Homemade/waxed slugs

[Mac66]

Continuing my newfound interest in shotguns....

My recent shotgun class left me flat-footed for slugs. We weren't told we needed slugs and when we arrived we were told only slugs were allowed on this indoor range. Fortunately I was able to trade birdshot for slugs with another student.

That got me thinking about stocking up on some. Yikes! They are at least a $1+/ea .

And that got me thinking about making some. You can buy molds and cast your own. Molds cost about $35 and you do one at a time. Of course you need lead and some way to melt it and something to melt it in. When I move up to the woods house and set up my reloading shop I'll probably buy a slug mold.

Another way is cut shells. Basically you cut around the hull of a birdshot shell and when you shoot , the hull, wad and shot fly out as one piece. I've played around with cut shells and they do work. Not a bad field expedient way to turn birdshot into a self defense load. These things will penetrate 3/4" plywood. The problem with them is that you open up the shell to moisture and destroy the shotgun shell when you shoot them.

Another possibility is to use waxed shells. Yes you can make slugs out of wax but I'm talking about mixing lead shot with wax and pouring it into the shell. Taofledermous has bunch of waxed slugs u-tube videos and Paul Harrel has one.

There are a couple ways to do waxed slugs. If you don't reload simply buy some birdshot shells. Open the ends up and dump the shot into a pan of melted wax/paraffin. Scoop out the shot/wax and put it back into the shell. Seal the end with wax. You're now good to go.

If you reload put primer, powder and wad into the shell. Then put the shot/wax in leaving enough room for crimping the shell closed.

The problem with waxed shell is you have to store them away from heat. They will melt inside a hot car or sitting out in the sun. Though I've learned that adding stearic acid to the wax hardens it and raises the melting point.

I've heard of people using bondo as slugs. Mix it with lead shot and let it harden. A little more stable for storage. It stays in tact unless it hits something hard. I suppose anything that will harden could be used. The nice thing about shotgun shells is that you can load just about anything into them.

I just spent a couple days up at the woods house. I loaded 12 waxed slug shells, 6 open, sealed with wax and 6 crimped. On the open ones I cut the crimp away on 3 of them and loaded the shot up to the top of the shell sealing the end with wax. The other 3 I filled them up all the way to the end of the crimp and sealed with wax. They with fit in a 3" chambered shotgun. The later made them longer and heavier with a little more drop at longer ranges. Accuracy was pretty good at 10 yards. All shot consistently to point of aim. At 25 yards I got about a 5" group with an occasional flyer.

The other 6 were loaded and crimped shut the size of a 2 3/4" regular shell. They shot pretty much the same as the open ones.

I didn't check the velocity of these slugs. I will next time I'm up at the house. Generally bird shot for trap/skeet runs 1200- 1300 FPS with an ounce of lead shot. It should be pretty much the same with waxed slugs give or take.

A 72 caliber ounce of lead traveling at magnum velocities is nothing to sneeze at. The will penetrate a steel drum @ 50 yards (Taofledermous video) and/or See Paul Harrel's meat target video.

Could they be used for self defense? Absolutely. I would guess they would be devastating on flesh (again see Harrel's meat target). Not to mention they are relatively cheap. If I ever take another indoor shotgun class I will cheat a bit and take my own homemade slugs.

[David]

Waxed slugs were done during the depression era. Made sense, buy bird shot in expensively and convert a few over to slug in case you saw that buck. And they are surprisingly effective. They will flat out penetrate a refrigerator. Good out to 40-60ish yards, maybe more depending on the platform. Best used in break open shotguns like a single loader.

[tom mac]

Very nice...

Only wax I use is in my .38 , when I shoot them in the basement ( primers only ) Pound a case into a 3/4" of wax.
A wax bullet will really hurt at close range, it penetrates more than you would think with a primer.

[Mac66]

Loaded up 25 more waxed slugs. Apparently candle makers add stearic acid granules to the wax to make them harder and burn longer. It raises the melting temperature. If I decide to load some more up and keep them I'll probably do that. In the mean time I'll take them up to the woods house and run them through the chronograh.

[aerynsun]

[Mac66]

Apparently Taufledermaus melts green crayons for their waxed slugs. LOL

[Mac66]

I shot some of the waxed slugs through the chronograph today. High was 1060 fps, low was 970. Average was about 1020.

The shells i filled all the way to the end of the uncrimped shell was the slowest. More shot, more weight, slower speed.

The crimped shells were the fastest. They averged 1040 fps. That's 1050 foot pounds of energy. That'll stop anything.