Oh Boy, Gonna Get Busy With the Lee Slugs

[Ranch Dog]

Oh, I help NOE Bullet Moulds with TMT software support and Al told me that within the next couple of weeks they would have a clone of the Lyman shuttlecock slug (sabot) for both the 12 Gauge and 410 Bore. He is going to send me the 12 Gauge mould. That is great as I had thought about purchasing the Lyman mould but like the Lee mold aluminum blocks.

Notice my use of the word mould vs. mold (& back to the "Banned" topic). I'm a "mold" guy because Lee uses that word. NOE uses "mould" so when I work with his projects, I use "mould." No más or menos to me.

[GasGuzzler]

I leave out the "u" because it makes the word look British.

[Ranch Dog]

Oh, so I end up with two of the short rolled 3" shells. After shooting that final shot, I threw $5 worth of ammo in my lake.

But not before I dissected them (I thought I had lost the picture).



50.2-grains of Blue Dot! That is one heck of a charge!



On the left is the factory roll crimp on the Lightfield 3". On the right, the aftermath of reducing the shell's OAL with the additional roll crimping. It just doesn't look good at all.

[Ranch Dog]

I received the Ballistic Products order yesterday. The Lightning 078 & PT1205 look good! The column wads look near identical in height and both have segments that join the petals together with the petals molded with an inward curve. I will get some measurements for my load stack calculator. The strut designs are different, but overall I am very hopeful for both designs.

[daboone]

Wow this and and the "NOE-Lee Slug" thread have renewed the interest in reloading for the shotguns.

THANK YOU for getting me off my bum. However my blood thinner has some qualms about shooting the 12 gauges again. But it'll be worth it!

[Ranch Dog]

I received the new three-piece base, mount (which had the stripped screw hole), and rings Monday. I only needed the mount and it is pretty cheap, but it alone didn't meet the minimum purchase requirement, so I bought the complete installation. I put it on yesterday; it is a weird mix of steel to aluminum. Steel base to steel receiver - 35 in/lbs, aluminum mount to steel base - 25 in/lbs, and steel rings to aluminum base - 15 in/lbs. All the torque values were from the Weaver specs and tightened with a Weaver Gunsmithing Torque Driver. Durn if the last screw through a ring strap, a steel screw into the aluminum mount, didn't strip out!

Putting all this together was not time-consuming, but getting the scope level with the Weaver Steel (strap) Rings is always a guessing game. I don't know how these rings have not been changed out to any of the others in their line up. I've grit my teeth over working with these since the sixties.

So, I went back to the old mount and rings. I think what happened is that on the new mount, the screw holes don't pass completely through the base. Instead, they bottom out. I suspect that the problem hole was not deep enough. I will add a picture. I'm going to package it up and send it to Weaver for a replacement. I don't think this should be on the retailer.

Nothing is ever easy.

[9x80Drilling]

Thanks for this thread RD and all others who have contributed.
I have a bag of Gualandi 16 gauge slugs sitting on the shelf. I bought them in the early '90s for my drillings and have yet to load even 1. My bad.
This thread has inspired me to do just that-load some this morning.
There have been several times over the years when I've wished for a quick second shot, either to take a second whitetail or antelope, or to anchor an elk or caribou that hasn't gone down immediately. In fact, that is the primary reason I bought my Rossi M92 .45 Colt. But I digress.
I once took "a right and a left", as double gun shooters say, with the rifle barrel then a Forster slug in the left shotgun barrel from my 9x80 hammer gun. But the slug accuracy is miserable. I had to reload, then fire a finishing shot for the second deer.
Hopefully, the Gualandi slugs will print well.

[Ranch Dog]

Looking forward to your report!

[RBHarter]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthr ... lug-Tester

[Ranch Dog]

I appreciate the link RB. That effort is just painful! I've spent hours reading on CB, there is no such thing as a short thread there given the members. The Lee slug threads have been a bit of a disappointment as they don't end with any type of results.