Which Lead round ball Diameter does fit perfectly into an 20 gauge shotshell wad?

T

TheGuyOfSouthamerica

Moderator
Hi there,

I have an question.
Does anyone know for sure which Lead round ball Diameter does fit perfectly into an 20 gauge shotshell Plastik wad-cup?

My Mossberg 20 ga Turkey THUG shotgun is arriving shortly (I hope so) and I planned preparing rounds for it like an Lead Round ball as slug. It will be a Kind of Musketball round.
I understand the shotgun is nothing else than an modern musket.

I already ordered an Lee .562" round ball mold and it has arrived already today with my other Lee molds (105 grain SWC .358"; 120 grain Truncated Cone .356" and 148 grain WC .358" Diameter; all are Elmer Keith style bullet molds lube grooves). Is this .562" Diameter round ball the best Fitting or which one is best for 20 gauge?
The Lee 7/8 oz Drive key slug is perfectly Fitting in an 12 ga shotshell cup-wad.

Please share if anyone knows from personal experience.
 
I am not a shotgun type but a 20 Gauge slug has about a 0.625" diameter and typically weighs in around 7/8 ounce. Personally I would look to work on some published, known safe data to get where you want to go with this.

Ron
 
What about using these .562" as "Tri-ball" in 12 gauge?

One more question.

This .562" Diameter round ball will it have some use in 12 gauge as a Kind of Tri-ball round (or 2 ball round)?

Like I put 2 or 3 of These lead .562" Diameter into the wad (Cup) of an 12 ga 2 3/4 Shell and use it as such for hunting or defense.

Will that work?
 
I have no idea and do not suggest just shoving weight in shot shells. I have no idea what shot shell pressures will result and know nothing about your gun. You just jumped from 20 to 12 gauge? Maybe someone else will come along with a better understanding of what you are trying to do. You can always buy slugs in 12 or 20 gauge or things like 00 buck.

Ron
 
The idea is this: The shotgun is the poormans rifle.

I have some workers who hunt up to 100 Yards with their shotgun so in order to help them save Money I will load their shotshells with eighter 7/8 oz Lee slug or put 2 or 3 of These in their 12 ga Shells. If there is a hit the hog will be for sure dead I guess.

For me I will use the 20 ga as well for hunting and defense with the pumpkin ball.

I mean this: if it is working for George Washington it is certainly working for us as well. This would be a type of George Washington load (Ball or Buck&ball).
 
Years ago, a good friend decided to find out what 20 gauge ammo would be the most accurate at up to 100 yards.
He found that a single round ball, suitably loaded was it.
But shotguns are not much like rifles and reloading for them is quite different, too.
Especially mixing components.
Shotgun reloading is much more stringent about that.
The hulls, powder and shot load must match one another, according to the reloading manuals data information.
The lower pressure of shotgun ammo can be misleading.
Getting creative can be very dangerous.
Think of how thin the barrels are.
Caution is in order for inventing custom loads.
Definitely get a shotgun reloading instruction book before doing anything.
 
Well I guess Lee will not make any slug molds if they are dangerous. But yes you are rigth g.willikers.

The most important Thing is NOT EXCEEDING THE ORIGINAL LEAD WEIGHT.

I just open the hull, take out the shot and stuff the round ball/slug into the wad. That is all I doo.

Just Keep under the original shot weight and all is Ok. This .562" Diameter ball has an weigth of about 262 grains that is less than 5/8 oz (a relative just showed me the mold box via Skype).
If an 20 ga has an normal weight of 7/8 oz then I am fine. All my 12 ga I like to Keep around 7/8 oz for comfort of Shooting.

Data:
My 12 ga shotshells have originally 437 grains of shot in and I shoot an 382 grain slug out of them (7/8 oz Lee slug).
My 20 ga shotshells have originally 370 grains shot in them and I shoot an 262 grain Lee .562" pumpkin lead round ball out of it.
You see I am allways way below the original weight of the shot and that means way less pressure.
 
I think that it would be an incredibly terrible idea to ever sell your handloads to someone else. I suggest that you stop that practice immediately.
 
Dear briandg,

I may have missed your Point.

You suggest closing Lee Precision because they make an unsafe product?

As I understand that is what Lee intended with their slug mold as well buckshot molds: TRANSFORMING "cheapo" birdshot Shells into expensive buckshot/slug rounds.

Factory 12 ga slugs cost here about 2 US$. Factory 12 ga 00 Buckshot costs here about 1 US$ per round.
A birdshot costs here about 0.6 US$. So transforming an 0.6$ round into an 2$round saves you 1.4 US$ per round. Thats what I call saving Money with casting-reloading! With buckshot you save "only" 0.4$ per round but it is an considerable saving if you think about it.

Obviously you can reload the entire hull, wad and slug if you got the powder and primer what we here in Southamerica do NOT have availlable (no reloading supplys for shotshells whatsoever but plenty factory birdshot Shells).
 
TGOSA: I think you're thinking is right on. The only problem I foresee is that shotshells are generally finely engineered so that the speed of the powder matches the weight of the shot. By using a lighter weight projectile, you are altering that balance. Unsafe? Likely not. Efficient? Likely not.

A great source of info are the Ballistic Products' manuals. They have one on buckshot and one on slugs. They have good information on "pumpkin ball" loads, as well. You can find them on the Ballistic Products website.

I've followed your threads with interest, and understand the limitations you're working with. With that in mind, work with what you have, and have fun.

One thing occurs to me. You mention that local gun stores sell primers, but not powder. The fact that they sell primers indicates that somebody locally has powder.

Also, while BrianG's advice is spot on for the litigious US, you should evaluate his advice in the light on your local conditions.
 
The most important Thing is NOT EXCEEDING THE ORIGINAL LEAD WEIGHT.
Click to expand...
Looking at the shotgun reloading manuals, any change in the amount (and weight) of the shot (or presumably ball) load requires a change in the wad.
Don't know if it's for concerns of safety or not, though.
 
I am old enough to remember "Punkin' balls". I cut some old ones open once and they vary in diameter depending on the brand. Some would roll down and out my barrel, some would not. I attribute this to the out-of-roundness of some of the balls. Most were way under the bore size. Same with rifled slugs. Diameter seems to be dictated by who made them.
 
Gunplummer,

Even These 7/8 oz Lee drive key slugs fall right out of my Barrel with the modified choke. Even with an Harrington&Richardson 12 ga single shot full fixed choke they fall right through. So no squeezing through choke rising pressures or danger of cracking the Barrel.

Within the plastic wad These 7/8 oz Lee slugs may not "fall out" the Barrel but Plastik is bending easily and I believe there is no danger.
 
John C,

Yes we would assume if primers are availlable there must be powder as well present.
I am an Law abiding citizen. So I do not get involved in any smuggeling of powder.

But I know in Brazil you can buy gun powder but can not have primers. So most likely they bring the powder illegally from Brazil. Here locally you can buy primers but powder is not legal (they say it is legal but no shipping Company agrees anymore to ship it from the USA. You never know which is the truth).

I would never dear to sell commercially These reloads. Since it gets harder and harder to even buy factory ammo. For buying factory ammo you have to be an owner of an legal gun, have it registred and have the Registration up to date (renovation each 3rd year with an hefty fee).So poor People can not even get ammo anymore. Sometimes Police is selling illegally the ammo as well on an Commercial scale (no papers to Show or gun ownership neccesary).
 
"TheGuy", I would guess the reason people are suggesting to you to stop selling your reloads is liability. If something goes wrong, even if it's nothing you did, you are wide open for law suits. But maybe South America isn't as law suit crazy as the USA is.
 
If you sell it to a latin Person they will most likely ambush you and shoot you if the ammo they bought from you goes wrong.

White People (mostly rich cattle Beef Producers) would not even bother buy from you since they trust only factory ammo (they got to rich already and so they do not Need to reload or cast). I am from the White minority as well, I am not rich but I see the reloading-casting as an creative alternative which saves lots of Money and is a good "sports".
I was allways a "square thinker" or "out of the box thinker".
 
The .562" lead round ball are a bit loose in an argentinian brans 20 ga shotshell wad. But the same can be observed for the 7/8 oz Lee drive key slug in an argentinian 12 ga shotshell wad. Seems the argentinian brand is a bit big.

However the spanish ones fit very nice regards the 7/8 oz slug. Once I have the opportunity I will buy a single spanish 20 ga Shell to see if they lock in there tight.
 
If your balls are loose in the bore, why not try doing what we do when shooting black powder single shot pistols and rifles: use a patch of the right thickness (trial by error-start thin and work up). Don´t know if you would need to lube the patch as we need to (probably, but who knows?) but you should be able to prevent the ball from ratteling down the barrel and hopefully improving the accuracy as well. Good luck!
 
It is a possibility to patch the lead bullets.

I would use maybe Leukoplast as glue-patch. Leukoplast farmacies use to tape wounds. The Leukoplast will stick to the lead and will not come off during flight or worse will flare partially come off and stear off track the round ball.

So finally I am not an fan of patchin the round ball. They have to fit perfectly. Unfortunatelly Amazon does not sell at the Moment a mold bigger than .562". I do not know why.
Amazon is the only firm willing to ship These items to Southamerica. Others like MidwayUSA, Cabelas, are declining shipments to Southamerica.
 
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