Wax 12 ga. slugs in a crimped hull

[Dad03]

I did a search but did not see anyone who has actually loaded any with a crimp.

I got a deal on a MEC 600jr, MEC 650, 50lbs #7 shot, boxes of wads and probably 700 AA and various other hulls. I bought it mainly to load slugs. I have already loaded about 100 AA with #7 for clay loads and don't need anymore clay loads since thats not my style shooting.

I saw this dude on you tube making the wax slugs by cutting the tops off of bird shot loads then repouring the wax/shot mix but the shell was open with just a waxed end. Claims he gets 6" groupings at 100 yrds.

I want to give these a try but would either make a mold and make them outside the shell and load like a regular slug OR prime, powder and wad the shell then pour in the wax.shot then crimp after it sets.

I have a lead slug mold but need something to use this #7 shot on too.

Anyone try these out.

Edited July 15, 2012 by Dad03

[Caster]

Just buy a Lyman 525 mold and cast your own. I do. If you're going to spend your time doing, why do a bubba job?

Besides, the 525 drops right into a wad and cuts a hole like a wadcutter. It's ridiculously devastating to any kind of living target. I cast them from pure lead and the hollow base will expand on firing, sealing the bore and will expand when it hits something hard.

[RED333]

Same advice, but I use a Lee key hole mold, 1oz, fits right in the wad and makes a mess of what ever it hits.

I can get 6" groups out of a rifled sulg barrel on my mossy and Saiga 12, with the rifled choke at 100 yrds.

I been thinking of getting one of those Lyman 525s, Caster, the handle on the bottom,

controls the weight, is that right?

Edited July 15, 2012 by RED333

[Dad03]

I have a Lee slug mold and already load slugs.

I was looking for something to do with this #7 shot I have. If I did not already have it I wouldn't go out of my way to try it. From what I read this was the old school way of creating a slug.

May play around with a few then try to swap the 7 shot for some buck shot.

Edited July 15, 2012 by Dad03

[Caster]

Dad03, you won't know till you try it. Good thing is, loading them is relatively cheap.

RED333, No, the handle on the bottom is a core pin. It's what forms the hollow base. If you look at the pile here you can see the hollow base

Edited July 15, 2012 by Caster

[RED333]

I have a Lee slug mold and already load slugs.

I was looking for something to do with this #7 shot I have. If I did not already have it I wouldn't go out of my way to try it. From what I read this was the old school way of creating a slug.

May play around with a few then try to swap the 7 shot for some buck shot.

Melt the #7 and make buck shot, I make that as well.

ETA: thanks for the answer Caster. Looked for the mold and it is a bit high for me right now.

Edited July 15, 2012 by RED333

[jtmaze]

The bird shot mixed with wax has a very devastating effect. A car fender at about thirty feet will leave a 4-6 inch hole. Think in terms of shooting a claymore mine. The wax holds the birdshot together until it hits something solid then the energy stays with the birdshot. A friend on mine and I are experimenting with a jacketed hollow point 12ga slug. We have made two but are working on a safe way to shoot before testing. We have a couple of cases of the wax slugs now moving on to other projects.

JTM

Sent from my iPhone

[Dolomite_supafly]

I have done all kinds of field expeient ways of making slugs. I have made the wax slugs and accuracy is hit and miss. At 100 yards I have had 3 of them hit realy close to each other then the other two go random directions. I have had them hit the ground 25 yards to the 100 yard line as well as fly over the berm. The key to make the slugs is to heat the lead shot with the wax. If you don't then you will only get wax down about 1/4". By heating it all together then the wax will go all the way to the bottom. Something that is pretty nice about these wax birdshot loads is they stick together until they hit something. I set up a 1' square cardboard box and shot it. The entry was the size of the slug but the exit was about 3". So the slugs would readily come apart upon impact with anything if cardboard forced them to fall apart.

I have even used pure wax slugs with no shot mized in. They will not cycle a semi auto but they do shoot as accurately as the wax/shot loads inside of 25 yards.

I also cast soft lead slugs for use in my Saiga. I cast 1+ ounce .690" round balls as well as 1 ounce Lee keyed slugs.

I load mine a little differently than most. First I buy the cheap 100 rounds value packs from Walmart for $23. Then I grind the top off the top of the shell and pour out the shot to be melted into slugs. Then I drop the slug, be it ball or keyed slug, right down into the shotgun shell. I put them right in the hull where the shot was and then I use my home made crimp die to fold the open top over to secure the slug or ball in place. And because the opening is tapered it also helps cycling. After the crimp there is only about 1/4" opening in the end of the shell. It looks like a birdshot 22lr round does with their crimped mouth. This narrow tip makes it cycle so much more reliably.

The key to making these cheap slugs loads is to use Federal bulk pack. The hulls work really well with slugs. Winchester will not work because there is a bump inside the hull that makes seating the slug impossible or at least too hard for me to feel comfortable with.

The best part about doing it this way is I can shoot slug loads for less than .25 a shot. Another big advantage for me is even though these are slug loads they are realitively light kicking. After all they are the same powder charge and same projectile weight.

Dolomite

[mikegideon]

[media=]

[/media] Edited July 15, 2012 by mikegideon

[RED333]

I load mine a little differently than most. First I buy the cheap 100 rounds value packs from Walmart for $23. Then I grind the top off the top of the shell and pour out the shot to be melted into slugs. Then I drop the slug, be it ball or keyed slug, right down into the shotgun shell.

The key to making these cheap slugs loads is to use Federal bulk pack. The hulls work really well with slugs. Winchester will not work because there is a bump inside the hull that makes seating the slug impossible or at least too hard for me to feel comfortable with.

The best part about doing it this way is I can shoot slug loads for less than .25 a shot. Another big advantage for me is even though these are slug loads they are realitively light kicking. After all they are the same powder charge and same projectile weight.

Dolomite

I do it a bit diff, I open the crimp with plyers, melt, cast and recrimp, FED, WIN work well for me.

REM, has a taperd hull that wont work with slug, so they get 8 pellets of "00".