mild & accurate 12guage sabot slug loads?

[Crockettnj]

New to the forum, but I spent some time searching and reading.

I am interested in loading my own 12 ga slug loads for informal target practice and deer hunting.

I am seeking accuracy and low recoil over shoulder breaking/ high vel loads. Also, reduced cost. It'd be for use out to a max of 100 yards. 90% of the shots are 50 - 75 yards. I will be using a rifled barrel. The deer are rarely if ever over 150 lbs.

I read some about the new (?) bpi sabot, and think that a .500 soft cast bullet similar to the ML conicals I use would be perfect.

I have some reloading experience years ago, but have not touched the loader in perhaps a decade. I did mostly squirrel loads and very low recoil skeet rounds. I have a MEC 600jr in the basement somewhere.

Any direction, advice etc on load data, realistic expectations, real world experience, & how I can assemble accurate , low recoil , soft cast .500 cal loads would be very appreciated.

 

[243winxb]

Getting a light load may be hard to do. http://www.thehighroad.us/showthread.php?p=5005524 Some good info in this Thread

 

[243winxb]

http://www.ballisticproducts.com/ You will find most anything here.

 

[danweasel]

If you don't already have one, a limbsaver will do amazing things. For 30 bucks it is a great deal cheaper than a "trial by fire" of a buch of different slugs too.

Of course, this only solves the recoil part of your question.

Also Brennekes are super accurate in my experience. I had three touching holes at about 50 feet my first time shooting them and it was out of a smoothbore bead sight 18 incher (bear gun).

 

[snuffy]

f you're interested in the BPI sabot, take a look at this thread over on the shotgun forum;

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=399789

I'm still working on getting accuracy out of that sabot. Currently I'm using a .510 lead bullet made by reaming a 500 S&W mold. Winter weather has prevented any more testing, hopefully over Christmas vacation, I can get out to shoot a few test loads.

 

[Crockettnj]

Thanks for the input so far.

I have a limbsaver pad on 3 guns. It's a good product. It doesnt have a lot to do with making your own economical accurate loads though. I am not averse to recoil per se. I have had excellent success with the brennekes (mentioned) and the rem copper solids in the past. However both of these are overkill in terms of recoil, power, and price. Also, I expect prices to climb substantially and availablility in my area to plummet in the next few years.

Nonetheless, I would like a homebrew load that is economical, accurate, and effective on thinskinned game at approx75 yrds.

Thanks again. I'll do more HW and check back in afterwards.

 

[snuffy]

Want another option?







That's a lee .390 round ball, made to go inside a standard trap wad. The load is as follows; Fiocchi primed empty case, claybuster AA wad, copy, (1) .135 12 gauge card wad, 21.0 grains of NM-04 powder I got from Jeff Bartlett at GIbrass.com. It has the burn rate of green dot, it's a coarse flake powder, made in China for some factory loading, was an over-run for their use. The RB was made by me, this one is 490 grains, or just about exactly 1-1/8 ounce. Cast of 20-1 pure lead/tin. It could be made of any castable lead, the harder the lead, the lighter the RB.

 

[Crockettnj]

Thats an interesting option. how is your accuracy to 50 - 75 yards? Minute of Hand? Minute of pie-plate?

Is the ball .390 cal and weighs 490 grains? My .54 cal pure lead balls weigh 230 grains...

I am intruiged though. I like 54 cal lead ball performance on deer... interesting.

 

[snuffy]

Thats an interesting option. how is your accuracy to 50 - 75 yards? Minute of Hand? Minute of pie-plate?

I just got the mold, those are the first I have loaded. If this Wisconsin winter will allow it, I will try them out this weekend. We're supposed to get 5-7 inches of new snow tonight/tomorrow, on top of the 6 inches we already have.

I may really need my all wheel drive,(VUE), to get down the un-plowed club access road to go shoot. I'll be using an 870 20" fully rifled cantilever with a 2-7X nikon shotgun scope.

 

[243winxb]

Reduced light load with Lee 1 oz Key Drive Slug

If you make a few adjustments to this Lee load, it just might be what your looking for. Federal Gold Medal case, Fed 209A primer,Fed12S3 wads, Hodgdon Universal powder, 28.0 gr., Lee 1 oz slug, 1450 fps. Now for the changes. To get a proper crimp when lowering the powder charge, you will need a different wad, its would be Fed 12S0 wad. http://www.midwayusa.com/browse/BrowseProducts.aspx?tabId=1&categoryId=17746&categoryString=9315***11462***9503***&refineSearchKeyword=federal&Click+to+begin+refined+search.x=9&Click+to+begin+refined+search.y=12 Now you will need to reduce the powder charge 10% as per Lee instructions. And i see no reason why you can't lower the powder charge more to get the light load you want. As long as the crimp is good, you might be able to reduce the TOTAL powder charge as much as 20%. Just a guess on my part. I picked this powder because it takes up a lot of room in the case and is faster burning then the other loads Lee has listed. Lee Load data is here> PDF file > http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi-data/instruct/SM3529.pdf "USE THIS INFORMATION AT YOUR OWN RISK" "IT HAS NOT BEEN TESTED" good luck.

 

[Crockettnj]

thank you. time to dust off the MEC 600JR!

 

[33rowdy]

I would like to get involved in loading sabot slugs. But I simply don't wanna get involved in cast lead. I saw at a locail gun shop that Lightfield I think it was had a kit like that you can buy to assemble.

 

[33rowdy]

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=158096

Here they are.

 

[243winxb]

33rowdy, good link. Here is Lightfields website. http://www.lightfieldslugs.com Lots of good reading. One thing to keep in mind is not all rifled slug barres have the same rate of twist. Mossberg started the rifled slug barrel and ammo revolution. Some of the other makes like Remington that got into the game late, used a different twist in there barrels. Rems would not shoot the BRI Sabots accuratly. And the patent on the slug kept others from using it, unless they paid. So now adays, check to see what rifling twist different barrels have, it can make a big difference in accuracy. The problem with loading a Lee Key Drive Slug with a common thin shot wad is, they will not always preform exactly the same. A more heavy/thick wad is better. But a wad that may seperate from the slug while in the air can have affects on accuracy also. IMO the 50 caliber sabot in a fall away wad is best, like the original BRI one i first shot out of a Mossberg. Some history here>> http://www.cabelas.com/story-123/bourjaily_shotguns_deer/87/Shotguns%2Bfor%2BWhitetails.shtml

 

[33rowdy]

My idea of wanting to hand load slugs is because I honestly can shoot slugs accurate for my liking. Looking for better than 6' at 50 yards. Something I wonder is if the barrel length will throw them off along with the twist rate.

Just looking at my slug collection this is what I have; (NOTE I have both smooth and rifled barles for 20 ga.

12 GA Smoothbore
Remington Slugger
Federal Trueball
Federal Power-Shock
ACTIV

20 GA Smoothbore
Remington Slugger

20 GA Sabots.
Winchester Super X
Federal Hydra-shok 3" & 2 3/4".
Hastings

So what next? Look for more slugs..Buy another slug gun?