I tried to shoot some groups with the DAQ Exile .308 the other night and the slugs flew in all directions. A friend suggested the front barrel band might be loose and upon checking it was, so the barrel had been flopping all over the place. I sorted that out and today shot all sorts of slugs (from tiny 68 grain hollow points to 158 grain flat-nose slugs) at 50 yards, looking for the best "slug of the day". I shot sets of 3 off 3200 psi, refilling after each set. The surprise winner of the "face off" was a .312 slug (sized down to about .309):

The group of 3 measures .363" ctc. The slug weighs 151 grains. The surprise was that such a long slug with theoretically only the rear portion engaging the rifling would still perform well.
More testing to do though before I settle on a slug of choice....
Cheers
Neil

Sweet . . . nice shooting. Yep, those barrel clamps can make a lot of difference. Too loose and they're flopping around as you noticed . . . too tight and they actually "choke" the barrel slightly (we're talking thousands of an inch), but enough to make a difference with groups and consistency. You'll also notice a difference in ease of loading with a muzzleloader.

Jerry has lots of experience with longer slugs and both of his .32s. We have a monster .45 slug for the higher-powered rifles called the Avalanche -- around 433 grains unsized . . . but it's banded along most of its length. It's a real freight-train of a projectile at around 1.2 inches long -- around 530fpe when shot out of my Alpine.

-- Jim

Cheers Jim. The Avalanche sounds like a monster!

Well of course the slugs I sent you will do best...that goes without saying.

Nice shooting! I think I have that same mold or one very close to it. Unless the gun has been chambered for a specific round, you never know what will shoot best until you experiment.

Thanks Jerry. The jury is still out on the best slug. I had a look back and found I had shot a slightly smaller group some months ago, with those 115 grain flat-nose slugs you sent me. Haven't been able to get any consistency yet, but that will come as I get better at shooting this gun, I hope!