Posted: 11/22/2011 6:09:15 AM EDT
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A co-worker asked if I knew anything about the advances of 12g slug rounds over the last ten years. I don't, so I asking for help from those who do. He is an old rifle shooter that switched to bow so the he can hunt on his land in Washington county the last five years.
This year he is finding that all the game he is seeing are 40-60 yards away, which is out of his comfort range for humane kill with his bow. He is thinking of getting a gun license and using his bird gun to fill his freezer. Any suggestions? |
| Hornady SST slugs they are not cheap but they do work as advertised. |
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From Hornady: "SST® Slugs are designed for use in fully rifled barrels only." |
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Holy shit... 
As much as $3... EACH? $15 a BOX of FIVE? (yeah, real-world seems to be $10.50-12.00 a box + shipping....) 
I was working my club's hunter sight in clinic as a R.O./line-watcher/helper weekend before last. This one guy was trying to sight in his scoped Benelli with SST's at 25 yards, and he went through one hundred of them, chasing the holes all over his targets, before one of us realized what he was doing, and told him to not adjust his scope until he'd gotten a three shot group to work from. I don't know if he ever got sighted in right, although he seemed happier by the end and had moved his target out to the 50 yard berm... Although I did help him clear his shotgun, when the magazine cap came loose and it spontaneously disassembled itself in his hands while shooting it. And I KNOW he went through 100 of them, because after everyone left, and we were tearing down for the day, I collected all the fancy brand new once-fired high-brass hulls to make hot slug reloads for my Saiga 12ga and counted them. He burned through anywhere from $200-300 worth of slugs. For that, he should have just bought a butchered cow. 
For smoothbores, I also second the vote for Brenneke Rottweil slugs. I haven't hunted with them, but they have a nasty habit of turning bowling pins inside out at matches or splitting them right in half, and going exactly where I aimed them. 
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Ugh...those are for rifled barreled shotguns and NOT smooth bores. Especially do not ever shoot a sabot slug through a choked barrel. Rifled slug = smooth bore barrel Sabot slug = rifled barrel |
| I'm going to be blunt. It's the middle of the season and he's asking this now? He should have done this weeks ago. IMHO if he is using a bird barrel without any scope or open sights attached to it all he's doing is hoping and praying as far as accuracy as all he has is a front bead designed to point a shotgun, not aim it. I would take a bow at 40-60yds over a bird barreled shotgun. Have him look for a used slug barrel for his shotgun for NEXT year and then have him play with a couple different kinds of slugs to see which one his gun likes. |
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Quoted:
I'm going to be blunt. It's the middle of the season and he's asking this now? He should have done this weeks ago. IMHO if he is using a bird barrel without any scope or open sights attached to it all he's doing is hoping and praying as far as accuracy as all he has is a front bead designed to point a shotgun, not aim it. I would take a bow at 40-60yds over a bird barreled shotgun. Have him look for a used slug barrel for his shotgun for NEXT year and then have him play with a couple different kinds of slugs to see which one his gun likes. I guarantee that you would not wish to stand at 40 yards in front of an experienced shotgun shooter using a smooth barrel with the factory bead sights and foster slugs....  Hitting a paper plate at 50 yards is not that difficult for an experienced shooter.
If all you do is "point" your shotgun when shooting pheasants, etc and bird shot, you are not going to hit any birds... 
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Quoted:
Quoted:
I'm going to be blunt. It's the middle of the season and he's asking this now? He should have done this weeks ago. IMHO if he is using a bird barrel without any scope or open sights attached to it all he's doing is hoping and praying as far as accuracy as all he has is a front bead designed to point a shotgun, not aim it. I would take a bow at 40-60yds over a bird barreled shotgun. Have him look for a used slug barrel for his shotgun for NEXT year and then have him play with a couple different kinds of slugs to see which one his gun likes. I guarantee that you would not wish to stand at 40 yards in front of an experienced shotgun shooter using a smooth barrel with the factory bead sights and foster slugs.... Hitting a paper plate at 50 yards is not that difficult for an experienced shooter.
If all you do is "point" your shotgun when shooting pheasants, etc and bird shot, you are not going to hit any birds... I always hear about the guys who shoot so accurate with their bird barrels but I've yet to see one. I've helped out at enough sight ins to no longer believe that someone can shoot them just as accurate as a barrel with a scope or sights. A paper plate under ideal range conditions is not something I would brag about. Plus without being able to adjust the sights what do you do when you r slugs are hitting 2' high and 1' to the right? And this happens as often as not with a bird barrel. You might be able to remember where to aim off on the range but will you remember to do it in the woods? And most experianced archers can do better than a paper plate at 50yds. You owe it to the deer to be able to hit what you are aiming at and if the guy can afford to own his own hunting land I don't think $150 for a slug barrel is asking to much. |
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Quoted:
I've helped out at enough sight ins to no longer believe that someone can shoot them just as accurate as a barrel with a scope or sights. ..... You owe it to the deer to be able to hit what you are aiming at ....... No one made that claim that it is "just as accurate". The vital area in a whitetail deer is 10"+. If you can place all of your shots in the vitals then your weapon of choice is accurate enough. I have seen guys with sub MOA rifles miss deer or wound them in the field. It isn't the weapon, it is the hunter. If you can't hit shit at 40 yards with a smooth more slug gun you are not going to be a sniper with a scoped rifle.... 
Every year we have shooters show up at our sight-in and waste alot of ammo and call a 8" group from the bench at 100yds good enough with their scoped rifle. The reality is that they will still likely get their deer. |
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I can pick up any "bird" gun and make 50 yard hits with slugs on an 8" plate.
A fast fix is to buy at least 20 slugs and use any barrel that may have a mid bead on it. Shoot at 25 yards first. If he makes hits, hold 2 to 4" high at 75 yards. The mid bead will give him a point of reference if needed AKA a rear sight. Remington sluggers are very consistent, cheap slugs. Brenekes are better, harder hitting IMHO. Federal is good too. I keep all three around. No need to use 3" slugs, he will probably get tighter groups with 2 3/4". Next step is to use a cheap B square saddle mount with any optic from red dot to scope. Then comes a rifled barrel with sabots. 870 Wingmaster with an 18" smoothbore barrel and large bead. Beneath it an old school Hastings rifled barrel, one of the first sold in the US in the mid 80's. Uses sabots, good to 125 yards easy, 2x scope on it. This gun was originally a 1970's slugger, I bought used about 10 years ago, everything stripped off down to the receiver and mag tube. |
