SOME SLUGS SHOOT BETTER THAN OTHERS!

[Polar Bear]

Much like centerfire rifle cartridges I've found that your choice of shotgun slugs can make a big difference in accuracy. For example, in my Winchester 1300 rifled barrel I simply cannot group Winchester Sabot slugs. At 50 yards my 5 shot group is an honest foot in diameter! The same slugs shot thru a friends 870 groups nicely at about 4 inches. The Brennekes didn't seem to measure up for me either. This year I made the switch to the new Remmington Buck-Hammer. In my gun these things will group 2.5 inches at 55 long steps using a rest. Their only downfall is every time you pull the trigger you're blasting away about 2 bucks. Thats 20 dollars for a quick 10 shot sight-in session!

I guess I just want to encourage everybody who has trouble shooting a consistant group with their slug guns to experiment with different brands of ammo. Nothing beats the confidence you gain by shooting the center out of a target at hunting distances. Good Luck.

Polar Bear

[huntnfish]

That is the same thing that I found out the other day when I sighted in my shotgun. I bought a couple of boxes of each brand and shot about five of each. In my smoothbore slug barrel I found that the Remington Sluggers worked the best with a six shot group of about 4 inches at 50 yards. The next best were the Federals which grouped at about 6 inches. I tried the Winchester's, but they weren't even close to the other two. This was the first time shooting slugs and I was very impressed with how well they shot out of a smooth barrel.

[Moose-Hunter]

I had that problem as well. I had my Rem. 1100 worked on a bit to become a dedicated slug slinger. Rifled barrel pinned to the receiver, a real nice trigger job and some polishing of something. After that, my old reliable Rem. sabots were all over the paper. While my buddy's 870 (with a rifled barrel), using the same slug was an absolute tack driver. After spending big bucks on many different exotic slugs, about equal to an amount that could have bought me a new gun, I got her dialed in with "domestic" Federal P154SS Premium 2 3/4" Hydra-Shok HP sabots. Zeroed at 100yds, my best round (open sights) was 4 shots touching with one slight stray. In the field, kneeling, 44 paces (130 yards +/-) quartering away, with very little hold-over. One shot is all it took and no tracking was involved. Granted, mine is not the typical slug gun, but it took quite a few different flavors to find one she liked after her make-over and that gave me the confidence needed to take that shot.

BTW... If you have the means for a dedicated slug gun, go for it!! Close to rifle accuracy with a 1oz "bullet".

[Stratosman]

Same ting here, I have an 11-87 that I bought a rifled remington barrel for and it took awhile to find the slug that worked the best, go figure its $11.00 a box Federal Premium 3" sabots. Good part is this is all I use this gun for, so the barrel stays on and I havn't had to sight it in for about 5 years.

[Dan Thiem]

Huntnfish,

I found out the same thing as you said exactly. My son and I both have 870's. Slugger's best, next Federals, Then way bad were the Winchesters.

I really dont like to practice alot of shooting with slugs. Lots of kick! After 10 or 15 shots I start to get a little sore and nervous. Maybe even jerk the trigger a little.

[Perch Jerker]

I purchased 5 different mfgr's boxes of slugs for my Marlin rifled 12ga when I got it. Shot all 5 shells from all 5 boxes at 5 different targets. I then decided on the best brand for my gun and purchased 8 of those boxes with the same Lot# on them from the same store. The gun is sighted in and ready to go for many years to come. I do however plan to shoot at least a 3 shot group before the hunt IF I plan on using it that year.

PJ

ps. I did the same with my .22LR target gun. I tried 10 shot groups with 8 different boxes of ammo and found one that my gun likes better than the other 7 brands. Anything I can't reload, this is my accurizing method.

[icehousebob]

I have four slug guns and my sons have a couple more. Three shoot Brennekes very well , one shoots Federal 3 inch sabots well, and one shoots both. My rifled Ithaca 87 Deerslayer II has shot honest one hole groups at 75 yards a few times. The gun that shoots them both well will group them in two different places about 6 inches apart. I once made the mistake of sighting in three slug guns and my .338 Win Mag on the same day and I think I permanently damaged my nervous system. Now my tactic is to bring a .22 rifle and trade off every so often so the recoil doesn't start me flinching. Once I start, its hard to stop.

[psegriz]

My experience has been that smooth bores don't shoot sabot very well. Have tried them and at 65 steps can't get 5 shots to hit the bale of cardboard this is from a rest. My gun shoots the ceapest shells the best you know the ones that cost 1.99 a box. Have no problem hittin a pie tin at 125 steps with them.

[benelli_dude2002]

I only tried slugs once out of my Montefeltro. I shot 3 Federal 3 inch 1 1/4 oz at 50 yards. This is a smoothbore but I thought what the heck I'll try it anyway. 3 shots at 50 yards was 1 big hole on the paper but you could make out that there was 3 shots on paper. I thought that was a good group but they grouped all to the left 6 inches. I dont know if it was me cuz I knew they were gonna beat my shoulder or if I pulled but I never shot slugs again. I use buckshot instead since its legal in Ontario. I would like to get a slug barrel for my 870 someday. But that might be awhile. Happy hunting! Brian

[psegriz]

I don't know if it was you or the gun. It could be you if flinching from expected kick. Try some 2 3/4" in 1 oz. thats all I use kick shouldn't be as bad and accuracy should be same