Lee Drive Key Slug

P.E. Islander

P.E. Islander

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Here's a question for anyone who has a Lee "Drive Key" 12 ga slug mold, the 1 ounce version.

Specifically, how much do slugs from your mold weigh?

The mold is advertised as making a one ounce slug, therefore they ought to weigh about 438 grains. My example, bought new two weeks ago, drops slugs averaging 466 grains when cast with wheel weights. I'm not concerned about this, just curious if this is in line with what others have obtained with their molds.

Lee advises several times in their instructions to "use only pure lead". Pure lead is slightly denser than wheel weight metal so I can only assume that slugs cast with pure lead would be heavier still than the ones I cast of wheel weight alloy.
 
Mine weigh 430gr, cast from pure lead.

I am going to start casting from range lead (dug out of back stop). It will only be a little harder than pure lead. The extra hardness should not matter in guns with no choke. I use a moss 590.
Cast about 1000 last year, so decided to save the pure lead for when it is really necessary, so range lead will be used this year.
 
Slugs cast with pure lead are 1oz and slugs cast with WW are a bit less.

Slug mold weights are calculated with pure lead.

WW have antinomy and tin added.
 
P.E. Islander said:
Lee advises several times in their instructions to "use only pure lead". Pure lead is slightly denser than wheel weight metal so I can only assume that slugs cast with pure lead would be heavier still than the ones I cast of wheel weight alloy.
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+1.

The 'pure lead' advice comes about for two main reasons:

1 - Density of the material allowing for maximum mass in the slug;

2 - Softness of the pure lead (compared to Sn/Sb alloyed wheelweight materials) which will allow for maximal deformation of the solid slug, since it lacks a hollow point for maximum upset. If it's too hard, it won't expend its energy as a slug properly should.

-M
 
Not that I don't agree that WW material works fine, esp. for target practice, but for 'optimal' terminal performance I think they recommend pure lead (and no water quenching).

-M
 
The real reason lead is recommended is that it is soft enough to pass through the choke without wrecking the bbl.


A foster slug of pure lead going at a good velocity is at real risk of breaking up if it hits something hard. Penetration can be severely limited. Pure Lead at these velocities seems to be right at that threshold point.
 
buckbrush said:
I have found the Lyman Sabot Slug to be more accurate than the Lee slug .It is also much heavier-1 1/4 oz. The Lee is much cheaper than the Lyman , however.
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The Lyman is alot more accurate than the Lee, but the Lee is about $50 bucks cheaper plus you have to buy the handles separately($30). I shoot the 20ga Lyman sabot and have a 12ga Lyman on the way. Midsouth Shooters Supply is the cheapest out there and they ship to Canada :dancingbanana:
 
Just weighed my slugs, cast from wheel weights and they all come in at 456 grains plus or minus 1 grain.
They work well up to 50 meters out of my ancient 124C Cross bolt 12 gauge. Most expand if they hit plywood or a 2x4 and produce quite a hole.

hvscorp
 
I got a chance to shoot some of my WW alloy Lee slugs this past Sunday. I tried a few of the loads that came with the mold, all loads consisted of Winchester AA compression formed hulls with Winchester primers and Winchester wads. Powders used were Blue dot, Herco and HS-6.

Loads were shot out of my 1100 Remington with 20" IC barrel, and also out of a friends 870. The 870 had a 20" IC barrel and also a 20" rifled barrel. All barrels were equipped with the standard Remington rifle sights.

Our target was set up 50m away. I'm glad I brought a big piece of cardboard to mount the target on, because the groups ranged from bad to terrible. With three different powders in three different barrels, all the groups sucked. I know it's possible to have a bad day behind the trigger so to see if it was just me I tried some other reloads with the Lyman 525 grain slug and they shot with decent accuracy. My buddy tried a few old BRI sabot slugs in the rifled 870 barrel and they did decently as well.

Since I have a bunch of Lee slugs cast I've loaded new test loads in Federal Gold Medal hulls, but I'm not confident that they will do any better.

If I can lay my hands on some "pure" lead, such as roof flashing, I'll try casting some with that. Perhaps groups will improve - I can't imagine them getting any worse!
 
This is the slug that I use (Lyman). Looks like a giant pellet. 525gr and shoots great.

http://ww w.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=778041&t=11082005

Looks like this:

image
 
P.E. Islander said:
Our target was set up 50m away. I'm glad I brought a big piece of cardboard to mount the target on, because the groups ranged from bad to terrible. With three different powders in three different barrels, all the groups sucked. I know it's possible to have a bad day behind the trigger so to see if it was just me I tried some other reloads with the Lyman 525 grain slug and they shot with decent accuracy. My buddy tried a few old BRI sabot slugs in the rifled 870 barrel and they did decently as well.
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Results were the same with my model 870 and drive key slugs. At 25 yards I could group 3 to 5 inches (3 shots). This was the type of accuracy I needed, but I sure wouldn't use them much further out. I have always used pure lead with this particular slug. fred
 
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