A look at Slugs you can shoot from your shotguns.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I thought I'd make some of you's guys aware of some of the Slugs that are available to shoot out of your shotguns.

I started getting into this about late May 2018 after I came home from a Shotgun Class at Front Sight, I also started watching "Wild Boar Fever" on the Outdoor Channel about that time and saw definite potential for shotguns in the sport of Running Boar.

There are certainly Store bought Slugs and some of the best are Brenneke's, and Lightfield's. There are also Foster Style Slugs loaded by every Shotshell Manufacturer in both low recoil and look out loadings. A 1 1/8 oz slug loaded to 1600+ fps is a very formidable chunk of lead going down range, but also carries with it significant Recoil to deal with.

However these slugs are only available as Loaded Ammo.

For the Shotshell Reloader there are a bunch more!

Here's some pics of stuff I've been trying out. Note; All of these slugs can be loaded from mild to wild and so far I have only loaded these with the same load I use for my Trap loads.

That load is 20.5 gr of Green Dot into a Win AA hull with a Win 209 primer 1/1/8 oz #8 shot.. This load yields @1150-1200 fps.

This load is also covered in the slug loading manuals that are available.

Since these are low pressure loads substituting a 1- 1 1/8 oz slug makes no significant difference in chamber pressure whatsoever.

I'm going to break this up into several posts so that I can cover each type of slug thoroughly .

Fist pic: These are my Home made slugs, From left to right,,, STI Sabot Slug, Rifled barrel only, 490 gr. Pumpkin Ball .662 dia 422 gr Smoothbore Only. Lyman Sabot Slug 480 gr Rifled or Smoothbore. Lee 1 oz Slug Rifled or Smoothbore. Russian Svarog Paradox Slug Rifled Barrel only, Weight varies depending on the core pin from 535-690 gr. Slugs are screwed onto the wad so it stays with the slug.



So far the only ones I have gotten to really test well are the Pumpkin Balls and Lee Slugs both of which I have been using for several years for my Three Gun Ammo. The recoil is nothing with these and they knock down steel targets and poke holes in cardboard just fine. The Round Ball Mould is from Lyman and cost about $60 IIRC the Lee mould was $25 and both work great and easily cast perfect slugs. I use nothing but wheel weights to cast these.

My M500 Tactical Gun with a Vang Comped Barrel will put 3 of either of these slugs into 2" at 50 yards.

The rest of these have been acquired since November and due to weather issues and my Range being closed due to rain I haven't gotten to test the Lyman Sabot Slugs yet.

The other drag has been getting the A5 up and running so I have a Rifled Slug Barrel. This project has taken since Last November to suss out, adn you can see the results on my other thread. It has both a Smoothbore Slug Barrel with rifle sights and a Hastings Rifled Slug Barrel also with rifle sights. It will be the primary gun in the tests with the STI Slugs and the Russian Slugs as well as store bought slug ammo.

I am expecting similar results with the A5 Smoothbore Barrel to the M500.

Hoping for good results from the Hastings Barrel.

We'll see what happens, and on that note, just remember,,,

"A Socialist is a person too stupid to know that he is a Communist!"

Randy

[W.R.Buchanan]

The second installment is the Store Bought Slugs I have bought to try out.



All these came from Ballistic Products Inc. https://www.ballisticproducts.com/

A lot of the slugs that BPI sells are imported from Gualandi of Italy. goto the website and check them out as the Italians do nice work and they are Industry Leaders in Shotgunning.

The one on the left was given to me and I have 5 of them to shoot. It is called the Thunderbolt and it weighs 1 3/8 oz! This is a Rifled barrel only slug and loaded to about 1400 fps will knock down anything on this planet. It will hurt and it also goes for about $2 each. Kind of limited usage but it out there. There are smaller versions of this slug which don't cost as much or weigh as much, They are called Dangerous Game Slugs. (DGS)

The second one is called the "AQ Slug" and it is supposed to be super accurate from a smoothbore barrel. It weighs 460 gr and are about $.90 each in packs of 25. The tail on that slug is tapered out so that it actually grabs the bore and imparts some spin on the slug. It is also very aerodynamic unlike most slugs. it will also work from a Rifled Barrel.

The third on is the Thug Slug also of Italian Decent. This one is 1 1/8 oz and obviously will dump all it's energy instantly on contact with meat. This one will work in either Rifled or Smoothbore Barrels.

Shotshell loading is pretty easy and BPI offers manuals that tell you everything your need to know about loading your own. You should all have a look at this as it adds lots of versatility to your shotgun,

More to come.

Randy

[Tarmy]

The left one...and right one...both look like would hurt both ends of the event!

Shooter gets a thump...and whatever is on the receiving end is going to get some blunt force trauma...

[W.R.Buchanan]

Third Installment: You can also load Buckshot and it can be done for alot less than store bought and toned down to where you can actually shoot lots of it and not pay a steep price.

How many Low Recoil Buckshot Loads have you seen running at 1150 fps?

The answer is none!

However mine do, and shooting them is no more painful than shooting my Trap Loads because that's what they are.

You can't buy these anywhere you have to make them.

A Lee .319 dia Round ball mould makes 0 Buckshot Pellets. Don't get a "Buckshot" Mould as you have to cut the pellets apart and it's a PITB.

9 of these fit nicely in three stacks of three inside my Trap Load wad and the Roll crimp closes them nicely. They can also be fold crimped.





If you already have a shotshell loader you have everything you need except components.

If you don't have a loader already you can go on Ebay and buy ANY Single Stage Reloading Press and get busy. I see usable stuff for as low as $25-50 all the time. MEC 600's are a decent place to start.

More to come

Randy

[Super Chicken]

Super tagged! Thanks for taking the time to post this OP.

[3006mv]

What mold do you use for buckshot? The fishing weight ones? I have the lee one and don’t mind cutting them off the spruces

[W.R.Buchanan]

3006: I use the Lee .319 Round Ball Mould which drops two at a time. It goes fast and I can make 200 per hour easily. 225 is enough for 25 loaded shells. 9 per shell.

Randy

[deckhandmike]

Might as well start experimenting with copper slugs if you plan on hunting. The deadline is approaching.

[bigbearbear]

What about wax slugs you can make out of cheap birdshots? Those look pretty fun to shoot.

[globalnomad]

How many Low Recoil Buckshot Loads have you seen running at 1150 fps?

The answer is none!

Randy

Readily-available Fiocchi Low Recoil 00 buck runs at 1150 fps.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Readily-available Fiocchi Low Recoil 00 buck runs at 1150 fps.

Haven't seen those at Walmart yet, or any of my other LGS's?

Mine cost .25 ea. to load, powder, wad, primer, and shot I make. Takes about 30 seconds to assemble one and I am working on a method to make that even faster.

Slugs too. I have a serious variety of Slugs I can load, and unless you pay big bucks for Lightfield's or Brenneke's you won't be getting the performance I can get from home. Virtually all run of the Mill Generic Slug Loads are loaded with Foster Style Slugs and whereas they are adequate for most uses, there are much better performing slugs out there. Brenneke actually has slugs that will literally stop a truck! a bargain at $3-5 each.

If you are not reloading your own ammo you need to have a serious look at getting started. In case you haven't noticed,this state is closing down fast and only those who load their own will be shooting before you know it.

Randy

[prc77]

Third Installment: You can also load Buckshot and it can be done for alot less than store bought and toned down to where you can actually shoot lots of it and not pay a steep price.

How many Low Recoil Buckshot Loads have you seen running at 1150 fps?

The answer is none!

However mine do, and shooting them is no more painful than shooting my Trap Loads because that's what they are.

You can't buy these anywhere you have to make them.

A Lee .319 dia Round ball mould makes 0 Buckshot Pellets. Don't get a "Buckshot" Mould as you have to cut the pellets apart and it's a PITB.

9 of these fit nicely in three stacks of three inside my Trap Load wad and the Roll crimp closes them nicely. They can also be fold crimped.





If you already have a shotshell loader you have everything you need except components.

If you don't have a loader already you can go on Ebay and buy ANY Single Stage Reloading Press and get busy. I see usable stuff for as low as $25-50 all the time. MEC 600's are a decent place to start.

More to come

Randy

Federal LE13200 Low Recoil Buckshot Ammo 1145 FPS,
RIO low recoil buck is 1200 FPS
Winchester Ranger low recoil buck is 1145 FPS

get over yourself

[W.R.Buchanan]

OK, there's always one here at Cal Guns, isn't there? Whatever

In order to further the testing of the various slugs I have available, I ordered some of what are supposed t be the most accurate Slug ammo out there. The point of this is to establish a baseline accuracy standard for all 3 guns.

They are Brenneke Tactical Home Defense and Lightfield Sabot slugs. In some 12 ga Rifles the Lightfield ammo is supposed to be sub MOA!

I'd have to see that but if it's possible it gives us something to shoot for.

The guns guns used for these tests will be a Browning A5 with a smoothbore slug barrel, and a Hastings Rifled barrel. A Mossberg 500 with a 20" Vang Comped barrel. And another M500 with a 24" rifled barrel.

So as soon as the ammo gets here I'll be shooting groups with it and report back. Then I will start shooting home made ammo and let you know what works best.

I realize there aren't as many Reloaders here as there is at Cast Boolits, but there is enough interest here to report the findings for those who are interested.

Randy

[Cheep]

Keep going, I'm interested.

[edgerly779]

Lead slugs fine for self defense but in 3 months useless for hunting in Ca. Cannot mfg your own copper so maybe find source for ca approved non lead slugs to work up loads with.