Hey guys,

(I posted this over on another forum, but figured I would share it here as well.)

Hey guys,

As most of you know by now, I wanted to come up a way to shoot copper slugs out of my SxS 12 gauge. I had heard a lot about shooting hard cast lead, but I figured a copper jacket might make things even better penetration-wise. So I set out to try this out.

Long story short, I came up with using 1/2" copper pipe caps filled with melted lead as a slug. They mic out at about .702", and then you wrap them with masking tape to bring them up to .729" (You can use teflon or paper for this to, a'la paper patching, but I'm lazy and masking tape is faster). In the end these slugs weigh around 580 grains. I called them "Hansol Slugs". Very original.

Secondly I had to come up with load data to shoot one of these. A lot of this was based on opinions and experience from other slug shooters, as well as a heck of a lot of cross-referencing. The rule of thumb for slugs is that a comparable weight shot load will generate more pressures than a comparable weight slug load. That's a fancy way of saying slugs generate LESS pressure than shot. So with that in mind, I developed the following loads:

*Now bear in mind, these are unpublished, untested loads worked in MY gun, and my gun only so far. I don't recommend others use them until they are pressure tested.*

Black Powder Load
-Win 2 3/4" Hull
-CCI 209 Primer
-105 grains Pyrdodex RS
-Fiber Wad
-580 grain Hansol Slug
-roll crimp

In theory, this load is going 1250fps. Approx pressure estimate = 6500psi. Actual pressures and speeds are unknown

Smokeless Load
-Federal 3" paper base wad hull
-CCI 209 Primer
-42 Grains Blue Dot
-WAA 12 white wad (petals cut off)
-580 Grain Hansol Slug
-roll crimp.

In theory, this load is going 1400fps. Approx pressure estimate = 9500psi. Actual speed and pressure are unknown

Again, these are untested loads, based on a lot of theory, and I'm not sure how safe they are at this point. Use at your own risk. Most importantly, DON'T USE IN A GUN WITH CHOKES. I'm pretty sure that would cause a LOT of problems. No chokes!

Range Day.

Here are pics from my range day the other week.

Here's my slug gun, a Lanber Supreme with 3" chambers. She has express sights, and barrels cut to 24". She's very much a "modern" gun:

This was 35 yards:

Guess which holes are mine:

As a "penetration test" on the day, I shot my slugs at a 1/2 steel plate. This happened EVERY time I pulled the trigger:

Ten Yards (the ones on the left were test rounds):

Test target @ Ten Yards. 4 Rounds. The ones on the left are left barrel, ones on the right, right barrel. I actually used proper aiming procedures this time instead of just banging away: