DEER slug recommendation needed

[hillbillydruggist]

I will be shooting a Benelli super black eagle, no rifled choke or barrel, no scope, range up to 100 yds. any recommendations would be appreciated

 

[ken158]

100 yards will be a stretch with a smooth bore. Best to buy some 5 packs and do some group shooting. You will be severely handicapped with no optical assistance. Reccomendations will be all over the place...

 

[nachogrande]

SMOOTHBORE & NO SIGHTS???

I have the same gun & have a 24" smoothbore for turkey (or so I thought), & a 24" rifled bbl with a scope. With the cost of sabot slugs around 3$ EACH, I decided to try the ol Remington sluggers (& the other cheapo's) keeping ranges under 50 yards (which is far for me anyway). Guess what? They work! The scoped rifled bbl is gathering dust. You could try the Dixie tri balls also if legal, at about the same price as the sabot slugs.

 

[David.Hylton]

Try Federal Tru-Ball. Less than $5/box and are accurate out of my smoothbore shotguns. Do you have iron sights? If not, you may want to look at some clamp on type for your vent rib.

Federal Ammunition - 12 GA PREM LOW RECOIL RIFLED SLUG

 

[Drm50]

I had to hunt with slugs here in Ohio for years and shot slug
turkey shoots every weekend. Have owned about every US made
slug gun that was on the market. Have made slug guns out of
countless older model guns. I shot different slugs in different
guns. Like rifles some did better with a certain brand. We sight in
at 100yds. Any gun that won't do 3" after trying Rem, Win, Fed
and Brenneke, was offed or different barrel was tried. My 870
liked Brenneke slugs. We did find out that if you go through your
slugs and cull out the ones that rattled in the hull, you will have
less flyers. I had a few rifled slug guns and rifled barrel for 870
and Moss. I never got into them and $3 slugs. My smooth bores
were doing a good job on deer at woods ranges and I won more
than my share of shoots against rifled guns. I will say that beyond 100yds the rifled barrels are better. I have seen some
amazing groups shot with rifled barrels and sabot slugs. Some
guns or barrels will not shoot slugs worth a darn. It has nothing
to do with choke. The foster slugs are made to shot through any
choke. When deer hunting first started in Ohio it was only 2 or
3 day season. Slug guns weren't new but most guys used the
shotguns they hunted small game with. Most everyone had FC
guns. There weren't many that wouldn't hit a 3lb coffee can at
40yds.over the bead. I would much rather hunt with a rifle
myself but there is a lot of myths about slugs passed around by
guys who have never used them.

 

[rich5674]

Federal Trueball

I had good success with Truball and Brenneke KO. Some sighting system is highly recommended.

 

[ispcapt]

Unless you get lucky with the first brand you buy you'll probably end up trying different makes to find one that will shoot best in your particular gun.
We hunt smoothbore, muzzleloader, or handgun for deer in IL. If I'm not hunting with the muzzleloader then my smoothbore gun is a Remington 870 with an 18" non-rifled barrel and a 4X scope.
I tried several brands of foster slugs. With Remington 1oz foster it would not keep 3 rds on a 11X14 paper at 50 yds. Just did not like the Remingtons. With W-W 1oz fosters it will shoot 3" groups at 100 yds. Federal 1 oz fosters are almost as consistent as the W-W. But what it really likes are the Brenneke KO. It will shoot cloverleaf groups. The KO also does an excellent job on deer.
My bad weather smoothbore is a Savage 20 ga bolt action. It prefers the Federal foster slugs. W-W are a close 2nd.
My issued LE shotgun was a Remington 870 with a 20" slug barrel and rifle sights. It would shoot W-W and Remington foster slugs equally well.

 

[double-dipper]

I agree with Ken 100 yrds is a long poke with a slugs out of a smooth bore. It can be done with some range time. I hunt with a friend that shoots the Remington AccTip very accurate. My 870 rifled barrel prefers the 325 gr Hornady American Whitetail sabot it never did like the SST

 

[Drm50]

Slug shots around here were shot a 100' and 100yds. At 100' you
better be dead center or you will loose. At 100yds it was less
crowded if you shot into 3" you had a chance. Some shoots would
have a ballon or pumpkin out 150yds and charge so much a shot
if you hit it you got 1/2 the take. The big difference here is you
are shooting off hand. A gun that groups into 3" off the bench
is not the problem. The guy who can't shoot offhand is. 100yds
is not a long shot for a smooth bore. I would call it maximum
practical distance. 100yds is the standard distance slug guns are
sighted in at in my area. Gallon jug is practical target. After you
bench the gun and get it sighted, try a few jugs off hand at 100yd. If you can hit them you will have no trouble on deer. I
will shoot at a stationary deer at 100yds, but if it's running 60yd
is my limit. Most shot under 50yds.

 

[Mack_C85]

I use a Mossy 500 with a 24" smoothbore topped with a 3x9 Redfield. Remington Sluggers will consistently group "minute of pie-plate" at 100 yds. (actually 3" - 4" groups)

 

[LDM]

I use an Auto-5 with a buck barrel (smooth bore). The best load I found was Fiocchi with the Brenneke slugs. Just picked up some KO Brenneke and need to test them. Also have a 2.5x scope.