This video may explain the problems with the slug especially since they're light (only waying 130 grains) https://youtu.be/D2NLIZwGioc

Finally some good news. I made 4 more slugs today, one of them was an old short aluminum slug that I filled the nose with lead to make it more nose heavy. The other 3 we're all lead slugs that I cast with a new mold, the mold is pretty much the same shape as the one Kekistani armorer made. Tldr they're the same shape as a non rifled foster slug. The aluminum slug didnt hit shit and probably flew off to go out a .68 caliber hole in a tree somewhere. The 3 lead slugs did hit the target tho. The first (which was marked as a small slug although in hindsight I'm skeptical as to whether it was) hit high on the target, the wad of that slug also hit the target and was recovered on the other side. The second slug hit in roughly the same area, high and a little right. Both of the first 2 slugs had screwed up wads which makes me think these slugs are probably a little too heavy for these target wads The 3rd shot was by far the best, it hit a little lower (I aimed a little lower aswell) and made a perfect hole in the target. What I believe to be the wad was recovered just a little ways away in perfect condition. As for the weird shape of the bullets holes on the first two shots, this could be due to the top of the target being st a slight angle when I shot it although that's a complete guess. Conclusion: new mold is definitely better and I plan on making some aluminum slugs for it soon. I also plan on making a full bore slug mold soon too.

I tested out the new aluminum slugs and didn't hit shit. I even got closer to the target and still didn't hit anything. I was aiming at the bottom of the target btw and still didn't manage to land a singe shot out of the three on the cardboard. I think at this point it's a weight problem so I took one of the left over slugs and put two 00 buck pellets in it. I'm going to put one 00 pellet in the other once and then I'm going to shoot them tomorrow. I will update when I've tested them.

Made some slugs with lead cores. Got pretty good accuracy (that bottom shot was dead on where I was aiming). I think a lot of the problem has just been me pulling my shots. I'll make some more and shoot them out of a shotgun that has a stock next time. Depending I might even try 50 and 100 yards. Also the holes look perfect which is good.

They're on target Words cannot describe just how happy I am right now.

>>2807 >I think a lot of the problem has just been me pulling my shots. I'll make some more and shoot them out of a shotgun that has a stock next time. ...You've been doing accuracy testing of experimental loads out of a fucking pistol grip this whole time?

>>2809 Yes.

>>2810 You're fuckin' killin' me, smalls. Benchrest your shit and get back to us. I'm actually glad you're apparently making progress, though.

>>2811 Thanks,

>>2810 kek! >>2800 >I'll admit you were right ..and imagine how much further ahead you could be without the setbacks if you had heeded the anons here wishing you well. Consistency. you have none, but require it Like I keep telling you, your slugs look like loosely related cousins when they need to look like clones.

>>2813 >Like I keep telling you, your slugs look like loosely related cousins when they need to look like clones. What would be a good solution for him? Milling the ammo instead of casting it?

More heat before pouring and preheating the mold a hair will help with consistency. Also something to put on top of the aluminum/lead while it's liquid to prevent the doming effect on the base of the slug. That should be prewarmed too. You can use a candle, plus the soot from the candle acts as a mold release. Good luck, keep updating

>>2814 alternatively make a swaging die to get a consistent size. probly do it while around 350 degrees since thats a common extrusion temp for 6061 anyway.

Would going down in bore size improve the accuracy on a load like this? What length barrel have you been working with this whole time? What purpose does it serve you to fire a shotgun slug with accuracy out to 300m anyway?

>>2817 >Would going down in bore size improve the accuracy on a load like this? It wouldn't improve the accuracy but it would improve the range. Alternatively a more aerodynamic design than my current one would do nearly the same thing but I'll have to do some more testing when I get a chance (doing classes rn so I have little free time) >What length barrel have you been working with this whole time? An 18 and 20 (?). I'm not sure on the 20 because it's my dad's gun. >What purpose does it serve you to fire a shotgun slug with accuracy out to 300m anyway? SHTF

>>2818 not to uhh, rain on your parade or anything but hornady sells slugs with the 200+ yd accuracy

>>2819 Hornady 12ga SST are sabot slugs for rifled barrels, OP is working with smooth bores. They are pretty good but not a wonder slug, I would say they are good up 200yds not 200 plus. Going by what is printed on the box it drops 6.5" at 200yds with a 150yd zero, it's already entering the rainbow trajectory zone. It's a 300gr .49 caliber slug with a bc of 0.20 with a claimed 2,000fps muzzle velocity if anyone wants to crunch some numbers. I was only getting around 1,850fps from my 24" Mossberg rifled barrel.

>>2820 If I remember correctly, the heaviest slugs I was shooting weighed about 250 or so grains. No idea how fast but judging by the difference in sound I'd say near mach 2, probably somewhere around 2000 fps. Haven't done any long range tests yet but I imagine I'll need to tweak the design for anything past 100-200 yards. Currently my slugs more resemble a foster slug which i imagine will be a problem.

Yo, its me the slug guy. Im back after like 5 months with some updates. I made a new batch of slugs this time with a steel point in them to act as a sort of ballistic tip to help reduce drag. The workmanship was pretty spotty so i wanted to give them a try at some short range to see how theyd do in spite of the poor craftmanship. Testing the limits yknow. Anyways I loaded 4 shots, 3 hit one missed. The three that hit were all shot at around 7-10 yards, 10 yards on the foam targets and about 7 for the plywood. First shot on the foam target was way off and the second shot was only about two inches off with bead sights (did i mention i got a stock for my shotgun? :0) Third shot was on the plywood and hit exactly where i was aiming. The fourth shot on foam missed, no idea why but it was about 30-40 yards away. Sounds good right? Well not exactly, im not sure if its because of the material or what but all the shots that hit the foam targets looked like the bullets were keyholing or didnt hit the target right. The hit on the plywood looks as perfect as it can be but the foam targets are off. This has me kinda worried about the accuracy of these slugs. I fashioned a new mold setup so ill make a new batch soon and test them out on paper or cardboard and see how they do. Im really hoping there arent any problems but i wont know until i try. Also fyi, im using the old slug design with the longer taper not the foster style slugs. Hopefully thats not why im recieving these oddities.

Update. Made some super nice slugs, tested three of them. Put .22 bullets in the noses of two and hot glue in one. Got interesting results. Was aiming at insulation and on the second shot hit about 1.5-2 feet high. Missed the other two although one hit right next to the big foam target about 1-2 feet away Theory, I didn't de-bur the backs of the slugs and the wads I recovered were damaged so I think that was the issue. Would also explain why I get better accuracy at close range. Will fix and retry soon

>>2823 >Theory, I didn't de-bur the backs of the slugs and the wads I recovered were damaged so I think that was the issue. You'll definitely struggle to get consistent results without a good gas seal. You could try experimenting with a variety of wads for a better fit too. With muzzle loading rifles shooting conicals at least, fucking up the tip of the projectile has little effect on accuracy but even a little damage to the skirt of the hollow base will make them fly off course.

>>2824 yeah, theyre not hollow base bullets tho its just a remnant from the casting process. The aluminum shrinks a little (alot by bullet standards) and you have to file it off, i got lazy and so yeah. Shame because those were easily the nicest slugs ive made as of yet, new mold, preheating, everything. Ill make more tho. As to the wad/gas seal i thought about that aswell, ive switched ammo types from winchester to federal target shells (no particular reason just what the store had), the wads are different federal is a two part wad and winchester a single piece wad, fits are pretty much the same tho. No clue if this will affect accuracy in any serious way although the slug that hit the back foam target had perfect windage so id think not. If problems persist after this next test ill blame it on the wads. I still want to be able to shoot these out of anything tho so ill try and figure something out.

Update did four more tests, first two shots missed so i switched to a bigger target and got near perfect accuracy. Slugs seem to be preforming alright but i want to test more before i move out to further ranges. Not sure why the first two failed, couldve been me. Also im pretty sure i pulled the second shot on the larger target

>>2770 >>2783 >>2785 I know it a complete aside from what's going on here, but the shapes of these rounds sort of reminds me of a ramjet. It makes me wonder if it would be possible to make mini ramjet bullets.

>>2827 probably, i dont know how well they would fly but yeah im sure it could be done.

I tested the new batch of ballistic tip slugs at long range, all three failed only one hit the target, one went off into the aether, and one hit right below the target. The one that hit keyholed and almost missed. Decided to give it one last hail Mary with a variety of slugs I had experimented with before moving on to making new molds. One solid aluminum using my design, one aluminum with a flat nosed steel tip/weight, and one aluminum foster style slug with a lead core. The all aluminum missed, the steel core hit but sideways and the fost hit perfectly straight. I have decided to abandon the current molds and instead start work on a new custom 2 part mold design, I'm going to order the tools then experiment with some designs, one similar to the one I've been working on but modified to be less pointy and one that is similar to the Moose Moulds .69 cal semi wadcutter. Will report back with news once everything gets here. AD VICTORIAM.

>>2829 Retard brain forgot to add that the two holes side by side on the left are the steel tip and foster slugs

>>2830 Strelok, I have an idea, your main issue is that since it is not rifled, the slug is not spin stabilizing and thus throwing itself off. You can try to sabot the slug but that would need proper sealant and I am not confident about that. What about a slug with an inverted wing configuration? Since the projectile is hypersonic with high maneuverability so it might spin stabilize a bit?

>>2831 Maybe. The old design was drag stabilized, the problem I kept running into I believe was the weight and leverage of the bullet as well as some other quality control issues. The new designs are based off a mine ball and moose Moulds semi wad cutter, both are tested and confirmed to be drag stabilized so I shouldn't have anymore issues with destabilizing slugs after this point unless I continue to have troubles weighting the slugs properly. Thanks for the advice.

>>2770 I don't like shotguns...

>>2832 >>2829 Do you have pics of your new design?

>>2834 I have pics of the schematics but not of any molds, theyre still in production. If you have solidworks or some other CAD software then you can view the 3d file.

>>2835 keep in mind that this is a experimental draft, the mold will be made to these dimensions but then modified to find the most favorable dimensions so if you handed this to a machine shop and expected it to be able to cast perfect slugs afterward with no modification then youd be disappointed. I will release the finalized design, specs, operation manual, etc when all is completed.

bump

>>2835 >>2836 I'm glad you're opting for new molds. Did you ever come up with a process to make casting process itself more consistent?

>>2838 I'm not sure what you mean exactly, the actual process of casting the lead or aluminum is pretty straight forward once you've taken your raw source and converted it to ingots, if you have something to measure out precisely the amount you need then use it if not just pour till full then remelt any left overs. The new design will come with a plug for the back of the mold which will create a hole down the center of the slug for weighting later on. All molds are preheated before use. If you're referring to >>2836 where I talked about modifying the design as I went then I should clarify that I was referring to the length dimensions of the mold and a few other things largely unrelated to casting.