Reloading and Roll crimping Lee Drive Key Slugs

watch this video.
• Reloading Lee 7/8oz dr...
Load Data
New 2-3/4" Cheddite 12ga hull - pre-primed cheddite 209
45gr Blue dot (#134 lee load all II powder bushing, twice)
Federal 12S3 wad
(2) .070" BPI 20ga mini nitro cards
1oz Lee Drive Key slug
BPI Exacta Roll crimping tool

[@thevacuumtubejunky9774]

Great job on the slug reloading. with reloading shotgun rounds, the possibilities are literally "Endless", it's all up to your imagination so to speak. Thanks for sharing!. Eric Dee.

[@PhillsGarage]

Really professional job you've done there, looking good.

[@rbarbour64]

I made some 1oz slugs and put them in a box of bird shot shells. Tried them out and they worked great. They went through 2 and half 2 and 1/2" boards 2" each. They did not shatter , got them out in one piece.

[@shreefsbini9904]

A buck a shell at the store, 15 cents a piece homemade.

[@aaroncombs1090]

Not anymore.... pre pandemic prices

[@gregjohnson5194]

According to the lee book that cross rib on the slug was made to have the wad mold into the bottom of the slug to carry the wad down barrel for consistent ballistics. You might be defeating the design with that nitro wad under the slug. Anyway the book is called modern reloading by Richard Lee page 144 second paragraph. And he doesn’t use a roll crimp. He calls that the old style. Just a FYI.

[@BubbaRountreeOutdoors]

The BP wad # PT-1205 is excellent for loading both the 1oz & 7/8oz Lee Drive key slugs! That is the only wad that I use for the Lee slugs!

[@samanthaaiak.sanhiwendytha987]

รพุรึพุนทเพ่ดีนิเถอะที่นิจะเรด้า เทพยถังคดเคี้ยวเทคเอุ่นร้ารจิ

[@user-uv6ct4le7n]

😂😂😂😅😅😂

[@chuckallen9778]

I use the PT1205 for the Lee 1 ounce Key drive also. I have recovered the wads and found them pretty much torn up, accuracy out of my Remy 870 24" rifled barrel is 8 inches at 25 yards.

[@eldonharrison878]

I wanna see videos of you shooting your finished products man

[@okiegenethefishingmachine9547]

Verry good video. Only thing I do different is I put my wads in a bag with some mica lube powder and it really helped in accuracy. Not doing roll crimping yet but going to start on next batch.

[@escott3829]

What Do You Think The MICA Does For You.. Thank You In Advance For Feed Back.

[@davidlackey4873]

like your fishing channel...great content!!!!

[@blakelibby2140]

Haha What Dad's do when baby is sleeping... Reload shotgun shells and listen to the baby monitor 👍

[@raceme2h3ll]

Nice

[@nickcavanaugh9586]

this is a true story haha

[@youexterminated787]

As a Texan I confirm this is true.

[@teaganfrenkel9286]

@@youexterminated787 awesome

[@escott3829]

Im Stuck On A CONUS Deployment.. I Out Grew Drinking.. Etc.. So I Spend Spare Time Reloading.

[@tires2burn]

Use your short wads with #4 buck. Great load.

[@Will-ws6gb]

very cool. I want to loading my own slugs as well. Federal 1 oz slugs go for $1 a shell right now. IF it could save me 25 cents a shell i could make my money back on the investment in a couple years, or less. very tempting!

[@johnnyisasinner8613]

you will save WAY more than 25cents a round. You will probably be making these shells for around 35cents a pop if you buy preprimed hulls, and more like 20 cents each if you scrounge up range hulls

[@escott3829]

I Re-Cast The Bulk 100bx From W-Mart.. 24.47 Per 100...see Above Comment For My Details.. Time Consuming.. But Great Hibby

[@k.backus6349]

Casting 800 gr. and 900 gr. Paradox slugs in Magtec brass over black powder but the supply seems to have dried up. You've sold me on the drill press, I've given up trying to hand drill the crimp. Great video, going to get the drill press.

[@chrisbergeron860]

Great idea. One thing I would suggest is to compress wad before crimping.

[@peaceandlove4119]

Bought bricks of 100rd shotgun before the pandemic his just skeet shot I put the key slug in all of them and roll crimped them my saiga 12 loves them!

[@blueduck9409]

You can add some water / weather protection by dribbling some candle wax around the open end of the slug. Might help with the rattle too.

[@SurlyBob1]

Excellent video. Excellent advice on the nitro card too. I use a nitro card under my key slugs and they are very accurate out of my rifled barrel shotgun. No matter what you do, these are a great cost savings alternative to the commercial slugs which were costing me 5 - 6 bucks a shot!

[@censoreditali-american6487]

How much does it cost to buy a set up to make your own bullets? In 2021, bullets can not be found!

[@SurlyBob1]

@@censoreditali-american6487 It's been a while since I bought most of my equipment but I guess it depends on how much bullet casting you intend to do. I've spent over a thousand dollars easy and it also takes a time investment because it is kinda slow for some types of casting. If you are on a tight budget, you can look for used lead pots. Another very cheap method would be to get yourself one of the melting pots that are not powered or you can use an old, smaller, steel or cast iron pot that you don't ever intend to use for food again. Then all you need is a good propane burner hooked to a propane bottle. You need to do this in a well ventilated area and you need to wear nitrile gloves or something to protect yourself since you will pick up lead by handling lead bare handed. Don't ask me how I know this...I've been tested. You will need a dipper tool to dip the lead for mixing, removing the dross from the surface, and to pour lead into your mold by hand. And you need to get the molds you want. Lee molds are very affordable aluminum molds but they are also made from steel. You need to set the mold on top of your melt pot a while and it may take five or 10 castings that you need to re-melt to get the molds up to the proper temperature. Then you can turn out some quality bullets. Use a wooden dowel to knock the bullets out of the mold and use bullet lube to lube the joints on your mold for each molding session. I use Frankford arsenal mold release spray on the mold cavities but some people just use a match to "smoke" the mold cavities and that helps with releasing the bullets from the mold. One redneck kid just drilled holes of the proper size for his shotgun in a piece of 2x4 and poured molten lead in the cavities to make his slugs. But I've had great luck with the key slugs and using a very strong vegetable card beneath the slug to keep the wad from squirting up into the cavity of the key slug and messing up the trajectory. I use a Lee production pot and a lot of wheel weight lead for cowboy action bullets and I have lube sizers too. But to lube your bullets, all you need is some lube and a pan and an oven to do pan lubing. Once that is done, they are ready to load. But the lee key slugs don't need lube due to the plastic wad. Also, you can buy a mold for buckshot and make your own buckshot too. Put nine pellets in that wad and check your load and you have something you can defend yourself with. Normally I buy most of my 00 buck since it's pretty affordable. I use an old Pacific/Hornady shotgun loader with the proper bushings to drop powder and shot. It's a progressive press so I can load a lot of shotgun rounds pretty quickly and they look as good as a factory round when I'm done. But it helps to be mechanically minded in all of this. If you don't have much mechanical aptitude, it's probably best to have someone who is to do your reloading, or just resign yourself to buy all your ammo. AI also have some bullet molds that use copper gas checks for my magnum pistol and rifle loads. The loads being so hot that they would melt a standard lead bullet, so you can crimp on a copper gas check on the bottom of the bullet and push that thing up to magnum velocity with very good results. You don't need full copper jackets on most pistol bullets but watch for leading in the bore. If you are getting leading, you need a harder allow of lead for your bullets, a gas check, or you need to slow the load down a bit. Beyond that, I'd invest in a Lee Lead Remover kit which uses brass screening in a rubber chuck to remove all the lead from the bore of your pistol or rifle. Hope this all helps you.

[@censoreditali-american6487]

@@SurlyBob1 Thank you so much for taking the time to explain all of that, you Rock, Bob!! Ty Ty, gives me something to ponder in this day and age. I can not find slugs ANYWHERE. I bought my son a 20 ga for Christmas on Blk Friday from Dunhams sports and we still can't find bullets as of 2/4/21 for the 20 or my 12 ga. So i've just been buying 2-8 shot bird shot stuff, I guess it's better than nothing.

[@sebastiantufigno6955]

I prefer using Felt instead of plastic cup between the powder and slug; it goes more accurate on target. Greeting from Malta-Europe.

[@SirSloop1919]

a lot!!! it's nearly the cheapest round I have... even cheaper than 9mm! I bring an ammo can and plink.

[@colingallagher4848]

Great work.

[@badrolix]

Very nice!

[@Engineer-hb9un]

Very good load there. I find they shoot very well. I don't see that 45grns powder is too much at all. If it was faster burning then less charge would be called for. The roll crimp struggles when it hits the petals to form correctly and you have the same problem I had with the roll-crimper bottoming out on the slug before complete roll. You can force the roll crimp down harder if you don't mind a rub mark on the slug (which is only cosmetic).

[@carlubambi5541]

Just put in an overshot card,also you have powder leakage at the base of your wad use gas seal or felt was over your powder .

[@jimdodich9576]

all fine and very nice to look at but how accurate do they shoot at 50 yards?

[@tudyk21]

Good, informative video. Thanks

[@EinarKramer]

This might be a silly question: What do you really need the press for? Can't you just as easy scoop up a set amount of powder with a powder-measure or from a powder flask with a "measure" spout and pour it into the shell (maybe with the aid a funnel)? Same with shot: Can't they simply be scooped up with a measure and poured into the shell?

[@phil8249]

I put this video on when I want to fall asleep.

[@Mav8887.]

I use 12s3 for everything 👌

[@sluggou812beotch]

I'd try trimming those wads back to the point the slug starts to taper so you get a more even crimp that certainly affects accuracy.

[@robertfrapples2472]

Thank you. It can be downright dangerous to melt a wad to a roll crimp on a shell that's near pressure limits.

[@williambriggs9493]

What do the wads look like when they come out of the gun? Are the plastic wad ripped up any by the roll crimp? I would be afraid of the of the peddles rolling up and misdirecting the slug on the exit of the gun.

[@robertfrapples2472]

While the Federal wads do work very well with Lee Slugs, their Claybuster replacement wad does NOT. The CB2118 has ribs that the original does not. You can trim them out, but it's a pain.

[@gotdrift8]

why is the power so loose looks like some goes forward of the wad when you were fondling them. maybe a nitro card between the powder and wad to seal the powder into the lower portion of the shell???

[@timhofstetter5654]

Use the PT1205 wad (NO CARDS) for the 1oz slug. That's in Cheddite with a CH209 primer and 25 grains Bullseye. Gets you 1450 fps at 10,700 psi. Or... 28 gr Green Dot gets you 1425 fps at 9,500 psi. You CANNOT beat the way a PT1205 fits that 1oz slug; it's 0.200" shallower than the 12S3, and fits that slug like a glove. The 12S3 wads are now deprecated for the Lee drive key slugs.

[@curtisdowling3773]

The shorty wads are perfect for 1” 3/4 shotshells !!

[@APlife764]

Really? I want to start loading my own...I’ve got the KSG 12, I can pack 25 total between the two tubes

[@robertfrapples2472]

I make a 1.75" 12ga round with four #000 pellets and four #4 Buck pellets, a gas seal and nitro card. It's a little beast in my Shockwave.

[@jamesmartie2683]

What kind of velocity do you get with this load

[@johnnyisasinner8613]

my guess is 1600fps range

[@fernandopaulo1974]

Big Bullet 👍🇺🇸

[@kylefortin9958]

Whats your casting alloy? What kind of harness?

[@SethWilcox82]

I find I can get 5-6 reloads out of rang pick up hulls, using a star crimp, and 7/8 oz slugs and about 40 grains of Green Dot.

[@jamespollard3066]

Seth Wilcox According to Ballistic products load data with a 7/8 oz. Lee slug 29 gr. of Green dot is the max load at 9500 psi and 1505 fps . What you listed is 11 gr. over max . of Green dot .

[@anthonycummings6000]

I also second that comment 40gr of green dot wow scooting any sign of over pressure?

[@Hookset2490]

Like you said; 45 gr. Of Blue Dot is a lot of powder. I use to load 38 grains behind 1 1/2 oz. Of shot as a magnum goose load and that was pushing it. I realize you're only pushing a 1 oz. Payload, but I would be finding out what my chamber pressures were. You may be causing incremental metal fatigue which could lead to a catastrophic failure.

[@sebastiantufigno6955]

Don`t compare magnum shot which is usually BB or Zero, the density of the Slug although it may be same weight of your shot for magnum goose load is bigger, thus you have adapt less powder accordingly ; beside I don`t use plastic cups between powder and slug but "Felt Wads" Greeting from Malta--Europe.

[@Hookset2490]

@@sebastiantufigno6955 Wow Malta! Word sure gets around. As I understand ballistics....when you increase a given powder charge against a given projectile weight you will get a higher chamber pressure over the same load with a lower charge. Yet if you keep the same powder charge but increase the weight of the projectile, you also will increase the chamber pressure, because the heavier weight requires more pressure to start it down the barrel. Now there are other factors to consider also, such as primer choice, i.e. standard vs magnum, and if shotgun....the inner base of the hull can affect pressures. This is why reloading manuals give you a specific primer, powder, hull, shot cup or filler cards, and weight of shot for a given load. Changing any of these can lead to dangerous results. For all these reasons, if one is testing loads that haven't been published as safe....I recommend a test barrel that can safely handle high pressures and give the data needed. It only takes a millisecond to either change your life forever or end it.

[@ssbadazz]

the pt1205 wad has been discontinued, im using Cheddite Hulls with Cheddite 209 primers for Slugs,What Wad would be good since they Discontinued the PT1205?

[@grayhantzell1957]

What a good boi ~ 0:23

[@fightingbear8537]

Who makes the roll crimper?

[@epicgaming2425]

Those new shells ? We're u get them in bulk ?

[@fiveanddime3994]

Hi I have the load all as well im just wondering if you tried different bushing and what grain they drop if you go by the chart that bushing your using should drop 25.4 grains per drop . and have you tried going down to 43 or 40 grains. thank you for your time Craig

[@SirSloop1919]

you have to try each different powder... they all will measure differently depending on how fluffy the powder is...

[@HNCahoon]

@@SirSloop1919 Many years ago. My Dad used a few coats of nail polish inside a bushing to lower powder load.

[@brett5821]

Nice dog

[@ytmm9055]

nice crimper

[@slowpoke2122]

Are these for just shooting to burn powder? I was wondering about accuracy for deer hunting.

[@SirSloop1919]

you should check out this load... much better performance... and less powder with herco. kzbin.info/www/bejne/kImkYoqNl9ygf68

[@archangel20031]

After watching the slug accuracy videos by taofledermaus I surprised anyone bothers with the 1 OZ slug.

[@robertfrapples2472]

That video is what prompted me to by the 7/8oz slug mold. I do have a 1oz one on the way, though. I think they may have had some recipe issues driving a lot of those crazy flight paths.

[@archangel20031]

@@robertfrapples2472 it looked more like a flight stabilization issue than a loading issue.

[@archangel20031]

I did see a video where a guy used the plastic from old hulls, melted it, then used it for making a tail for key drive slugs, that should make the 1oz slugs fly straight.

[@chrisxhates]

Are you using Remington gun oil on the shell?

[@tylerxi3828]

How does this fare through a smooth bore barrel? And would a 6 star crimp work well with this?

[@sebastiantufigno6955]

I prefer just high round closure on the slug itself. Believe me at 200 meters it goes straight through a car door or a one and a half inch solid wooden door.

[@clarkwitczak578]

is reloading and making your own shells cheaper?

[@SirSloop1919]

+Clark Witczak absolutely... slugs go for $1.00 and up... I can load these for less than $0.15. Its cheaper for me to shoot these 12ga slugs than factory 9mm pistol ammo HAHAH

[@tires2burn]

No. You shoot more.

[@michaelfry7115]

Longtime shooter plus Hunter first time reloader what would be the top dollar of all materials plus press to start reloading my own ammo

[@riverrivers250]

how do those shoot compared to any kind of foster slugs?

[@DrewDiaz]

Similar technique in my shop- except I use the BPI Hull vise and I preheat the crimper...

[@dosbox907]

damn, all yall full of good ideas.

[@rafaelestor2298]

Can you try it? Just testing the bullets? It Can be for long range?

[@hokeypokeyalso1783]

Looks like it's time to go shooting!

[@samiam1150]

I get much more consistent powder charges using WW Ball powder. It seems to flow and meter better than the flake powders.

[@trobaughryan]

Nice

[@cliffkessinger1977]

After the roll crimp how many time can you load the casing

[@KevinxDoll]

cheapest slugs i can find right now are 3.50 a shot. this makes more sense

[@mcschneiveoutdoors3681]

Dog ain't crazy..that was the "who da fuq you talking to" look.

[@clarkwitczak578]

ok thank you

[@cadenlamps6780]

Do you use these for deer hunting?

[@simonoutdoors8761]

can you shoot them slugs through a full choke/fixed choke shotgun I would be useing my single barrel bikael shotgun I know that's not spelt right and I can't be bothered to go to my safe to see how its spelt it's the Russian single barrel shotgun. I wondered what choke do you need?

[@reaganwolff9164]

Simon outdoors if anything I would go to a gun shop and see if they have any slug chokes or what ever u wanta call em , about the full choke i mean you can but I wouldn't I have my own shotgun and I asked the gun shop that my dad got it from and they said not to because it can blow the end of ur barrel off or split it

[@rooster3019]

I have no experience with rifled shot gun barrels, but I get my best slug accuracy with either improved cylinder in Skeet #1, see no difference in groups with these. Cylinder bore does well too, but improved is just a little better. Modified gives me erratic groups beyond minute of pie pan at 50 yards; compared to improved cyl where the 50 yard groups are 3" or less. Have not tried full choke, but I bet Lee, knowing that full choke shotguns are so common, specifies ?pure lead" only. I believe it will work, but not very well at all.

[@MrSanteeclaus]

Simon outdoors the russians spell it wrong too

[@houghtrainable]

would this recipe work with once fired Remington slugger hulls or winchester super x slug hulls?

[@SirSloop1919]

It's difficult to roll crimp previously fold crimped hulls. You have to basically remove the old crimp completely before roll crimping. It's just easier to start with new hulls or hulls that have always been roll crimped.

[@SirSloop1919]

Ahh the sluggers are roll crimped I think. You should be able to reuse them as long as you get the column height worked out. They are not as easy to obtain in large quantities though.

[@houghtrainable]

Yeah, they're roll crimped from the factory, I'm going to have a ton of hulls left over after a tac shotgun class I have coming up. I haven't been able to find any load data for them though

[@ManojKumar-kp8sv]

V nice

[@johnbailey9682]

Oh oh what is that is see on the table ? It’s a pair is scissors you could very easy trim the wads . If that’s to hard then it just time to buy preloaded shells .

[@MariaMoreno-yt8qn]

I wonder would this work on ksg

[@andymsmith]

I make my own shot card out of cardboard size 9/16 it drops right in shot cup.

[@subhamsingh9853]

From where i can purchase all these items?

[@camdynmcelroy1750]

what did you put on the drill press to crimp it down

[@15geardaddy]

It's a 12 gauge roll crimp tool. Search for BPI or look on Midway.

[@ssbadazz]

whats the fps on these?

[@husnainhyder6713]

Please Sir We request for More of your knowledge

[@justinbailey1756]

are these more accurate in rifled barrels?

[@sebastiantufigno6955]

I use a 12 bore magnum shotgun; most important using a cylindered barrel (No Chokes at all).

[@ataarjomand]

It is very strange but I cannot, for the life of me, find any reloading data for SLUG reloading. There are thousands of articles and tables for everything else but there is almost none for slug reloading. Am I missing something?

[@PCBulletsInc]

There's some data in the Shotshell-only books, a little reminder "don't listen to me I don't know what I'm doing" So what I do for missing data is start with the same weight in bird loads, start light with the slug/buck and I run the load up until it cycles my benelli semi-auto shotgun. After that I chroney it and watch for pressure until it's where I want it. Be careful though. If your wads are odd then bring the projectile to a cool reloading shop and test it out in some wads until you find something that works. Keep notes!

[@gruntspy44]

accurate?

[@user-ut2qo6jl5p]

👍👍👍👍👍

[@geolopez914]

How did you know how much grain you had to use with the blue dot?

[@iansmith8944]

www.titanreloading.com/image/data/PDF/12gauge.pdf

[@jasontedesco3154]

@@iansmith8944 all he posted was the dispensing equivalency for the powder bushings. Alliant has ZERO published load data for blue dot powder on their website for 1oz. 12 gauge loads. BEWARE!!

[@sebastiantufigno6955]

I always try five cartridges with different loads and see the pattern on a one square meter board before I conclude and chose the best load. Then I go for max production. Lmfao. Greeting from Malta-Europe.

[@frankdn109]

Just curious. Why reload slugs? How much slug shooting do you do?

[@theepicgaming5260]

You can shoot slugs in an indoor range some dont even allow 00 buck and slugs are like 1+dollars for the cheap shit and up

[@sebastiantufigno6955]

Depend how your neighbors behaves. Lmfao JOKING. Ofcouse. XXXXXXX

[@MrColoxr400]

I didn't see where you put the shot cards...

[@carlosreyes6448]

What grain slug is it?

[@southronspirit]

what size brass is that 16mm ?

[@SirSloop1919]

yes 16mm Cheddite hulls

[@dhdjjdhjdjd8119]

wow

[@karenni-outdoorsNY]

May I order some of those in 2021

[@hojatnasro9212]

گی د خدا وی شانسه!

[@wyattroberts1289]

How much does each one cost

[@bill84345]

So how accurate was this setup

[@jonlear7826]

your mom

[@genesmiley3727]

How di you come up with that charge weight of 45 gr of blue Dot? Seems like a very heavy charge

[@pabloconstanza5618]

Where can I buy the slugs at??? I been looking online and cant find anyone that just sells the slug everything else I can find it

[@SirSloop1919]

Pablo Constanza you have to cast your own

[@denisdegamon8224]

Go yo Ballistic Products, they have quite a few ready made slugs to include intergrally mated wads to go with the slugs.

[@lipokimchen1353]

This bullet can kill a Elephant?

[@escott3829]

Im Doing The 7/8ths Oz Lee...The 7/8ths Lee Flys Better..They Cast Easier Than The Svarog.. Im Having Problems W Core Sticking on Svarog.. . The Svarog 12/16 Gauge Round Balls Cast Well..They Average .65 inch or 16.7mm... These I Star Crimp And Push Star In (Inverted) And It Holds Ball And 7/8ths Lee Well, Against Base Of Shot Cup. I Use Winchester/Federal 100bx From W-Mart 24.47 Per 100. Re Casting The #8 Shot. Up Charge The 3 Dram To 3.5 Dram For My Vr60... This Required Sacrifice Of 1 Donor Hull For 6 3.5 Dram Loads. 1425FPS Calculated 3.5 Dram.

[@robertfrapples2472]

Your wad is too tall. Your rolled crimp should not touch it. That would fly with a star crimp, but you're melting the hull to your wad. That's causing those little irregularities you see between the wad and hull.Trim those petals below the top of the slug or try a L078 from BP.

[@ohms139]

How much powder of Red Dot would you use?

[@SirSloop1919]

never used it, but there is some load date to start with. www.alliantpowder.com/reloaders/powderlist.aspx?page=/reloaders/powderlist.aspx&type=2&powderid=4&gauge=12

[@williamrodriguez3908]

Where to buy the material

[@BrokenRRT]

Are you casting those slugs?

[@SirSloop1919]

yes I cast them from scrap lead

[@BuntaBall40]

what accuracy do you get

[@abassiddris5648]

A

[@zukablyat]

how many powder ??

[@zukablyat]

testing ??

[@BrunoRodrigues-qg4zu]

Hello! where do i buy the roll crimping tooll?

[@jamieboeckmann522]

Ballistic Products Inc Website

[@MrSanteeclaus]

Bruno Rodrigues Midway

[@johnlins2966]

Can you say where you got all of the ideas from

[@SirSloop1919]

John Lins fortunecookie45lc got me started on doing these. Check out my other videos with the green colored slugs for the load I use now. This particular load has accuracy issues caused by the wad.

[@SirSloop1919]

The roll crimp tears up the hull too making it harder to reload. I like the star crimp for slugs

[@moitoi4064]

Is it me or you have flatten the tip of the slugs with the roll crimp tool.

[@SirSloop1919]

moi toi no the roll crimper barely touches the slug. I suggest watching my other video where i show my short shell wad slug build with a star crimp. Its a better setup than these slugs