lee one ounce slugs

[Reefinmike]

Yesterday I got my lee load all II shotshell loader in the mail as well as a slug mold and other goodies. Load data out there on the lee slugs is limited at best but all over the lee material, it just says use standard hulls, standard one ounce trap wads and load to lead shot data.

Today I picked up 250 once fired win AA hulls, a brick of fiocchi 616 primers, a thousand one ounce claybuster CB1100-12 (WAA12SL replacement) wads and a pound of IMR 700x. Im wanting to keep these loads light. They will be for plinking out of a cheap old single shot. I was planning on using 15gr of 700x beneath the slugs. My only concern is that the slug does not freely drop down to the bottom of the wad... it bows the petals out. When loaded in a hull there is no noticeable bulge. am I good to go?

 

[rcmodel]

As long as there is no bulge in the hull, you are good to go.

(But I didn't confirm your load data!)

rc

 

[Reefinmike]

Thanks for the reassurance RC! now I just need to figure out how to meter this 700x... Im getting readings up to a whole grain apart in both the lee load all powder dispenser and the lee stand alone measure...

Also anyone have any recommendations on where to start using unique? alliant does not list unique in its data for one ounce loads.

 

[gamestalker]

As RC said, I would definitely confirm the data. This is a biggie, shot shell data is very specific. In all the years of loading shot shell, (30+ yrs. ) I've never seen data that was so vague, as in, just use with any other one ounce trap load data, or anything that didn't specifically match components.

GS

 

[blarby]

Unique ?

If you care to use it- the charge table that came with your loadall is what I started loading with, and it never lead me astray.

Slug loads are lower pressure than shot loads. Your biggest issue is going to be bloops and unburnt powder- not over pressure.

I have no loads with Unique and 1oz slugs to share that I have tried- my apologies !

That 700x though.... try your .134 bushing in a winAA hull- I do have a notecard for that load. My notes say to try a hotter primer, as there was unburnt powder, but it worked. I used a CCI. Fiochi states that their 616 primer is comparable. BPI backs that up all over their load data.

That load data is from the lee data that came with your loadall.

If you don't have the funds, there is a slavic gent out there with a very nice google drive he allows folks to use PDF data from. I won't link it. Google is your friend.

 

[Reefinmike]

Thanks a ton for the input blarby. The slugs being lower pressure makes sense, I would imagine the shot would mash outwards much more than a slug would as it is traveling down the barrel.

A couple shells I managed to overcrimp and "buckled" and creased the hull about halfway down... much like what can happen in metallic loading. are these safe to shoot or should I tear em apart?

 

[USSR]

Reefinmike,

Slugs use slower burn rate powders than shot loads do. Do not use your 700X powder. I use AA#5 and HS-6 powder. Here is Lee's load data for their slugs: http://leeprecision.com/cgi-data/instruct/SM%203529.pdf.

Don

 

[blarby]

The buckled loads will fire once, and they'll be done after that.

Getting the feel for the crimp on a loadall is tricky with slugs, what I did was this :

Resize, prime, powder.

Use the wad guide to seat the wad.

Insert the slug past the old crimp point, but not so far that it drops into the wad.

Use the precrimp step to seat the slug further.

Use the final crimp step to fully crimp the shell, and final seat the slug to the correct depth.

The nice part about that last bit is that the crimp will "seat" on the meplat of the slug, and give you really good crimps.

You can also try something I used on cheapier hulls like the maroon federals; on the final crimp step, dont full power close it on the first try. USe about 80% of your strength and depth, spin the shell 180', and then use a 100% power/depth stroke to finish the job. You'll get a lot less buckled hulls that way.

When you have a chance, get some of those fed maroon hulls, and bluedot powder. My mossy's love that combo.

I love my lee slug moulds, but they both broke on that damn pin. IF you are careful, you'll get longer life out of yours than I did with mine. the 7/8th ounce I got about 2k slugs from, the 1oz much less- about 1500.

If you can, grab the 7/8th oz- they are just as effective, you can stretch your lead a bit further, and they fit into more wads

If you are willing to do the repair, I'll trade you the 7/8th oz parts for some wads down the road. Next summer i'm going to be playing around with lyman slugs, as they have more data available, and I just put my hands on a rifled 12 ga bbl :!

 

[Reefinmike]

Thanks for the offer on the 7/8 oz parts but I dont see myself shooting much more than 250 slugs a year and besides, I grab about 250 slugs worth (15lbs) of range lead each time I go to the range . Before seeing USSR's reccomendation I went ahead and loaded up 25 shells using the .134 bushing like you said. powder varied from 15.1-15.5... not as accurate as I like but I guess that is only like what, a 4% variance?

I got my method down and I am getting great crimps and easy loading. first I prep and prime a whole lot of brass(hulls) as I always do, then powder, drop a wad down in the shell using the guide until it "clicks" under the guides tabs. Then I drop a slug in and then seat it down until the top of the wad just clicks past the tabs. then pre crimp and crimp. What im seeing now on about half the hulls is a very narrow indentation in the hull about an inch from the bottom... hard to see but i can feel it with my fingernail. it doesnt seem to damage the hull

lastly blarby- you have used 700x with these slugs, right?

thanks for all the info, its really reassuring. Most people make it seem that when loading shotshell, an off brand primer and a slightly different wad is the difference between a fun day at the range and a fun day at the hospital...

 

[Reefinmike]

also, note taken on the slug molds breaking... I just cast up about 200 earlier today... Ill probably just cast up a couple thousand over the winter and then prep the mold for long term storage if it doesnt break... a couple thousand should last me many years.

also, you should send them into lee for repair!

 

[blarby]

lastly blarby- you have used 700x with these slugs, right?

Yes.

That 700x though.... try your .134 bushing in a winAA hull- I do have a notecard for that load. My notes say to try a hotter primer, as there was unburnt powder, but it worked.

I've since moved on to other powders- bluedot and HS-6, for the most part. I had a fair amount of 700x lying around from making trap loads when the mould came in, so it was one of the first powders I tried.


Gernerally, I'd try 5-10 loads of anything before I committed to any particular combo.

 

[Reefinmike]

Yeah, I figured the chance of 25 poor performers would be less of a disappointment than just bringing 10 slugs out to the range... its a 30 minute drive.

My Lgs was out of all the dots as well as hs6 Its weird, last time I visited them In august their shelves were STUFFED... its like powder manufacturers just stopped...

 

[Armored farmer]

I dabbled a bit with the Lee 1 0z Key Drive slug. I just used my 1oz trap load. I was trying to develop a 12ga load that wasn't punishing for my young son. Unfortunately, marginal accuracy was all I could get.
Hopefully someone will share a successful recipe with us.