Played hooky today, had a few hours to check out the new Russian moulds, so cast a few of both the 12 ga. and the 16 ga.. Can't tell you how tickled I am with the 16 ga. in particular right now, and I haven't even shot any yet. They weigh 365 gr. from my COWW plus 1.5% Sn alloy, more than 3/4 Oz, less than 7/8 oz. The ones in the baggie are SOWW plus 1.5% SN.(Pewter).
The reason I'm so tickled is pictured above, which is the BPI Z16 wad with the slugs in them. This particular wad had to of been designed for this slug! The slug actually "snaps" into the wad, fits it for length, and even the beveled edge on the bottom of the slug, matches the bevel on the inside of the shotcup when seated. The wad has relief cuts at the bottom of the shotcup and a retention band at the top, which allow a little stretch when the slug is inserted and the slug actually "snaps" into position when it bottoms out! I'd almost bet somewhere in the world there is a company selling these two as a loaded round. When the slugs are snapped into the wads I can turn them upside down and they stay in place! Pretty rare to find anything in the 16 gauge world of reloading that actually works this well.
What really tickles me is that the BPI 16 gauge manual has load listings for the RIO hulls I use, with the Z16 wad, and Herco powder, which I just happen to have a bunch of, with recipes from 26 gr at 1375, to 30 gr. loads at 1550. It also just so happens the Z16 wad is what I load my pheasant ammo with! I'm a happy camper today!
This last picture is while I was casting the full bore 12 gauge slugs. Pretty neat moulds both of them. Both are single cavity, cast well, and both well designed. I was really impressed with the sprue plate design, which has a bevel and tapered cut which holds the plate tight to the mould when closed. Also interesting is the retaining screws and sprue plate are stainless, and the screws bottom out when tightened, with no adjustment, vent lines on only one half of mould. Recesses in the mould for the pin are smooth and just barely turn when installed and the mould closed.
Real easy to cast with, and all I really did was clean it with a toothbrush, hot water, and dish soap first, then alcohol. Lubed it up with full synthetic 2 cycle oil (Mercury Quicksilver), and went to casting. Figured out a routine where I would fill the mould, let it frost over, cut the sprue with one lite tap to the sprue plate, open the mould, tap the handle hinge bolt and both the pin and slug fell out onto my towel. I'd pick the pin up with the slug still on the tip and set it to one side on it's nose. Towards the end I was putting them in rows of 10 on their nose. Slugs released flawlessly. Never smoked the pin nor mould, and both inside and outside mould surfaces are mirror finish. Edges of sprue plate and top of the mould had already been beveled. Pretty impressed with both design and function. The full bore 12 ga. slug drops at 620 grs. (between 1 3/8 oz and 1 1/2 oz) with my allow, and fits well in the bore of 3 of my imp. cylinder bore guns. Now if they'll just shoot!
