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Hi,

New to shotgun and slugs. Can anyone suggest a good mold for casting slugs for a smoothbore shotgun?

I was looking at the Lee Precision 1OZ mold but I'm under the impression this is for rifled barrels only.

https://fsreloading.com/lee-precision-1 ... 90281.html

Thanks,

Alex

Lyman 525gr Sabot mold is nice & designed to be used with a normal wad, with a std 6 or 8 point star crimp

saddler wrote:Lyman 525gr Sabot mold is nice & designed to be used with a normal wad, with a std 6 or 8 point star crimp

Thanks. On their website it says "This is a shotgun slug intended for use with a sabot.". Aren't Sabot's supposed to be used with rifled barrels, therefore do I not need a rifled slug for a smoothbore barrel?

Nope...they mean std shot wad

Shoots ok out of my Rem 870 smoothbore

Alex, the Fat Hamster will always, always tout the Lyman slug. That's because he forked out 80 quid for the mold and 20 quid for handles! And, it only shoots "OK" out of his 870....

Go for the Lee 1oz. Buy the mould and a Lee LoadAll and have enough money left over for cases and wads, for the same cost as the oversized airgun pellet (Have you see the Lyman?!)

My Lee slug shoot superbly out of my Benelli....

Sim G wrote:Alex, the Fat Hamster will always, always tout the Lyman slug. That's because he forked out 80 quid for the mold and 20 quid for handles! And, it only shoots "OK" out of his 870....

Go for the Lee 1oz. Buy the mould and a Lee LoadAll and have enough money left over for cases and wads, for the same cost as the oversized airgun pellet (Have you see the Lyman?!)

My Lee slug shoot superbly out of my Benelli....

++++1
Lee everytime, don't be put off because its cheap, as Sim said you could have a full set up for the cost of (other) moulds.

Sim G wrote:Alex, the Fat Hamster will always, always tout the Lyman slug. That's because he forked out 80 quid for the mold and 20 quid for handles! And, it only shoots "OK" out of his 870....

Go for the Lee 1oz. Buy the mould and a Lee LoadAll and have enough money left over for cases and wads, for the same cost as the oversized airgun pellet (Have you see the Lyman?!)

My Lee slug shoot superbly out of my Benelli....

Thanks. Press wise I ended up getting the MEC 8000gn but now I'm looking to cast my own slugs. I was under the impression you should cast a certain slug based on the barrel you were using (smooth or rifled)? Does this not really matter as long as you are using the right choke/or no choke?

From what I've read it seems people are shooting whatever with varying degrees of success. Lee seems like a good choice for a mold but wasn't sure if I should use that type of slug in a smoothbore.....as it says it's for a rifled barrel. Are there any slugs specifically for smoothbore barrels and can they be easily cast?

The Lee slug is more than adequate for a smoothbore barrel.

Both the Lee and Lyman slugs are used with a plaswad. I have both and cant really see much difference between them.
Both will work in a smooth bore shotgun. We cant have rifled barrels so that is part of the equation removed!
As for choke, use one that the slug/wad combo will fit through using your fingers.
There really aren`t any other cost effective mould solutions unless you went the custom route.
Just like cartridge reloading there is a similar experimental route to go down when loading slug.
No need to go for a maximum load if shooting paper out to 30 yards.
HTH
Tony

mag41uk wrote:Both the Lee and Lyman slugs are used with a plaswad. I have both and cant really see much difference between them.
Both will work in a smooth bore shotgun. We cant have rifled barrels so that is part of the equation removed!
As for choke, use one that the slug/wad combo will fit through using your fingers.
There really aren`t any other cost effective mould solutions unless you went the custom route.
Just like cartridge reloading there is a similar experimental route to go down when loading slug.
No need to go for a maximum load if shooting paper out to 30 yards.
HTH
Tony

Great, thanks for the advice all. Lee mold to start it is then.