Thread: 12ga shotgun slugs

Lee has also brought out an alternative to their 1oz key drive slugs, the 7/8oz key drive slug.

It's front heavy and really invokes musket slugs used during the American Civil War in its geometry, musket slugs appreciably increased the range of muskets but appear to be inherently stable in flight due to their skirt and front-heaviness. The Lee 1oz slug lacks the front heavy balance. The basic geometry of the 7/8oz slug is length = diameter, like the CSA Nessler Ball below. Taofledermaus did a test which also showed one method of using preloaded shotshells by replacing shot with slug.

Link to Taofledermaus video if it does not load below.


Note the drawing on the left is the original Nessler Ball with a hollow skirt.

The CSA .69 Nessler Ball was adapted with a Wilkinson Base, not hollow skirt and were used to get rifle level accuracy out of muskets up to 400 yards. They conical base would basically compress and as a result the rear edge would obturate the bore. Important to note, there should be no lubricant in the "groove" as the lubricant would prevent the cone from collapsing and obturating the bore.

(Makes you wonder - with lubricated cast bullets - will they obturate a bit better if you remove the lube from the rearmost groove???)

(link to modern manufacturer's page)


You will note that the 1:1 length:bore relationship does not feature in this 1.23oz projectie when it's loaded, but once fired and obturated the ratio has become right as seen in this original recovered Nessler-Wilkinson bullet:


The massive remaining cannelure is thought to contribute to the skirt stabilising effect but the wilkinson base seems to have been better than the minie at obturating, the type of base certainly allowed the bullet to be denser for its length.

The Lee 1oz 7/8oz key slugs significantly are only .640" diameter, the modern Nessler equivalent is .69" and the 12 gauge is .729" upwards, probably a fair bit of inaccuracy is from windage bounce due to makers assuming every SG slug shooter is a drooling idiot who may have a tight choke installed and who also needs to be told not to drink the fluid in his car battery.