Lee Loader

i have been casting rifle and pistol bullets for awhile but i just recently purchased the 7/8 slug mold can you guys give me any tips or tricks i am not exactly excited to load these.

Oooo I'll let someone else tell him.

Oh boy, been down that rabbit hole as well. First things first welcome to the forum.

Here are a couple of questions:

• Are you shooting a smooth or rifled barrel and what is the chamber length?
• What is your intended use of the slugs; hunting, self defense, plinking?
• Have you found some load data to follow?
• Do you have the exact components listed.
• Finally, what equipment/tools are you going to use to load the slugs.

While I want to ponder your answers against anything I can offer, from my most recent shooting I have come up with some rules for success. I haven't met my accuracy and distance goals, but these steps are delivering great accuracy (2.5 MOA maximum) at 50 yards with the one-ounce slug.

• Hull length matches chamber length, don't create freebore with a shorter hull.
• The column wad petals are not to be longer than the start of the ogive radius of the slug. Trim them if needed. The nose of the slug must completely open the star crimp before the leading edge of the petals encounters the star.
• A 16 or 20 gauge card wad is needed between the slug and the column wad cup.
• Use a six-star crimp vs. an eight.
• Index the center of a petal with the fold of star crimp.

Here is a caveat if you do much Googling or YouTubing for help. Start reading at the end of a topic or blog first. I have found all kinds of advice that has cost me all kinds of wasted time and money, but in the end, there is "no beef." When you find something that you feel you are going to follow; make sure:

• It is for the type of bore and chamber length you are shooting.
• That the information focuses on your intended use and that the information qualifies the recommendations with documented accuracy that meets your discipline.
• Make sure the components listed are still available for purchase (some of the components listed in the Lee data are no longer available). Like any component, they come and go and there is no sense in following the recipe if you don't have the exact ingredients in the recipe.

Thanks for the info so far the only data i have is the data that came with the lee slug molds and i have all the components im loading on a versa-mec and generally im going to use em for plinking out of a smooth bore pump or a break action.

Dannymcmullen wrote:Thanks for the info so far the only data i have is the data that came with the lee slug molds and i have all the components im loading on a versa-mec and generally im going to use em for plinking out of a smooth bore pump or a break action.

It sounds like you are good to go. All that is left is to see if the stack of components allows for a nice folded star. Pictures and reports please.