slugs

D

Deerslayer12

Inactive
i use a slug gun for deer hunting but havent killed one with it yet (i just bought it this summer) i was wonderin how deadly are these things i dont want to track anything and im an overkill fanatic!
 
Kind of depends on the type of slug and how good of a shot you are. Slugs can be very lethal. I will say that there is hardly a time that you will never have to track a deer. I've put them down on the spot and have had to track them as well. My Midwest shots are usually under let's say 60 yards. I can recall a running 40 yd. shot at a large doe with a standard rifled slug. It penetrated well and mushroomed on the inside of her shoulder blade. There have been other shots where I found the slug just under the skin on the opposite side of the entrance.



Be Safe !!!
 
ANY 12 Ga slug that hits a deer in the vital area is going to be deadly. Weight, shape, type of point, etc doesn't matter in the slightest when you have that much diameter and weight going into his vitals.

The big difference in slugs is how they perform in YOUR particluar shotgun. Shotguns can be very picky about which slug they like to shoot. The only way to know for sure is to hit the range with a box of each and watch the group size.
 
Like Pahoo said, if you make good shots, it's unlikely you'll have to track down a deer. From a 12-gauge, that nominal 1 oz slug (437 grains) is moving around 1600 fps which gives you nearly 2490 ft-lbs of force. That deer won't know if he was hit by a truck or had an anvil dropped on him. At 50 yards it's still carrying 1300 ft-lbs. That's enough to do the job.

Just remember, all that energy will never make up for poor shot placement.
 
A shotgun in the vitals will kill as fast or faster than a rifle. Especially 12ga, regardless of brand of slug.

Deer slugs are actually kind of crazy on the overkill side. I'm always looking for the smaller faster slug. The big, slower ones just blow a whole through one side and out the other. Not much energy dissipated in the target.... but still plenty enough to kill.
 
Is your slug gun a rifled bore or smooth bore gun. A rifled bore can shoot at longer distances with better accuracy. Some saboted rounds can shoot out to 175 yards + in a rifled bore and a smooth bore with regular old type slugs, maybe half that at best. You might also have to shoot many of brands and types to find what yours likes best. I shoot remington buck hammers out of a rifled mossberg and it shoots well to around 150yards and was the last ammo i tried. Shoulder was junk for a couple days.
 
sorry i wasnt clear guys, its a fully rifled barrel and i use remington accutip slugs their 385 grains i think and their pinpoint accurate out to 100yrds (thats how far ive ever shot em) its a 12 gauge and i only shoot 3" mags
 
Best o' luck to ya' I ain't no rich feller like yerself. I just shoot junk slugs out of smoothbore. I limit my self to 65 yards sure thing and 80 yards if I am real hungry.

I also never really tried them 3 inch mini mags nor the 3 1/2 inch big brother.:o
Brent
 
Deerslayer, with those slugs, you could kill anything in north or south america within a hundred yards or so. hell, you got me thinkin bout a rifled barrel for my zombie gun moss 500!
 
Most of my deer hunting has been done in Southern Michigan, so shotguns are the norm. 12 gauge rifled slugs are accurate as well as deadly. I have also used a 20 guage H&R ultra slugger with Win partition gold slugs. Taken 7 deer with it and none have gone more than 30 yards.
 
Hardluk1, I was thinking like you, about the barrels being rifled or not. I've heard guys talking about getting Bulls-Eyes on targets at 200+ yards with a certain brand of SABOT slugs. They said these slugs had rifle accuracy. I don't rmember the exact brand but it made me start pricing rifled barrels for my 870 and my Benelli Nova. The sabot slugs sound like a lot of fun.
I haven't shot slugs in either of my shotguns but I have been wondering if it was ok or it it was not a good idea. I've heard a couple of opinions but I'm not sure which one is ok or if it's not.
 
teraplanez Have not found that 200yard slug but do see that some have . I hoped that i would find that sabot that would shoot like a T/C encore blackpowder gun but nooot quite so my cutoff is 150 . Two hunting buddies have also tried many of the sabots a couple years back and had no better luck than me ,one gun is a binelli super eagle something and the other a 11-87 remington mine is a mossy 500 all are rifled barrels and as it turns out atleast till we try some of the newest batch of sabots will stay with the way to flat and fat remington buck slamer. Mine will shoot about a 3" 100yard group. Ugly but does seem to work in most all rifled slug guns. Atleast till i find one of those new sabots that does better. I never shot slugs till a couple years ago.
 
You have the right slug for that barrel, if you have a scope or rifle sights you are easily good to 200 yards with that slug. Zero your gun 3 1/2" high at 100 yards and hold for that sweetspot all the way from 50 to 200. You will be zeroed at 0" drop at 150 yards so don't be worrying about holdover.
 
They work

I killed 6 animal in Africa this past May. From the big Kudu to a Blesbok @ 172 steps. All one shot kills, New Remington Accutips, But I weaned myself on a 1960 Wingmaster, 18" smoothbore , with 1oz Remington slugger. Deadly. You just need to shoot and shoot alot. The problem with most slugsters is a lack of practice. Nothing like seat time.
 
I have a Remington 870 Mag. It has a smooth bore and rifled choke tube. I shoot federal 3" sabot and they fly very straight out to 175 yards. Last season I got a big doe at 160 yds and she droped right there.She didn't even flinch. My shoulder didn't work well for a few days. Oh well, the price we pay.
 
I just tested the Remington Accu-tips last weekend. Simply put, they are far and away the most accurate slug I have ever used. One hole groups at 100. Some guns may be able to go beyond 100 but the two we used, an 11-87 and a Browning Gold, get very erratic somewhere between 100 and 150. This is not a problem with the accu-tips, every slug we've tried has been the same.

I'm sure there are certain combinations that will shoot beyond 125-150 yards but I would NEVER assume such without shooting paper at that distance.
 
Are slugs deadly?

:eek: You gotta be kidding me! A .12 GA slug is devastating to any animal, especially a deer. I use a mode 870 shotgun with Haistings rifled barrel and scope. It likes the Lightfield slugs (Hybrid Elite) and is extremely accurate out to 100 yards. Have taken only two deer with my slug gun (both less than 50 yrds) and both of them dropped. Slugs properly placed are bad to the bone my friend. Good luck.
 
I have a Marlin 3 shot bolt action slug rifle, scoped with a leupold 2X7 shotgun scope.

I shoot Winchester Supremes 385s thru it and it shoots fantastic.

Ive taken many deer with this gun, and performance of the slugs has been very good, unless the deer is extremely close, like 25-30 yds. I think the velocity at that range is to great at impact, and the slug fragments, much like a high speed varmint bullet. This has happened on 2 deer, and both required a 2nd shot to dispatch it. Upon cutting up the meat, there was very little signs of anything holding together, only small fragments and a small piece of base. It was more like shooting with BBs, rather than a slug. Long range performance of the slug, was very good.

I am going to give the accutips a try and see how my rifle likes them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top