Slug Gun Scope Adjustments

[erikwells]

Went out to shoot my slug gun I just bought last week. I fired 10 Lightfield Lites 12 ga. 2 3/4 at 25 and then 50 yards. It was pretty obvious I was about 10 inches to the right when I gotm out to 50 yards. I have never sighted in a scope before so I ordered my scopes manual from nikon the slughunter 2X7 32. While waiting on the manual through snailmail I would still like to work through sighting in my scope and gun. I know very little about scopes so bear with me. I get the eye piece adjustment to bring the magnification - or +. The adjustment knob on the side of the scope is that for up and down? The adjustment knob on top is for left to right? I have got a lot to learn, thanks for your patience and any responses. Erik

[HNTNBUX]

If the scope was mounted properly the elevation adjustment will be on the top. Under the cap the adjustment dial will have an arrow pointed in the direction to move the impact of the bullet. Generally 1/4 - 1/2 inch for each click at 100 yards.

[erikwells]

Thanks for the response HNTNBUX. I'll head out this weekend to make some adjustments on the scope and get some more practice. The sabot slugs from the rifled slug barrel did group pretty well even at 75 yards. I'm kind of beginning to get a feel for how far out I'll have confidence shooting. Right now it feels like 75 yards or so for me, I need to practice more. Considering how far the barrels, sabots and scopes have come in the past years what is considered to be a reasonable range for hunters to make consistent shots (100 - 150 yards)with rifled slug barrels, sabots and scopes? Thanks,

erik

[harvey lee]

Many slug gun hunters like to shoot out to 200 yards and have stated so.

I have never and will never take a shot at a deer over 100 yards with a slug gun. I have good slug guns with good scopes and just feel that is a distance I can 100% of the time take the deer for sure without wounding it.

I simply cannot see taking a 200 plus yard shot at a deer when one can wait for the deer to get closer for a higher percentage shot.

[PurpleFloyd]

A lot of that will also come down to optics. When sighting in punching paper, those dots get pretty small at 150 yards with a 2 power scope and even 7 is pretty low for a large segment of the population that doesn't shoot a consistent number of times a year to get proficient.

Even with Sabots and a rifled barrel on my shotgun I don't want to be consistently trying to get tight enough groups at 150 yards to ensure that I have a high probability for a clean kill. It can be done but it isn't a slam dunk by any means.

[HNTNBUX]

I have a leupold 2x7 lrt on a Remington 1100 that is sighted in at 100 yards it hits 2 inches high at 50 yards and the first mark below the cross hairs is 150 yards. I have not tried it further. I use Remington copper solids and they group very well out to 150.

[erikwells]

Thanks for the advice I need that as much as I need the practice shooting this gun. I have the fully rifled slug tube (Mossberg). I had initially thought I could fire the old standard slugs that I used to in my old smooth barrel. This weekend I shot Lightfield light sabot slugs. Paid 12.99 a box of 5 and shot 10 shells. I hope I can get my gun sighted closer than I am right now without shooting more than a couple of boxes, expensive. I'm really hoping I can manage being comfortable at 75-100. Any suggestions on slug types/brands to shoot from my fully rifled slug barrel. Again thanks for taking the time to offer me some advice, I have not slug hunted in 20 years. Bad that I haven't slug hunted in that long but I sure am excited.

[PurpleFloyd]

Slug guns seem to have a more dramatic change in accuracy from one slug to the next than rifles do. The best thing is to buy several boxes of different slugs and pattern all of them. Then once you find the one your gun likes the best, buy several boxes and get it dialed in.

IMHO if you are comfortable at 75-100 yards you are better than a big percentage of slug hunters are and that is not a distance that you should feel guilty about as far as I am concerned so if the cost of the slugs is going to hinder you from spending a lot of money on dialing it in to 150 then I would maybe just pull back on the range that I would expect to shoot accurately at for this year and work on improving for the longer shots over the next year.

[erikwells]

Thanks for all of the advice guys. Things have changed a lot since I last slug hunted. I'll get out and do some more shooting this weekend to get some much needed practice and some further tuning on the scope. I love the improvements in the equipment but I still have some work to put in if I expect to have any business hunting just yet. I have seen too many crippled deer in my past and having the skill and confidence has further to go than I had first thought. The sabot slugs seem to be a favorite and I shot Lightfield lights. I'll get some more of those and try maybe remington accutips? I hope I get this gun sighted in well and soon because spending $15.00 for a 5 pack of slugs gets a bit spendy.

[hoppe56307]

I shoot Hornaday SSTs out of my reminington and they are on the cheaper end at around $9.99 for a box of 5. I can consistently hit a 2in group at 75yds with them.

[Neises]

+1. Hornady SST's

[erikwells]

Picked up 3 boxes of Hornady SST's. I was not using a shooting bench when I shot last week. I have a friend that is bringing me his lead sled to use this weekend sighting in my new deer gun. My goal before the season starts is to be confident out to 100. Anything out further for me until I get some more practice would probably not be wise. I like the look of the Hornady SST's so I'll give them a run this weekend. I paid $14.99 at Cabelas for a 5 pack. Neises, please let me know where to get the Hornady SSt's for 9.99 a box. I need to get my gun sighted in before I file for bankruptcy ha. Thanks all for your responses.

[picksbigwagon]

Fleet Farm will always have better prices than Cabela's..........

[hoppe56307]

If you have a dunhams sports near your they have them on sale this week for 9.99. Fleet Farm will usually have them onsale for the same price or even cheaper once the season gets closer, that is when I stock up for the next fall when I start shooting again.

[Gordie]

Erik I have a shotgun barrel bore sighter if you want I could get you much closer to the center of the paper before you break the bank or dislocate a shoulder

[erikwells]

Thank you all for the great advice. Gordie thanks for the offer on the boresight but as much as I'm complaining about the cost I really need the practice. I have always beat up on the guys that did not take the time to be ready for the season hitting the field unprepared. I don't want to prove what a hypocrite I am. So this weekend will be practice round 2. I have not deer hunted in 20 years and the biggest change is how much better the guns, optics and shells have come since. I'm very excited and will be scouting (yes should have done this in the spring)this weekend. I will be hunting around the New London Spicer area. I'm blessed to have grown up in this area and thankfully have several connections with landowners/farmers in the area. I have even dragged my older brother back into hunting and next year I will be lucky enough to bring my 10 year old out on his first hunt. Thanks again for the responses and those of you that have other posts because I'm reading and learning from your posts. Thanks, good luck and God Bless America!

[Gordie]

Sounds good Erik

Practice makes perfect and rounds down range make you more familar with your weapon.

[erikwells]

My brother and I spent some time shooting our shotguns sighting them in for deer hunting. I was able to zero in at 75 and can shoot some impressive groups in my opinion, more impressed with the new equipment rather than the operator. However my brother just purchased a mossberg 500 with a scope and rifled slug barrel and after 2 shots he was on at 25 yards. We went to 50 and the wheels fell off the bus. He was about 6 inches low. We shrugged and clicked his gun up and we were still low and we did this two more times and we were still loaf after making the adjustments. I would say we adjusted his scope up 10 inches and we were still low. Shooting the same slugs (Hornady SST), I like them by the way. We are admitted dummies using scopes for the first time so did we just do something stupid, am I missing something (common mistake)? Anyone out there with some insight for a couple of dummies it would be appreciated, thanks as always, Erik.

[Gordie]

Very, Very important to make sure the scope mounts and screws on scope bands are tight. sounds to me like it has a loose screw or the scope is not mounted correctly.

Never take it for granted with a shotgun scope they go thru some deffinate recoil torcher.

[erikwells]

Thanks Gordie. I was thrilled how I shot my gun. At 75 yards I punched the paper 5 times in a group the size of my fist. Going to get out shooting one more time before the season to work on some shots from the sitting and standing position without the lead sled. Also determined where we will hunt this season, got a late start. I'll do some scouting and maybe put up some trail cams. Very excited especially being I have not deer hunted in 20 years. Thanks again.

[HNTNBUX]

Also remember that you have to adjust twice as many clicks at 50 yards or four times as many clicks at 25 to move bullet impact as you would at 100 yards.

[erikwells]

Thanks all for the tips. I'm going to get out one more time to do some sighting my gun in before deer season. Feeling pretty good about myself at 75 yards. I'll do some sitting and standing practice this weekend. I now have a place to hunt and need to determine when and where to put my 2 person ladder stand (which I haven't bought just yet). I will be hunting private land. Is there a timeframe in which you want to get the stand up to become more part of the surrondings? What I am asking is it best to have your stand out there? I imagine the earlier the better but at what point would you rather not be disturbing the place you will hunt?

[bigbucks]

Get it out as soon as you can, but we put out a stand in the dark the night before gun season once when we found out the tree the permanent was in blew over. My brother shot a small buck out of it the next morning.

[96trigger]

I would think your brothers scope is not mounted properly. I would probably recount it and double check the rings and bases. be sure you have a good set of rings and bases, and not the cheapest. He might also have to try different slugs. I some just don't shoot well out of a particular gun. As for the stand. I shot the biggest buck of my life life out of a stand 4 hours after I moved it. If you are cautious about putting it up and not leaving a lot of scent around you can do it in season. I often move stands during the bow season and don't harm deer patterns.