Slugs

[Tad Houston]

Hi, I'm just starting to load shotgun mainly for making my own slug loads. I just bought a lee 1 oz. mold, and was wondering if  anyone out there had a good recipe for this slug. I will also be loading the cast lyman sabot slug. Thanks for any info- Tad :grin:

[Rifled Slug]

Accurate Arms has loading data for the Lee key drive slugs .
http://accuratearms.com/data/1000.html
Click on this and click on data and scroll to page 62

[Bob_K]

My best load for the Lyman Sabot slug has been the using Blue Dot and WW Compression Form cases as was listed in the Lyman Shotshell # 4 manual.  The recomended load seems a bit stiff so I back off a half of a grain.

[.45 COLT]

Alliant has loads for the Lee Key Drive slug in their 2002 Reloader's Guide, or at:

Alliant

[Tad Houston]

Thanks Guys for the info,
I'm starting to get this stuff going, but i'm having a hard time finding the right hulls for the recipes. Is there some good info on hull ID and cross over charts? like can i load win universal hulls like AA hulls? most of the hulls i have i've picked up at the range cause thats what i love to do. Again thanks for all the great info- Tad :grin:

[.45 COLT]

I'm working from memory here and that's not always a good thing. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
I believe Winchester has two types of shell, the AA Compression Formed, which is a single piece with basewad being an integral part of the shell, and the Poly Formed, which has a seperate plastic basewad. The data for one is not interchangeable with the other.
Remington makes basically one type whatever they call it (Premier, Nitro 27, STS).
I haven't loaded any Federals in 20 years and have no idea what they have now.
Also....Hodgdon has Lee slug loading data in their Annual Manual. I don't know if it's on their website or not.

[hazmt]

Hi Tad -

I am thinking about doing the same thing in the future (already have a 1 oz slug mould). The Lyman shotshell book has several recipes using various components and hulls, but I don't have it in front of me right now. As you know, you definitely need a good safe recipe to load from. As for a cross-reference chart for hull interchageability, I've never seen one. It would be useful however if the ammo or component manufacturers would make a list of interchangeable hulls (like the Remington Premier, RTS, Nitro, etc...)

You have to be careful with some of the older hulls though. Remington made several other case types over the years. I've been trying to find recipes for some Remington 20 guage hulls recently and dug through a box of pick-ups. There were 3 different remington hulls, RTS (or premier), SP, unibody as well as Peters hulls (similar to unibody). If I'm not mistaken, Remington also made a plastic hull with paper basewad.

You really need to find a load recipe for the exact type of hull you are using. Depending on the compents, you can get to an overpressure situation very easily. Lyman shotshell manual has a hull identification section that is pretty good. One other option is to use the Hodgedon powder data. it uses a 'range' of powder charges for each hull and components where you stay within safe pressure limits. Most other data gives you 1 powder charge with a given set of components. One potential source for data is used bookstores and Flea markets where you can sometimes find older hull recipes. Unfortunately sometimes the components for the given recipe are no longer available (Rem 97* primers for example).

I keep a large variety of hulls, wads, powders and primers (accumulated over MANY years) because I (like you) pick up hulls almost everywhere I go. I can't stand to see a good hull thrown away!! Load safe and shoot safer!!

Regards,
Hazmt

[Bob_K]

Yes, there are lots of hulls and they are not interchangable.

Winchester is listed as having the Compression Formed (CF) and the Poly Formed (PF) hulls in the Lyman #4 Shotshell manual.  They also have the Universal hull they use in their promo ammo which is not listed in the manual and is NOT interchangeable with either the CF or PF hulls.  Another Winchester hull I've heard about sounds like a high brass PF hull, but the basewad height does not match the Lyman diagram of the PF, the the gent's loads would not crimp properly because of too much internal volume.

The Winchester CF hull is the AA hull, and I've also seen it used in a high brass version (but still the CF case) with a 6 segment crimp in military 00B ammo.  A couple of years ago, Winchester came out with their new "high strength" AA hull (in silver and glossy red) that seems to have a separate basewad, but Winchester says you can load it with the same data as the old style AA case.  A Claybuster brochure I read indicated they had to make a slight design change on their wads for this new AA hull, but no big deal.  

Remington has their Premier hull (STS, Nitro 27), and the Lyman book shows an SP hull.  I haven't seen an SP hull recently so maybe it is discontinued.  Walmart typically has a sale on Remington Game loads in a black hull with either 7/8 or 1 oz loads.  I've sectioned these and they appear to be identical to the Premier hull only with a brass wash steel case head instead of brass, and I've used Premier hull data without problem with them.

Federal has their Gold Medal hull and a paper target hull, and a Top gun/3 Dram hull.  The Gold Medal are good hulls and the Lyman manual has data for them.  I don't use the paper hulls so don't know how they load.  The Top Gun and 3 Dram cases are ok, but I've had the crimps open up over time.

The Lyman #4 manual is a must have book.  It has diagrams and description of the hulls life size.  You should section a hull and compare it to the diagram if you have any questions.

[rickyp]

I have yet to find a good load for my lee 1 oz slug. I think I am trying to push them tooooo fast or need a harder wad  because I get a lot of plastic fowling in the barrel.

Let me know if you find one that works well for you.
BTW the slug gun i am using is a mosb. 835 3 1/2 mag.