Loading 12 Gauge slug loads

ZREXER

ZREXER

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I am a experienced pistol and rifle cartridge reloader with about 40 years experience. However, I have zero experience reloading 12 gauge.

I have a press for 12 gauge and want to get set up particularly for slug loads.
I cast bullets, so making my own slugs would be an option if I can track down a mold. Some preliminary seaching shows Lee makes a 3/4 and 1 oz molds.
Bulk slugs would be another option if someone knows a source.

So for those of you that do load slugs, what has worked best for you, in regards to hulls, wads, powder type. Roll crimp or star? I have Unique and Green dot on hand if either of those are an option.

For hulls, I would like to reuse hulls I can get for free from our trap range. They look like mostly Challenger hulls, but a quick glance showed a mix of others.
I would mostly shoot these out of a pump or an over/under, so not worried about cycling a semi-auto.

Based on the cheapest slug loads being about a buck a piece, it would seem to be worthwhile to reload slug loads.
 
Lee makes a 7/8oz and 1oz slug for 12ga that are intended to load in a standard wad.

BPI did the pressure testing that showed a slug produced less pressure than an equivalent weight of shot, so you can swap them into an equivalent trap load in place of the shot for lower recoil, or use slug specific data at higher velocity.

The biggest thing as in all shotgun loading is to find data for the components you have in hand and stick to them. From there it’s the normal process to get proper stack height and crimp and then work from there to see how they shoot. Depending on component prices and if you are casting your own or buying, and salvaged vs purchased lead, it is possible to save significantly on slug loads.
 
I’d suggest you look at what you can source locally in the way of primers and wads, and compare with the cases you can find at your range. That will narrow down what your load will look like. Until you get into accuracy testing and refining.

Some general guidelines:

Its said the lee 7/8 oz slug is more accurate due to the heavier nose to tail vs the 1 oz version.

Lyman 500gr Pellet style slug has a great reputation for accuracy.

ebay has in the past and perhaps still does have a Russian mold supplier that makes copies of the Lyman Slug molds. They’re excellent but beware the handles have a flammable coating that will catch fire if your preheating your mold on a hot plate. I was warned of this and still burnt mine.

Hogdon Reloading is a great resource for shotgun loads however you won’t find anything for UNIQUE or Green DOT there.

Im sure others will chime in with more info for you.
 
I used to load a lot of target 12 gauge for skeet, mostly using the old style Winchester AA hulls. Now, target loads aren't worth it, and AA hulls are not what they used to be.

The only hulls I use now are Reminton Gun Club. Not too hard to find, or just a little pricier to buy than the discount hulls, but much better to reload.

I bought the MP Molds, 2-cavity 12-525 slug mould. It's basically a copy of the Lyman design that looks like an airgun pellet.

SR 4756 is the powder I have done most of my testing with, I've got some Blue Dot I'm going to play with, someday.

12ga-slug-data.jpg
 
Have a look at AS molds and Svarog molds. They are both Russian. They make a variety of molds. I have anumber of them. You can order directly from Russia. I believe they are both on Facebook.
 
I use the Lyman 12 ga slug which I cast myself. Lyman has excellent data in their shotshell manual. I use a recipe with a folded crimp. So far I have five deer with that load in my Mossberg 535. Buckshot moulds are available from Lee, I have the OO buck.
 
ZREXER: I load the Lee 1 oz. slug. Like you, I can cast my own, so inexpensive. Wheelweight lead works well. For loading, I use either a straight-walled Federal target hull or more often Cheddite(Challenger) hull (as they are easy to source....range pickups, etc. and hold up well) ,

Unique/Universal powder. Federal or Claybuster equivalent wad. Usually with a WW209 primer. Have used other brands of primers, but observed no real benefit of one versus another.

Shells are pie-crimped. Doesn't seem to make any difference whether the hulls feature a six or eight fold crimp. Either works well. I have roll crimped some of these on occasion, but found no real advantage to this route.

Slug accuracy is good. From a smoothbore IC barrel, slugs generally group in about 2", at 50 yards. This, from a sitting rest position, to duplicate field use.
Open up more at 100 yd. to around 5-6". Acceptable hunting accuracy, in my opinion. Rifled, Rem-choked barrel generally shoots a bit tighter. One big hole, at 50 yards. Average 100 yd. group ran around 3- 4". All slugs shot from a 'scoped, plain-jane 12 gauge Remington Express pump.

Hope this helps

Al
 
Last edited:
pounder said:
This is a very good book with allot of info and load data.
JYFV8vml.jpg
Click to expand...

I own this book. I was very disappointed as all of the wads for 7/8 oz Lee slugs are BPI wads. No Winchester, Claybuster, etc. Unless I am remembering wrong...

I use the online data from Hodgedon, as well as what I obtained from Lee. Remington hulls, Winchester/Claybuster wads, HS-6 powder for my Lee 7/8 oz slugs. Still have 9 fingers! :)
 
For the straight walled hulls , the only advice I can offer is the claybuster Equivalent for the Fed 12S0 has a slight ridge that might cause a buldge in the wall of the hull.
20 Ga. filler wads under the slug will help with the getting the proper stack height with a faster non bulky powder.
 
ZREXER said:
I am a experienced pistol and rifle cartridge reloader with about 40 years experience. However, I have zero experience reloading 12 gauge.

I have a press for 12 gauge and want to get set up particularly for slug loads.
I cast bullets, so making my own slugs would be an option if I can track down a mold. Some preliminary seaching shows Lee makes a 3/4 and 1 oz molds.
Bulk slugs would be another option if someone knows a source.

So for those of you that do load slugs, what has worked best for you, in regards to hulls, wads, powder type. Roll crimp or star? I have Unique and Green dot on hand if either of those are an option.

For hulls, I would like to reuse hulls I can get for free from our trap range. They look like mostly Challenger hulls, but a quick glance showed a mix of others.
I would mostly shoot these out of a pump or an over/under, so not worried about cycling a semi-auto.

Based on the cheapest slug loads being about a buck a piece, it would seem to be worthwhile to reload slug loads.
Click to expand...

Its a Rabbit hole for sure. While it has lots of similarities to Brass Cartridge Reloading, it really is a complete new Hobby.
Been at it on and off for a few years loading Slugs & Buckshot in 12 & 16 Ga. I have Lee and Lyman Molds but they don't produce any better Slugs then my self-made ones made from Sockets. If you could buy Slugs with a Plastic Skirt (like the Challenger Slugs) you get much better accuracy, they even beat my old stash of Brenneke hands down.

You should have the Reeloading Books from Lyman but don't necessarily believe everything what is written. Lots of misinformation out there. Check out what Tom Roster has to say, this Guy knows what he is talking about.

Cheers

Cheers
 
The Challenger Magnum slug is the BPI DGS slug (made by Gualandi in Italy) which you can buy from Bilozir and Sporteque. You can also get the BPI Thug slug from the above two plus X Reload. Maybe others. I've been dabbling with the DGS slugs and like what I'm seeing so far. Very tough slugs that can handle high velocity impacts without fragmenting.
 
53Izzy744 said:
Will be trying these out of the new sulun ss211 to see how it goes lol recoil pad will come in handy i'm sure

Click to expand...

Were you able to fund those Nobel GTT1 wads? I've been looking but no luck so far.

I'm currently loading Rem hulls with IMR Blue, ched primers, F114 wads and the 525 lyman slug. I too found that filling the base helped with accuracy, but I'm usually to lazy to bother with that step.
 
Been reloading shoshells since 1960
recently i decided to loads slugs
i bought some lyman slugs off the net.
I loaded about 2 boxes. Took them out to test them.
I fired 5 shots. [they kicked like hell].
Sold the rest i had bought.
I still have some left but i won't shoot them
stick with the store bought slugs.
At least i did not havelots invested in them
 
Loyalist said:
Were you able to fund those Nobel GTT1 wads? I've been looking but no luck so far.

I'm currently loading Rem hulls with IMR Blue, ched primers, F114 wads and the 525 lyman slug. I too found that filling the base helped with accuracy, but I'm usually to lazy to bother with that step.
Click to expand...

Yes i got the wads back in 2018 from Bilozir Fine Guns

Try sending Bill or Donna an email and see if they have any or are expecting any. They had suggested a PT1220 instead at the time, but they had the GTT1 coming in a few weeks so i decided to wait for them instead.

Email is:

reloading@bilozir.net
 
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