Wax slugs.

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Whughett...

My era on the street down in Dade county was 1973 - 1995 - the height of the party... If you're living out along the Tamiami Trail you're in the lord's country... Funny thing, after I retired out in 1995, I went back to school, got my captain's license and ever since I'm either working out of Flamingo or Chokoloskee/Everglades City when I'm guiding... All in all -even though I have to tow my small skiff more than 20,000 miles a year... it's a better way to live as far as I'm concerned.

For anyone interested... an email to [email protected] will get you a brochure by return mail...
Grove City, Charlotte County, Cale Haze Peninsula. Miles and miles of grass flats. Gods County Indeed.
 
I would not recommend cut shells. Shotgun barrels are very thin walled in comparison to rifle barrels. I can't imagine what it would be like to tote a shotgun around if it were otherwise. And the shotgun shell is a bit larger in diameter than the bore of the barrel. This would lead to increased pressures in an already thin walled barrel. Yeah, I know it's been done "for ever", but the engineer in me cringes at the thought.

+100

Cut shells are a disaster waiting to happen. The worst reason I can think of for doing something is because someone else did and got away with it. It's a bit like Russian Roulette, sooner or later there's going to be a loser. If you want to get goose bumps, measure the O.D. of a shotgun shell. Then measure the I.D. of a shotgun muzzle. (I don't care what choke it has, or if it doesn't have any). Now subtract the difference and force it through with 18,000 P.S.I. at 1,200+ FPS. Good luck.
 
Wax slugs are, at best, a novelty item and at worse a stupid idea.

There are plenty of proven, and reliable, conventional rounds for shotgun use and entirely economical to boot.

And loading the barrel of any gun up with layers of wax ain't a good idea.
I second this. I just wouldn't have been as tactful.
 
I would even be careful with a lot of these novelty loads that are for sale. "Dragons Breath", along with many of these steel flechette and "Bolo" loads. Most of these things are loaded by God knows who. And none of them have much if ANY pressure data printed on the box.

Steel flechettes can scratch up a nice shotgun barrel, if they should happen to come into contact with the sides or choke area. And many of these rounds contain chemicals and nitrates that can corrode chambers, barrels, receivers, along with trigger groups if they are not cleaned completely immediately after shooting them.

If I found myself with an uncontrolled desire to play with these things, I would find a cheap single shot to shoot them out of. Not a good repeater, and certainly not an expensive O/U. The whole adventure reads like a good blueprint on how to screw up a nice shotgun.
 
i must say, cut shells are one of the oldest tricks in the book. personally ive never had an issue with them in the dozens of shotguns ive used them in, regardless of gauge/bore, choke, and type of shell/load. certainly the first time i was about to try it i was shaking scared as i shouldered the gun, but with time i realized it was nothing to fear really. i prefer the wax slugs more as i feel they are far more reliable to not fall apart and im much more confident in firing wax slugs in an old old gun. i also think most people way underestimate how truly tough firearms are and are afraid to try an even remotely hot load in them. but to each their own.
 
My only question is, "why?". Foster slugs are plenty cheap and will outperform any of the gimmick fake slugs you can come up with without the risk. Is it so people can say, "I told you so"?
Just curious.
BTW, I have cast, bought, developed moulds, and shot thousands of slugs, sabot slugs, and large bore rifles in the shotgun bore size area, so I'm not talking through my hat, nor am I putting anyone down. I just don't see the attraction
 
My only question is, "why?". Foster slugs are plenty cheap and will outperform any of the gimmick fake slugs you can come up with without the risk. Is it so people can say, "I told you so"?
Just curious.
BTW, I have cast, bought, developed moulds, and shot thousands of slugs, sabot slugs, and large bore rifles in the shotgun bore size area, so I'm not talking through my hat, nor am I putting anyone down. I just don't see the attraction
As regards wax slugs:
1) At current Walmart prices of $5.58 for a box of game loads, that’s 25 shells to convert to wax slugs for around .23 cents a shot.
2) It’s time fiddling around in the work shop/ loading room. Busy work, hobby fun work. I don’t like the idea of “gluing” overshot cards on so I roll crimp them.
3) Just plain fun seeing a quarter size hole open up in targets out to 50 yards.
4) add in the boom and flame of black powder, and well, crap why not.
 
As regards wax slugs:
1) At current Walmart prices of $5.58 for a box of game loads, that’s 25 shells to convert to wax slugs for around .23 cents a shot.
2) It’s time fiddling around in the work shop/ loading room. Busy work, hobby fun work. I don’t like the idea of “gluing” overshot cards on so I roll crimp them.
3) Just plain fun seeing a quarter size hole open up in targets out to 50 yards.
4) add in the boom and flame of black powder, and well, crap why not.
Have fun. Black is more forgiving.
 
i also think most people way underestimate how truly tough firearms are and are afraid to try an even remotely hot load in them. but to each their own.

I don't think it's "underestimate" so much as "respect".

Speaking as an engineer, it's not so much a concern to load something "hot" as it is to "restrict" or "block" the barrel.

Impeding the passage of the projectile down the barrel can easily result in damage using even less than normal powder loads.

Firearms are tough...this is inherent with the way they operate. And yes, they're designed to operate with some sort of range in allowable pressures, with a conservative allowance in design tolerances.

However, playing with some of the factors being discussed without understanding what those limits actually are has the potential to be mechanically damaging and dangerous. While not all these things people have been discussing in this thread have a reasonable expectation of producing outright dangerous conditions (like shooting wax slugs), some are inherently more dangerous than others (like cut shells).

Obviously, many of these things have been done without any apparent harm. However, we can all find articles and video examples where things did NOT go well.

Which all boils down to "use your brain, and use it intelligently".
 
6E130648-0ED2-4A79-9F53-C5BC7FB648B4.jpeg 9A79EA91-AB03-4EEF-B3D4-60A229A19B36.jpeg At the risk of flogging a dead horse, out of curiosity I dissected two slugs. My wax and a Federal Classic Rifled 1 1/4 oz slug. The wax slug weights just under an oz.
I was primarily interested in diameters between the two. The lead is larger but only at its base as its tapered. The wax is not tapered. If one can shoot the lead one safely can sure as heck shoot the wax one.

As to waxing the bore, I’m just not seeing that. I don’t see any wax outside the shot cup. Black powder leaves such a mess in the bore it’s impossible to tell what’s there after shooting. It all cleans up with a hot water and dish soap scrub anyway.

So far I’ve only shot these in the old double with BP. I have a Remy 870 with three barrels. One is a slug barrel, smooth bore with rifle sights. Next box of shells will be with what ever smokeless the shell was loaded with. But cold weather has set in, so that’s a project for next spring.

If I was still in the hunting game I’d definitely use a commercial slug, but a whole lot of practice would be with home made wax ones.
 
View attachment 873091 View attachment 873092 At the risk of flogging a dead horse, out of curiosity I dissected two slugs. My wax and a Federal Classic Rifled 1 1/4 oz slug. The wax slug weights just under an oz. I was primarily interested in diameters between the two. The lead is larger but only at its base as its tapered. The wax is not tapered. If one can shoot the lead one safely can sure as heck shoot the wax one.

The best, (and really the only way), to determine this, is to take the wax slug, (or anything else you're going to be firing down the bore), and see if it drops through the choke you are going to be shooting it through, under it's own weight while it is contained in the shot cup. Most all Foster type slugs will.

(Many will literally rattle down the bore). The shot cup itself won't fall through because it is designed to constrict the powder gasses at it's base, but the projectile it contains should. If it doesn't, that could raise pressures very quickly and significantly.

The best way to assure this is to cast the wax and shot mixture with the plastic wad itself contained in a sleeve that is of smaller diameter that the choke you're going to be firing it through. By just casting it in the shell you have no way of controlling this. Once the wax slug is cast and solidified, it can then be hand loaded into the hull.
 
i havent noticed any wax in the bore or anything abnormal either, doesn't matter if its one shot or a hundred shots. the wax slugs are pretty light, regular ol foster slugs are a pain for me to shoot with my gun since its just a steel plate on the butt. so practicing and just having fun with the wax slugs is ideal.
 

I haven't seen that since I was in HS close to 60 years ago. Mack Trucks moved from NJ to MD. One of the people who came with Mack used wax in buckshot shells to "simulate" a slug as back then slugs were illegal in NJ. He said they worked well enough.
I was fascinated with the idea; my father said as we hunt with rifles so why bother? If you (me) want to hunt with a shotgun; buy a box of real slugs. The man from NJ bought a rifle because he could hunt with it..
 
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