12 or 20 gauge slug gun

[fishhuntwork]

I'm currently in the market for a new slug gun. I have my mind made up with the savage bolt action. I currently shot a Browning Gold 12g with a rifled barrel. I primarily will be using this gun to sit in the stand or blind. Anyone have any experience or insight on this issue.

[Archerysniper]

Their is a thread in here about that gun if you use the search option you might find it.

[Archerysniper]

Click here

[96trigger]

I shoot a beretta al390 with a cantilever Hastings barrel and Nikon scope, it's awesome and I love it. However, I would shelf it in a heartbeat for a savage 220 bolt action and a good scope if given the opportunity. I have been looking at these tack drivers and reading about them for 2 years but I have not been able to justify pulling the trigger (yet) because I do love my current setup.

[Gordie]

  Archerysniper said:

Click here

What he said ^^^^^

[Neighbor_guy]

I made the decision to go to a dedicated slug gun last season. That way I could go state wide with the same gun and did not have to worry about rifle vs. shot gun or keeping my powder dry in the muzzy.

In the end I chose the H&R Ultra Slug in 20ga.

The selection of sabots in 20ga is less than the 12's, but if you look close most are shooting the same slug down range with less felt recoil. I will say it was harder to find a 20 in a dedicated slug gun. It would have been much easier to get one in 12ga. Also the gun guru's behind the counter as well as the gun nuts hanging around the shops I stopped at were giving me a hard time about buying a "kids" or "womans" gun.

It shoots figure 8's at 100yds and I can cover 3 shot groups with a post it note at 150. Considering most shots in MN are 50yards or less I think that will seal the deal every time.

The deer I shot did not care, they were just as dead.

[harvey lee]

I purchased a 20ga for my granddaughter and the biggest reason was the drop in recoil from a 12ga.

As fas as killing power, if she could have handled a 12ga, I would have went with that cal as it has so much more knockdown power.

The 12 ga is awesome with slugs and the 20 is very accurate but you will be giving up alot of power.

[Gordie]

The 220 savage with the hornady SST is deadly and I would not hesitated to use on opening weekend in rifle zone in this this state.

[trolloni]

You wont be disapointed with a 220 savage ,youll be amazed at the accuracy and knock down power out to 150 yards ,i know i am ,mine likes 3 inch federals/barnes expanders.

[Farley]

Bought a 20ga 870 (rifled barrel) last season and didnt have a chance to shoot a deer with it but it sure dropped that coyote pretty easily. Yeah I got a little bit of razzing from some of my buddies because its so small, in one ear out the other though. I thought really hard about the savage, I think at the time I bought this one I either couldnt find a savege 220 or this was a good deal, either way I'm more than happy shooting it.

[skee0025]

I was in the same boat. I narrowed it down to the Savage and the H&R Ultra Slug Hunter. Both are tack drivers. One goes for $250 and the Other $600. I went with the H&R.

[96trigger]

You can buy a synthetic/blued 220 for around $450 if you look in the right places.

[candiru]

I am not so sure about the "knock down power" of slugs even in 12 ga. A few years ago I shot a forkhorn about 10 ft from the end of my gun barrel. He was hit in the lungs and did the same thing that most of them do. He ran about 50yds and went down. The slugs I was using were Remington Buckhammers (a full diameter slug with a flat front), they do not expand a lot either. Just some food for thought.

[96trigger]

Our whole hunting party uses 12 gauge sabots, rifled barrels etc..., I have found that a deer hit in the boiler room will run almost EVERY time unless hit in the heart. The only person that knocks them down consistently is my brother in law, he only shoots them in the neck. They will almost all go 50 to 100 yards, some less, some more, but they almost never drop in their tracks like they used to with foster style slugs.

[candiru]

If I was getting a new slug gun I would probably go to a 20ga. I just might do it in a few years anyway. Just about the same results with a lot less recoil.

[Archerysniper]

Think of a slug as a arrow unless you hit dense bone they will hardly expand,unless you are shooting some of the newer high velocity sabots.

[mntatonka]

I'm going to look at an FN SLP this afternoon, fully rifled. I've been looking for an SX3 all summer and can't find them, but this is supposed to be the same gun. Hopefully it'll throw slugs as good as I think it will, since the SX3 bird barrel doesn't shoot them very well at all!

[96trigger]

Sniper, how fast do you think they need to travel to expand. Most of the deer we shoot are pass throughs and you can tell there wasn't a lot of expansion. I have used the arrow analogy many times to some in our party. Some of the older guys have shot deer and thought they missed because it ran away. After explaining the shot, we go back out to look and within 50 yards I find blood, then another 50 and its a dead deer. They were all so used to shooting pumpkins and knocking the deer down they would just assume they missed, wouldn't find blood right away and think it was gone. They are all much better now at watching where the deer goes, looking for any sign of it getting hit, and waiting 15 to 30 minutes before going to look. We have not lost a deer in many years but there was a learning curve to shooting sabots for my group. We shoot a lot of horn addy SST and partition golds. We have only recovered a couple of bullets from deer. They all expanded perfectly, but obviously hit hard bone, normally on the opposite shoulder. Last year neither of my deer bled for the 1 st 50 yards, then the flood gates opened. We have great equipment and I know it is hard to miss at the distances we shoot at which are normally under 75 yards, probably more like 50.

[Finlander]

I shoot a Mossberg 500 20 guage with rifled barrel and every deer I shot using Hornady SST sabots dropped in their tracks! 10 yards or 150 yards, no difference no matter where or what angle hit!

[96trigger]

We have had the exact opposite experience. Almost every deer runs, very few drop. the majority run 50 to 100 yards, some will only make 30. Maybe the deer in our are are just tough.

[mntatonka]

  96trigger said:

We have had the exact opposite experience. Almost every deer runs, very few drop. the majority run 50 to 100 yards, some will only make 30. Maybe the deer in our are are just tough.

I'll let you know in October during the early antlerless season. Granted, I'll probably be using Brenneke Green Lightning slugs in my new shotgun (if I can find them still). My dad has been using them for a few years, and I've never seen a deer he shot well run more than a few yards. Usually they fall into the ravine he's sitting next to.

[96trigger]

Brennekes pack some serious knockdown power. Your probably not going to have the same issues we are. By no means am I complaining either. What we have lost in knockdown power we have gained in accuracy. I'll take the accuracy and have to track a little bit any day of the week.

[mntatonka]

  96trigger said:

Brennekes pack some serious knockdown power. Your probably not going to have the same issues we are. By no means am I complaining either. What we have lost in knockdown power we have gained in accuracy. I'll take the accuracy and have to track a little bit any day of the week.

We'll see how they shoot for me. If they don't shoot as well as I like, I'll try something else.

[PurpleFloyd]

If you are looking for a slug that does a huge amount of internal damage and doesn't pass through take a look at Quik Shok slugs by Polywad.I switched to them several years ago and they are devastating to say the least. I don't thing they make them in 20g though.