16ga.com ~ View topic

Joined: 07 Aug 2007 Posts: 29 Location: Mount Hope KS

Am getting set up to cast some Lyman smooth sided 16 ga slugs if enough people are interested. contact ka0tqv@juno.com or C.W. Arndt 24400 W 93rd N Mount Hope KS 67108 or 316-667-2529. $2.00 garage sale compuiter got zapped by lightning and have to depend on local library so might be a little slow in responding. Am now playing around with an older 20 ga single bbl open choke and am handloading .600 dia round balls in it.
Tnx for listening OLDTIMER

Member Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 3438 Location: Illinois

Are these the ones that fit into a wad and load like a regular shot load??

OT, I was searching for a 12 ga round ball load to shoot out of one of my paradox choke tubed guns a couple of years ago. I was using the same molded 16 ga round ball of about .662 diameter I'd used in my smooth bore loads. My loads were fairly accurate out to 50 yards, but I kept getting the occasional wild flyer I also got from rifled slugs. I wanted an easily assembled load with a folded crimp that was consistantly accurate and dependable w/o fliers.

I found that the balls would not take the spin of the rifling consistantly regardless of which wad or cloth patch I used. I even tried square patches cut from plastic mesh onion bags to try to get the wad or patch to transfer the spin to the ball. Nothing worked. I think the 16 ga ball has too much mass and inertia to gain consistant spin from a simple wad or patch like smaller bore balls do.

I then inverted my thinking. I evenly applied 90 degree striations around the circumfrence of the ball with the round inner pipe grip teeth of a pair of regular plumber's pliers. Bingo. the striations bite into the plastic wad cup petals perfectly. the load will shoot consistantly into a 2-3 inch group at 75 yards without the occasional flyer I was getting from plain round balls in a smooth bore. It also penatrates in a perfectly straight line and hammers deer like a thunderbolt.

Anyone who is looking for a similar load might want to try my solution. I use the red 1-1/8 ounce Federal (12S2??) wad similar to the 1 ounce 12SO wad to seat the ball in. THE 12SO shot cup is not deep enough to enclose the ball well. The Federal wad petals are thicker and stouter than most other plastic wad petals. I think the extra strength helps to resist deforming laterally too much in the choke tube. The wad and ball combo is also snug enough for the rifled tube used to get the proper spin. I also suggest loading the ball sprue up for consistant crimps and consistant flight.

My experience leads me to believe a round ball of 56 to 58 caliber in the right wad might work very well in a 16 with a rifled choke tube. I also doubt any fully rifled shotgun barrel will shoot a patched or inserted in wad round ball load well. The available rifled shotgun barrels all have twists that are too quick and rifling that is too shallow. Round balls require far less twist than an enlongated slug to shoot well. 1 in 66 or slower will do just fine for any ball over 50 cal. at hunting load velocities. Faster twists tend to cause patched round balls to strip the rifling at any velocity approaching more than 70 percent of max. Soft polyethylene wads will make the problem worse. This twist factor is why many 1 in 48 inch twist button rifled ML barrels over .45 cal shoot RB target loads very well but start to shoot lousy if the velocity goes over 1500 FPS or so.

Joined: 07 Aug 2007 Posts: 29 Location: Mount Hope KS

I think a .005 patch of some type of soft plastic like a garbage bag might help take up the windage in the bore. Your groups might tighten right up if they are not so good. Keep the patch small enough to just cover the ball to the hemisphere and no more. Do not let it wrap around the front of the ball much. There will be little to no spin to help the ball shed the patch evenly like in a rifled bore. The patch will have to open mostly due to air pressure instead. This is important for all smooth bore patched ball loads. This factor is why smooth bores tend to shoot an occasional flyer, even with a snugly patched ball. The patch is not well centered, and or too big. It releases unevenly and effects the ball when it is exiting the muzzle which is the most critical moment accuracywise.

The high placement is probably because the projectile is leaving the bore faster than a normal shot swarm would and, is lighter in weight as well. The barrel has not reacted to recoil in the same way it would to a slower or heavier projectile. This phenomenon is common to all firearms if a significantly lighter bullet is fired at a highter than standard velocity. This is why a 110 grain .357 bullet doing near 1600 FPS will hit significantly lower than a standard 158 grain bullet at 1300 FPS. A lower front sight might be needed here or a taller rear one.

Well I have been looking at this subject for a little while now , due to XVII , Postoak , Ash and I are planning to go to the great north to hunt this fall and it might just be in Bear country , I want a handful of those large chunks of lead at my disposal for this .

Any more folks that could shed some light on slugs it would be appreciated .

Regards Charles

Joined: 06 Mar 2008 Posts: 596 Location: 17603

Charles,

Here's a handful;

http://www.ballisticproducts.com/prodinfo.asp?number=0721616

They look like they might be Gualandi's.

Ayup! http://www.gualandi.it/ENG/p_28_proiet.asp

R*2