Slug handloading advice please.

[38Super]

Hi All

I'm about to start making my own slug rounds initially using the Siarm 1oz Deer (Cervo?/Thug?) slug and since I have GM3 to hand I've been looking for a load.

After much searching I've seen Phaedra1106 mention 19g of GM3 for both the Deer slug and the Lee slug.

First question is should I follow the usual hand-loading rule of starting 10% below and working up or should I go straight in with the exact recipe?

I've found it very difficult to find load data for the Deer slug but plenty for the Lee slugs and one thing is really puzzling me.

BPI appear to be a well regarded source of loading data and they recommend fast powders from Bullseye to Green Dot.

Lee's own load data from the manual that comes with the slug mould couldn't be more different. Slow powders from Accurate #5 to Blue Dot.

From what I can see Accurate #5 has a similar burn rate to GM3 and although I know they are different powders 19gns of GM3 or 40gns of Accurate #5 is a very big difference.

The only significant difference I can see is that the Lee data is higher velocity than the BPI in some cases especially how fast 50grns of Blue Dot can make an ounce of lead move. The range of powders used to drive these slugs is baffling.

If someone can shed some light on this for me it would be much appreciated.

[phaedra1106]

There's a chap on the Pigeon Watch forums who has a wide range of experience loading 12g, Cookoff13 is his user name.

Mostly he loads using Nobel Sport/Vectan type powders which are easy enough to get hold of.

[Triffid]

There's a chap called David Kiddle who's a bit of a UK guru on shotgun slug reloading on the Four4islands forum.
He uses 18.5 grains of Red Dot under the Lee 1oz slug with plastic wads.
http://four4islands.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=42

Triffid

[bewildered]

I use the 1oz Lee slug in front of 21.6g of Vectan AS. With AS gone up so much in price recently I will be using Maxam CSB5 when I run out of AS.
I used to use the Lee slug with a plastic wad and a plastic disc on top of the slug to keep it in place while I roll crimped the lot together. This worked really well and I never had any recycling problems through my Remy 1187.
With Bisley banning plastic wads unless they're attached to the slug I now use a combination of fibre wads with the slug itself wrapped in a thin piece of card (like a paper patched bullet). This seems to work OK and again cycles through my Remy 1187 without problem.
A souce of good info on loading slug is John at Folkestone Engineering Supplies, also good info on web site for reloading shotgun. John can supply powder, primed cases, wads, roll crimp tools etc.
I'm also experimenting with glueing the Lee slug to a cut down plastic wad (petals cut off) and the slug and wad seem to stay together when fired.

[mr smith]

I'm also experimenting with glueing the Lee slug to a cut down plastic wad (petals cut off) and the slug and wad seem to stay together when fired.

Interesting I have loaded up with the some with super glue and some using resin but haven't gotten round to trying them to see if they stay together,the ban at Bisley was also my reason for trying.

[bewildered]

I tried superglue and the Lee slug and plastic wad just came apart in my hands, no real adhesion. Same with Araldite.
I'm now using hot melt glue. I don't know if there are different types but I use the clear stick stuff from Toolstation. Cut off the petals, a bit hot blob of glue on the wad and then press the slug into it. Leave it for a few hours and they're difficult to separate. I found cleaning the wad with a bit of solvent (brake and clutch cleaner) removed the slightly greasy surface on the wad and made it all stick together better.
I've tried these at 25 yards and no sign of separation.

[38Super]

Thanks everyone.

The Lee slug with fibre wads would be my next step when I have sorted out a supply of the slugs or the whole casting thing.

Has anyone tried glueing wads to be back of a Lyman slug?

[38Super]

Ok. crunch time. The slugs have arrived so it's time to give it a go.

New Cheddite 2.75" hulls with 209 primers
Siarm 28gm Deer slugs with attached plastic wad.
Roll crimped as this generally has lower pressure than star according to BPI.
Charge weight:-
I've seen 19 grains of GM3 used which is light by all accounts so should be safe as a starting load.
Vectan's GM3 load data says 24 grains max under 32 grams of shot so would be a sensible max load for a 28 gram slug.

I'm going to make test loads in 1 grain increments from 19 grains to 23 grains until I get something that cycles reliably and then start looking for accuracy.

Should be fun.