Recently, a buddy of mine and I have been playing around with 12 gauge slug loads, built around the Lyman 525 grain "Sabot Slug". I've been casting them and Dave (who has more experience and tooling for loading shotshells than I do) is loading them. We did another round of testing this morning (before the rains moved in), and we are making progress! My understanding is that one can run these 1 1/4 ounce slugs as much as 1400 fps, but since these are going to be used for the diminutive coastal blacktailed deer over on the west side of the state (100-110 lb deer), we feel no need for that much velocity, pressure, or recoil (we're aiming for something more like 1200 fps). This morning, we were getting good groups with Unique at about 1175 fps (clover leafs at 25 yards with iron sights from a smooth bore slug barrel).

That is the kind of thing that just makes you warm and fuzzy.

That's cool Glen, I am working on a slug and round ball loading myself. please keep us up dated. Thanks for sharing .

I have a 12 bore David Petersoli 12 bore double express rifle that shoots beautifully with patched round balls.

I should be more that satisfied with its performance however am interested in shooting unpatched bullets from it.

One of the board members sent me a supply of Lee foster style slugs (thanks!!!) however they are a loose fit (maybe .03 to .04" slack) in the .729 bore and appear to be set up to shot from a shot cup. I have not had the time or courage to try shooting them.

It would be great to have a "minnie ball" style bullet that would shoot as well as the patched round balls.

Cheers,

Byron

...of this slug is about .685", and the skirt diameter is more like about .670". It is meant to be shot from a wad with a shot cup (hence the name "sabot slug").