Not really reloading, I unfold the end 12 ga shotgun shells and melt the bb's into a 68 cal. mold then put the ball back in the plastic. I shoot these in a savage single with cut off barrel that was 30" now it's 27". I put a rifle sight on front and peep sight on back. It's fairly accurate, plenty good enough for close shots on deer although I have taken a deer with it. I'm hoping alabama will allow single rifles and shotguns in primitive weapons season. Am thinking about getting a 58 cal mold for my mossberg 20 ga international and doing the same thing just for fun.
Round balls in shotgun
- Thread starter Flatshooter
- Start date
old_heli_logger
Gold $$ Contributor
That's cool! Post a photo of the damage when you get a deer. That slug is starting out bigger than most can hope for after mushrooming.
Good luck!
Good luck!
Yes they are, rifling would be good for slugs not sure if it would help much on round balls.
Slugs are more expensive, I don't reload shotgun shells, and I think round balls would be more accurate without riflin since slugs would tumble.
257ack
Silver $$ Contributor
He may not have a shotshell reloader
wkdickinson
Gold $$ Contributor
Sorry, I hit the "like" button by mistake. I was going to say - isn't that the idea behind "rifled" slugs? They are designed to be fired in a smooth bore and the rifling on the slug itself causes it to spin and stabilize. I grew up in lower Michigan, when I was young you could only use a smooth bore shotgun and I killed many dear with rifled slugs. In my experience they can be very accurate out to 75 yds. or so.
Slugs arent crazy expensive...
You dont reload them....
Round balls are not more accurate in a smooth bore. Proofs in the muskett. Research some gun history.
Slugs do not tumble... They are rifled to shoot in a smooth bore....
Still confused on this post... nothing makes any since here.
I use round ball since I don't reload shotshells helps and use bbs for making round ball, I can't really say the balls are more accurate.
It's not serious just having fun!
Not the purpose of a rifled slug. Compression is.
farmerjohn
Gold $$ Contributor
When I was a kid all the elders told us that slugs would shoot the choke out of a good shotgun so all we could use was buckshot in our guns and buckshot was hard to come by at times. When ever we were squirrel hunting and found deer we would "ring" a shell, take your pocket knife and cut nearly through the paper all the way round about a third of the way up the shell just at the bottom of the wad. when you fired it the shot and the wad stayed in the front of the shell and would act just like a slug out past 50 yards and made one hole going in the deer, been there, done it, John
Adam in WI
Practically lives here
@farmerjohn , that's awesome
A round ball is more accurate in a slow twist rifling like 1 in 48 twist ...that's why we won the Revolutionary War.
The British had smooth bore muskets, slightly faster to load but not accurate past 50 yards. Americans used rifled barrels and dropped British officers off their horses at 200 plus yards. Very uncouth and angered the British. Our rifled round ball guns with their long range hit potential and run away tactics won the Revolution.. not standing toe to toe with the British. Kentucky long rifles earned a ferice reputation for accuracy...Daniel Boone? ...notice the term rifle, not musket. Just the History...so as proven by history, a slow twist round ball in a 12 gauge would be more accurate than a smooth bore, but it would be much slower than a rifled slug barrel, which would be way too fast for accuracy...as already proven in history when armies went to the mimi ball in the Civil War. Rifling is most always more accurate than smooth bore, it just requires the correct twist, be mated to the projectile being used...same as today.
SSL
Gold $$ Contributor
Yep. My Dad always told me that was the way he and his father hunted deer during the depression. Tried it later on just out of curiosity. Shot crappy and scared me to death. I'll stick to slugs when needed.
Adam in WI
Practically lives here
SSL
Gold $$ Contributor
Exactly. The "rifling" on a "traditional" slug is meant to allow the slug to compress more easily in order to firmly fit the bore. That's why the old warnings about shooting slugs in full-choked barrels ruining the barrel were in error. Accuracy often suffers by over-choking, but the barrel will not be damaged. I have an old Ithaca/SKB semi-auto 12-gauge with a modified barrel that I found to be remarkably accurate with Activ slugs (traditional design with a full-bore diameter). Drilled and tapped the receiver for a scope mount and I've lost track of how many deer it has taken. All were taken inside of 80 or so yards with the exception of one "Hail Mary" shot at a buck when my hunting partner had blown his shot and broken its rear lag. He was headed for land where we had no permission to hunt, and rather than seeing him get away to suffer, I lobbed a shot that hit just behind his shoulder and dropped him within 25-yards of the boundary line. We stepped it off at 140 paces. NOT a recommendation for such a shot; just a shot of desperation that was successful.
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