Shotgun slug = ??? in rifle caliber?

T

twoblink

New member
I have a shotgun (Browning 20 gauge BPS) and I've fired a few slugs out of it before. The slugs are a bit more kick than the #7 shots I usually use. Question, what is a shotgun slug equal to (roughly) in terms of rifle caliber?

If some moderator thinks this should go under the shotgun section, then moving it is OK...

Thanks.
Albert.
 
I'm not the expert here, by a long shot. However we need to define your reason for the question TB.

There are at least three things I can think of that are involved:

Size of projectile

Force; as in foot pound of force

Penetration

The shotgun slug is slower and larger than most rifle bullets but much larger. Thus you can take our .45 vs 9mm vs .22 arguments and magnify the points we find important.

This, I'll tell you. In Black Bear country where a lot of the locals use the Win. 30-30, a .308 or a 30-06; the guides usually use a 20 or 12 gauge shotgun to STOP the bears if they are attacking hunters or dogs instead of a rifle. Of course part of that is that the guide is not planning any shots longer than 20 yards or so, which would be to save a dog or two.
 
If your talking bore diameter the 12 gauge is ~.729"
I want to say .69" but I can't remember for sure if that is correct for the 20.
 
I'll Try.

12 Gauge Slug = 45-70 405 Grain Remington Factory load.

20 Gauge Slug = .357 Magnum 158 Grains from a rifle.


This is highly approximate.
 
What about knockdown power in comparison?

I know (from my shoulders) that slugs kick quite a bit. Bang! Much more so than #7bucks.

Albert
 
What about knockdown power in comparison?
Click to expand...
Personally, I have put a 1¼ oz jacketed 12ga 3" magnum slug through ¼" of solid steel. :D Not something I'd want to stand in front of.
 
The new single shot slug guns are capable of putting the .50 cal slugs into 2 moa or less at 1400-1800 fps! That is a pretty serious "rifle" out to about 160 yards or so. The day of thinking of slugs as 80-100 yard max is OVER. And many swear that the 20 ga is flatter shooting than the 12 ga.
 
I have a 20 gauge with a 28" barrel. Shooting it with slugs, I should have no problems within 100 yards of dripping a deer right???

The thing has serious punch, and the crisp clean holes it leaves, well, I'd hate to stand in front of that! it goes through a 4x4 cleanly from about 10 yards. So... What size animal can I take down with this?

Albert
 
It's about shot placement of course. One of my friends took down a (large for this area) 180 Whitetail at 170 yards a couple of years ago. He knew that his single shot, rifled barrel gun would do the job and he's an avid hunter who get's his limit every year. Also he knew that he had a good clean shot at the standing animal and ample time and space to track the animal just in case. He said it dropped in it's tracks from a heart shot and his hunting partner, based on the bet made, went out and drug the deer back to the shooting position for him. :)

No, it wasn't luck. And no, for that hunter, that gun, that load, and that location for a standing deer it was not a chancy shot. Yes, even his long time hunting buddy made him a bet. But, his buddy had not seen the new gun shoot. Those new rifled barrels are wonderful.

The length of your barrel has less to do with your accuracy than the right choice of slug and your proficiency. Still it's not likely to shoot like one of the new H&R rifled barrels with the sabot slug.

Practice and see.
 
There is a trade-off; with rifle bullets of similar weight (such as the previously-mentioned .45-70-405), the rifle bullet will have greater sectional density, whereas the slug will have greater frontal impact area. Whether this is preferable for you will be based on your theory of what makes the best hunting/stopping bullet. Some believe in the TKO, which includes the surface area of the impacting bullet. Others only look at raw energy, which will give a definite foot-lb advantage to rifle rounds.

Think it through, listen to folk you respect, and get really good with whatever you decide to use. :)



Do you want to hear that dream?
 
I would think the 12 guage slug would be on par with a brown bess musket for power and knock down but have more accuracy at 100 yds. A 12 guage and a 45-70 is not even in the same book past 100 yards. A 45-70 will kill at 1000 yds while a 12 just drills dirt at a much shorter range. The new slug guns sure have put new life in the slug but they are still not a 45-70.
 
Power Comparison

At short ranges both a 12 gauge magnum slug and a Garrett or Bufallo Bore .45/70 will throw a 405 to 437 grain slug at about 1600-1800 fps, generating ft. lbs. in the 3,000 range. The .45/70 has much greater potential range, but it's rarely used in the field past 100-200 yards, at least by mere mortals. With that rainbow trajectory you've got to have an elevation-adjustable sight and know how to use it for long-range shots. Those sights are rare, and the skill to use them against moving game is even rarer. Anyway, the shotgun has one huge advantage to balance out its limited range--PRICE. Try getting a Marlin that can handle bufallo bore pressures for $150.

However, the 20 gauge slug is a LOT more potent than a .357. A "little" 20 gauge can throw a @327 grain slug (3/4 ounce) at 1400-1600 fps, putting it in the same category as a .454 Casull or a light-loaded .45/70. IMHO, the 20 gauge is one of the most underrated weapons around, but that's another thread.
 
I'm always curious why the 20 gauge is "looked down upon" by "men" as if it were less manly than a 12 gauge.

When I was looking to buy a shotgun, I did the math. 50% less recoil but still having 75% of the pellets. It seemed like a great tradeoff. Some say, "well, just buy lighter loads on 12 gauged stuff" but if I was going to do that, why not just buy a 20 gauge? Then some say "you can move to lighter loads on a 12 gauge to = that of a 20 gauge, but you can't move a 20 gauge up to the point of a full load 12 gauge." True. But, I don't even shoot 3"er's out of my 20 gauge, I just shoot 2 3/4 ones. So there's still room. Also, I can shoot the load comfortably, and my female friends can too, a 12 gauge is a shoulder buster after about 10 shots.

How the reason I ask all this is, I might go boar hunting in TX. Should a slugged 20 gauge work OK? I can bring my M1A :-) but I thought that's wasn't appropriate choice for hunting.. I don't have a bolt action (yet) and I was thinking of getting a Marlin .357 lever, but that won't do a boar at all. So... Without spending additional $$$, I was trying to figure out if a 20 gauge slugged will do...

I couldn't really find anything on shotgun rounds = rifle round charts...

From the sound and impact, I would think a 20 gauge is more than enough, within 100 yards right?

Albert
 
It really 'pends on the size of your hogs, man. If they get up to 100, or perhaps 150 lbs, no problem. It they get much bigger than 150 or so, I'd think about using that M1A, with a 165 or 180-grain, solidly constructed bullet such as an Winchester Failsafe.



Why stand on a silent platform?
 
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