12ga slug mold for bear protection

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G.Mitchell

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I've been casting Lee 1oz slugs for plinking and I'm looking to get my next mold.

I'm looking to load for 2 short 870 shotguns and want to load my own dangerous game loads so I can get the POI to match my POA.

What I'm after is a dangerous game load and would prefer a slug that can be loaded in a shotcup ideally.

I'm considering the Lyman sabot slug, but I'm looking for suggestions. There are some interesting molds from Russia that are possibilities too.

Does anyone here roll their own 12ga loads for their woods protection guns?
 
I don't load for bear, deer the Lyman works excellent out about 150. Lyman shot shell #5 has data. Iam using Federal gold medal cases,waa12r and 39 grs of sr4756. First 3 shots under 4 at 100 after that barrel heats up and group opens to about a foot. 3 spine shots so far 50 65 and 90. Perfect mushroom. Cast from straight w-w. Tried other loads but this worked the best.
 
I've fooled with loading slugs, mostly for entertainment. I've hunted deer with slugs, they are effective, large holes, good impact force and both of the deer I harvested succumbed immediately.

However I used factory loads for hunting. The LEE molds are cheap, and produce a decent product that loads easily. the Lyman mold is more money. i have the one that makes a slug that looks like an overgrown air gun pellet. Again no issues with finding a load. I used Universal powder and a W-W AAF114 wad, and a fold crimp.

I have a friend that loads the LEE, and he has settled on using a rolled crimp, as it seems to work best for him.

The Lyman slug is the heavy weight, mine were 516 gr (just over 1 1/8 oz). LEE has 2, I have both but have only used the 1 oz one.

I assume you have done some slug research, so i'll only list the highlights.

Slugs can be driven faster than the standard 1200 fps target load, but they can also be loaded slower to reduce recoil.

Grain for grain, a slug load will recoil considerably more than lead shot.

For decent accuracy a true cyl bore is good, a rifled choke better and a rifled barrel best. However finding a load that shoots well in a rifled barrel can be a bit of a challenge. A rifled choke is a good compromise, as you can shoot ordinary shot out of it with decent patterns as well. A cyl bore will shoot buckshot the best, slugs will shoot OK, and shot will have large patterns.

Cast slugs from pure or the softest lead you can find.

It isn't a good idea to shoot slugs in a full choke barrel.

You didn't mention it but a round lead ball is an option, and you can tailor the size to the bore.

When you load slugs, you essentially convert a 12 ga shotgun into a 12 bore rifle. For some excitement, use black powder.

Handloader # 106 has a good article on a 12 bore ball gun. I applied the concept to load balls in my 16 ga 870.

link = https://www.riflemagazine.com/magazine/PDF/hl106partial.pdf

Nitro
 
Thank you all for your feedback and information.

I started by messing around with wax slugs for cheap practice but wasn't impressed by the result and had safety concerns too.

Got the Lee slug mold and did some reading and got some advise on a low(er) recoil load. I've only cast the softer stick on wheel weights so far and have maybe only shot a hundred or so of my loaded slugs.

I've been carrying Brenneke slugs but they're not common here and are expensive.

I'm leaning towards the big pellet style mold but am still researching a few Russian made molds too.

I've posted on a cast bullet forum about loads too and was told about the effectiveness of a large round ball. I'm still considering going that way.
 
Lee's advice is to cast their slugs with pure lead.
As such the slug gets deformed during the shot and accuracy suffers b/c the skirt is to thin IMHO.
I machined the mold's tapper part of insert about 1/16" off the diameter to strengthen the skirt and I do cast slugs from w-w plus 2% tin.
After that my 12ga slugs weight 1,25oz or so doesn't deform during shot and are good for 4"-5" three shot group at 50m still flying straight.
Good enough for me.
For better accuracy with smooth bore, full size round ball (no choke) might be a little bit better.
 
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I load the Lyman slug, typically comes out at 520 grains, I use a mix of pure lead, Hardball and or Lyman #2, so a little harder than pure lead. I shoot out of a rifled barrel and have had great accuracy at 100 yards/metres, 4-5" groups, if I shoot 80 yards, I can get holes touching. Best loads for me are with Unique, Remington STS hulls, cork spacer and downrange yellow wads. I have tried .690 round ball and the Lee 7/8 and 1 oz slugs but nothing has compared to the Lyman.
 
I have had some great results with Lymans 525 sabot slug.
I typically use either Herco, or “Unique” powders. Winchester WAAF114 wads, trimmed to the exact length to clear the crimp.

If I shoot my reloads at a higher velocity/pressure, I fill the base of the slugs with hot glue, and wipe level with the slug base before it hardens. This way the hot glue in the slug base offers hydraulic support during the initial stages of acceleration, and basically eliminates slug slumping due to the slug skirt collapsing during acceleration.

With my Remington 870, with a 20” modified bore, most of these loads average around 2-3” at 50 yards. Plenty good enough for most defensive situations. Exact powder charges I dont have at my disposal at the moment (away for the holidays).

Hope this helps a bit.
 
dthunter said:
I have had some great results with Lymans 525 sabot slug.
I typically use either Herco, or “Unique” powders. Winchester WAAF114 wads, trimmed to the exact length to clear the crimp.

If I shoot my reloads at a higher velocity/pressure, I fill the base of the slugs with hot glue, and wipe level with the slug base before it hardens. This way the hot glue in the slug base offers hydraulic support during the initial stages of acceleration, and basically eliminates slug slumping due to the slug skirt collapsing during acceleration.

With my Remington 870, with a 20” modified bore, most of these loads average around 2-3” at 50 yards. Plenty good enough for most defensive situations. Exact powder charges I dont have at my disposal at the moment (away for the holidays).

Hope this helps a bit.
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I user 26 gr unique with waaf114 (lyman type slug 480gr) with good accuracy to 50 yards

tbslugs.jpg
 
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I am currently casting and loading the Hammer Head slug from Slugs R Us. My first 3 shots at 50 yards looked like only two holes in the paper.
I've had good results with the Lee Drive key 1oz slug as well but it took some trial and error to get a decent group. All slugs of mine were short thru a fully rifled barrel (Rem 870).
ny9p2s.jpg


As an alternative to rifled barrels I shot the Score 1 1/8oz "Thug" slug from my Winchester 1200 with 28" barrel with IC choke and a Carlson rifled choke tube (RCT). Distances were 25 and 50 yards. Groups with IC choke opened up at 50yds to a 5" cluster and the RCT was 3.5" at same distance.
The 25 yards groups were identical.

https://prairieshotammo.com/slugs-big-game

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Lee 7/8 ounce slugs loaded in universal hulls with 26grains of titewad. Basically a 383 grain reinforced minie ball traveling Mach 1.1, these will penetrate a 8" poplar, or 18" of endgrain spruce and drill 11/16" holes in many many things, bears included.
 
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dthunter said:
I have had some great results with Lymans 525 sabot slug.
I typically use either Herco, or “Unique” powders. Winchester WAAF114 wads, trimmed to the exact length to clear the crimp.

If I shoot my reloads at a higher velocity/pressure, I fill the base of the slugs with hot glue, and wipe level with the slug base before it hardens. This way the hot glue in the slug base offers hydraulic support during the initial stages of acceleration, and basically eliminates slug slumping due to the slug skirt collapsing during acceleration.

With my Remington 870, with a 20” modified bore, most of these loads average around 2-3” at 50 yards. Plenty good enough for most defensive situations. Exact powder charges I dont have at my disposal at the moment (away for the holidays).

Hope this helps a bit.
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what kind of hulls are you using? all of the data I've looked at list the hulls and primer type and a specific powder charge. I phoned in to Lyman customer service for more data on their pellet slug but they haven't done any research for about 10 years. the best load I found so far is listed in the lyman shotgun manual lists a WW compression 2 3/4" compression hull, WW 209 primer, WAA12R wad plus a 1/8" card wad under the slug, and 35 gr SR4756, full crimp. accuracy at 25 yd is about 2 - 2.5", but every wad I find on the ground after shooting has most of the petals blown off. gun is a stock Mossberg 930 home security, cylinder bore barrel. the groups would tighten up a bit if the wad would stay intact, but every load I have tried blows the wad up, some worse than others. running the wad and slug down the barrel reveal nothing, no tight spots or rough areas and the slug/wad is a nice snug fit. maybe a tuffer wad is in order or a mouse fart load? any suggestions?
 
barsik said:
what kind of hulls are you using? all of the data I've looked at list the hulls and primer type and a specific powder charge. I phoned in to Lyman customer service for more data on their pellet slug but they haven't done any research for about 10 years. the best load I found so far is listed in the lyman shotgun manual lists a WW compression 2 3/4" compression hull, WW 209 primer, WAA12R wad plus a 1/8" card wad under the slug, and 35 gr SR4756, full crimp. accuracy at 25 yd is about 2 - 2.5", but every wad I find on the ground after shooting has most of the petals blown off. gun is a stock Mossberg 930 home security, cylinder bore barrel. the groups would tighten up a bit if the wad would stay intact, but every load I have tried blows the wad up, some worse than others. running the wad and slug down the barrel reveal nothing, no tight spots or rough areas and the slug/wad is a nice snug fit. maybe a tuffer wad is in order or a mouse fart load? any suggestions?
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When you find the wads with petals blown off, you know that you aren't likely going to get great accuracy. I find that the Federal 12s3 and 12s4 wads are much tougher than the WAA wads and ate far more likely to hold together in my experience. You can find a number of good loads in the Lyman Shotshell reloading book, then it's a matter of trial and error with hulls, wads, spacers, glue or filler for the pellet cavity, powder etc. Best hulls for me have been Federal Gold medal and Remington STS but remember with this type of thing a rifled barrel really does work best for accuracy.
 
Chas59 said:
When you find the wads with petals blown off, you know that you aren't likely going to get great accuracy. I find that the Federal 12s3 and 12s4 wads are much tougher than the WAA wads and ate far more likely to hold together in my experience. You can find a number of good loads in the Lyman Shotshell reloading book, then it's a matter of trial and error with hulls, wads, spacers, glue or filler for the pellet cavity, powder etc. Best hulls for me have been Federal Gold medal and Remington STS but remember with this type of thing a rifled barrel really does work best for accuracy.
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thanks, I agree with the wad being the weak point in finding an accurate load, also that a rifled barrel will be the most accurate for a slug. I'd like to find a slug load that would give me decent accuracy so I could use slugs or buck interchangeably, that's my focus. realistically, a 2.5 inch group at 25 yards is acceptable, but I know it could be a bit better, so finding a better wad is on the top of the list.
 
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