dale clawson
05-15-2006, 01:44 AM
I came by a 58 cal. hollow base mold when I bought a group of reloading items from the widow of a friend, but had no use for it until I cast afew of them and decided they might make 12 ga. slugs. I tried them in AA wads but the fit was sloppy, then I remembered some old Herters wads I had bought with some others at an auction. They were really thick, and the slugs fit snug enough. These worked well over my usual powder charge for 1 1\8 oz. loads. After reading about Federal's new true ball slugs, using a plastic ball in the hollow base to keep the skirt expanded to improve accuracy, I looked about for something to use in the base of the minnie ball, I came upon some .340 dia. balls I had cast for buckshot. After calculating the combined weights and concluding it was safe, I loaded some up. Accuracy is definitely improved, with the little ball usually landing 4-6 in. away. Teenagers(and us old folks )enjoy shooting large holes in things, reportedly taking down 4 in. dia. Siberian elms ( a plague on us here) in two shots.