Groovy Mike

instead of "Keep Calm and Carry on" same lettering style and format but "Keep Calm and Carry One" with the Saiga 12 or AK picture.....

not wrong - just different! I'm simple minded enough to only see one way to do it and couldn't figure out how you get different results. Now I know!

How the heck does the wad get damaged with a closed set of pliers? Once I dump the shot I just jam the closed pliers as far down as they will go into the center of the shell then roll them around teh top edge of the shell to open it.... Since the pliers are entirely inside the wad, the most it does is smooth the wad petals back against the hull wall..... Maybe your brand of ammo uses wads that are harder to work with than what I have encountered..... I notced that your hull edges look ragged too. I thought that was from cutting, but maybe we are doing something different when openin

Exactly why I recommend trying this before sending it out

nice!

Your results with an out of the box S12 sound typical to me. I don't think you are doing anything wrong. The fact that the "high brass" runs well is a good sign. It is worth confirming that the gas ports are open and not clogged by residue, bits of plastic hull etc. After that I'd say reassemble and just go shoot it more. If you don't want to work through the rough edges by firing it go ahead and buy the CSS "low brass reliability kit" to run in your gun for the next two or three hundred shells. Then you should be able to switch back to the original spring for all loads. Just my two cen

never even heard of lubing buckshot...so nope, I don't do it.

what don't you understand? The gas ports are the holes that gas escapes from the barrel into the gas tube with. That gas moves the puck and cycles the gun. If the ports are plugged, no gas gets through. Open ports = reliable cycling. Watch my avatar if in doubt....

I agree Squishy. Its not what it was meant for - but it works well for me. I tried it both ways - and both ways worked for me. I put the slug in the wad then seated it, and also tried seating the empty wad then repeating the motion to seat the slug. They both worked fine for me. Only difference I can see from our posts is that I'm using an OLD Lee Load ALL (probably not #2) and a one ounce slug. Maybe it is just a tad longer than your 7/8 oz slug and so feeds better, or maybe the wad guide in my 25 year old press is just a tiny bit more narrow than in the newer press.

I'm using a one ounce slug, perhaps it is just a little bigger than your 7/8 and makes a difference?

Just tried seating the slugs with the Lee Load All and they worked perfectly. I tried Federal and Remington Hulls, and 2 kinds of wad. It worked beautifully seating the slug in the wad then pushing the whole thing into the hull. It also worked perfectly seating the wad in the hull then repeating the motions to seat the slug alone on top of the wad. There is no way it will spin in the wad and no way mine has room to turn inside the wad guide one it starts going down into the hull.... Just push it firmly into the black plastic and it should guide it straight down....

I'm guessing that's a box of 5? If you buy Remington game loads at $5.50 per box of 25, dump the ounce of shot and swap in one ounce cast slugs - you get pretty decent slugs for 22 cents each.

I'll try it when I get home in a few hours...

when you dump the shot you have a hull with powder and wad in place. put it in the Lee Load all in the center position normally used to seat a wad. This will put the hull under the guide that has black plastic "fingers" attached to the press pointed down inside the hull. Normally you then put the wad on top and pull teh handle down using the rod to push the wad through the hole and into the hull (inside the black finger guides). Instead place the slug where the wad would go (hollow base down). Puh the lever down and it should slip teh slug through the guide, into the hull and on top of th

never mind

Your load all will solve your problem!!! I open the hull with a closed pair of needle nosed pliers - when closed they are wedge shaped so I just roll them around the outside of the hull. I have also used the handle of the cork screw I use when I want to pulla wad out....... But use teh Lee Load All ! that will make your life soooooo much easier it will be silly.

Sending you a PM!

lol, with a reloading press to recrimp the opened star crimp it is a piece of cake to lever them open with a set of needle nosed pliers, and then recrimp. I would not even consider cutting the hull an option .... But that's just my two cents....

RED - That tip to use never seize was AWESOME! I cast 400 slugs this weekend. When my mold started sticking on one side I painted theentir interior with never seize and after that it worked like magic. WARNING TO NEW CASTERS - anything that boils in lead can make teh lead explode and splash on you - that includes water and in this case grease. Be VERY cautious if you put anything inside your mold besides lead. What I did was wipe it down to a thin layer and then very carefully poured in about 1 quarter mold full of lead - then removed it and poured about a half mold full of lead. My in

once you do it a few times you recognize zinc right away. it looks and feels different than lead......

If you reload, you can make your own slug shells a lot cheaper than buying them.

It is labor intensive, but it lets me make buckshot at the cost of lead ($1 per pound) instead of $3 per pound for buckshot from Precision. At buckshot ranges the clipped spru doesn't make enough difference to notice IMHO. I don't bother to roll them smooth. I just clip and load.

Let the market sort it out! If someone is dumb enough to pay $1500 for an S12 or WASR10 - let them! If someone is dumb enough to put the same up for sale - no worries, let them keep it! When someone offers one to me, I just say "oooh too bad it wasn't still in original condition, its only worth $XX to me as it is." I have adopted a policy to offer to buy or sell at what the item is worth TO ME. I fully recognize that it may be worth less or more to someone else. That's cool. I am not offended if anyone says no to my offer. I don't need to buy or sell anything right now. But s

That's the mold I have too. After I made the handles a foot long instead of the silly original design it works well when the lead is really HOT but it is not fast because I need to snip the spru on each piece of buckshot.....

TheJoe90 - sent you a PM