The Poor Man's Slug Casting(?)

bluemike807

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Found this linked recently, sorry if its a repost:

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/...rdshot-into-slugs-for-self-defense/#more-7456

Turned it up, as I've been searching for information on casting slugs - and Im wondering if this is a smart idea, or potentially unsafe?

The idea being, take some cheapo loads (ie. I've got two spare boxes of 7 1/2 trap loads, each with 1 1/8 oz of shot per shell) - uncrimp, remove the shot, melt it, cast it (though I'd likely use a proper mold, as opposed to what the fellow above used), put it back, recrimp and you have a cheap but effective slug.

Would this work? Logically, the powder is still going to be pushing 1 1/8 oz (if thats the mass of the slug you cast, I'd likely go with a 1 oz slug) of lead ahead of it, so the powder charge should still work properly.

Also - side question - when reloading slug and/or higher mass rounds (such as 00 and 000 buck) - do you need to use the hulls with the 'higher' brass? ie the trap loads mentioned have maybe 1/2" of brass, whereas storebought 000 buck hull have more than 1".

Appreciate anyone's take on the safety ramifications.
 
00buck, use an AA hull and a 1 1/4 shotcup wad.

I would suggest getting a Lee LOAD ALL for $60 so you can crimp your shells properly. Another consideration is that if you fire a smooth slug through a smooth bore, you're not going to have as good of accuracy as if you used a rifled slug.
In the shotgun manual, there are 7/8OZ slugs that get crimped closed (IIRC), and there are small tools that will also taper crimp around the slug to give you that "open" look.

For the amount I shoot slugs, I just buy them from the store. I tell myself I will hunt with them, but I never have. For me its not worth reloading. Buckshot on the other hand most definately is.

** and No, you dont need to use the high brass hulls**
 
I'd stay far far away from the suggestion to use epoxy to seal up the slugs after they were made!

FWIW, the 'rifled' portion of a rifled slug, is not there to provide accuracy, it's there to provide a compressible part on the slug to keep from peeling the barrel when it fires through a choke, If you are going to use a method like this to make slugs, account for the thickness of the wad, as well as the constriction of the barrel at the choke, if any, and have fun.

There was another video on youtube IIRC, that showed a young fella in boodocks USofA building his slugs in a hole drilled in a plank, for a mold. It was pretty low-tech, and worked quite well. Not a bad thing to know about, IMO.

Cheers
Trev
 
I've got both the Lee and the Lyman slug molds. I've cast 1000's with both and figure the cost of the mold is really pretty cheap. I enjoy rapid offhand(3 in less than 4secs) @25-50 yds and could never afford to do this with purchased slugs. Shooting at a 8x10" steel plate at 100 yds a friend was hitting about 8/10 offhand. Not bad for a load costiing about 30cents or less.
 
Fair enough - I've got a Lee 650 Jr reloader; my thought was to just re-crimp the round after inserting the freshly made slug. My question is though; is it safe to just remove the shot, mold the slug, put it back in, and fire it?
 
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