12 gauge round ball advice

ginsingjones

ginsingjones

Regular
Rating - 100%
123   0   0
Location
castlegar B.C.
I have a question for anyone with experience loading 12 gauge round ball loads. I am torn between a .662" and a .678" mold. I will be shooting these through a smooth bore with imp cyl choke. Hoping to be able to fire them through a modified as well. They will be loaded into a winchester wad. In both Remington gun club and winchester hs hulls.
Anyone with experience with either of these combos, what have the best accuracy. Any preference to either ball size? I will be following published data and will not be loading these hot. Just looking for helpful advice. And accuracy reports
Thanks
 
I will be loading them into a shot cup, won't be doing a full bore slug. I mocked up some balls of the correct diameter and inserted them into several wads I have laying around. The .680 ball seemed snug through IC choke tube and a hard push through a modified tube. The .662 ball was a little loose in IC and snug in a modified. My question would b would the wad get squeezed down with the tighter ball or would it just end up shredding the wad petals and ruining the flight path? If I can find a way to effectively patch the smaller ball it would be perfect for both.
I was just hoping someone on here has experience shooting these balls in their shotguns and could help me out
 
You could try an .010 patch. I am not sure patching and a wad cup would translate to good accuracy. If your round ball is pure lead it will squeeze down to fit your modified choke.

My experience is from BP shotguns and loading slugs for my old side by side. The wad cup is plastic and will likely compress. The soft lead with definitely compress.
 
I will give both molds a try perhaps. I'm just looking to find a projectile I can cast and have predictable accuracy to 50-70 yards. I'm not talking pinpoint but 6" groups at 50-70 yards would be fine. Also want acceptable performance through IC and modified chokes. I have heard good and bad things about the Lee slugs. The lyman 525 looks like a great slug, however I can't seem to find info on its performance through modified choke tube. Have you guys tried the 525 through various chokes? How was the performance?
 
I have only used mine in a rifled barrel with a wad cup. Works wonders on bears at 40 yards.
Again if you are using pure lead it should compress. I would say start cylinder and change chokes. If you start to feel uncomfortable with what is happening, stop and go back one choke.

BTW I have both the 12 and 20 gauge version of the 525 mold and both are very accurate for slugs from a shotgun.
 
You sent me scurrying to my gun room. The slugs I have, have a maximum diameter of .685. It is the bearing surface of the top part of the slug. The lower surface maximum seems to be .667.

Very little surface area to contact the wad or the barrel.
 
I truly wish those molds were cheaper so I could experiment with them. Triming wad petals off just below the wide point, winchester wads vs clones ect. I have heard or a clone lyman mold being made. $60 or so and includes handles. They are made in Russia I'm just not confident in the build quality or tolerances
 
Round balls have a number of disadvantages. First off, their ballistics suck. Eddies and vortexes behind them cause inherent inaccuracy. And fired from a smoothbore, not being spun, their accuracy is hardly improved. Another problem is that sub-bore balls, bouncing off the barrel walls esssentially at random, have random swerves added. Also, there is a lack of obturation, with propellant gasses leaking.

But, OK, it's always fun to experiment. My call is to just fit one into a shot cup and go with it. If it fits snugly into the cup without bulging the sides, it should be OK. Obturation issues would solved and the bouncing off barrel walls issue just about eliminated. Ball shape would still suck and it would still not be spun, but several issues would be dealt with. Moreover, a smaller ball would pass through a choke without problems.

Bottom line? This ain't Bisley, so don't overthink things.

My call, anyway.
 
HI; 662 ball dropped into shot cup, loose groups but hammer tough, kills 45 gallon steel barrels both sides. .678 ball into a shot cup hand punch through the choke to check. Place a 20 gauge hard card or two under the ball or you get blow by the wad when fired. Better groups at 50 yards, will not deflect off course if it hits a small branch. It is always nose first, DA, its a ball.
Wind and theory are over rated when it comes to plowing lead balls 50 yards or so.
 
My .662" mold still hasn't arrived. I got a local guy to cast me up for testing. I am searching for a .678" ball mold right now. As well as a .690" and most of all a lyman 525 pellet slug mold.
I have had good luck with Lee 1oz slug, again 4" groups at 50 or so. If anyone has some ball molds they want to part with give me a shout
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom