Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting Anybody casting shotgun slugs?

Am interested in your experience with this.

What molds do you use?

Can the slug be used with conventional plastic wads?

Accuracy?

Thanks,
Ted

I tried
1) round lead balls in a 12 gauge...terrible accuracy out of W-W wads.
2) Foster hollow base slug, pure lead, lousy accuracy
3) Lyman's hollow base hourglass shaped slug, 535 grains pure lead, fits inside a plastic wad. Excellent accuracy! 30.0 grains of IMR 4756 from a police gun with rifle sights (Remington 870)
Good luck...advise strongly that you consider the hourglass-shaped Lyman.

Oh...and I used once fired Remington or W-W AA low brass shells. The crimp sometimes will "pout" a bit, but they feed well and shoot nicely.

Rooster

rooster,

Thanks very much for your reply.

Can the Lyman slug be used with wheelweights?

Ted

Made a mold for .65 with a hollow base (I work machines so have access)
. Put it in one of the one piece wads and tried it, worked as well as Foster slugs, but there is no reason in Colorado, rifles are legal in all areas. A punkin ball in the same wad might work if I could find anyone selling some around .66. Have considered .58 in 20 ga. but there are better uses if my reloading and experimenting time.

Regarding wheelweights for casting slugs...anything you can melt and pour will do. I use pure lead...have lots of it...but I would assume that using WW's will be fine. I would probably not use them in a modified or full choked gun as the may damage the choke.

Good luck,

rooster

Thanks guys!

Just been kicking the idea around.

Ted

Not too long ago I cast up 500+ Forster type slugs in 20ga. persuasion. they weigh about 325gr., if memory serves - about 3/4 oz. Some of (relatively) pure lead, and some of WW.
They would load fine in a crimped hull, if you cut the petals off the wad. There wasn't room for paper-patching thru the choke, or wad petals in the hull, though. They wouldn't fit through the choke with 2 wraps of paper on them - didn't want to "force" the issue.
Haven't tried it yet, but I'll bet they will fit inside a 12ga. wad. Might could use the paper-patching there, for a good fit. They would also probably need a card wad stack-up of some sort, too.
I didn't do too much with them, though. I shot my chrono on the first trial with them, and it kinda soured me on the idea. I'll probably try it again when my hurt feelings heal up!
One thing, ya gotta cast 'em HOT, and fast, or the hollow-base pin gets too cool for good fill-out, with that type of mold (Lyman).