you probably just saved somebody a lot of aggravation and a trip to the hospital. it is always good to keep people thinking about "what works and what don"t "
NewZealandDan1-Thanks for posting again, and the good word is greatfully appreciated. I have found that the interaction with other shooters is the most amazing thing about TH-cam…when I see those friends that visited NZ recently, I think about NewZealandDan1 and joehunt1980. Best Regards to you guys...
Austin Frey - The ones I'm referring to look just like the Win AA12, and when the slugs go in, the petals bulge out when the slug bottoms into the wad. Perhaps the 2 bags I got are a different lot than yours. If your slugs go in nicely, you are definitely in business! I bought those Claybusters because there were no Win AA12 around at the time. No loss as I can use them for trap loads anytime. Thanks for posting on this...
orlos The Druid-Thanks for your question - I'm also a crimper - don't own a roll crimper. The advantage of roll crimp is that we can see immediately that it is a slug load so we don't take these to the trap range by mistake. I get around that by clearly labeling boxes and storing the ammo in a separate place from my shot loaded shells. Some shooters sharpie pen each shell. Best Regards.
A million thanks man. I have the Lee 7/8 slug and want to get the round ball mold and the Lyman slug mold. Then get the Lee 00 buck shot mold. Make buck and ball loads. Again Thank for the video.
I got a bit silly awhile back and made up a load with a half oz of shot in a WAA12 wad with the extra space taken up by my hand punched cardboard wads... They were a lot of fun to shoot and light recoiling to say the least! lol
Well its basically just taking a nice sharp hole punch and a reasonable sized hammer and punching out the wads from a piece of Cardboard against the end grain of a 2x4 or 4x4 piece of wood. You can also use a 19mm hole punch for making over shot cards out of the card stock from Cereal boxes, which is great for when the fold crimp on your shot load is pushing inwards slightly and needs a little extra support.
Thanks for doing the "legwork" for us cookie. I should be getting the 1 oz. Lee mould tomorrow. The plan is to use it for feral pigs. Ranges should be inside 75 yds and will be shot through a smoothbore. I hope I can make it work.
Excellent info, I had to find out the hard way what worked when I first got into shooting my Lee 1oz slugs with the very limited components we get in New Zealand. I use a 16mm punch to make my filler wads out of scrap cardboard :-)
Birchbarkjohnny-Thank YOU for the good word and for taking the time to post. It is appreciated. Be sure to check out loading data in published form. That is always the best course, although there is less info on shotshells compared with metallic cartridges. Best regards to ya...
agree with birchbarkjohnny, love the hotleadzone. Love the actual useful information on reloading and especially casting, and even love seeing his fine old weapons. Also love getting information on stuff that just works. So much stuff now a days that i buy that just doesnt do what it should. Its like they dont even test a product for basic function before marketing and selling it. If I see a product being used in the hot lead zone I know its something that will work.
Terry Curry-Thanks for your comment and question. I know that many are doing the melt shot=slug=put back slugs with OK results. The factories don't recommend the practice as the powder is fast burning target/field powder for shot loads. Slugs behave differently and best for medium burning powders with delayed pressure curve. You notice that slug recipe powders are all the slower powders Unique - Universal - Herco - Blue Dot. Fast powders are not used. But lots of shooters doing it see2
dictionaryV2- The .690 round ball weighs 494 grains or 1 1/8 oz. Cast out of a Lee mold ( I have a video on that) is very easy to cast - uses up lots of lead though. Best Regards..
I would love to have access to your load data for these wads. I am new to shot shell, and finding suitable data for slugs and buckshot is a monumental pain. I have the Lyman 525 gr mold coming. Great video!
My favorite loading for Lyman 525gr sabot slugs is a WAA-12 (or equivalent) wad with 23 grains of Alliant Green Dot, they shoot very well and run at about 1300 FPS. I'm not exactly loading them for bear (they can be pushed up to 1500 with a magnum powder like Blue Dot) but they are still making 2000 ft-lbs of energy, and going with a smaller amount of faster powder makes for ecomical loads as far as powder usage goes.
Yes, I don't know much about claybuster so they might have changed there WAA12 substitute from the ones in the past that you bought, They work nicely for trap loads as well.
Larry- As always, thank YOU for the good word..you'll notice that the height of the compression zones on these wads is a little bit different than the others.This allows us to adjust the payload height in the shell for whatever we need to make the good crimp. But no matter how hard we try, it is very difficult to consistently get better than 4" groups at 50 yards. I settle for 5" and am happy with that as I can shoot these offhand at 25 yards and stay in the black if I do my part..Best Regards
nonya biness- Thank YOU for the gracious comments - What you are doing is a good way to go. Let others do the beta testing, and stay with materials and procedures that have been shown to be efficacious and efficient (how's that for saying "stuff and ways that work" in a different way, lol?). Have a Great Day and a Fine 4th of July to ya...
joehunt1980-Suppressors are mighty interesting - sounds like you should make some videos of wad punching - something that will help all us scattergunners with our reloads...Thanks for posting and Best Regards to ya...
I forgot to say the barrel is rifled and the gun in remington 1187 I usually use orange wad of winchester also winchester AA hull 33grain of hodgedon longshot starclimp with lee load all
inspectyerbooty-Thanks for the good word - The frustration with our reload slugs is trying to get factory performance - we are using non spec slugs in recommended wads that were originally designed for field or target shot loads. Note the factories don't use these - they use proprietary slugs and wad that we cannot get. Factory slugs shoot powerful and group well with the best being 2" groups at 100 yards with sabots in rifled barrels. Best I can get is 6" groups at 50 yards - see2
Cliff Notes •WinAA12 - fits slugs, including Lyman - works with or without card spacer •Winchester pink - works with the slugs but can't use a spacer •Winchester grey - won't work with Lyman 525 slug, or a spacer •Federal 12S3- 'works very well.' Fits all slugs and a spacer. •'DownRange' dark blue - works well. Fits all slugs and a spacer. •DownRange yellow wad - Fits all slugs and a spacer. •Windjammer and Lightning- Fits all slugs and a spacer. Notation: works well with the .690 round ball
grizzskoalcope-And the good news is you can add the .125 fiber 20 gauge card wad to the inside of the shotcup under the slug if you need to add a bit of height to the column for good crimping (and possibly better accuracy) - Happy Holidays
grizzskoalcope Nice job with the video, and I wish my fired wads looked as good as yours. It's all in the barrel / wad / slug compatibility. How's the accuracy with your slugs? My Lees shoot 4-6" groups at 50 and the Lyman 525 shoots 4".
Thanks for that info. I'm getting back into casting and loading slugs and buckshot. I have thousands of empty hills and trying to settle on a powder that will work for both. I have a little herco and would like to find load data to work for both? Most of the suggested was seen to be on backorder though
Great Video I have Lee 7/8 slugs. I have 12S3 and windjammer wads. Tightwad, tightgroup and blue dot power. Win and Fed primers. Win AA hulls. I think I’ll roll crimp. I would like light loads for 3 gun matches. What wad and powder would you recommend?
Terry Curry - reply2- and guns are not blowing up, so you can certainly shoot these. I can't bring myself to do these loads since I cast slugs readily with my pure lead from dental lead foil, I like Unique powder and I have lots of AA hulls from my trapshooting days. If things were different, I might do the put back slugs myself…Best Regards…The Federal shotcups are as good as any if the slug fits back in...
WVHunter129- You can cut your own cardboard wads - I use the purchased 20 gauge ones fit the bottom of the wads perfectly and enable the crimp. But put the cardboard or 20 wad into the bottom of the wad, and then the slug on top then crimp. I do not advise going other way around slug first and then wad over the slug. Good shootin' to ya...
joehunt1980- not silly at all - you turn a 12 gauge into a 410. And for taking game like squirrels or rabbits, saving on powder and shot - sounds like a great idea. Low noise and low recoil to boot, made possible by those cardboard wads of yours...Thanks for the post
I've been cutting just the crimp out of Federal 12 GA. low brass shells, melting down the no. 7 bird shot into the pellet style slugs for a while now, then reinserting them back into the shells it came out of. With the roll of the shell still in place, they hold in place very nicely. You put a lot of emphasis on the wad. Do you think I should be replacing the shot cup, or do you think the shot cup that comes with the Federal bird shot shells are good enough to use with this kind of slug ?
inspectyerbooty-reply2- I don't even bother to shoot at 100 when the best at 50 from rest is 6". Basically, our home slugs are good for 50-75 yards max. I use them for fun at the range and recreational shooting (and they are fun indeed), and save my factory slugs for serious use. I know some reloaders talk about tight groups, but the occasional 3 shot 3" group at 50 doesn't count in my book. Best Regards...
why would you want to add a spacer? I thought it's better or rather cheaper to cut the petals? which ones are you using and which are available today. Ty cookiemaster
Hi thanks again for more nice-to-find videos on loading slugs and the variety of wads that definitely help us beginners....I could really use some help here! I have a Lee 7/8 oz lead slug, Remington 12ga STS 2 3/4 hulls, Winchester 209 primers, ClayBuster CB0178-12 wads which are replacements for the WAA12L, and IMR 700-x powder. I'm not able to find much about reloading slugs in several of the Lyman reloading handbooks including the 49th edition and so I went to Hodgdon's website where I came across the reloading data and put in my information which gave me the only results of the following: Hodgdon HS-6 powder, Win. 209 primer, WAA12L wads, and 38.0 grains of powder. The problem is that Hodgdons HS6 isn't inexpensive or readily available where I live. It has to be ordered, costs nearly 35.00 for a pound, and plus my local sporting goods shop said there was an additional 30.00 hazardous shipping fee on top of that which makes the total 65.00 just for a single pound of powder that also has the main problem of the formula saying I need 38 grains just for one shell :-O So I need help from others who might know how many grains of the IMR 700-X is needed... I'm guessing that shouldn't need no more than 20-24 grains with this powder, and so it is going to let me reload so many more shells than hodgdons HS6.
Journey4Sure Knowledge-N-Wisdom - The Claybuster wad will not work if there is a reinforcing rib at the bottom of the petals inside the shot cup - the wad will flare out when the slug is inserted...the wad should look undisturbed when the wad goes in. As for load data, every Lee slug mold has load data for the 1 oz and 7/8 oz slugs included with the instructions. You can also get same from the Lee website. IMR 700X is not listed as one of the useful powders though. The reloading companies say not to substitute the recipes. There are a lot of variables outside of our control to recommend any IMR 700X or any other non listed powders - variables such as reloading practices, number of components switched, hardness of the casted slugs, alloy used to cast, presence of any chokes in the shotgun barrels If you do choose to substitute, start low and work up looking for pressure signs. Danger of starting too low though is when squibs happen... The Lyman data is found in the Lyman Shotshell Reloading Handbook. Most slug loads use the slower burning shotgun powders such as Universal, Blue Dot, HS6, Longshot, etc. Sorry to not be any definite help - but beware of replies that simply say - go ahead and do that... Best to ya, FC
I just recently picked up claybuster WAA12 substitute wads, I'm not sure what problems your having with them cause when I used them they pressed perfectly and did not bulge.
MR LC- I know we talked about this somewhere, but I don't recall where. This vid seems to be the relevant place to put it. When talking about the nice fit of the Winchester silver wad, WAA12SL, you said that your testing showed mangled wads and poor performance. So I got to go shooting this week and used some mid power loads using that wad. They were 1 shot per bowling pin at ~35 yards smoothbore, and seemed to loose accuracy at double that. I can't be more precise than that, but I would say accuracy was good within their window. Anyway, because of your comment, I made a point of recovering about 25 of the fired wads. All of them looked perfect. No exageration. I think this is a matter of pressure and velocity. (I doubt your bore is any tighter than mine.) My load should be about 1275 FPS and was as follows: Win 209+ gun club hull+ 20.5 grains Green dot+ AA12SL+ Lee 1 oz. So I think the wad is good, but it just needs to be reserved for loads under ~ 1400 FPS/ . If I can figure out how to reply with a pic of the wads, I'll do so.
GunFun ZS - Saw your photos and replied to you via e-mail. That, indeed, is good wad performance - if we get wads looking like that, we are in business. I'm still trying to get some Win AA12 wads as the few I had shot lights out. No luck locating those wads for a year now. Best to ya...
Dang. I can't even figure out how to let me check that. I hate G+ with all my soul. How google can make such a confusing interface blows my mind. I've been raised on computers, built them even, and G+ is incomprehensible. It's only designed to yell at strangers,and create traffic loops, not actually communicate. What a mess.
I'm sorry, but I just can't figure out how to find and read the message you sent me. It isn't in my gmail, I can't find a link from G+, it doesn't show in my youtube inbox. I am at a loss.
GunFun ZS I know what you are saying about Google+. It is making a mess out of TH-cam now. When I just went to reply to you, TH-cam kicked me into a dialogue box wanting to have replies made in my own name instead of my YT name (I suppose like Facebook). But we've always had TH-cam names, and the "anonymity" helped us be free dispensing information some of which might be "sensitive". Google is trying to force us into a whole different way than what we wanted and did. Now - back to the wads - I know that many don't like the Win AA12 wad because it is not as firm in the compression zone as the Federals, but the AA12 gave me very nice accuracy and uniformity - even if they are "soft" I the middle...moot point, because can't get any of 'em anyway. But the Federals are plentiful, so tonight, going to load up some slug loads with Federal wads and Herco powder load development - should be fun... Best to ya...
joehunt1980-Great hearing from you, as always. I like that idea of punching out cardboard. How does it work? I'm sure I'm not the only one that wants to know...
1yankeecowboy-Some report that the use of the card spacer keeps the wad out of the back end of the slug improving accuracy - but you'll have to test that for your own gun - you might find the opposite. Sometimes we need to put the spacer in to get a good crimp, but with the 12L gray wad, that probably won't be the case (pun ha,har lol). Whatever, your MEC will handle it nicely…Best Regards to ya…By the way - you might drop into Daniel Shore's site - it's tobacco road with emphasis on pipes and cigars…If you do - tell him that FC says Dan's the Tobacco Road
I was wondering if brown Federal 12S4 wad which already has cushion part prepared works with lyman 525 resently 12s3 are not available around here in japan but 12s4 is available
thanks I do understand that they get thicker at the bottom. what would happen if I cut the petals off would it work then? also where do you find slug load data for the lightning and windjammer wads? * I just called claybuster yesterday 12/19/13 trying to find lightning slug data. then I started talking to him about using claybusters for slugs. he said they are making wads with thinner petals for slugs. they are not selling them under claybuster brand though. I forget what the brand is going to be called, *
gun nut - If you cut the petals off, you've got a bare slug that is anywhere around .04 under bore diameter - it's the old loose ball rattle down barrel that gives unacceptable accuracy. Would be different if the Lee slugs casted bigger with a driving band on the back edge like factory Fosters. We don't get to cast those. So the Lee slugs are designed to be placed into target shotshell wads - 1) we need wads the slugs go into well 2) we need wad / slug combos that will not be excessively tight (petals strip) ; So your Claybusters fail on point 1) - best not to use them and find others that do fit so you can load 'em into a shell. We'll have to see about those new wads - sounds good…hmmm more testing… Have a great day..
WOW!!!!! Thanks for this video!! I feel better now about having a whole box of Winchester AA 12 wads!! One question comes to me from watching the video, I think you said you can if you want use the cardboard card, but do you have to?? Since I sent you a PM a few minutes ago, I am wonder if a cardboard wad on top of the slug would of been a good idea. Remember I am new to loading slugs! :) Thanks for your videos!!!
Question: Can you load a slug With a power piston essentially a wad without the pedals. For instance taking the petals off The wad if you do not have a proper wad. I would imagine accuracy would suffer but can it be done.? Thank you for your videos they are very informative and excellent keep up the great work and you have a good voice For videos
I don’t see why not, yes the accuracy would be no better than the old school smooth bore flint locks. You would have the wad base serving as the gas seal, but the slug would be loose in the shell and going down the bore, essentially bouncing off your bore until exiting the muzzle, flinging the slug somewhere into the unknown. I would just spend $10 on some wads though.
wawheeler21- Shotgun slugs are really fun, aren't they. Even though they roar and give our shoulders a stomp, and belch out a blast, somehow we just keep stoking those things…Our local range let's us shoot them right with all the pistol and carbine shooters…we all have a blasting good time even when we aren't tripping triggers...
Are the downrange Bronze colored wads the same as the dark blue wads???? Let me know cookie. I have vast options on wads at my local dealer and you are the guru. Help me out.
***** Yes, they are both replacement wads for the Winchester AA12. I don't use the Bronze wad because the compression zone is the same as the yellow...my wad assortments are based on having different compression zones. The blue wad has a different compression structure. But you make a great point - since I can't find any Win AA12 wads, I should get some of those Bronze wads to try - will put them on my next Midway order... Best to ya
***** It's good you have taken the effort to check out your fired wads...important feedback... You are shooting powerful slug loads...if the accuracy is acceptable, the one petal ripoff is not significant. If accuracy is not good, you will need to try a more open choke (like cylinder if you are shooting IC), or switch to wads that have thinner petals. Your DR bronze wad may have petals too long (because of the 7/8th oz slug) - you could try shortening the petals to just below the top of the slug. Or switch to the 1 oz slug and adjust the powder charge.
Tried 1oz. slug with pink AA wads (claybuster) today and did not notice this problem as much. You will be proud. I mined about 30lbs of range scrap and yielded about 12 lbs of lead. Quite a few copper jackets! All for free though!
***** Congrats on your shotshell loads...also for your 12 pounds of lead - watch out for the dust though - shooting range berms can expose miners to lead dust...Best to ya
I've had no luck with Lee slugs using Hastings rifled barrel on my 11-87. They all fit too tight. Best was Claybuster White lightning but still ripped pedals off wad. Wad was cocked apon ignition. Tried nitro cards 1 and 2 no luck. Barrel is filthy after 5 shots.
Sprayanimal-know what you mean - been trying to match or better factory slugs for past 30 years. Best I can do is have fun accuracy out to 25-35 yards at the range. But the economy is vastly superior than buying factory slugs. But for hunting and serious use, factory slugs are the way to go. Best to ya...
good day sir, I have finally found a pound of unique and green dot I was wondering could you recommend charges for both using the lee 1oz slug winAA hulls and win shot cups I have found some info stating 19gr green dot but haven't found anything for unique I would appreciate any help thanks and have a great day...
PrepperKip-Someone on TV said that "only accurate guns are interesting", and I would agree except when it comes to shotgun slugs. Until they let us cast sabot slugs and market plastic sabots that fit them like factory ammo, we can only reliably get 5" groups at 50 yds and 10" groups at 100. Occasionally, we'll do better and say "Eureka!!", but then some flyers happen. This is not exciting, but slugs are still great fun inside of 50 yards, dare I say "interesting". Plus cheap 12 cents a shot.
FortuneCookie45LC - What would be your approach for the Lee .690 with Federal Hulls (the cheapies with the fiber base wad)? Obviously these are easy hulls to come by and I have a ton. I think decent accuracy to 25 yards is good and something the size of the pie plate at 50 would be great. I have Promo, HS6 and 800-x powders right now along with Federal and Winchester primers. I appreciate the help.
Bill Weber - Thanks for your comments and questions - The .690 Round Ball is a little large for use in some of our wads. The bare slug will roll through our .72+ barrels. If you use the Federal 12S wads, you will have too tight a fit to push through your barrel with a dowel. Shooting those is OK, but your petals will strip giving you accuracy loss. The best wads I've found for the .690 RB are the Windjammer and Lightning wads with their thin petals. You might find differently in your own barrels. The .690 RB weighs 1 1/8 oz. so you can use any load for that weight, but cut the charge 10% to start and check for primer pressure signs and good functioning. 35 yards and in - this slug is dependably accurate. You'll have to test at 50 for your own gun...Best Regards and Happy Holidays
Hello .what hull would work with .690 ball 34gn long shot or 37gn of hs6 I re use hulls from our range.tries claybuster waa wads but they seem to long for my 2 3/4 hulls challenger 11/8-3 7.5 . So they reopen and crimp bad what do you suggest.
Ibrahim Halloun - Yes, there are many types of 12 gauge slugs. I’m about to launch another video series on some very promising slugs. Best to ya...FC Steve
Remington power piston will work just like my TGT12S wads and some fig 8's have the lines in the cup could be cb copys. But you cut it into a 8 pettel wad if rem is all you have👍 time consuming but worked well.. my favorite is 12so and 12s3
Hi I like your videos, I guess you are the right man to ask. have you found any wads for the Lyman 525 grains and the Lee 7/8 oz slugs that goes well in smooth bore 12 gauge shotgun. I have tried several wads with and without nitro card board in cyl. and skeet choke, but I guess I can improve the accuracy with a little help. The wads I looking for would fit both slugs, with nitro card ( not so important, I can use two different wads), gain 6-10lbs in the "choke test", powder does not get pass the gas seal( annoying and ugly in clear hulls) and last clear color if possible, does this wad exist ?
fredrik babinski - Unfortunately, the two slugs are of significantly different heights and the nitro card wads may not solve. Your desire to simplify and use one wad for both slugs is going to be very difficult. 1) the wads were never designed for use with slugs in the first place 2) the two major types of shotshell hulls require different wads - the AA types for compression injection molded hulls (some Winchester and Remington hulls are these) , and the straight wall Federal types for straight wall separate base wad type hulls (includes the Fiocchi clear hulls that we all like) 3) the crimps may not cooperate. Using the wrong wad in the types of hulls results in the powder leakage problem as well as possible ignition problems. There are no clear wads commonly used in our reloads. Both slugs you have chosen work in smooth bore 12s. cyl and skeet chokes are fine for slugs. Good shootin' to ya...
Addendum reply - the Lyman 525 goes well with the AA12 wad and the Fed 12S3. The Lee 7/8ths slug goes well with the Federal 12S0 as well as the others in the video...Best Regards
FortuneCookie45LC thanks for excellent help, I have tried to get the win. waa12 wads for a very long time, but all the suppliers are out of stock. Do you know where we can get Winchesters waa 12 wads ? I tested some loads from different loading data, and I got best group without nitro cards( it seems that they got a tighter fit trough the choke). I will try the fed. 12s3 for the Lyman slug and the fed. 12s0 for the lee slug, do you use nitro card in them as well? I have not tried the federal wads, so I will try your combo.
fredrik babinski Actually, the Winchester AA12 wads in Win AA hulls gave the best accuracy, but as you have found, these wads are not available anywhere. I haven't seen any for over two years. The Federal wads are easy to find - if you use them, the clear Fiocchi shotshell hulls will work well with them. Good reloadin' to ya...
gun nut- Nice work on that XDM45- You have to do about 30 of 'em to get rolling though. The lightning wad is an interesting wad, because it has thinner petals. You won't find any slug data with that wad. I use the Lee recipes and Lyman Shotshell recipes subbing the Windjammer wad (same as Lightning, but shorter column to allow more powder and use of the Lyman 525). When my Herco powder finally arrives, I'll be able to do better testing - Unique is OK, but Herco burns a little slower and can get more velocity…I used a lot of Herco in the past shooting the Lee slugs, but got the Lyman mold recently and only have Unique at this time on hand…Happy Holidays again!!
gun nut-problem with claybuster AA12 substitute is that there is a ridge inside the petals that bulge out when a slug is inserted. Too bad too, because they look just like the AA12 wad. I have 3 bags of them I bought because AA12s were not available, but I'll be saving them in the event I load any shot charges…Best Regards...
FortuneCookie45LC thanks I do understand that they get thicker at the bottom. what would happen if I cut the petals off would it work then? also where do you find slug load data for the lightning and windjammer wads?
gun nut Problem is that the Lee and Lyman slugs are in the .68" range and our shotgun bores are .729" with chokes squeezing down from that (Chokes are not recommended for shooting slugs). Without petals (idea is sabot, but a jerryrigged sabot at best), the slug is a poor fitting bare slug with accuracy mediocre at best (the old rattle its way down the bore thing) - now if the slug was .729" you and I would be in business. Why they don't do this is a mystery since factory Fosters are exactly this (but they won't sell us their Fosters either) --Best Regards...
I think a good group at 25 yrds is going to get the job done. I still have to get my shotguns out to check out some of loads that I have bought. After that, then it will be time to get in my first shotgun reloads...fun, fun...lol
Carmen Fralic- If the Claybuster doesn't have the internal ridges, it will work. If they have the internal ridges, the slug will bulge out the wad petals. I have never used that wad before, so I cannot report from personal experience. I can tell you that the Claybuster substitute for the AA12 wad doesn't work for just that reason. If I want a replacement for the AA12, I use the Downrange wads in this video. Best Regards to ya...
I've got a question for you. I've been using the blue downrange XL wads for 7/8 Lee slugs for a while, but I want to try them with the .690 round ball and I noticed they are much tighter when I force them through the barrel with a wooden dowel as a test. I trimmed the wad pedals back almost half way too. I'm using a mossberg cylinder bore barrel and I was just wondering if you noticed the same difference. They still push through the barrel, but it just takes more effort than the 7/8 oz slugs and I was wondering if maybe that would cause a pressure spike because the wad might deform even more and get even wider as it fires the round ball. The base on the 7/8 slug is flat so the force is more uniform around the edge of the wad, but the bottom of the round ball will put force in the center of the wad which will cause the pedals to spread out even more ? I was thinking about using a reduced charge of 15 grains of International powder.
Prepare2Survive-Your barrel/RB/XL wad combo is OK to shoot in its present tightness condition. What you will find if you recover the fired wads is that there will be some petal stripping on some of your shots - You will have some flyers, but groups will be acceptable out to 25 yards. Starting out at reduced loads is always a good idea - that is because the wads we have were never designed for slugs in the first place. Factory Foster (smooth barrels) and sabots (rifled barrels) are designed with proprietary wad systems to give best performance - we don't have access to these systems as factory components. Why is a mystery? Some of the BPI products are close, but costs are high. What we have in cast slugs are jerryrigged systems. I have videos to expand on that. The 690 RB would be a better slug if it were a 685 or so…I've found that the Windjammer and Lightning wads have thinner petals and work better with the 690 RB. Some shooters report fantastic groups at distance, but I haven't been able to get consistent accuracy at distance with any of our cast slugs - If I get reliable 6" groups at 50 yards, I'm happy. If anyone gets better than that (group after group without flyers), more power to 'em…As for me, if I want shotgun accuracy for hunting at 100 yards, I'll use my rifled Mossberg barrel and buy factory sabots…for all other uses, my reloaded slugs at 12 cents a shot cannot be beat…Best to ya...
FortuneCookie45LC Thanks for the reply. I shot about 400 of the lee 7/8 oz slugs in the downrange XL wads and I noticed that the accuracy doesn't do that good at the starting loads listed for international powder, but if I drop it down a few grains below the listed starting level the accuracy is decent and I rarely get any flyers. I've recovered the wads and noticed that the base of the slug didn't leave a heavy imprint in the wad and the wads released from the slug at about 15 yards. When I use more powder the imprint on the wad is heavier, the wads travel farther and the flyers happen a lot more often. I think the added powder causes the slug to stick to the wad which causes the flyers.
Prepare2Survive Many shooters use card wads under the slug to improve accuracy by eliminating the flyers. They don't seem to work in my barrels, though, but definitely good for reloaders to try for themselves. International and Universal are two great powders that I haven't been able to get for over two years along with HS6 and Blue Dot…Glad to see that there are shooters out there that have it…Best to ya...
FortuneCookie45LC Yeah, I bought the international powder a few years ago and some hs6 at the same time too. I was lucky enough to find a few lbs of longshot at cabelas a few weeks ago. I just got back from the range about 30 minutes ago. I fired 2 of the .690 round ball loaded like I mentioned with an over shot card with a roll crimp and they worked great. The recoil was light and the accuracy was decent at 20 yards. The wads did have a dent in the center from the round ball pushing down as it was fired, but at least it's impossible for for a round ball to get stuck in the wad like I think the 7/8 oz slugs do. The other benefit is that the .690 round ball uses less powder and they are easier to cast than the key drive slugs. I didn't have any pedals torn off either so it seems like I have a good combination. Now I just need to see how the accuracy is at 50 yards.
joshua monk- Can't answer that one, because I've never owned the Lyman 690. But every mold can be slightly different anyway. I like my Lee for $20 US money - only way to find out is cast the RBs and measure them, if the Lyman and Lee measure the same, then they are the same. If someone tells you they are the same, you might get your molds and find out that yours cast just a little off of being the same. Best to ya...
i have a bunch of old winchester hulls, federal 209a primers, and i have a lot of claybuster lightning wads. i also have a few claybuster replacement waa12f114 wads. do you know any reloading recipies i can use for reloading either lee 1 oz or 7/8 oz slugs?
gun nut-I haven't had any accuracy luck with the lightning wad, you might- The Lee Precision website has posted reloading data for their slugs. I don't like to use as much Blue Dot as posted, but the Herco and AA5 loads are more reasonable. You can't make wholesale substitutions to slug shotshell components - Lee does not recommend that. But if you want to sub that claybuster wad for the WAA12 wad, that should be OK - drop the powder charge 15% and work up for safety, but keep the other components the same. I've stopped using Unique powder (25-29 grains 1 oz slug /26-30gr 7/8) as it's use is better for my big bore pistol rounds, and I don't have much left . Herso and AA5 are good powders use Lee data. Watch out for subbing hotter primers - I have vid on shotshell primers. Good reloadin' to ya...
FortuneCookie45LC I've been meaning to ask you, are "high brass" shot shells really worth saving? Do they have any value over standard birdshot hulls? You have tweeked my interest in possibly loading my own slugs in the future, but if I don't, would the shells be worth selling? I ask because with deer season around the corner, I'm finding quite a few slug hulls in my clubs waste bucket and wondered if I should start saving them.
Hans S."High Brass" shells are the traditional way of noting more expensive shotshells loaded with extra power, extra shot, or both - typically used for hunting. "Low Brass" was to show lower power target or light field loads. In actuality, the height of the brass rim really adds little additional strength to the hull. The best hulls for reloaders is the injection molded one piece hulls that have more thickness of plastic in the base of the shell - these are suitable for magnum pressures even though they are "low brass". We can load all manner of 2 3/4 inch target, heavy field, magnum, slug and buckshot with these shells. I do not recommend reloading other types of shells including all the 3" and 3 1/2" shells out there, even though others do it. For serious use, like defense or hunting - factory loads are the best. We don't shoot 6 boxes of 3 1/2" shells very often, but we do shoot informal trap and skeet using up lots of shells - and these we can reload fine. But note that none of the best competition shooters (The All American Grand or the Olympics for example) use reloaded shotshells - when it matters most - they all shoot the best factory loads. If you want to win or take home the bacon or venison - factory is the way to go (unless there is nothing else we have handy). But for our range, recreation or practice - hand me my reloads any day...If you see one piece Remingtons or Winchester AAs or Gold Medals in the buckets, pick 'em up...but the others - at your discretion. Stay away from the cheap common hulls...Good shootin' to ya...
FortuneCookie45LC I appreciate the detailed info. Very interesting. Not what I was expecting, but it makes sense. Skeet is something I would love to get into, but have not done in years. I always tend to focus on shooting sports that I am not so good at, as it is more of a challenge. Last skeet shoot I attended was in 2007 at the Rod and Gun club in Pittsburg Pa. They have an amazing setup there, and we actually had the shoot at 10 p.m. using stadium floodlights, neon colored clays, and electronic voice command throwers. Talk about a blast. I actually took 1st place out of a group of 20. Surprised myself. My current local club does not have a skeet range.
Hans S. Congrats on your skeet experiences...if you come in first in a field of 20, that's even more congrats as people are competitive and in that arena, they won't give you anything - you have to earn it...Best to ya...
question im reloading 12ga lee 1oz slugs i have a mix of win. & federal hulls the only powder i have is 8lbs of bullseye and i have no way of getting anything different. i have a 1995 reloading manual from alliant and the only info i can find for 12ga using bullseye powder is a light target trap load using 17.5 grains do you thimk it would be safe to use that data but substitue the 1oz of shot for the 1oz slug? and would i be able to use the federal pink wad for both hulls since it only calls for the win.aa that i cant find either? sorry for all the question but i figured if anyone would know it would be you....... thanks again for all the help
israel osuna - I actually tried that load shooting trap back in 1995. Bullseye pressure curve only works with the 1 oz load at that charge. With BE, you don't have much forgiveness room over that and any change in components may spike the pressure to over high limits. The Federal 12S3 wad should only be used in straight wall hulls (not AAs) like your Federal hulls. You won't see Bullseye used in any published slug loading data. When I shot the BE loads, I found them to not be competitive with other loadings using more conventional shotgun powders. It's easy for me to tell you not to use it since I have lots of Herco and Red Dot powder. If you do choose to try the BE, verify the charge and back it off at least 20%, don't use magnum primers, and work up very carefully...Best to get other powders like Unique or Universal, HS6, or Blue Dot, but I know how powder supplies are these days... Good reloadin' to ya...
joshua monk - They are the Federal Maroon colored plastic hulls with low brass heads and plastic base wads. Case capacity is very similar to the Fiocchi plastic base wad hulls. If you run across any of them lying around, they are very good for reloading...Best to ya...
Nicolas Heyer - I have a video up on that already -- th-cam.com/video/Wv3QB0r9tsw/w-d-xo.html The load was 29-31 grains of Unique powder(start at 29 and work up), and either the 12S0 Federal wad or AA12SL wad (gray) in AA hulls or Rem STS hulls. If necessary because of column height, you could use the AA12 wad with shortened petals. The Claybuster AA12 substitute wad will not work. You will want to be sure to cast the slug with pure lead and use a cylinder bore shotgun to shoot those. Best Regards to ya, FC
Phil Parker - Thanks for your good question. Loading 00 buckshot involves hand stacking the buckshot in our wads - usually 8 or 9 will fit. And there is loading data in the Lyman Shotshell Handbook and the BPI loading books. Have a great day, FC
joshua monk - When this video was made, the hull was the Winchester AA, or Rem STS. The Federal 12S4 wad is a very good wad for the Fiocchi plastic hulls that are in my latest videos. I just haven't gotten around to trying those yet. Been usting the 12S0 wad for Lee slugs and the 12S3 for the Lyman 525 as you see…Best Regards
Bill Baker - BPI has those wads available. I have not used that wad with my slug loads, so I cannot reply with certainty. Some Claybuster wads have a reinforcing rib at the bottom of their petals - if so, slugs will not go into those wads without winding up with a distorted shell. This figure 8 wad might not have the ribs - but a call to BPI to ask for its utility as a slug wad would be in order. This wad is a 1 oz wad so it might be OK with the 1 oz Lee slug, but if not, the 7/8 will do. If BPI reports the wad is good for slug reloading, you might want to give it a try. Plus BPI has all kinds of wads to meet our needs. They can be called for suggestions. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays..!! FC
Ok I did your drop through the barrel experiment and they get tight with a slug in them. So either I modify the slugs and/or load them upside down or get better wads.. thanks
Bill Baker - Actually, tight may be OK - you need to get yourself a long strong wooden dowel (Michael's Craft Stores) and do the push through (stand the dowel on the floor, put the wad/slug on top of it and push the barrel down over it - best way to do the push through test). If you can push the slug/wad through the barrel, even if snug - you can shoot that. If you cannot push the slug / wad through, you can still shoot that through, but the wad petsls will strip off and accuracy will be severely degraded. The Lightning and Windjammer wads from Claybuster are thinner petal wads. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to ya..!! FC
you probably just saved somebody a lot of aggravation and a trip to the hospital. it is always good to keep people thinking about "what works and what don"t "
Lots of great info and a great diagram in a short video!! Love it!! Wish more videos were like this one!!!! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
I gotta say the hot lead zone is one of my favorite channels you are a wealth of information my friend! Thanks for posting!
I'm just getting into loading slugs and this is 411 that I desperately need. Thank you.
Thanks, I'm new at this and was relieved to know the Windjammer will be fine with lee slugs.
heyerstandards- Always good to hear from ya…anytime you feel like posting. Have a great day...
NewZealandDan1-Thanks for posting again, and the good word is greatfully appreciated. I have found that the interaction with other shooters is the most amazing thing about TH-cam…when I see those friends that visited NZ recently, I think about NewZealandDan1 and joehunt1980. Best Regards to you guys...
Another great video, thanks LC
Patrick Silbernagel - And thank you for posting the good word…Have a great day
I use the Win. Pink wad a spacer and a Lee 1 oz. slug. It keeps the wad pedals of the shoulder of the slug and you get a good release.
-- That's what we want. The fired wads tell the whole tale... Good shootin' to ya, FC
Austin Frey - The ones I'm referring to look just like the Win AA12, and when the slugs go in, the petals bulge out when the slug bottoms into the wad. Perhaps the 2 bags I got are a different lot than yours. If your slugs go in nicely, you are definitely in business! I bought those Claybusters because there were no Win AA12 around at the time. No loss as I can use them for trap loads anytime. Thanks for posting on this...
orlos The Druid-Thanks for your question - I'm also a crimper - don't own a roll crimper. The advantage of roll crimp is that we can see immediately that it is a slug load so we don't take these to the trap range by mistake. I get around that by clearly labeling boxes and storing the ammo in a separate place from my shot loaded shells. Some shooters sharpie pen each shell. Best Regards.
A million thanks man. I have the Lee 7/8 slug and want to get the round ball mold and the Lyman slug mold. Then get the Lee 00 buck shot mold. Make buck and ball loads. Again Thank for the video.
KLH1966 they rock bro! Get the a.s. pellet mold on ebay from Canada not lyman pellet. It's better
I got a bit silly awhile back and made up a load with a half oz of shot in a WAA12 wad with the extra space taken up by my hand punched cardboard wads... They were a lot of fun to shoot and light recoiling to say the least! lol
Well its basically just taking a nice sharp hole punch and a reasonable sized hammer and punching out the wads from a piece of Cardboard against the end grain of a 2x4 or 4x4 piece of wood.
You can also use a 19mm hole punch for making over shot cards out of the card stock from Cereal boxes, which is great for when the fold crimp on your shot load is pushing inwards slightly and needs a little extra support.
Thanks for doing the "legwork" for us cookie. I should be getting the 1 oz. Lee mould tomorrow. The plan is to use it for feral pigs. Ranges should be inside 75 yds and will be shot through a smoothbore. I hope I can make it work.
Excellent info, I had to find out the hard way what worked when I first got into shooting my Lee 1oz slugs with the very limited components we get in New Zealand.
I use a 16mm punch to make my filler wads out of scrap cardboard :-)
Birchbarkjohnny-Thank YOU for the good word and for taking the time to post. It is appreciated. Be sure to check out loading data in published form. That is always the best course, although there is less info on shotshells compared with metallic cartridges. Best regards to ya...
agree with birchbarkjohnny, love the hotleadzone. Love the actual useful information on reloading and especially casting, and even love seeing his fine old weapons. Also love getting information on stuff that just works. So much stuff now a days that i buy that just doesnt do what it should. Its like they dont even test a product for basic function before marketing and selling it. If I see a product being used in the hot lead zone I know its something that will work.
seen all I need to see! subscribed!
Terry Curry-Thanks for your comment and question. I know that many are doing the melt shot=slug=put back slugs with OK results. The factories don't recommend the practice as the powder is fast burning target/field powder for shot loads. Slugs behave differently and best for medium burning powders with delayed pressure curve. You notice that slug recipe powders are all the slower powders Unique - Universal - Herco - Blue Dot. Fast powders are not used. But lots of shooters doing it see2
Thank you, Sir
I know video is ancient now, but it held up to time
dictionaryV2- The .690 round ball weighs 494 grains or 1 1/8 oz. Cast out of a Lee mold ( I have a video on that) is very easy to cast - uses up lots of lead though. Best Regards..
I would love to have access to your load data for these wads. I am new to shot shell, and finding suitable data for slugs and buckshot is a monumental pain. I have the Lyman 525 gr mold coming. Great video!
My favorite loading for Lyman 525gr sabot slugs is a WAA-12 (or equivalent) wad with 23 grains of Alliant Green Dot, they shoot very well and run at about 1300 FPS. I'm not exactly loading them for bear (they can be pushed up to 1500 with a magnum powder like Blue Dot) but they are still making 2000 ft-lbs of energy, and going with a smaller amount of faster powder makes for ecomical loads as far as powder usage goes.
Yes, I don't know much about claybuster so they might have changed there WAA12 substitute from the ones in the past that you bought, They work nicely for trap loads as well.
Another VERY useful vid from the Hot Lead Zone!
Larry- As always, thank YOU for the good word..you'll notice that the height of the compression zones on these wads is a little bit different than the others.This allows us to adjust the payload height in the shell for whatever we need to make the good crimp. But no matter how hard we try, it is very difficult to consistently get better than 4" groups at 50 yards. I settle for 5" and am happy with that as I can shoot these offhand at 25 yards and stay in the black if I do my part..Best Regards
Great info im just getting set up to start casting and loading 12 ga slugs.
heyerstandards- Wow-thanks for putting it all into written form...
nonya biness- Thank YOU for the gracious comments - What you are doing is a good way to go. Let others do the beta testing, and stay with materials and procedures that have been shown to be efficacious and efficient (how's that for saying "stuff and ways that work" in a different way, lol?). Have a Great Day and a Fine 4th of July to ya...
joehunt1980-Suppressors are mighty interesting - sounds like you should make some videos of wad punching - something that will help all us scattergunners with our reloads...Thanks for posting and Best Regards to ya...
I forgot to say the barrel is rifled and the gun in remington 1187 I usually use orange wad of winchester also winchester AA hull 33grain of hodgedon longshot starclimp with lee load all
Can you please put out a list of all those wads?
Thanks from Texas.
inspectyerbooty-Thanks for the good word - The frustration with our reload slugs is trying to get factory performance - we are using non spec slugs in recommended wads that were originally designed for field or target shot loads. Note the factories don't use these - they use proprietary slugs and wad that we cannot get. Factory slugs shoot powerful and group well with the best being 2" groups at 100 yards with sabots in rifled barrels. Best I can get is 6" groups at 50 yards - see2
Cliff Notes
•WinAA12 - fits slugs, including Lyman - works with or without card spacer
•Winchester pink - works with the slugs but can't use a spacer
•Winchester grey - won't work with Lyman 525 slug, or a spacer
•Federal 12S3- 'works very well.' Fits all slugs and a spacer.
•'DownRange' dark blue - works well. Fits all slugs and a spacer.
•DownRange yellow wad - Fits all slugs and a spacer.
•Windjammer and Lightning- Fits all slugs and a spacer. Notation: works well with the .690 round ball
I am wondering if you have any receipts for the 525 Lyman using both AA and STS using unique I used to have a Lyman manual but can't find it. Thanks
the DRA-12 ( down range replacement for the WAA12SL) works with the lee one ounce slug
grizzskoalcope-And the good news is you can add the .125 fiber 20 gauge card wad to the inside of the shotcup under the slug if you need to add a bit of height to the column for good crimping (and possibly better accuracy) - Happy Holidays
FortuneCookie45LC i have to use a .125 fiber card or else my crimp collapses on me. i put a new video up today also.
grizzskoalcope Nice job with the video, and I wish my fired wads looked as good as yours. It's all in the barrel / wad / slug compatibility. How's the accuracy with your slugs? My Lees shoot 4-6" groups at 50 and the Lyman 525 shoots 4".
Wonderful info. Thanks.
Luxeboy6447-Good question, no need as the wad petals prevent any bore contact, Have a great day...
I love your videos FC. My question where can I find load data for the Lym 525 PS using the WAA12, FS3, and blue was from CB?
Thanks for that info. I'm getting back into casting and loading slugs and buckshot. I have thousands of empty hills and trying to settle on a powder that will work for both. I have a little herco and would like to find load data to work for both? Most of the suggested was seen to be on backorder though
Great Video
I have Lee 7/8 slugs.
I have 12S3 and windjammer wads.
Tightwad, tightgroup and blue dot power.
Win and Fed primers.
Win AA hulls.
I think I’ll roll crimp.
I would like light loads for 3 gun matches.
What wad and powder would you recommend?
Terry Curry - reply2- and guns are not blowing up, so you can certainly shoot these. I can't bring myself to do these loads since I cast slugs readily with my pure lead from dental lead foil, I like Unique powder and I have lots of AA hulls from my trapshooting days. If things were different, I might do the put back slugs myself…Best Regards…The Federal shotcups are as good as any if the slug fits back in...
What about the Federal 12S0 wad and its 1oz capacity? Same as 12S3 but holds 1/8oz less, so the fiber wad may not be needed?
WVHunter129- You can cut your own cardboard wads - I use the purchased 20 gauge ones fit the bottom of the wads perfectly and enable the crimp. But put the cardboard or 20 wad into the bottom of the wad, and then the slug on top then crimp. I do not advise going other way around slug first and then wad over the slug. Good shootin' to ya...
joehunt1980- not silly at all - you turn a 12 gauge into a 410. And for taking game like squirrels or rabbits, saving on powder and shot - sounds like a great idea. Low noise and low recoil to boot, made possible by those cardboard wads of yours...Thanks for the post
i know this is an old video, but I'm guessing that these are all for straight-wall hulls (cheddite/fiocchi) and not Remington/tapered hulls? thanks!
I like the windjammer, AA and DR wads.
I've been cutting just the crimp out of Federal 12 GA. low brass shells, melting down the no. 7 bird shot into the pellet style slugs for a while now, then reinserting them back into the shells it came out of. With the roll of the shell still in place, they hold in place very nicely. You put a lot of emphasis on the wad. Do you think I should be replacing the shot cup, or do you think the shot cup that comes with the Federal bird shot shells are good enough to use with this kind of slug ?
inspectyerbooty-reply2- I don't even bother to shoot at 100 when the best at 50 from rest is 6". Basically, our home slugs are good for 50-75 yards max. I use them for fun at the range and recreational shooting (and they are fun indeed), and save my factory slugs for serious use. I know some reloaders talk about tight groups, but the occasional 3 shot 3" group at 50 doesn't count in my book. Best Regards...
I am assuming that all these wads are to be used In "TAPERED HULLS" 2 3/4 inch . Most likely AA or Any Remington including STS.
All of your favorites are discontinued, out of stock, or unavailable.
why would you want to add a spacer? I thought it's better or rather cheaper to cut the petals? which ones are you using and which are available today. Ty cookiemaster
Hi thanks again for more nice-to-find videos on loading slugs and the variety of wads that definitely help us beginners....I could really use some help here!
I have a Lee 7/8 oz lead slug, Remington 12ga STS 2 3/4 hulls, Winchester 209 primers, ClayBuster CB0178-12 wads which are replacements for the WAA12L, and IMR 700-x powder.
I'm not able to find much about reloading slugs in several of the Lyman reloading handbooks including the 49th edition and so I went to Hodgdon's website where I came across the reloading data and put in my information which gave me the only results of the following:
Hodgdon HS-6 powder, Win. 209 primer, WAA12L wads, and 38.0 grains of powder.
The problem is that Hodgdons HS6 isn't inexpensive or readily available where I live. It has to be ordered, costs nearly 35.00 for a pound, and plus my local sporting goods shop said there was an additional 30.00 hazardous shipping fee on top of that which makes the total 65.00 just for a single pound of powder that also has the main problem of the formula saying I need 38 grains just for one shell :-O
So I need help from others who might know how many grains of the IMR 700-X is needed... I'm guessing that shouldn't need no more than 20-24 grains with this powder, and so it is going to let me reload so many more shells than hodgdons HS6.
Journey4Sure Knowledge-N-Wisdom - The Claybuster wad will not work if there is a reinforcing rib at the bottom of the petals inside the shot cup - the wad will flare out when the slug is inserted...the wad should look undisturbed when the wad goes in. As for load data, every Lee slug mold has load data for the 1 oz and 7/8 oz slugs included with the instructions. You can also get same from the Lee website. IMR 700X is not listed as one of the useful powders though. The reloading companies say not to substitute the recipes. There are a lot of variables outside of our control to recommend any IMR 700X or any other non listed powders - variables such as reloading practices, number of components switched, hardness of the casted slugs, alloy used to cast, presence of any chokes in the shotgun barrels If you do choose to substitute, start low and work up looking for pressure signs. Danger of starting too low though is when squibs happen... The Lyman data is found in the Lyman Shotshell Reloading Handbook. Most slug loads use the slower burning shotgun powders such as Universal, Blue Dot, HS6, Longshot, etc. Sorry to not be any definite help - but beware of replies that simply say - go ahead and do that... Best to ya, FC
I just recently picked up claybuster WAA12 substitute wads, I'm not sure what problems your having with them cause when I used them they pressed perfectly and did not bulge.
MR LC- I know we talked about this somewhere, but I don't recall where. This vid seems to be the relevant place to put it. When talking about the nice fit of the Winchester silver wad, WAA12SL, you said that your testing showed mangled wads and poor performance. So I got to go shooting this week and used some mid power loads using that wad. They were 1 shot per bowling pin at ~35 yards smoothbore, and seemed to loose accuracy at double that. I can't be more precise than that, but I would say accuracy was good within their window. Anyway, because of your comment, I made a point of recovering about 25 of the fired wads. All of them looked perfect. No exageration. I think this is a matter of pressure and velocity. (I doubt your bore is any tighter than mine.) My load should be about 1275 FPS and was as follows: Win 209+ gun club hull+ 20.5 grains Green dot+ AA12SL+ Lee 1 oz.
So I think the wad is good, but it just needs to be reserved for loads under ~ 1400 FPS/ .
If I can figure out how to reply with a pic of the wads, I'll do so.
lh6.googleusercontent.com/-VF4O_eOzECU/UyEJc8-nr0I/AAAAAAAAAKA/7oVwnfOJ7d4/w983-h553-no/IMGP0197.JPG
GunFun ZS - Saw your photos and replied to you via e-mail. That, indeed, is good wad performance - if we get wads looking like that, we are in business. I'm still trying to get some Win AA12 wads as the few I had shot lights out. No luck locating those wads for a year now. Best to ya...
Dang. I can't even figure out how to let me check that. I hate G+ with all my soul. How google can make such a confusing interface blows my mind. I've been raised on computers, built them even, and G+ is incomprehensible. It's only designed to yell at strangers,and create traffic loops, not actually communicate. What a mess.
I'm sorry, but I just can't figure out how to find and read the message you sent me. It isn't in my gmail, I can't find a link from G+, it doesn't show in my youtube inbox. I am at a loss.
GunFun ZS I know what you are saying about Google+. It is making a mess out of TH-cam now. When I just went to reply to you, TH-cam kicked me into a dialogue box wanting to have replies made in my own name instead of my YT name (I suppose like Facebook). But we've always had TH-cam names, and the "anonymity" helped us be free dispensing information some of which might be "sensitive". Google is trying to force us into a whole different way than what we wanted and did. Now - back to the wads - I know that many don't like the Win AA12 wad because it is not as firm in the compression zone as the Federals, but the AA12 gave me very nice accuracy and uniformity - even if they are "soft" I the middle...moot point, because can't get any of 'em anyway. But the Federals are plentiful, so tonight, going to load up some slug loads with Federal wads and Herco powder load development - should be fun... Best to ya...
joehunt1980-Great hearing from you, as always. I like that idea of punching out cardboard. How does it work? I'm sure I'm not the only one that wants to know...
** FortuneCookie45LC's favorites: WinAA12, Pink 12S3, & DownRange blue.
Hulls: WinAA, Rem Premier, or Federal Gold Medal.
What doesn't work: •Claybusters - bulges with slugs. • Remington Power Piston • Fiocchi
Another NZ follower FC45LC! Very interesting, as always.
I have the winchester12l was do I have to use the card spacer?
1yankeecowboy-Some report that the use of the card spacer keeps the wad out of the back end of the slug improving accuracy - but you'll have to test that for your own gun - you might find the opposite. Sometimes we need to put the spacer in to get a good crimp, but with the 12L gray wad, that probably won't be the case (pun ha,har lol). Whatever, your MEC will handle it nicely…Best Regards to ya…By the way - you might drop into Daniel Shore's site - it's tobacco road with emphasis on pipes and cigars…If you do - tell him that FC says Dan's the Tobacco Road
I was wondering if brown Federal 12S4 wad which already has cushion part prepared works with lyman 525 resently 12s3 are not available around here in japan but 12s4 is available
Can you give any load info advice for the Lee .690 round ball ?
hello, which slug is the most accurate? bullet lee or pellet slug ?
thanks I do understand that they get thicker at the bottom. what would happen if I cut the petals off would it work then? also where do you find slug load data for the lightning and windjammer wads? * I just called claybuster yesterday 12/19/13 trying to find lightning slug data. then I started talking to him about using claybusters for slugs. he said they are making wads with thinner petals for slugs. they are not selling them under claybuster brand though. I forget what the brand is going to be called, *
gun nut - If you cut the petals off, you've got a bare slug that is anywhere around .04 under bore diameter - it's the old loose ball rattle down barrel that gives unacceptable accuracy. Would be different if the Lee slugs casted bigger with a driving band on the back edge like factory Fosters. We don't get to cast those. So the Lee slugs are designed to be placed into target shotshell wads - 1) we need wads the slugs go into well 2) we need wad / slug combos that will not be excessively tight (petals strip) ; So your Claybusters fail on point 1) - best not to use them and find others that do fit so you can load 'em into a shell. We'll have to see about those new wads - sounds good…hmmm more testing… Have a great day..
Hell9 can you use cb111812 in a remimgton 2 3/4 high velocity sts hulls
WOW!!!!! Thanks for this video!! I feel better now about having a whole box of Winchester AA 12 wads!! One question comes to me from watching the video, I think you said you can if you want use the cardboard card, but do you have to?? Since I sent you a PM a few minutes ago, I am wonder if a cardboard wad on top of the slug would of been a good idea. Remember I am new to loading slugs! :) Thanks for your videos!!!
Does the claybuster replacement for the federal 12s3 wad work?
Question: Can you load a slug With a power piston essentially a wad without the pedals. For instance taking the petals off The wad if you do not have a proper wad. I would imagine accuracy would suffer but can it be done.? Thank you for your videos they are very informative and excellent keep up the great work and you have a good voice For videos
I don’t see why not, yes the accuracy would be no better than the old school smooth bore flint locks. You would have the wad base serving as the gas seal, but the slug would be loose in the shell and going down the bore, essentially bouncing off your bore until exiting the muzzle, flinging the slug somewhere into the unknown. I would just spend $10 on some wads though.
wawheeler21- Shotgun slugs are really fun, aren't they. Even though they roar and give our shoulders a stomp, and belch out a blast, somehow we just keep stoking those things…Our local range let's us shoot them right with all the pistol and carbine shooters…we all have a blasting good time even when we aren't tripping triggers...
Are the downrange Bronze colored wads the same as the dark blue wads???? Let me know cookie. I have vast options on wads at my local dealer and you are the guru. Help me out.
***** Yes, they are both replacement wads for the Winchester AA12. I don't use the Bronze wad because the compression zone is the same as the yellow...my wad assortments are based on having different compression zones. The blue wad has a different compression structure. But you make a great point - since I can't find any Win AA12 wads, I should get some of those Bronze wads to try - will put them on my next Midway order... Best to ya
I noticed that with a Lee 7/8 oz slug, AA hull, win209, bronze wad, 38.0gr HS-6 will still rip off one petal.
***** It's good you have taken the effort to check out your fired wads...important feedback... You are shooting powerful slug loads...if the accuracy is acceptable, the one petal ripoff is not significant. If accuracy is not good, you will need to try a more open choke (like cylinder if you are shooting IC), or switch to wads that have thinner petals. Your DR bronze wad may have petals too long (because of the 7/8th oz slug) - you could try shortening the petals to just below the top of the slug. Or switch to the 1 oz slug and adjust the powder charge.
Tried 1oz. slug with pink AA wads (claybuster) today and did not notice this problem as much. You will be proud. I mined about 30lbs of range scrap and yielded about 12 lbs of lead. Quite a few copper jackets! All for free though!
***** Congrats on your shotshell loads...also for your 12 pounds of lead - watch out for the dust though - shooting range berms can expose miners to lead dust...Best to ya
I've had no luck with Lee slugs using Hastings rifled barrel on my 11-87. They all fit too tight. Best was Claybuster White lightning but still ripped pedals off wad. Wad was cocked apon ignition. Tried nitro cards 1 and 2 no luck. Barrel is filthy after 5 shots.
Sprayanimal-know what you mean - been trying to match or better factory slugs for past 30 years. Best I can do is have fun accuracy out to 25-35 yards at the range. But the economy is vastly superior than buying factory slugs. But for hunting and serious use, factory slugs are the way to go. Best to ya...
good day sir, I have finally found a pound of unique and green dot I was wondering could you recommend charges for both using the lee 1oz slug winAA hulls and win shot cups I have found some info stating 19gr green dot but haven't found anything for unique I would appreciate any help thanks and have a great day...
PrepperKip-Someone on TV said that "only accurate guns are interesting", and I would agree except when it comes to shotgun slugs. Until they let us cast sabot slugs and market plastic sabots that fit them like factory ammo, we can only reliably get 5" groups at 50 yds and 10" groups at 100. Occasionally, we'll do better and say "Eureka!!", but then some flyers happen. This is not exciting, but slugs are still great fun inside of 50 yards, dare I say "interesting". Plus cheap 12 cents a shot.
FortuneCookie45LC - What would be your approach for the Lee .690 with Federal Hulls (the cheapies with the fiber base wad)? Obviously these are easy hulls to come by and I have a ton. I think decent accuracy to 25 yards is good and something the size of the pie plate at 50 would be great. I have Promo, HS6 and 800-x powders right now along with Federal and Winchester primers. I appreciate the help.
Bill Weber - Thanks for your comments and questions - The .690 Round Ball is a little large for use in some of our wads. The bare slug will roll through our .72+ barrels. If you use the Federal 12S wads, you will have too tight a fit to push through your barrel with a dowel. Shooting those is OK, but your petals will strip giving you accuracy loss. The best wads I've found for the .690 RB are the Windjammer and Lightning wads with their thin petals. You might find differently in your own barrels. The .690 RB weighs 1 1/8 oz. so you can use any load for that weight, but cut the charge 10% to start and check for primer pressure signs and good functioning. 35 yards and in - this slug is dependably accurate. You'll have to test at 50 for your own gun...Best Regards and Happy Holidays
Hello .what hull would work with .690 ball 34gn long shot or 37gn of hs6 I re use hulls from our range.tries claybuster waa wads but they seem to long for my 2 3/4 hulls challenger 11/8-3 7.5 . So they reopen and crimp bad what do you suggest.
Hi all What is the best quality of the cartouche will be at the same time much quick and describe the target 100% and strong there are many types ?
Ibrahim Halloun - Yes, there are many types of 12 gauge slugs. I’m about to launch another video series on some very promising slugs. Best to ya...FC Steve
dictionaryV2- I'll have to weigh one for you as I don't have that in my random access memory....Thanks for the question...
how many grain is the 690 ball????
What spacers are you using? Thanks
Remington power piston will work just like my TGT12S wads and some fig 8's have the lines in the cup could be cb copys. But you cut it into a 8 pettel wad if rem is all you have👍 time consuming but worked well.. my favorite is 12so and 12s3
Anyone know a source to buy slugs from? I don't want to invest in the equipment to make them, just purchase the finished slug.
Hi
I like your videos, I guess you are the right man to ask.
have you found any wads for the Lyman 525 grains and the Lee 7/8 oz slugs that goes well in smooth bore 12 gauge shotgun. I have tried several wads with and without nitro card board in cyl. and skeet choke, but I guess I can improve the accuracy with a little help.
The wads I looking for would fit both slugs, with nitro card ( not so important, I can use two different wads), gain 6-10lbs in the "choke test", powder does not get pass the gas seal( annoying and ugly in clear hulls) and last clear color if possible,
does this wad exist ?
fredrik babinski - Unfortunately, the two slugs are of significantly different heights and the nitro card wads may not solve. Your desire to simplify and use one wad for both slugs is going to be very difficult. 1) the wads were never designed for use with slugs in the first place 2) the two major types of shotshell hulls require different wads - the AA types for compression injection molded hulls (some Winchester and Remington hulls are these) , and the straight wall Federal types for straight wall separate base wad type hulls (includes the Fiocchi clear hulls that we all like) 3) the crimps may not cooperate. Using the wrong wad in the types of hulls results in the powder leakage problem as well as possible ignition problems. There are no clear wads commonly used in our reloads. Both slugs you have chosen work in smooth bore 12s. cyl and skeet chokes are fine for slugs. Good shootin' to ya...
Addendum reply - the Lyman 525 goes well with the AA12 wad and the Fed 12S3. The Lee 7/8ths slug goes well with the Federal 12S0 as well as the others in the video...Best Regards
FortuneCookie45LC
thanks for excellent help, I have tried to get the win. waa12 wads for a very long time, but all the suppliers are out of stock.
Do you know where we can get Winchesters waa 12 wads ?
I tested some loads from different loading data, and I got best group without nitro cards( it seems that they got a tighter fit trough the choke).
I will try the fed. 12s3 for the Lyman slug and the fed. 12s0 for the lee slug, do you use nitro card in them as well?
I have not tried the federal wads, so I will try your combo.
fredrik babinski Actually, the Winchester AA12 wads in Win AA hulls gave the best accuracy, but as you have found, these wads are not available anywhere. I haven't seen any for over two years. The Federal wads are easy to find - if you use them, the clear Fiocchi shotshell hulls will work well with them. Good reloadin' to ya...
FortuneCookie45LC
thanks
I will let you know if I gain any significant accuracy
Thanks for the tips and advice! Where do you find slug load data for the lightning wad?
gun nut- Nice work on that XDM45- You have to do about 30 of 'em to get rolling though. The lightning wad is an interesting wad, because it has thinner petals. You won't find any slug data with that wad. I use the Lee recipes and Lyman Shotshell recipes subbing the Windjammer wad (same as Lightning, but shorter column to allow more powder and use of the Lyman 525). When my Herco powder finally arrives, I'll be able to do better testing - Unique is OK, but Herco burns a little slower and can get more velocity…I used a lot of Herco in the past shooting the Lee slugs, but got the Lyman mold recently and only have Unique at this time on hand…Happy Holidays again!!
I have claybuster waa12 replacement. since the petals are too thick for the slug could I just cut them off?
gun nut-problem with claybuster AA12 substitute is that there is a ridge inside the petals that bulge out when a slug is inserted. Too bad too, because they look just like the AA12 wad. I have 3 bags of them I bought because AA12s were not available, but I'll be saving them in the event I load any shot charges…Best Regards...
FortuneCookie45LC thanks I do understand that they get thicker at the bottom. what would happen if I cut the petals off would it work then? also where do you find slug load data for the lightning and windjammer wads?
gun nut Problem is that the Lee and Lyman slugs are in the .68" range and our shotgun bores are .729" with chokes squeezing down from that (Chokes are not recommended for shooting slugs). Without petals (idea is sabot, but a jerryrigged sabot at best), the slug is a poor fitting bare slug with accuracy mediocre at best (the old rattle its way down the bore thing) - now if the slug was .729" you and I would be in business. Why they don't do this is a mystery since factory Fosters are exactly this (but they won't sell us their Fosters either) --Best Regards...
I think a good group at 25 yrds is going to get the job done. I still have to get my shotguns out to check out some of loads that I have bought. After that, then it will be time to get in my first shotgun reloads...fun, fun...lol
I have some claybuster wads that look like the pink winchester ones you show here (it is waa12sl), will these work with the lee slug?
Thanks
Carmen Fralic- If the Claybuster doesn't have the internal ridges, it will work. If they have the internal ridges, the slug will bulge out the wad petals. I have never used that wad before, so I cannot report from personal experience. I can tell you that the Claybuster substitute for the AA12 wad doesn't work for just that reason. If I want a replacement for the AA12, I use the Downrange wads in this video. Best Regards to ya...
Thanks for the info...I was gonna hit you up for the very same thing...thanks!
I've got a question for you. I've been using the blue downrange XL wads for 7/8 Lee slugs for a while, but I want to try them with the .690 round ball and I noticed they are much tighter when I force them through the barrel with a wooden dowel as a test. I trimmed the wad pedals back almost half way too. I'm using a mossberg cylinder bore barrel and I was just wondering if you noticed the same difference. They still push through the barrel, but it just takes more effort than the 7/8 oz slugs and I was wondering if maybe that would cause a pressure spike because the wad might deform even more and get even wider as it fires the round ball. The base on the 7/8 slug is flat so the force is more uniform around the edge of the wad, but the bottom of the round ball will put force in the center of the wad which will cause the pedals to spread out even more ? I was thinking about using a reduced charge of 15 grains of International powder.
Prepare2Survive-Your barrel/RB/XL wad combo is OK to shoot in its present tightness condition. What you will find if you recover the fired wads is that there will be some petal stripping on some of your shots - You will have some flyers, but groups will be acceptable out to 25 yards. Starting out at reduced loads is always a good idea - that is because the wads we have were never designed for slugs in the first place. Factory Foster (smooth barrels) and sabots (rifled barrels) are designed with proprietary wad systems to give best performance - we don't have access to these systems as factory components. Why is a mystery? Some of the BPI products are close, but costs are high. What we have in cast slugs are jerryrigged systems. I have videos to expand on that. The 690 RB would be a better slug if it were a 685 or so…I've found that the Windjammer and Lightning wads have thinner petals and work better with the 690 RB. Some shooters report fantastic groups at distance, but I haven't been able to get consistent accuracy at distance with any of our cast slugs - If I get reliable 6" groups at 50 yards, I'm happy. If anyone gets better than that (group after group without flyers), more power to 'em…As for me, if I want shotgun accuracy for hunting at 100 yards, I'll use my rifled Mossberg barrel and buy factory sabots…for all other uses, my reloaded slugs at 12 cents a shot cannot be beat…Best to ya...
FortuneCookie45LC
Thanks for the reply. I shot about 400 of the lee 7/8 oz slugs in the downrange XL wads and I noticed that the accuracy doesn't do that good at the starting loads listed for international powder, but if I drop it down a few grains below the listed starting level the accuracy is decent and I rarely get any flyers. I've recovered the wads and noticed that the base of the slug didn't leave a heavy imprint in the wad and the wads released from the slug at about 15 yards. When I use more powder the imprint on the wad is heavier, the wads travel farther and the flyers happen a lot more often. I think the added powder causes the slug to stick to the wad which causes the flyers.
Prepare2Survive Many shooters use card wads under the slug to improve accuracy by eliminating the flyers. They don't seem to work in my barrels, though, but definitely good for reloaders to try for themselves. International and Universal are two great powders that I haven't been able to get for over two years along with HS6 and Blue Dot…Glad to see that there are shooters out there that have it…Best to ya...
FortuneCookie45LC
Yeah, I bought the international powder a few years ago and some hs6 at the same time too. I was lucky enough to find a few lbs of longshot at cabelas a few weeks ago. I just got back from the range about 30 minutes ago. I fired 2 of the .690 round ball loaded like I mentioned with an over shot card with a roll crimp and they worked great. The recoil was light and the accuracy was decent at 20 yards. The wads did have a dent in the center from the round ball pushing down as it was fired, but at least it's impossible for for a round ball to get stuck in the wad like I think the 7/8 oz slugs do. The other benefit is that the .690 round ball uses less powder and they are easier to cast than the key drive slugs. I didn't have any pedals torn off either so it seems like I have a good combination. Now I just need to see how the accuracy is at 50 yards.
Prepare2Survive I would not expect superior accuracy at 50. But at shorter ranges, that 690 RB is a real thumper…Best to ya...
is the lyman 690 and the lee 690 the same because I cant fined any lode data for the lyman ?
joshua monk- Can't answer that one, because I've never owned the Lyman 690. But every mold can be slightly different anyway. I like my Lee for $20 US money - only way to find out is cast the RBs and measure them, if the Lyman and Lee measure the same, then they are the same. If someone tells you they are the same, you might get your molds and find out that yours cast just a little off of being the same. Best to ya...
FortuneCookie45LC ok thx
i have a bunch of old winchester hulls, federal 209a primers, and i have a lot of claybuster lightning wads. i also have a few claybuster replacement waa12f114 wads. do you know any reloading recipies i can use for reloading either lee 1 oz or 7/8 oz slugs?
gun nut-I haven't had any accuracy luck with the lightning wad, you might- The Lee Precision website has posted reloading data for their slugs. I don't like to use as much Blue Dot as posted, but the Herco and AA5 loads are more reasonable. You can't make wholesale substitutions to slug shotshell components - Lee does not recommend that. But if you want to sub that claybuster wad for the WAA12 wad, that should be OK - drop the powder charge 15% and work up for safety, but keep the other components the same. I've stopped using Unique powder (25-29 grains 1 oz slug /26-30gr 7/8) as it's use is better for my big bore pistol rounds, and I don't have much left . Herso and AA5 are good powders use Lee data. Watch out for subbing hotter primers - I have vid on shotshell primers. Good reloadin' to ya...
FortuneCookie45LC I've been meaning to ask you, are "high brass" shot shells really worth saving? Do they have any value over standard birdshot hulls? You have tweeked my interest in possibly loading my own slugs in the future, but if I don't, would the shells be worth selling? I ask because with deer season around the corner, I'm finding quite a few slug hulls in my clubs waste bucket and wondered if I should start saving them.
Hans S."High Brass" shells are the traditional way of noting more expensive shotshells loaded with extra power, extra shot, or both - typically used for hunting. "Low Brass" was to show lower power target or light field loads. In actuality, the height of the brass rim really adds little additional strength to the hull. The best hulls for reloaders is the injection molded one piece hulls that have more thickness of plastic in the base of the shell - these are suitable for magnum pressures even though they are "low brass". We can load all manner of 2 3/4 inch target, heavy field, magnum, slug and buckshot with these shells. I do not recommend reloading other types of shells including all the 3" and 3 1/2" shells out there, even though others do it. For serious use, like defense or hunting - factory loads are the best. We don't shoot 6 boxes of 3 1/2" shells very often, but we do shoot informal trap and skeet using up lots of shells - and these we can reload fine. But note that none of the best competition shooters (The All American Grand or the Olympics for example) use reloaded shotshells - when it matters most - they all shoot the best factory loads. If you want to win or take home the bacon or venison - factory is the way to go (unless there is nothing else we have handy). But for our range, recreation or practice - hand me my reloads any day...If you see one piece Remingtons or Winchester AAs or Gold Medals in the buckets, pick 'em up...but the others - at your discretion. Stay away from the cheap common hulls...Good shootin' to ya...
FortuneCookie45LC I appreciate the detailed info. Very interesting. Not what I was expecting, but it makes sense.
Skeet is something I would love to get into, but have not done in years. I always tend to focus on shooting sports that I am not so good at, as it is more of a challenge.
Last skeet shoot I attended was in 2007 at the Rod and Gun club in Pittsburg Pa. They have an amazing setup there, and we actually had the shoot at 10 p.m. using stadium floodlights, neon colored clays, and electronic voice command throwers. Talk about a blast. I actually took 1st place out of a group of 20. Surprised myself. My current local club does not have a skeet range.
Hans S. Congrats on your skeet experiences...if you come in first in a field of 20, that's even more congrats as people are competitive and in that arena, they won't give you anything - you have to earn it...Best to ya...
question im reloading 12ga lee 1oz slugs i have a mix of win. & federal hulls the only powder i have is 8lbs of bullseye and i have no way of getting anything different. i have a 1995 reloading manual from alliant and the only info i can find for 12ga using bullseye powder is a light target trap load using 17.5 grains do you thimk it would be safe to use that data but substitue the 1oz of shot for the 1oz slug? and would i be able to use the federal pink wad for both hulls since it only calls for the win.aa that i cant find either? sorry for all the question but i figured if anyone would know it would be you....... thanks again for all the help
israel osuna - I actually tried that load shooting trap back in 1995. Bullseye pressure curve only works with the 1 oz load at that charge. With BE, you don't have much forgiveness room over that and any change in components may spike the pressure to over high limits. The Federal 12S3 wad should only be used in straight wall hulls (not AAs) like your Federal hulls. You won't see Bullseye used in any published slug loading data. When I shot the BE loads, I found them to not be competitive with other loadings using more conventional shotgun powders. It's easy for me to tell you not to use it since I have lots of Herco and Red Dot powder. If you do choose to try the BE, verify the charge and back it off at least 20%, don't use magnum primers, and work up very carefully...Best to get other powders like Unique or Universal, HS6, or Blue Dot, but I know how powder supplies are these days... Good reloadin' to ya...
what dos the fed gold mettle shell look like
joshua monk - They are the Federal Maroon colored plastic hulls with low brass heads and plastic base wads. Case capacity is very similar to the Fiocchi plastic base wad hulls. If you run across any of them lying around, they are very good for reloading...Best to ya...
ill keep my eye out for them and thx for geting back to me! I look forward to more shot shell vids from you. thx
Hi
Fortune can you do video for slug with low recoil i think lee 24gram (i am french) 7/8 is good for that ?
Nicolas Heyer - I have a video up on that already -- th-cam.com/video/Wv3QB0r9tsw/w-d-xo.html The load was 29-31 grains of Unique powder(start at 29 and work up), and either the 12S0 Federal wad or AA12SL wad (gray) in AA hulls or Rem STS hulls. If necessary because of column height, you could use the AA12 wad with shortened petals. The Claybuster AA12 substitute wad will not work. You will want to be sure to cast the slug with pure lead and use a cylinder bore shotgun to shoot those. Best Regards to ya, FC
thank you very much!you are awesome!
Will your favorites also work for Oo buckshot?
Phil Parker - Thanks for your good question. Loading 00 buckshot involves hand stacking the buckshot in our wads - usually 8 or 9 will fit. And there is loading data in the Lyman Shotshell Handbook and the BPI loading books. Have a great day, FC
Thankyou!!!
Man I need help with these recipes!
have u used the fed 12s4 wad or know if i works?
joshua monk - When this video was made, the hull was the Winchester AA, or Rem STS. The Federal 12S4 wad is a very good wad for the Fiocchi plastic hulls that are in my latest videos. I just haven't gotten around to trying those yet. Been usting the 12S0 wad for Lee slugs and the 12S3 for the Lyman 525 as you see…Best Regards
FortuneCookie45LC thx
Will the Claybuster TGT8100-12 work?
Bill Baker - BPI has those wads available. I have not used that wad with my slug loads, so I cannot reply with certainty. Some Claybuster wads have a reinforcing rib at the bottom of their petals - if so, slugs will not go into those wads without winding up with a distorted shell. This figure 8 wad might not have the ribs - but a call to BPI to ask for its utility as a slug wad would be in order. This wad is a 1 oz wad so it might be OK with the 1 oz Lee slug, but if not, the 7/8 will do. If BPI reports the wad is good for slug reloading, you might want to give it a try. Plus BPI has all kinds of wads to meet our needs. They can be called for suggestions. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays..!! FC
Ok I did your drop through the barrel experiment and they get tight with a slug in them.
So either I modify the slugs and/or load them upside down or get better wads.. thanks
Bill Baker - Actually, tight may be OK - you need to get yourself a long strong wooden dowel (Michael's Craft Stores) and do the push through (stand the dowel on the floor, put the wad/slug on top of it and push the barrel down over it - best way to do the push through test). If you can push the slug/wad through the barrel, even if snug - you can shoot that. If you cannot push the slug / wad through, you can still shoot that through, but the wad petsls will strip off and accuracy will be severely degraded. The Lightning and Windjammer wads from Claybuster are thinner petal wads. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to ya..!! FC
Thanks bud!!!