any SLUG shooting advice

[Faulkner]

I've shot a lot of different slugs provided by the department through my Mossburg 590 with factory ghost rings and 20 inch barrel.

Even though sabot slugs work better out of a rifled barrel, I get excellent accuracy results with Federal Hydra-shok sabot slugs out of my smooth bore. I'm getting 3 to 4 inch accuracy at 100 yards which is plenty enough for taking deer. I think I've taken four or five deer with this shotgun using the Hydra-shok sabots, and at least two using Foster slugs, but I prefer the sabots.

 

[Frank46]

I hunted upstate NY for a few years. At that time you either shot buckshot or slugs. My shotgun is a rem 870 with 20" bbl and adjustable rifle sights. So back when the eye's were better I tested Remington, Federal,Winchester and Brenneke. Always came back to the remington slug loads. Carried a few buckshot loads but that was a waste of time. Frank

 

[Scott in NCal]

Mossy 500. i have a weaver scope mount that screws onto the side of the reciever, and the scope is detachable via 2 screws . I also have a rifled barrel with the cantilevered scope mount. The rifled barrel is long and heavy, makes the shotgun way muzzel heavy, it is a pain to carry around all day. It is more accurate with rifled slugs and sabot rounds. But it can be picky about that, and different manufactures and weights shoot to wildly different points of impact, this drove me nuts.This is espically true with sabots. I bought the rifled barrel when lead was banned in condor country and some hunts were shotgun only. Back then i couldn't find copper slugs and copper sabots were around, usually 5 to 15 rounds of the same stuff at a time, just enough to feel confident about the zero and start over again with some other brand. In the early days of the sabot manufacturers seemed to change their product constantly , each hitting different points of impact. Did i mention this sort of thing drives me nuts ? However now nonlead slugs are avaliable and a smoothbore 18 in barrel with the scope does everything i need a shotgun to do. Because it works for me and so many other reasons i dont feel like fussing with it anymore. It is amusing though to shoot buckshot and birdshot out of a rifled barrel.

 

[Drm50]

I put up with slugs in Ohio for over 50 yrs. We were always after
the edge. When Ohio deer season was first in, not many guys
had slug guns. They didn't become wide spread until 60s. We
began experimenting with cutting down guns and mounting sights & scopes. A good smooth bore slug gun will shoot into
3" at 100yds. The best out of the box gun was the Ithaca 37
Deer Slayer. Then the Rem 870-1100 & Brn A5. We found that
various guns we cut down would shoot as well or better than the
factory models. We cut Auto, pump, bolt and single barrels. The
solid frame guns were the best performers if you were going to
scope. Iron sights they all did well.

We were heavy into slugs year round. Shooting at matches and
constantly playing with them for next season. I have 870,1100
factory guns but the one I use is a cut down BRN A5 with iron
sights. Shooting Brenneke 23/4" mag slugs it will do under 3"
consistanly off rest. I cleaned house at slug matches with it
until rifled barrels and scopes were allowed.

In my neck of the woods most deer are shot in the thick stuff at
under 100yds. I have shot quite a few deer and have only shot
3 much over 100yds. I've had rifled guns but wasn't going to
give up my favorite gun when it was doing the job. So a smooth
bore is all you need for woods hunting deer. I will probably not
use a slug gun again since we got rifle. If you don't have to use
slugs I would be using a rifle.

 

[federali]

I have an Ithaca Deerslayer rifled slug gun that will put most any saboted slugs into a 2.5" group at 100 yards. The newest slugs are approaching 200-yard effectiveless although I have no experience shooting at that distance.

My personal preference is for low power variables such as 1-4X or 1.5-5X. The slug gun is a short-range gun and there's no need to put the Hubble tekescope on it.

When I started hunting in shotgun-only counties in 1961, current shotgun performance was a fantasy well beyond attainment with the equipment then available.

 

[rwsmith]

But out of one of those.....

A three inch 12 gauge slug will wake-up the woods.

.Akkar Turkish plastic and aluminum guns it about put me to sleep. Knocked me clear of the range booth. I caught it on my cell phone camera, but the camera wasn't fast enough to really appreciate the full effect that it did on me.

 

[GypsmJim]

Hunted with a Mossberg 500 for many, many years. The first 15 years I used an 18" smooth bore barrel with factory sights. In general, Sabots worked best, but not by much. In later years I added a receiver mounted 4x scope and that was the best up to that point.

Then I switched to a 24" rifled barrel with cantilever sight base. Sabots were OK, but the WW Foster slugs were in a class of their own. A tack driver at 100 yds.

Then I switched to a Model 29 with an 8 3/8" barrel. Sweeeeet.

Now I use a Thompson Encore, 15" barrel, .308. I believe i'll stick with that till I can't deer hunt any more.

 

[ruger 22]

Almost any 12 ga is good for slugs these days. Slug bbls are nice but a standard one works too since most ranges in the woods are short. There is a lot of great advice above with-- my only add would be to make very sure you have lots of eye relief should you decide on a scope. (my and my brother's scope eye rings needed 28 stitches each).

 

[nksmfamjp]

If it is an option, I would take a 30-30 or 45-70 lever gun over any slug gun I’ve used. I’ve used a moss berg 930 and a rem 1100, but neither impressed me....

Then there is the $3 per shot inaccurate ammo that is icing on the cake....

Sorry for my downer attitude.

 

[raljr1]

Not so bad shooting from a hunting stance, but be carefull from a bench. Only time in almost 50 years of shooting that a scope got me was 12 ga slugs from a sand bag rest. Fortunately is was only a small cut in the bridge of my nose.

I sight mine in at 75 yards....100 is a little long for slugs from a smooth bore.

Robert

 

[Frogwalking]

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNTyCcip-ks[/ame]

 

[raljr1]

YouTube

Proves that a smooth bore slug will cary 230 yards. Also proves it to be not such a good choice for deer at that range

 

[gman51]

Use a very small caliber or there will be nothing left of the slug to eat.

 

[David.Hylton]

The Browning A-Bolt is hard to beat. Accurate to 200 yards plus. Mine has been knocking them down in OH for 30 odd years. Awesome with fancy slugs to 200 and a tack driver with conventional slugs out to 100.

 

[Drm50]

I think one of most important things I have learned about slugs
and slug guns, smooth & rifled is the slug itself. When shooting
off a bench and you have a nice group going and then you get
a flyer several inches out, it's blamed on the gun. It's not, it's
the non uniformity in the slug. We proved this once with Rem
slugs. We had a case and dumped them out. We shook each
Slug, if it rattled in the hull we set it aside. Firing the ones that
were tight in hulls the number of flyers decrease a lot. Shooting
the rattlers we never got anywhere near 3" at 100yds.

 

[C J]

My 870 smooth bore shoots slugs pretty accurate to around 65 yards. I've really never tried shooting farther than that because I didn't expect I would need to do that. I keep it loaded with dangerous game slugs for the bears that live around my neighborhood. I'm not going to shoot one for fun. Just self defense in the rare case I might need it. They get pretty pushy when I cook on the grill.

I would not hesitate to fire at a deer from that distance. I wouldn't use a dangerous game slug of course. It would blow half the deer apart. They really are quite powerful.

 

[Drm50]

Proves that a smooth bore slug will cary 230 yards. Also proves it to be not such a good choice for deer at that range

You are right. You Tube is full of idiots launching all kind of stuff
out of shot guns. They found out anything smaller than the bore
can be shot through smooth bore. When people see this stuff they may try it at home. What's going to happen when a CO2
cylinder hits a FC? Damage gun at the least and possible injury.
The guys doing this are not the scientific type. They will be around for awhile. They won't be drafted into the Space Force.