12g *HammerHead* slugs (Lee 1oz Drive key :-] )

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Huntsman

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So I started my cast shotgun slug adventure back in 2006 with the Lee Drive Key 1oz slug.
I had a good pile of WW's which I smelted and made ingots. Had a Lee Load All that I purchase from LeBaron in '88 and lots of Win AA hulls and various wads.
Shotgun was a Win 1200 with 26" VR bbl and Winchoke, shortly after I ordered a Carlson rifled choke tube. I tried all sorts of powder too.
Off I go and start casting, loading and to the range with high hopes! What a dismal frustration failure :mad: (I borrowed a Mossberg 500 rifled barrel with more disappointment which I found out recently that the ported barrel does nothing for accuracy- makes it worse)
Only slightly better than dismal with Carlson RCT. I actually got good groups with RTC and Win 1oz slugs.
So After tons of range time and little improvement I put these on the back burner and stuck with good ol Winchester Super X 1oz.
Now, last August I come across a super deal on a Rem 870 with rifles cantilever bbl that a friend was selling for a ridiculously low price.
I say what the heck, cant pass on a $180 Wingmaster :d
Back to the Lee drive key but this time much much success!

I posted my results on Castboolits.com;
Well after much reading on the web I gathered all the tips that other shotgun shooters have use with the Lee Drive Key slug and put them to all together.
Equipment;

Lee Load All
Remington/Peterson blue hulls
Win WAA12F114 (Yellow wad)
Fed 20S1 yellow wad (just the base)
12 gauge 1/4" felt wad
CCI 209 primers
Hogdon Titegroup powder
Lee 1oz Drive slug cast from pure lead AC
Remington 870 Wingmaster with rifled cantilever barrel
Bushnell Elite 3200 3-9x40 scope

I chose the yellow wad as it had the thickest petal out of all my wads. I trimmed the petals down by clipping 1/4" off.
And the Federal 20S1 I completely cut the entire wad column off so i just had the base.
So it was 20S1 first then felt wad then 1oz slug; (the petals aren't clipped in the pic)



I then placed this load on top of 18.5 grs of the Titegroup powder and fully crimped.



Now off to the range. Where I am hunting i'll be using a ground blind like I did last year. The distance from my blind is the well used deer trail is 33 paces (30 yards) with a max shot of 50 yards!
So my target was placed at 33 paces from the shooting bench. My first 3 shots produced this group;



I did have other loads using Green dot and 800X but they didn't group quite like this. At 50yds the group opened up 1" No biggie.
So with all the tips and points and tricks that all you fellow boolit casters and shotgun slug shooters have come up with over the years have worked and I thank you :happy dance:
I tried all this back in 2008 and had the worst of luck using my 28" barrel Winchester 1200 with Carlson rifled choke tube, I gave up out of frustration and never went back until recently. After shooting a nice buck last year with my shotgun using a Federal 3" 00 buck shell I soon started thinking of that shot using a slug.
I have plenty of factory "Rifled" slugs on hand and even went as far as purchasing some factory "Thug Slug" loads.
In the last week a Remington 870 Wingmaster with rifled barrel came into possession from a good friend of mine.
Right away I thought great, Now I'll be spending $25 bucks or more for some sabot slugs. I found some Winchester BRI slugs for cheaper than that. Well they never even got shot or taken out of the ammo can after I saw how well these Lee slugs grouped.

Here's some pics I thought I'd share


My recovered wads. You can see even though one batch weren't clipped shorter they still opened up well. They did however not group as well as the ones that were. They did group well mind you ;) Not all holes were touching lol



I haven't tried any 100yd shots/groups as I didn't need to. I have a nice 30-30 with NOE 165gr cat boolits for that :)
Off to the garage I go to cast some more slugs!
Thanks for reading :razz:

I did get a chance to try 100yd shots and they dropped way too much! Way too much!! Which brings me to my next adventure;
Slugs R Us Hammerhead slug.
I came across SRU over a year ago but paid no attention as I didn't have a rifled barrel shotgun. Since I do now I figured why not.
They have a Lee mold to cast your own HH slugs but the kicker is they require their wad, the SPW or Sabot Pressure Wad. These are a very sturdy/rigid plastic wad with a splined column;


:mad::mad:*****PHOTO BUCKET IS CRASHING MY PC I WILL CONTINUE USING MY PHONE AND FIND ANOTHER SITE FOR PICS******:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:
 
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What kinda groups were you getting? What powder/data were you using? I'm using both pure lead and WW's, not mixed. Separately.
I finally got awesome groups with my 870 rifled barrel and taking tips from other boolit casters and shotgun reloaders who experiences the same. Google is your friend ;)

I'm rebooting my pc right now in hopes of completing my thread. Photobucket turned retarded imo!
 
Thanks for the post.
I found the 7/8ths Lee slugs to be even more accurate. They are much nose heavier and less prone to tumbling with faster loads.
 
Hammerhead slug Thread cont'd;

HH (Lee) slug mold from Slugs R Us.



SPW



Hammerhead shown next to Lee Drive key





And finished product. A roll crimp is recommended for the HH slug. Which I ordered as well;
I'm also using RIO 2 3/4" primed hulls and 800X powder.


Unfortunately I won't get to the range anytime soon to test these out but this is what I hope to achieve as posted by another castboolit shooter. All shot @100yds;




If anyone remembers Hasting sabot slugs and rifled barrels, these HH slugs are a similar design;


Thanks for reading :)
 
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And here is the new Rem 870 I'm shooting. Same barrel;


Shot really nice at the range. Here in this pic I'm trying out some 2 3/4" Lightfield Hybrid sabot slugs. I also tried some 3" Lightfields but they were way too painful!! Not fun at all to shoot.

The 2 3/4 were amazingly accurate at 50 & 100yds!! But at $20/5 :O. I'd much prefer to roll my own ;)
 
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Thanx, guys. You just phoqued me up!!!!! I was utterly disgusted with paying $4/slug for sabot slugs. Now, reading this [hoquing thread, you got me interested. Seeing as I have molds for 44 mag 250 gr. RN and 50 cal Maxi's, I just ordered 20 of the wads for 20 and 12 gauge, and the roll crimp tools for each. Thanks a lot. Friends, my butt!!!! I'll end up in the poor house!

Now, what are you using for loads in the 20 and 12?
 
I was happy with my results right out of the gate.

@50 yards

HGdytyK.jpg
 
yomomma said:
https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/for...d-suggestions-for-the-Lee-12Ga-Drive-Key-Slug

Load info
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link :)
If you read above ^ and see what I loaded and how I assembled my slug pic#1, then look at the results of my 3 shot group @33 paces,pic #2, you'll see that I was able overcome my frustrations of 2006 with the Lee Drive Key slug and found a golden Load that puts damn near 3 Drive key slugs touching at 50 yds
The data that Lee provides might be a good start but imho the speed of 1500 fps is too fast for the thin WAA wad and causes the petals to rip off thus defeating any wanted accuracy. My load with Titegroup powder is approx 1200-1300 fps ( no chrony).
I've since gone beyond the Lee slug and am concentrating on the Hammerhead. This slug shows amazing accuracy out to 100yds surely no achievable with the Lee Drive key.
My plans with these slugs including the Lee DK are to hunt deer with where accuracy for me is paramount.
There's something about launching a big hunk of lead at a critter with devastating energy that puts a big smile on my face when they cluster into a nice group on paper and you can say to yourself, "I made that!"
:D
 
yomomma said:
I was happy with my results right out of the gate.

@50 yards

HGdytyK.jpg
Click to expand...

I read the link you provided. We're pretty much on the same idea with trimming petals and using shotcards or spacers. I have to give credit to Castboolits.com and Shotgunworld.com as they provided the majority of info where I pretty much built my loads from.
I shared several PMs with "Blood Trail" off Cast Boolits and he has done quite a bit of research in finding Lee Drive key accuracy.
It's an art so to speak.
So what do you shoot for shotgun? Where did you get the blue CB wads?

I also found an importer for BPI (Ballistic Product Inc) here in Alberta. That's where I got the RIO primed hulls from.
 
yomomma said:
So is it 33 paces or 50 yards you placed your target at. ;) unless you huge and your 33 paces equal 50 yards lol
Click to expand...

Haha. If you read..... I placed my target at 33 paces which is the distance from my blind to the spot the deer cross ;)
At 50 yds the slugs still group tight almost all touching. I see if I can find my pic. I shot 3 at 2x and 3 at 7x.
And no. I'm 5' 11". My says I'm huge though:)

*Edit: just checked and my 50 yd pics were deleted. But it showed that at 2x the group was tighter than 7x.
 
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Yah I scrounged most my info off the Internet. Get all my shotgun supply from a local place, Hummason. They even have their own shot making tower. I shoot a 1300 Black Shadow with a rifled barrel, Knoxx spec ops stock and a cheapie Bushnell red dot. My rounds have same POI ass my Hornady SST at 50 yards
 
Sweet!!
I drove to Hummason's when I was posted to Borden once, They have a good selection.
That's the shotgun my bro has 'cept his is a smoothbore and I gave him my Carlson rtc.
Kill any deer with it?
 
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