Red Wolf loved these Slugs

You've come a long way, testing the ammo on the Red wolf. I am happy that you found a combination that works at high pressure. 

OK! So share. Who makes them, and where'd you get them?

Yes!!share!!please!!! Is it harmonics or velocity fluctuations??? What’s your opinion or reasoning? Thanks

Right on, I'm happy for you! Looks like you figured it out! Nice! Slug testing can be so frustrating and difficult at times for sure. But when it all comes together and you get the great groups you've been working for, it makes all of the frustration disappear! Unfortunately, many people give up before then when trying slugs for the first time.

When I was having problems with random fliers during slug testing it was because I was testing with too many slugs and should have been doing the final, fine tuning with just two or three slugs. I finally figured out what worked for my .25 Crown(600mm) after testing 35+ different slugs, things were great from there on. I found that the absolute best shooting slugs for my RAW 1000x are the VK 31.5gr, 32.8gr. and the Nielsen 33.5gr. shot at similar velocities. All shot tiny groups at 50yds and 100yds. I also know that my Impact MKII likes the VK 32.8gr the Nielsen 33.5gr, 34gr and the 36.2gr. It's hard to stick with just a few slugs when there are so many these days, especially because we're always looking for smaller and smaller groups at farther and farther distances! Once I narrowed the slugs choices down for each gun, the slug testing got easier and the accuracy better. Fewer slugs to test allows for more shooting and less adjusting. Some people expect their gun to shoot slugs straight out of the box and it can happen, not very often though. For most of us, there is lots and lots of testing to do, which is fun at first, then can get a little bit tedious. With fewer slugs to begin with, or once you've narrowed it down to just a few. things get dialed in sooner so there's far less frustration and far more fun!!! After you have your gun dialed in you can test a new slug here and there without so much frustration. 

Nice shooting! Stoti

So what caused the "random" fliers STOTI?

When testing with a Redwolf there is no easy tuning option, control groups shot with pellets will confirm if there is an unknown variable.

Pressure as Laity says seems to play an important part, also flat based slugs don't seem to shoot well at all, a partial skirt allowing the slug to obturate or engage seems to work best in the LW barrels.

I was convinced lube type may be playing a part in mucking with the groups from one type of slug to another without cleaning inbetween, but switching back and forth seemed to to still not stop the random inconsistencies with other makes crossing over.

As Laity says the PH seem to be the best so far in the RW.

 

A little bit like a short guy running the high hurtles. Can be done but is it the best approach ? 

From what I’m reading slugs tend to be pretty Barrel specific . If you tried 35 different slugs and still have doubts maybe you let the tall guys run the hurtles and you run the 100 yard dash 

just seems like this is doing it the hard and not necessarily cheaper way 

please don’t take this as criticism I’m just wondering out loud 

Spray1Mark <--------------> What's up buddy?

I've never shot any of the PH slugs, to be honest, I've never seen any for sale here in the USA. As far as the random fliers, I don't know what the actual "cause" was. That seems to be the million dollar question! It sound like a pretty common problem with the FX slug liners in .25 cal. It was the most frustrating thing ever. About every seventh or eighth shot I'd have a flier, it was like clockwork. I'd have 6-7 shot groups, less than 1/2" at 50yds and then a flier about one inch to the right. I'd shoot another 7-8 shots, 1/2" group at 50yds and then another flier 3/4" to the upper right. Over and over, the same thing. I'd start doubting myself so I'd throw in the 33.95 JSB's and shoot 10 shots in a row in the same hole. It was definitely the gun, slug combo, not me. The JSB 33.95 always let me know the gun's doing what it's supposed to, it's my slug selection & velocity causing the problems.

After I found the 2-3 slugs that seemed to shoot best, I just fine tuned the gun until they shot great and the groups tightened up with no fliers. I'd start with the reg. set where I thought it would shoot the best and then adjust the hammer spring pre-load as tight as it would go while still allowing the HS dial to barely turn, I'd adjust the HS dial to max. and the valve open past 4 lines. I'd shoot and adjust the hammer spring tension until the groups were as good as they'd get and then I'd adjust the valve adjustment to drop the velocity 10-15fps which will usually tighten the groups that last little bit, to as good as they'll get. This did almost alleviate the fliers but not completely. I still get an occasional fliers but not nearly as often or as bad. I also lube all of my slugs with a silicone based lubricant which seems to help with overall accuracy. It's interesting that the flat based slugs don't work for you in the LW barrels. They make a huge difference with accuracy in my FX barrels and so far have shot well in my LW barrel too. Like was said, slugs can be very barrel specific and like I said, I found that most all of the slugs that shoot best in the Crown and my Impact have a flat base or a slightly dished base. Also the slugs with the dimpled nose don't seem to work as well as the larger hollow point. I sold my Crown a while back so I haven't been testing with it anymore but I have been testing with my RAW and Impact MKII. I can tell you that the RAW is not nearly as "picky" as the Impact but it's also not as powerful. I think the best shooting slug out of my RAW 1000x is the Nielsen 33.5 grain at about 895fps. There are plenty of slugs that shoot well out of it though. The best shooting slug out of my Impact still needs to be determined but it's either the VK 32.8gr or the Nielsen 33.5 grain. Like I said, I have to fine tune them both to perfection but it looks like they like to be pushed to around 930-960fps. I'm going to try the 36.2gr at around 950fps too. 

BubblerBoy <-----------> How's it going? I'm not really even sure what that hurdler analogy means. My testing methods are not up to par, I'm testing too many slugs, or I'm not a good enough shot to test slugs? I'm not having any doubts at all, except which of three slugs are going to shoot out of my Impact MKII the best. I don't know where that came from? The 35 slugs I tested were with my Crown quite a while back. Although I got my gun dialed in, it took a long time. The testing included 35 slugs that were given to me by the maker so I could share the information with him to optimize the design and also so I could share the information with other people, hopefully helping to shorten the learning curve for them. He wanted to see how changes to the base, bearing surface and o-give affected performance, hence, 35 different, but very similar slugs. The point of bringing it up now is to again, to help people shorten the learning curve by advising them to start with fewer slugs, say a 31.5, 33.5, 36.2. and 38 grain. With a variety of weights like these, that cover a wide weight range, shooters can find what weights their gun likes a little faster. As far as figuring it out, I've got all of my guns dialed in except for my Impact and that's because FX has had it and made changes to it which will affect my prior results. Almost all of these slugs were given to me to test for the benefit of all, which is why I'm sharing. I like testing these slugs and shooting my guns as often as possible, it can be frustrating at times but very enjoyable more often than not! I get lots of questions about slugs so I know there are some that are benefitting from my testing, It's those that are appreciative that I'm trying to help. It's not an easy process to find the right slug and get your gun tuned for optimal accuracy so I like to share what I can to help others. Have a good one. 



Stoti

Maybe I miss understood. My comment was assuming that you were trying to get the RED WOLF to shoot slugs. Not an FX with a slug specific barrel. The analogy was you might be able to get the red wolf to shoot slugs but it would not be a natural for it much like a short fellow trying to clear the hurtles.

The title to the post mentions RED WOLF so that’s how I got confused.

It's all good! I thought you were telling me I was a terrible shot and to leave the slug testing to someone that could shoot more accurately. LOL!!! I wish I had a Red Wolf but do not. I absolutely love the look, feel, accuracy and especially the trigger on the RW, but I'm a little leery of not being able to make many adjustments without the use of an electronic programmer, especially in the field. I guess I'm still a little bit old school.

Interestingly though, I think the Red Wolf and my RAW have the same LW barrel and my RAW shoots slugs extremely well. It's not slug picky at all and shoots the 30.4, 31.5, 32.8, 33.5, 34,0, 34.7, 36.2 and 38 all very well, but the best is the 33.5 Nielsen at just shy of 900fps. I haven't tried to push it but I might try it at about 920- 930fps tomorrow. 

Have a great weekend. Stoti

Some excellent posts there Stoti, you really hit the nail on the head with the random fliers pattern, same as us.

As you say how bizarre that the RAW with a LW POLY barrel is easy yet the RW also with a LW barrel is not, I have not tried .25 slugs so can only comment on the .22.

Most interesting as you also say that we find the FX SLUG liner appears to be even more fussy!

The test would be to fit a RAW barrel to a RW and see if the results at the same velocity, match.

One area that many seem to miss in my opinion is getting the valve shut fast enough so that the air coming behind the slug as it leaves the barrel is not destabilizing the bullet.

essentially you need a high enough pressure to get the slug to match your barrels twist (which sometimes is not very high FPS), then you need the air pressure cutting off just before the slug leaves the barrel.

I am not familiar with the red wolf but maybe the electronic valve isn’t closing as fast as a regular valve gun.

I've actually been thinking about the same thing with my Impact...A Lothar Walther, polygonal barrel in it. That way I have a non fussy barrel and a gun that's plenty powerful for slugs up to about 45 grains. We'll see!

Stoti

Very easy to do, just buy the TP brass piece or use an existing one for the rear end, I have done it with a Crown.

Yep, I was just looking at the various LW barrel options a couple days ago. For me, it would just be another combination to test out. 

Stoti

Hi Mark. I have machined and fitted a LW poly barrel for my Impact. 2 years ago now. It is quite a bit of work as 300mm of the 16mm OD barrel has to be reduced to 14mm. There is a risk when taking that much material of the barrel that it can affect the bore. Mines fine and works very well.