20 Gauge Slug recommended lead hardness for hunting?

Here in Illinois we are required to hunt deer with slug guns, pistols and muzzleloaders. I've cast for handgun rounds for target shooting based of Lyman Cast Manual wheel weight formula using bar solder to add tin. I've cast for muzzleloader using soft lead pipe. I've been working on a slug load that shows consistent performance over a chronograph, although I have yet to bench shoot it for accuracy from my H&R ultra slug topped with a 4x ERR Leupold.

My questions are; What lead hardness should be used in a slug for deer hunting? Should I use the soft lead for expansion upon impact and be worried about base deformation or use the handgun formula so the base doesn't deform then worry about expansion. Does lead hardness make much difference for hunting purposes?

I own a lathe. Would it be worth making a new pin for the mold that would allow for a thicker base so I could use soft lead?

I cast the lyman 12ga sabot slug with 20 to 1 alloy and it works well. I have used pure lead with this mold but found out the harder alloy shot better and have not lost a deer yet with it. O

Do you mind sharing what type of load you are working on?

I didn't vote in the poll because I have only shot maybe 25 slugs in my life, and never at a live target.

My best guess is that a deer really isn't going to notice if the slug is soft and easily expands, or if it is harder and doesn't expand much, if any. With a 20 gauge Foster type slug, you will be poking pretty close to a 5/8" hole through the boiler room if all goes well.

I would go with whichever alloy gives the best accuracy.

Thinking further on the subject, it seems I remember Lyman recommending pure lead for shotgun slugs. All I can say is cast a few and try them.

Robert

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by OBCoal

Do you mind sharing what type of load you are working on?

---

AA shells, Winchester wads (white) over 16.0 grains of Herco with 400 grain .58 caliber hollow base muzzleloader mold. I've been cutting a .410 cork wad to fit the hollow base. Using 40 lbs of pressure to seat the wad. Found it works better to seat the wad and boolit at the same time. Puts them on average 1137 fps.

Mostly using Herco because I didn't have any Unique at the time. I now have 2lbs of Unique for testing consistency compared to Herco.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mk42gunner

All I can say is cast a few and try them.

---

Great minds think alike.
I cast several of each alloy last night. Looking forward to testing which alloy gives best accuracy.

FWIW , I cast straight WW alloy for 12 gauge Lyman 525 slugs and the guy whose mold I use casts his straight Lino .

If I ever get off my hands and buy the same thing for the 20 gauge I'll most certainly use straight WW alloy as well .

I might add last year I killed a lite medium sized buck last year with one of the Lyman 525's out of my Parker GH and the WW alloy slug dropped him as if the carpet had been pulled from under his feet . BOOM flop DRT says it all !

When I shot the buck he was at a lasered 26 yards I hit him in the neck and the slug took out a big chunk and went right on thru . My load is maybe 1100 FPS at a low pressure level since the Parker used to kill this deer is Damascus as well as several other 12 gauge guns I shoot .

20 gauge does not need expansion IMHO hard lead full penetration and exit wound nothing hit in the chest will not go far.

I thought I would add what is working for me. Shot at 50 yards from a lawn chair using a shooting stick at home in the back yard. The local gun club is only 10 miles away and I plan to shoot from a bench sometime this week. Keep in mind the Leupold scope was only mounted and bore sighted. No adjustments were made to the scope during shooting, this is where it hit on the paper from the get go.

Load was changed to use 16 grains of Unique, under the Ohaus 400 grain hollow base boolit. Base filled with hot glue this time, cut flush with a single blade razor. The same AA shell and wad being used over a 209 Winchester primer.

Since the load changed...a quick shot over the chronograph showed a similar result in FPS

Attachment 152828

First target was shot using soft lead pipe. Nice clean cut holes showing no signs of tumbling. I fully take the blame for pulling the lone straggler shot. 3 shots fired.

Attachment 152826

The next target is boolits made from wheel weight / bar solder mixture. These bullets required a little alox upon pushing the wad into the shell to prevent the wad binding on the shell casing. Again, I take the blame for the singe round pulled to the right. 4 shots fired.

Attachment 152827

In review, I found a few wads from each load configuration. I liked the way the wads showed rifling engagement from the WW rounds better than the soft lead. I assume this is due to the WW rounds having an expanded diameter due to the hardness of the mixture.

If you are hunting this weekend Good luck:-). Weather should be good , no more rain.

I casted up some of the Lyman Sabot 20 ga 350 gr & 12 ga 525 gr (both look like an air rifle pellet) with lead that was knowingly contaminated with zinc just to use it up. They shot better than the softer slugs I had previously worked with, not sure on exact hardness but would guess around 18 or so. I had a sample scanned and its was roughly: 8% Sb, 6% Bi, 5% Zn, 4% Sn, Plus traces of Fe , Cu.
I used up this alloy with the LEE 58 Target Mini (in 20 ga) and noticed no difference in accuracy as compared to softer alloy in the same style.
Both the Lyman & LEE literature state to use pure lead, as others have said at that diameter I would not think expansion would be critical to a successful kill.

***Link to successful deer hunt using hard cast slug***

The above link includes info on slug load, chronograph speeds, bullet drop and successful hunting story that I posted in the Hunting with CB section. Check it out!

It is my understanding that you don't use soft lead for expansion on game.
You use it so if the load is placed in a full choke barrel it can swage down some rather that destroy the barrel. Which is also why most factory slugs have ridges and valleys on the sides. Makes it easier to go through a tight full choke.

Is this thread really 5 years old????

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...ent-Velocities