. I then covered the ball with Elmer's glue and allowed to dry. This load was fired in a 18.5 in cylinder bore barrel. It grouped 4 inches at 70 yards with just a fiber optic bead on the barrel. It shot with authority and recoil was firm. I would not have any problems using this round for deer out to 75 or 80 yds. I have not tried 100 yet.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top