Anyone cast the Lee 1oz shotgun slug?

[Blackhawk]

I just got a 1oz mold from Lee. Anyone cast this slug? I'm new to casting. Any tips? How would I make the slugs hard or soft?

Johnny

[TedH]

I've been casting that slug for a while. I would recommend you follow Lee's instructions and cast them from very soft alloy/pure lead. I tried some clip on wheel weight alloy one time, and they were a bugger to get loose from the mold because the alloy was harder. Some guys get away with using wheel weights and just cast at a lot higher temp. Other than that, it makes a decent slug.

[Blackhawk]

I'm going to take 1oz shot from the case, melt it, mold it into a slug and put it back in the case. Never done this, or any casting for that matter. This is my first go at it.

Johnny

[TedH]

I think you will have a real hard time with that. That shot is going to be pretty darn hard, not what you want to use to make a slug in a Lee mold. I would highly recommend you get some soft lead. If nothing else, get you a quantity of lead fishing sinkers to use instead of that shot, if you can't find lead anywhere else. Chances of what you are describing actually working to your satisfaction are slim. Depending on what wad is in the shells you are using, the height of your load isn't likely to be correct to get a good crimp. Not to mention the powder and charge weight isn't going to be the same for a 1 ounce shot load as it is for a slug load. There is a lot of good data on the Hodgdon load data site.

[pokey]

I think you will have a real hard time with that. That shot is going to be pretty darn hard, not what you want to use to make a slug in a Lee mold. I would highly recommend you get some soft lead. If nothing else, get you a quantity of lead fishing sinkers to use instead of that shot, if you can't find lead anywhere else. Chances of what you are describing actually working to your satisfaction are slim. Depending on what wad is in the shells you are using, the height of your load isn't likely to be correct to get a good crimp. Not to mention the powder and charge weight isn't going to be the same for a 1 ounce shot load as it is for a slug load. There is a lot of good data on the Hodgdon load data site.

also hard shot has arsenic and some other bad stuff in it, so
extra careful when you melt it. [ think ventilation ].

[Grizz]

I thought the lee slug was designed to go into a shot cup???

I bought a round ball mold, .690, to do the same type of thing.
And I want a hard lead ball. I got 69 cal balls on Ted's recommendation
and they fit perfectly in a 2-3/4 hull. I open the crimp, replace the shot, and
work the crimp closed again. The crimp rests on the top of the RB, looks
perfect to me. Soft slugs come apart in gelatin pen tests. I don't want a
slug that disassembles itself when it hits the target.

Have not patterned them yet, but have two different makes of birdshot hulls with
balls in them to test. Gonna take the gongs out and see what happens. sometime.

[Blackhawk]

Casting will done outside. Maybe on a campfire. But have a butane stove ready in case that don't work.

I didn't think a crimp was needed. Also, doesn't 1oz of shot = 1oz slug? There is video's of the process on youtube but I can't access them from this PC.


Johnny

[zzr7ky]

Hi -

I have the mold. I buddy was under-employed and cast a bunch from 40-1 alloy. They pattern as good or better than Remington, Win., or Federal Foster slugs they replace. We are using Blue Dot.

I am haven't gotten them over the chrono yet.

I'd like to get the 20 gauge version.

Mike

[mikld]

There's a video of everything on youtube. And a lot of those things I would not try! I would highly recommend you look at Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbook for info on casting slugs, or bullets. I wouldn't think shotgun slugs would be nearly as hard as shot (shot isn't the easiest alloy to cast with too, I use it for hardening lead for handgun bullets).

[Blackhawk]

I thought the lee slug was designed to go into a shot cup???

I bought a round ball mold, .690, to do the same type of thing.
And I want a hard lead ball. I got 69 cal balls on Ted's recommendation
and they fit perfectly in a 2-3/4 hull. I open the crimp, replace the shot, and
work the crimp closed again. The crimp rests on the top of the RB, looks
perfect to me. Soft slugs come apart in gelatin pen tests. I don't want a
slug that disassembles itself when it hits the target.

Have not patterned them yet, but have two different makes of birdshot hulls with
balls in them to test. Gonna take the gongs out and see what happens. sometime.

Grizz,

How hard is the shot to melt? Any tips or advice?

Johnny

[Grizz]

Johnny,

I have not melted any lead yet.

I have abt 20 lbs of 00 buck that I am going to recast as #1 buck, and I will be melting the bird shot in with the buck.


Also plan to add some alloy to harden and toughen the lead. I have never cast lead and when I get started it will be a new thing for me. Looking forward to it.

[Hayseed]

Ive been casting my 12ga 1oz slugs with wheel wt metal same as I use for other bullets. I use the 1oz shotcups with a 20ga card wad to get ht under slug inside cup. I have a data sheet from Lee that came with mould .

The ww slugs go through 6x6 at 25 yds and open like 1/2 dollar !

[44-40 Willy]

I've used the .690 round balls in a muzzleloading 12ga that is cylinder bored. I normally just patch 'em like I would for a m/l rifle. But I have used shot cups before too. The round balls seemed to be more accurate in with the patch than in the shot cup.

[Grizz]

Thanks guys for the info. I loaded 20 rounds substituting the rb for the shot in the shot cup. looks like a perfect fit to me. Still waiting for time and tide and weather to coincide into a good shooting day to try them out. I think at city lot distances it would be a very disruptive load.

[Blackhawk]

Ok. Thank you gentlmen.

Johnny

[zzr7ky]

HEY - I just realized I was wrong. I have the LYMAN Sabot mold. The one shaped like a large air rifle pellet. IIRC they say 525 grain on the mold but they are about 496-500 grains according to my scale.

I have the LYMAN Sabot mold. My buddy was under-employed and cast a bunch from 40-1 alloy. They pattern as good or better than Remington, Win., or Federal Foster slugs they replace. We are using Blue Dot.

Chrono said high 1400's for speed.

I'd like to get the 20 gauge version.

Mike