I inherited an old MEC Jr. 20-gauge loader a while back and decided to give it a whirl. I ordered some Cheddite primed hulls from Ballistic products in Minnesota. I am making a load for a 3″ semi-automatic so I bought 3″ hulls.

I dug out my .610 round ball mold I used to use for muzzleloading shotguns and cast 160+ balls from wheel weight alloy. I used this alloy instead of pure lead because there is no rifling to grab so the ball does not need to obturate upon firing. Anything hit with this 340-grain acorn sized ball is not going to know the difference.

I used a #30 bushing which drops 27.3 grains of Blue Dot powder.

Over the powder I placed 3 – .125 card wads.

Over those, I placed 2 – .500″ lubed cushion wads to take up space in the 3″ case.

I seated these in the press and inserted the round ball sprue up.

Following this, I crimped the case with the fold crimp of the MEC Jr. press. A lot of the old round ball loads you find are roll crimped so the user can see the round ball and know exactly what they are loading. I don’t have a 20-gauge roll crimping tool, so fold crimp it is.

I am looking forward to shooting these and giving them a thorough test. I think they may be just the thing for hogs and other varmints. I must add a word about using the .610″ diameter ball. My shotgun has no choke and the bore mics at .620″ so this ball will shoot just fine. The nominal bore diameter for all 20-gauge shotguns is .620″. Different manufacturers will vary slightly from this dimension. Where the problem comes is in the choke constriction. I would not shoot this through anything tighter than an improved cylinder choke because any more constriction would risk bulging the barrel. This is a standard practice for most shotgun slugs.

Disclaimer: Please consult published load data from conventional sources before loading ammunition for your shotgun. This works for me in my gun, it may not be safe for you.