??????Shotgun Hunters?????

[Golden Eagle]

Could you Shotgun hunters give me some info? I have 2 daughters that want to hunt the gun season which comes in in 2 weeks here. From our blind we will have 100 yard shots at the most. Hunting in pretty thick stuff.

I will have 1 rifle with us and I want to go to Cabelas tomorrow and get the rifled slug barrel with scope to put on my 870.

My question is, what sabots do you use that shoot the best groups. With the slug gun, we will probably limit the shots to 80 yards.



Any help appreciated.

[R.J.]

Man ... that is a hard one !

What I have found over the years is slugs don't fly the same from gun to gun ... For example Brenneke slugs were deadly out of my O/U Weatherby Orion but not great out of my Remington 870 pump ? ( some even cut the paper flying side ways ! ) .

I have a vault full off different slugs ... Brenneke , Federal , Winchester , Remingtons , sabots , rifled , straight 1 once smooth bores etc. , etc.

Bottom line is you will need to do some experimenting with your gun ...

Everyone will tell you what their favorite is ...

check out .... these links , for some good advise ...

http://www.gameandfishmag.com/hunting/g ... aa106503a/

http://www.gameandfishmag.com/hunting/w ... aa106402a/

http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-106.html

http://www.chuckhawks.com/shotgun_slugs.htm

A common thread in all articles is ...

All 12 gauge slugs are effective, find the one that YOUR shotgun "Likes" by bench testing, It's the only way to determine the best.

Buy lots of diverse 5 packs, shoot groups until a winner emerges, buy lots of that one, preferably from the same lot.

[CYCLONE]

RJ is right. Each gun has its own preference. Make sure you grab a few boxes of the regular winchester rifled slugs (yes the cheap ones) $3.00 US per box. Many find them better than sabots or within a 1/4" of sabots at 75 yards for 25% the price of sabots.

[Golden Eagle]

Thanks guys. Yes I had heard that there is a lot of variation between between brands out of a certain gun.

Cyclone. Are you saying try shooting rifled slugs out of a rifled barrel? I thought that would be a conflict. I thought they were intended for smoothbores and I intend on getting a fully rifled barrel.

[huntman]

I have to agree with R.J.! It took me years to find the right sabot slug for my fully riffled 870, and yet both me and my brother in law shot the exact same gun, and scope combo but with both use different sabot slugs. I swear by the Federal Premium 2 3/4 inch Sabot, were as he loves the Winchester Platnium Tip 2 3/4 Sabot! My recemondation is shoot and see for yourself!

[Big John]

Golden Eagle:

Do not use rifled slugs through a rifled barrel! They will foul up the barrel so bad with lead you wont be able to clean it. And you will not shoot proper groups with sabots again.
Use Sabots with rifled barrel's and slugs with smooth bores.
If you want to use rifled slugs from a smooth bore and get better results then put on a rifled choke.
by the way I use 400 gr. Win. Platinum Tip Sabots through my 870 Rifled Barrel with extremely good results and KE.

[Bucko]

I use the Remington 870 with the rifled barrel also.I stick with the Remington Premier Copper Solid Sabot Slug.The 3" have a slug weight of 1 3/16 OZ.IF you open the box you will see they are hollow points with slices cut for maximum expansion upon impact.Your shooting distance will be no problem for them.Good hunting

[BigUgly]

As John sadi do not use rifled slugs. The fouling will be very hard to control and after awhile you may as well never use sabots. If you are sticking to just 80 yrds get an assortment of rifled slugs and try a bunch out. You will come across some that will give good enough results at 80 yards. I have a rifled barrel zeroed at 100 yards 3" low at 150 and 3" high at 50. If yoou spend the money on a rifled barrel get some Rem corelokts or Federal barnes expanders and give them a try. Stick with 2'3/4 the 3 inch are recoil filled in these loads.

[Tom]

Golden Eagle I have another suggestion for you that would not cost you much money to try. Since your only going to be shooting about 80 yards, try the CHALANGER RIFLE SLUGS. They shoot out of a smooth bore with great success and are very accurate out past 100 yards (usually within 3-5 inch group with different guns). They are cheap and carry a good punch. In my turkey gun, open choke, I have 2 - 2.5 inch at 100. My brothers older fixed choke (mod) he has a 3 inch group at 100.

As RJ stated, every gun will shoot shells differently, you will have to test and see what is best for you. I have tried many different sabots, but went back to the challangers because they are nearly as accurate (within my range, less then one inch in grouping difference) but alot cheaper.

Good luck.

[CYCLONE]

Sorry, I missed the rifled barrel part. Thanks for correcting me.

[Golden Eagle]

I appreciate all the feedback everyone. I have always hunted with a Bow or a Rifle so I am not up on the shotgun for Deer. I thought I would get good feedback by the threads as of late.

Thanks again. I will do some more homework before making a committment.

[sunset]

Several people in our group have rifled 870 barrels and we all use the Rem copper slug. We figured Remington did all the testing and designing so they should work in their barrels... definitely give them a try.
Remember there are exceptions to every rule so start out with an assortment of about three brands and let us know how you made out.
Good luck in your hunt.

[Big John]

Golden Eagle:

I have used the Challenger Rifled Slugs through Smooth Bore Barrels with great success as well. and they pack a good punch!
But Sabots and Rifled Barrells Rule now. Close to 2000 ft. per sec.
And deadly accurate out past 100 yds. Excellent for Big Bear, and Close Moose, and Big Bucks. Smooth Bore's are excellent for closer shots and thick bush. Good luck!

[Annapolis]

John,
Why will Challenger rifled slugs foul up my 870 rifled barrel?

[Grizzly Adam]

I'm going to offer a piece of advice that no one else has yet:

Consider borrowing or buying a recoil-controlling sighting-in rest before you buy a slug gun and set about determining what load works best with it. Your shoulder and cheek will thank you, and you may be saved from developing an accuracy-killing flinch.

The free recoil of a 12 gauge slug in a shotgun weighing around 7 pounds is well in excess of the 20 foot-pound level most experts agree the average shooter can handle without serious complications. The recoil of most slug guns is in the same range as that of many African Big-Game cartridges ... and it takes training to handle that kind of recoil nicely. It's bad enough offhand where your body can move a bit in response, but on a benched rest, that sort of recoil is ferocious, and punishing. I am continually surprised at the number of guys who have a serious flinching problem and are absolutely unaware of it, as is proven when I slip a dead round in their magazine and watch them jump and jerk and rear back, even though there was no blast and no recoil, only the "click" of the firing pin.

I'm not saying you flinch; you may or you may not ... but after a day testing slugs on a bench, your chances of having developed one are very good indeed.

I heartily recommend the Caldwell Lead Sled ... a sighting-in rest that adjusts and allows you to add as much as 50 pounds of weight to greatly reduce the recoil of hard-kicking rounds like slugs. It's a winner, and allows you to get groups you can't touch without something like it. It will truly show you what the gun and slug combination is really doing. Aside from a machine rest, you can't come any closer to getting all human error out of the process.

It's a macho tendency for hunters to claim they're unaffected by recoil ... but experience betrays the truth: recoil hurts, is unpleasant, and is the enemy of good marksmanship.

Something to think about.

Grizz

PS: Wear that hearing protection! Plugs AND muffs are a good combo.