Redneck casting - bad idea?

[Beer_drinker]

It's taking me too long to create slugs with my 12g mold, i'm thinking about replacing it with a piece of 12g barrel to increase production. Accuracy is not in mind since i'm only using a bead sight, but safety is my #1 concern. Here's my idea, please tell me what you think.


1) Cut 28" barrel down to 19"

2) Use a section of that cut off barrel (without choke) as a mold.

3) Fill up the tube with a few inches of lead, pound it out once cooled

4) Cut the lead bar into 1oz disks (long enough not to tumble in bore)

5) load up em

6)


Yay or Nay?

 

[Knott]

Your barrell made slugs will have too large of a diameter. Make one & measure it against one from your mold.

 

[digitalblue]

A shotgun barrel is 0.729" dia. If you intend to use a wad with a shotcup, you will need to cast something 0.68" dia.

A slug that is 0.729" diameter will be 0.365" long if you want exactly 1oz. Might not be long enough to stabilize after leaving the barrel...

 

[Beer_drinker]

Your barrell made slugs will have too large of a diameter. Make one & measure it against one from your mold.

I can't really make one until my barrel is cut, since it's got a choke on one end, and a chamber on the other. I think I need to use a section somewhere in the middle of the barrel as my mold.

But before cutting away, i'd like a yes/no/maybe from you folk. Can using a slug that is the exact same diameter as the barrel be dangerous when there is no choke involved?

 

[Beer_drinker]

A shotgun barrel is 0.729" dia. If you intend to use a wad with a shotcup, you will need to cast something 0.68" dia.

A slug that is 0.729" diameter will be 0.365" long if you want exactly 1oz. Might not be long enough to stabilize after leaving the barrel...

Accuracy isn't a concern since i'm using it at close distance with a bead sight. What if I just use a wad, and forget about the shot-cup?

 

[ecotopia]

Accuracy isn't a concern since i'm using it at close distance with a bead sight. What if I just use a wad, and forget about the shot-cup?

more easy, if you need a .68 diameter why not taking a barrel from a paintball gun? I believe those are .68...

 

[Boolitcaster]

Why don't you buy one of these:

http://leeprecision.com/xcart/MOLD-SC-BALL-.690.html

and then do this:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=24509&highlight=punkin

Looks like it would be cheap AND a ton of fun.

 

[digitalblue]

How many slugs do you shoot to justify "cutting corners" to this extent? If I keep my furnace topped off, I can easily cast 250 slugs in an hour with my lee 1oz mold.
Most people take ~10s to cast one slug, it'll probably take you longer to accurately cut through a lead rod...

 

[762shooter]

You won't be able to get your barrel cast slug in to the shotshell.

Lead is hard to cut because it galls up and plugs a saw.

It would be easier to make an open gang mold of two 1/2" by 1"pieces of flat bar held together with bolts and wing nuts or C-clamps. Drill a bunch of 11/16" holes across the joint about 5/8" deep. Pour them in one go with a good sized ladle. Chill, open, tap loose.

On the other hand, I have no trouble casting all the slugs I need one at a time from a Lee slug mold.

 

[Freyr_255]

From what I've seen of this type of slug they keyhole badly. There is nothing to keep them stable in flight unless you're using a rifled barrel, which by the sounds of it you are not.

Will they fire? Yes. Will they be accurate? No. So really it depends on what you want out of your slugs.

 

[Beer_drinker]

How many slugs do you shoot to justify "cutting corners" to this extent? If I keep my furnace topped off, I can easily cast 250 slugs in an hour with my lee 1oz mold.
Most people take ~10s to cast one slug, it'll probably take you longer to accurately cut through a lead rod...

I'm able to get around 100 slugs in 1.5-2 hours with my lee mold & ghetto heat source (coleman stove)

I don't cast or shoot much, which is why I don't want to invest any more into the process, but i'd still like for things to go a bit quicker.

 

[ted_dent]

I have found the Lyman 12 ga. sabot slug to be extremely accurate and easy to cast & load.

http://www.ballisticproducts.com/prodinfo.asp?number=1244112

I get 2 1/2"-3" groups at 100 yards with an extended rifled choke tube in a Rem 870. Lots of reports of people shooting with fully rifled barrels getting sub 2" groups.

You should easily be able to cast 75-100 per hour so a couple of hours casting should give you a real good supply of slugs. Plus these load inside a wad & use a fold crimp so they are as easy to load as regular shotshells.

 

[Hotwheels81]

Or just pour some lead into a 1/2" copper water pipe cap... Seemed to be all the rage last year around this time.

 

[Ganderite]

Why not just go to a gun show and buy some real ones?

 

[tbrwlf]

ted_dent is right. The lyman slugmaster mold is simple to use. Use pure lead and get try to keep the pot very hot so the mold fills out better. 100 per night for a week and you have enough for a life time of hunting.

 

[Scar270]

My bet is the only way youll get that lead out of your piece of barrel once it cools is to melt it back out.

 

[squirrelnuttz]

If it is taking too long or too much effort to cast slugs with a coleman stove and proper mould, and you say you don't shoot much, factory ammo may be the ticket for you.

Increasing production by filling a shotgun barrel full of molten lead?I think not, even if you could get the cooled lead "rod"out in one piece and cut it. And even if you did successfully do the above, slicing it into chunks that would vary wildly in weight, developing safe load data, all make it seem just a tad more work and boolchit than you may think.

 

[RickR1100]

I think your best bet is to stick with a Lyman mold. If you really want to speed things up, hire someone to operate a second mold !!

Casting them in a barrel section...sure, the diameter would be sorta safe if you cut the petals off the wad...but as someone else already pointed out, the projectile weight will vary far too much for chamber pressure safety, IMO. Remember, normally as the projectile changes in weight, the powder also changes, so that you don't have a pressure spike. But if the charge stays the same, and your projectile vary's in weight, the heavy ones could easily be unsafe or at least approaching "proof loads".

One suggestion I have though, that could speed things up a LOT: ditch the Coleman stove, use an electric lead melter pot thingy. Seriously. They are cheap, I think my buddy paid just $50 for a new one at Wholesale Sports. But...and this is critical: it gets you to the best casting temperature FAR FASTER, and EASILY keeps it optimum hot, whether full, low, medium, or with cool fresh hard lead that needs to melt, the reaostat compensates and gets saves you time. Not only that, but it also saves time and frustration by providing you with optimal heated lead, that results in fewer rejected cast bullets...so after the first one or two to heat the mould, you are good to go!

Trust me, we used a Coleman burner before, and thought electric wouldn't' make a difference...and we both admitted we were WRONG!!!

 

[Andy]

Nice to see a resourceful person with an idea to share. There are many "homemade" reloading solutions out there, but unfortunately this one is a non-starter: the slug will be too large in diameter; you'll have no way to ensure consistent length; and you'll have great difficulty getting the slug out of the "steel barrel mold", as lead has an afinity to stick to steel.

You need something about 0.690" in diameter, which is about perfect for the 12 gauge, because it fits neatly inside a standard 12 gauge shotcup. Luckily 0.690" is very close to 11/16", a common drill size. One cubic inch of lead weighs about 6 1/2 oz, and you want about a one ounce slug. A 1/2" column 0.690" in diameter will weight about 1.2 ounces (525 grs). Buy a 1/2" thick block of aluminum at least 1 1/2" square, drill a 11/16" hole in it and voila, you have a crude mold. Pour carefully on a smooth cement floor and then when cool, press the slug out. I have also done what 762shooter has suggested (but not for 12 ga slugs) , using aluminum. The advantages there are that you get a bit of a "point" on the slug, you can drill any depth (length) you want, and the slugs will drop out easily once the clamps are released.

 

[digitalblue]

I'm able to get around 100 slugs in 1.5-2 hours with my lee mold & ghetto heat source (coleman stove)

I don't cast or shoot much, which is why I don't want to invest any more into the process, but i'd still like for things to go a bit quicker.

If you don't shoot much, why would you worry about casting faster/more?

Trust me, if you use a proper furnace(lee 420 pot) or similar, you'll be much happier with the output. You can get one for ~$80.