Home Forums Reloading Shotshells My first venture into shotshell reloading

You definitely have too much stack height. Try a roll crimper from Ballistic Products for slugs.

Starting shotshell reloading with slugs first is not recommended. There is a learning curve.

Lyman slugs use a regular crimp.

If it's a safe load, they should shoot ok. A crimp needs to be about .050" deep, with a little taper. I don't know what loader you have, but it needs adjustment.

Lee load all II

I recommend you check these guys out. They love loading slugs and buckshot and have plenty of videos for you to scroll through to learn from, and are very responsive to questions on their youtube videos. https://youtube.com/@theshotgunscientists?si=YkxuCdzd9-Ua0BZh

I shot a plie of these today. incredibly inaccurate at 100 yards but super fun to shoot, the recoil is very mild.

I have been having a tough time with misfires in my Handi rifle. The Ultra slug barrel first began having problems with Remington sabot slugs then with many of my rifle barrels. I replaced the hammer spring and had two out of 10 Hornady SST slugs misfire. None of the rifle barrels have misfired since the spring change. ALL of my handloaded slugs worked.

Hopefully you replaced it with a Wolff e.p. spring.

If you're going to keep any H&R's/ NEF's for
serious work you'll want to buy a package and
replace the factory spring with a Wolff whenever
you disassemble one of them.
One of the best pieces of free advice I ever got
online.
Good Luck

I believe it was a wolf spring.

Do you anything about replacing a single arm spring with a double spring?

Since I took a single arm spring out, that is what I replaced it with.

This Ultra slug 20 gauge barrel has taken over 50 deer, it just started acting up a couple years ago. I replaced the spring this summer and have just taken it the range twice so far.

There's always a "learning curve", but damn man, what manual did you get those loads from???? Setting the crimp is damn important, as well as choosing the right wad. Something is fn amiss there!!!!! Try a Mec or Ponsness Warren. Good luck man..

Doing some reading, there were a lot of comments about the Lee Load all barely being capable of loading shotshells, specifically regarding the crimp.

Also found comments about the slug wad combo being very inaccurate as well. One guy paper patched the slugs instead and was able to get them to group.

The load data is Lyman load data.

This is what you need:

https://www.ballisticproducts.com/Original-Roll-Crimping-Tool-12ga/productinfo/ROLL12/

Thanks, if I got that though I should buy some real sabots to reload.

We have shot deer with Remingtons, Federals, Hornady and Winchester slugs, one problem lately is the primers on some factory rounds are set very deep and the Handi rifle is still misfiring on some of them. Not to mention that facory slugs are rediculously priced.

Roll crimping might be your answer. It’s a bit time consuming getting everything set up and learning the nuances. Results are rewarding.

The bp roll crimpers work but the one Precision Reloading makes works better. Mb

You are well behind the learning curve, potentially dangerously so.

You will be handicapped to a degree by your equipment. The Lee Shotshell Loader was not well thought of decades ago when it was mostly metal. That it is now overwhelmingly plastic has not helped its reputation. Lee has a fair bit of adequate reloading tools but, unfortunately, the shotshell tools are not it. A used MEC 600 Jr would be a reasonable replacement.

Unless you go to an actual sabot or change to a slug that is a larger diameter I would not bother with a roll crimp tool. The plastic wad is the issue as one is asking more from it than it was designed to do when used as a sabot. A roll crimp just seems to make a low success task worse. Stick with fold crimps as that is the least problematic. As an aside, choosing a different hull would also be advised, the Hornady hull uses a roll crimp and getting a decent folded crimp is a coin toss without skiving the mouth aggressively. Even then there will be a fair number of poor crimps. Start off with hulls that came from the factory with folded crimps.

You mention the Lyman manual. Have you read the chapters prior to the loading data? I suggest you do so, again if you already did, as it seems you missed the part regarding the substitution of components. Specifically, the hull you appear to be using is not the one used in the Lyman data you are using. This is very evident with the stacking problems you are having and is an obvious clue that something is not right. I wouldn't be surprised if there were other component swaps being made. Continuing on this path is a waste of components at best, risk of damage to your firearm or injury to yourself or others.

Before you continue further, read the instructional chapters of your Lyman manual. Then follow them - whether you use the data from Lyman or some other source.

My Lyman book does not have shotshell data in it. I was using a paper that came with the slugs. A bunch of internet searching reveiled the same page that was from a Lyman load book.

I think these slugs were meant for stand hunting at 25 yards or less. I really do not have a use for them in that capacity.

I would love to find some CCS sabots but have no idea where they are sold, I just keep reading how good they are. If I went that route I would definitely invest in a better load setup and components.

'
Take a look at this company's offerings :
https://www.ballisticproducts.com/Slug-Components/products/71/
https://www.ballisticproducts.com/Slug-Loading-Manual-10th-edition/productinfo/00MSLUG/

Before you do any more shotshell reloading, you really need to buy an actual shotshell manual. From it you will hopefully learn proper reloading procedures as well as the necessity of using the correct components. Just mix and matching components Willy-nilly like you are currently doing is a foolish way to go. At best it is a waste of components and at worst it can lead to damage or even injury. Shotshell reloading is not rocket science but it does take some knowledge and a heap of common sense. Lacking either is frustrating, lacking both is folly.

The only substitute I used was the hull.

I do need to study a shotshell manual though.

I am not finding any 20 garage sabots so this project may be on hold for a while.

The problem I am having with factory slugs is the primers are so far in that my handi rifle is misfiring with them. The back of the shells looked dished. It was just Remingtons at first but now I am seeing it with Horandy rounds as well.

This is the load data I got with the 200 Lyman 20gauge slugs that I ordered 3 or 4 years ago. The biggest problem is that most of the components listed do not exist anymore. Winchester AA20 were discontinued a while ago.

Again, buy and read a shotshell reloading manual. The hull is a very significant part of a load and substituting "only" the hull can have consequences. One could deduce that from just the data you have on hand but a manual will or at least should give the reasons one should not do this. Once more, buy a shotshell reloading manual and read it. It will make the learning curve shorter, cheaper, and most definitely, safer.