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Slug guns & rifled barrels

N

nchunter1989

5 year old buck +
Hey guys,

Those that are in shotgun only areas- I need some advice. Planning to hunt an Public land spot here in NC this year that’s restricted to shotguns or muzzleloader. I have zero experience with slugs, other than the occasional round fired for fun.
I do have a 870 supermag that I would be using, most likely with a rifled barrel. Looking for a max of 150yrds,no issues at that range with my 50cal in-line, but would like the faster reloads with my pump. Would be using a 1.5 or 2x scope.

Heard good things about the Hornady SST slugs, also looking at the Remington Barnes tsx . All advice welcome.


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Everybody will tell you to purchase one box each of several types to see what shoots best, and I agree. I don't hunt shotgun anymore, but did for years in Southern MN. I have three 870s with Remington rifled barrels. Two 20 gauge and one 12 gauge. The 20s have cantilever barrels with low power scopes. The 12 is open sights. I also have a 20g HR Ultra-Slugger Single shot, which is the cat's ass.

Both my 20s shot best with Remington Copper Solids and very poorly with any of the high velocity ammunition. I tried a bunch of the higher velocity rounds, never found one to work. They are loud and kick a lot though, if you're into that kind of thing. For me, in my guns,2 3/4" inch shot better than 3". The 12g shot well enough with Winchester BRI slugs that I never tried another brand, again 2 3/4".

I've shot deer out to 100 yards with all of them. Performance on deer seemed about like any rifle I've ever used. With a decent shot, they ran about 50 yards and crumpled up. If I think about it honestly, ANY of the slugs I shot would have been fine out to 100 yards. The bad ones would shoot minute of pie plate from a bench. The good ones about 2".
 
When hunting in a shotgun only area, I shoot a Remington 870 with rifled barrel. I shot a bunch of different brands, but my gun loves the Lightfield brand, Hybred EXP sabot slugs.

In my opinion, I think you're asking too much of a slug gun to shoot out to 150 yards. My 870, shoots the Lightfield, 1.25 oz sabot slug in consistent groups out to 100 yards. But at 125 yards it's 4" low and dropping like a rock. No matter what slug you find shoots best in your gun, dial it in and stick with it. Confidence is the name of the game. Good luck!
 
Apple Junkie said:
When hunting in a shotgun only area, I shoot a Remington 870 with rifled barrel. I shot a bunch of different brands, but my gun loves the Lightfield brand, Hybred EXP sabot slugs.

In my opinion, I think you're asking too much of a slug gun to shoot out to 150 yards. My 870, shoots the Lightfield, 1.25 oz sabot slug in consistent groups out to 100 yards. But at 125 yards it's 4" low and dropping like a rock. No matter what slug you find shoots best in your gun, dial it in and stick with it. Confidence is the name of the game. Good luck!
Click to expand...

I’m assuming you are running a flat 100yrd zero?


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I'll be trying the Rem Barnes this year in my Savage 210. Up til now Partition Golds have been the most accurate and best killers. I try to exclusively use lead free ammo anymore. With a good rest, we've easily killed quite a few deer past 150 yards. If you're hoping for that kind of range, I'd highly encourage a larger scope than 1.5 or 2. My Zeiss is 3x9 and my next scope will be at least 14. My dad has a 14 on his 212.

This year both our Savages went down momentarily, so we brought the 870 out from retirement. Hastings rifled barrel. Bought a few boxes of Lightfields and it shot excellently on the range at 100.
 
Apple Junkie said:
When hunting in a shotgun only area, I shoot a Remington 870 with rifled barrel. I shot a bunch of different brands, but my gun loves the Lightfield brand, Hybred EXP sabot slugs.

In my opinion, I think you're asking too much of a slug gun to shoot out to 150 yards. My 870, shoots the Lightfield, 1.25 oz sabot slug in consistent groups out to 100 yards. But at 125 yards it's 4" low and dropping like a rock. No matter what slug you find shoots best in your gun, dial it in and stick with it. Confidence is the name of the game. Good luck!
Click to expand...

This above.
Try the 2 3/4 lightfields.
A 4x scope would be nice.
125 yards is a good starting limit without a good read on the wind and more practice.
 
I have a 12 gauge Benelli SBE that does pretty well with lightfields. It is a 100 yard gun. Out to that range the accuracy is sufficient and those lightfields retain a lot of mass in the deer. A 125 yard shot would really be pushing it.

If you want longer ranges, look at a 20 gauge. You did not mention the gauge of you shotgun which really matters. Today, there are 20 gauge gun/sabot combinations that are accurate out past 150 yards. Today's 20 gauges are ballistically superior.

I got pretty deep into this a while back. I was set to buy a specialized Ithica 20 gauge but called it off. Just as I was about to pull the trigger on the deal, the county I hunting in changed from slug only to allowing rifles. So, I put my money into new glass for my .30-06.

Thanks,

Jack
 
I would use the muzzleloader option if you want accuracy past 100yds. That’s what we did here for 50 years before they finally legalized rifles. Slugs have come a long ways but still can’t beat a rifle over 100yds.
 
I have a inline that I use for most of my shorter range hunting. But when I am walking ditches or jumping deer I opt for my 870 with a mag extension and a slug barrel. For combat hunting I just shoot plain old lead slugs. For anything out to a 100 it's lightfield
 
I shot slugs here for years until they allowed straight walled cartridges then switched over to a 45/70.
I tried a bunch of different combo's with shotguns, rifled barrels sabots 2 3/4"-3"-3.5" tested everything I could, had a nice 870 wingmaster mag with a scoped heavy Hastings target barrel for a while ...for me just sticking with my SBE with 26" smooth bore and cylinder choke with cheap Winchester 2 3/4" one ounce rifled slugs shot best. Killed many many deer right out to 100 yards with that combo, I credit my familiarity and comfort with the gun for it's accuracy for me.
My Dad always shot the Brenneke slugs and swore by them out of his Browning.
 
Another Ohio guy here. Mostly I used a Remington 1100 with a rifled barrell and cantilever. Federal and Hornady sabots shot 2" groups. Also an older 1100 with a smooth bore and Trueball slugs shot 2". All of these would pass clean through a deer at 100yds. 125 yds would be my max comfort zone, but never shot longer than 105.
 
What is this faster reload you speak of?
Are you shooting two deer?

Sorry had to :emoji_stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

And anyone who says they never took a second shot is lying or doesn’t hunt much......
 
In IL we are in the same situation. I used a 870 12 ga for many many years with a rifled barrel and always used lightfields. 100yds no problem never shot it enough past that to know. If you decide to get a dedicated gun and want a shotgun the savage 220 is hard to beat with the rem accutips it is a very effective gun.

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A smooth bore with good optics and cheep slugs will shoot better than a rifled barrel with sub par optics and expensive sabots. I wouldnt dream of shoot 100yds let alone 150 with a 2X. Maybe its just me.
 
Bill said:
What is this faster reload you speak of?
Are you shooting two deer?

Sorry had to :emoji_stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

And anyone who says they never took a second shot is lying or doesn’t hunt much......
Click to expand...

Lol. 2 a day is legal here in NC, but this property is a 5,000ac coastal lowland with swamps & sloughs I really don’t want to be tracking in. So if I get another shot in before it makes it out of range? Heck yeah.


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For those conditions, I would opt for the shotgun with lightfields and limit my shots to 100 yards. They seem to have more knock-down power than any muzzleloader load I've tried. At close distances, that large mass retention seems to be the difference.

Thanks,

Jack
 
I used the Hornady SST for years before we went rifle. They are like any other round. Put it where you need to and you won't have any issues.

I see it this way....if the law only allowed you to have one round in the gun would you still choose the shotgun? My experience is, no. My experience is that knowing you have only 1 shot makes you work harder for a better shot. It makes you focus more and not get sloppy. Most smokepoles shoot more like a rifle with more distance, better accuracy and better optics....and we seem to practice more because the slug gun isn't kicking our butt and turning our shoulder purple. The idea of a second or follow up shot seems to get inside peoples head and causes us to maybe do things we otherwise wouldn't do. This is all just things I have seen...not saying everyone is like this, but I have certainly caught myself and others with this thinking.
 
Booner21 said:
In IL we are in the same situation. I used a 870 12 ga for many many years with a rifled barrel and always used lightfields. 100yds no problem never shot it enough past that to know. If you decide to get a dedicated gun and want a shotgun the savage 220 is hard to beat with the rem accutips it is a very effective gun.

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Click to expand...

I also used an 870 12 gauge with a rifled barrel for years with good luck. I recently switched to a Savage 220 though and have been very impressed with the accuracy of that gun. I also use the Remington accutips.
 
Do not mean to hijack this thread, but I have a brand new Browning A-bolt 3" 12guage slug gun that I am looking to sell.
**************PM me ONLY for info.******************
No more than 20 shots fired. selling because Rifle is legal in my area now. Leupold 1.5-6 scope with Fire Dot reticle.
Very accurate gun and well worth the money. Night and day from a Savage which I own 2 of (Won't even try to sell).
5 shots, 5 deer.
 
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