Need help with BP 12GA Slugs

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  • RookieGoons

    Member
    Nov 10, 2018
    8
    Harford County, MD
    Hello all,

    About six months ago, I bought a 50-pack of .715 roundballs from trackofthewolf, along with 10012 gauge hulls to have some fun with my American Pioneer Powder in my shotgun. All I did was cut down the shells, pour 3 drams of powder, packed the ball on top and hot glued it to the sides of the shell. Those rounds worked well, so well that I got around to buying 50 more roundballs for the rest of the hulls I had laying around.

    When I made the original 50 rounds, I recall being concerned that I could hear powder rattling when I jiggle the completed shell. I assume that around the sides of the ball, the powder isn't fully packed, and there is just a little bit of air space there. Just to clarify, I made a little image:

    Airspace.png

    If I recall correctly, I did nothing to fix this in the original batch, and fired the first few rounds remotely, with the gun in a rig, just to be sure. It ran just fine then, and I feel like it'll run fine with these new rounds. I did something special this time around, where I turned some test shells upside down while seating the ball, to help fill in the space. The rattling has definitely been reduced, but not eliminated entirely.

    Has anyone run into an issue like this before? Could this cause damage to my gun? Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I just want to make sure :)

    Thanks in advance guys,
    Andy
     

    bigjohn

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 29, 2007
    2,752
    You using an over powder card or gas seal? I’ve never had the payload directly on top of the powder
     

    RookieGoons

    Member
    Nov 10, 2018
    8
    Harford County, MD
    You using an over powder card or gas seal? I’ve never had the payload directly on top of the powder

    I was originally gonna do a patched ball, but the .715 ball is so close to my muzzle diameter that adding a patch didn't feel too safe IMO. It worked fine without patches anyway.

    There is no over powder card either. I only shoot from ~25-30 feet to blow up water jugs so I didn’t worry too much about adding extra components to the cartridge.
     

    willtill

    The Dude Abides
    MDS Supporter
    May 15, 2007
    24,337
    You can shake any shell and hear loose powder within it. And that's most often smokeless powder which is more powerful than the black powder you're using.

    You'll be fine.
     

    John from MD

    American Patriot
    MDS Supporter
    May 12, 2005
    22,734
    Socialist State of Maryland
    Your powder is a propellant not an explosive to the airspace issue is moot. If anything, the way you are loading the hulls is creating less pressure than if you did it with wads. I don't think you have to worry about hurting your shotgun. FYI, if you added just a thin patch under your ball, you would make the load more efficient.
     

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