Appreciate the info. Saw on their website that they are closed for July. Do you have any load data to share? I dont have any appropriate powder for slug guns so that may take awhile to get ahold of. Where at in MI are you? Used to live in Holland years ago. Took my first job out of college there and was excited to hunt in MI with a rifle. Bought a .270 only to find out i lived in the shotgun zone....
Like I said, I stumbled onto the slugs I am reloading in a search over 20 years ago, called and spoke to Rich Knoster owner/designer if them. After discussing roll crimping decided to try. Best decision I have ever made. These are not the glitzy high velocity sabots that everyone wants to brag about but a full barrel 1 1/4 oz or 1 1/8 oz combined integrated sabot. I find they seem to shoot best in the 1450-1550 fps and in a 1:34 twist. I have no trouble getting <2" real world groups at 100 yards. They hit like a freight train and I have killed a lot of really nice bucks with them. If you hunt heavy cover, it's the ability to shoot accurately through tiny windows of opening to shoot through.
My setup is old school: Remington 870, Remington thumbhole stock combo, Hastings bull 26" barrel, 1:34 twist, Timney trigger spring update (<2.5 lb trigger) and it just hammers the snot out of deer. I reload a box 25 and pick any 5 and ALL shoot the same which is huge confidence builder for anyone which us why we reload!
Over the years loading technique has changed and my consistency improved years ago with the purchase of a shotgun shell holder so roll crimping was always perpendicular to the hull.
LINK: Hull Vise
Went to a steel roll crimper for better roll crimp results.
LINK:Roll Crimper
Added in drill press so I could standardize the roll crimp speed. Drill press also allows you to standardize the OAL of the hull which also translates to more consistent wad pressure in finished hull. Wad pressure is a critical component to slug accuracy as well. I standardized my OAL for 2 3/4" hull so when I roll crimped it darn near dead on measuring with caliper. Drill press also allows you to seat the roll crimper on the leading edge of the hull to warm it up for few seconds so you can bring down the roll crimper in the press in a steady speed until it bottoms out on your drill press stop. One of the things I do with the SPW is trim the flare of the wad so there are no mold tags still left on the wad. Does it make any difference? Don't know but anything that is drag on rear of the wad always makes me think there is a possibility. I also take the SPW and push the flare edge of the wad down on my reloading press ball handle to increase the flare. This insures the wad is snug to inside the hull when seating against powder eliminating the potential powder slippage around the wad. I went to Alliant Pro Reach powder few years ago and am getting much higher velocity in a 2 3/4" hull than I did with the SR4756 in a 3" hull and accuracy improved. They list loads on their website. I recommend the Alliant Pro Reach and you can also search for loads off their website looking for similar weighted shot loads.
LINK: Alliant Pro Reach
You can reload a 1X fired hull but it is difficult and sometimes just not worth the results. When I do use a 1X hull, I will use a hull that is longer than what I need so I can trim it down which then leaves a nice unskived clean mouth for roll crimping. I also use one of these from Ballistic Products which is called a Spin Doctor. You put in drill and spin it in the mouth of the spent hull to reset the mouth. The heat from spinning along with some downward pressure can sometimes reset the mouth of the hull so it almost like new.
https://www.ballisticproducts.com/Spin-Doctor-for-small-bore-20ga-to-410/productinfo/SPINDOCSB/
Over the years, I have just bought the already primed hulls from SlugsRUs
https://www.slugsrus.com/ so my finished round is always the same. The bottom line on really good slug accuracy is no different than metallic reloading. You need to be extremely consistent in what you do; everything from wad pressure, roll crimp pressure, total OAL, and so on. This is why I decided to use primed hulls only and the unskived Cheddites seemed to work the best for consistent accuracy.
Craig
