What exactly is a "slug gun"?

And then there are Paradox and bore guns, usually SxS's or some times O/U's.

They are barrels are rifled and regulated to shoot together at 100 yards, a long shot.

Generally very heavy charges of black powder and projectiles weighing at 750 grains and over. These guns were made to take down game that bites back if you miss.

Launching two ounces of lead bullet is no easy task, even with a 16 pound gun recoil is bad. I have a Lanber that weighs in at six pounds and shooting those
sabot slugs is not fun. That is the 2 3/4 inch loadings haven't tried any three inch magnums yet.

Is it a slug gun, yes, but then it is also a bore gun since it is a under 100 yard gun and it shoots the Lyman sabot slug 1 1/4 ounce.
 
A "slug gun" refers to a shotgun with a rifled bore and usually equipped with an optical sight. It is made to shoot sabot slugs for the purposes of hunting deers and other animals of the forest etc.
 
Also I will add that if you want to "scope" your slug gun get a cantilevered barrel. The saddle mounts are not accurate since shotgun barrels tend to move around in the end of the receiver and loose zero. The cantilevered barrels cost more but are well worth it
 
Well today, it's generally regarded as rifled barrel shotgun.

That's what most if not almost all conjure up when you utter the term.

But thanks for the clarification Bill. Always quick to nit pick! :p
 
My slug gun is just that, a "Slug Gun". I don't use it for anything else! I have a dozen shotguns and I tend to delegate each one to different purposes.

I picked this 20g 870 Express up at a local gun show for $125. It had a badly damaged barrel, looked like someone drug it on the pavement behind a truck!

I picked up both barrels on sale on-line and got the scope on sale locally at Dicks sporting goods. I got the stock from Midway.

I have $140 in the cantilevered barrel, $60 in the synthetic stock, $80 in the smooth bore barrel and $140 in the Nikon Omega.

I sent the original bridged "field barrel" to Mike Orlin and had it repaired and now use it on one of my other 870's
 
Model 12-
And you're always quick to jump in with ill-informed opinions.
My "nit-picking" should be educational for you. Sorry if you take it any other way.
 
Sorry Bill, most think of a shotgun with a rifled barrel as a "slug gun".

I don't know any other way to put it. We all know you're a genius though, so thank you for your frequent interjections and gracing us with your arcane knowledge. :rolleyes:
 
Bill is entirely correct, and stating the CORRECT history is not nit picking.

Several of the major shotgun makers made and sold "slug guns" LONG before rifled shotgun barrels became popular and common as they are today.

TODAY new "slug guns" generally have rifled barrels, as rifled barrels are more accurate with slug, but there were generations of slug guns, smoothbore, usually pumps, with rifle type sights. Bolt actions had their version too.

You can find them in the old catalogues, particularly Marlin and Savage/Stevens. I can clearly remember seeing them in those catalogues, but I can no longer recall if it was back in the 70s, or as recently as the 80s. :o

You can also find "Goose Guns" in those same catalogues. Extra long barrels, up to 36".

When shotgun designs reached the point of easily changeable barrels, dedicated slug guns fell out of favor, replaced with a slug barrel (with sights) easily turning your duck gun into a deer gun, and much cheaper than a separate gun.
 
I'm biting my tongue here...
Mod 12-
Genius? Maybe- but that really doesn't matter.
I'm smart enough to know to only post when I know that I'm right, unlike you.
If I see wrong information posted, I attempt to correct it. Some people actually appreciate it. I'm sorry you don't.
 
My view with how the original poster worded the question (related to shotguns)... slug gun shoots slugs, and a field gun shoots shot. [emoji41]

In regards to hunting shotguns, I own two Remington 11-87s. One I leave with a smoothbore barrel with removable choke tubes. Depending on how I'm hunting, I use it for deer and whatever bird is in season. At the worst, I can change its role with changing out a choke tube.

The other is my dedicated slug gun. 21" rifled barrel with a 1.75-5x scope on it. That is used when I'm sitting in a tree stand for deer (if I got a bear tag, I'd use it). Legality wise, I am not allowed to hunt with a shotgun that has a bead sight and have slugs in my possession (NJ law). If it has rifle sights or some type of optic, it is ok for slugs. That is pretty much why I separate the two, since it is distinct on which one I need for which role.

My 11-87s are both 3" guns, so if need be, I could swap barrels between either of them. My slug gun does have a slightly longer smooth barrel with choke tubs, and a smoothbore with rifle sights. Both sit in a silicon sock, in a separate container... as I don't need them.
 
I remember the ads for the Ithaca Deerslayer back in the 60s/70s, before the advent of rifled barrel sabots. Apparently, Ithaca determined that a highly polished cylinder bore shot the old rifled slugs more consistently.

The old "rifled slug" is nothing more than slanted grooves cut into the projectile which allowed it to be shot from choked barrels without causing excessive pressures.

Cylinder or Improved Cylinder choke was the general recommendation for the barrel. My 870 Remington has the rem-choke setup, and after experimenting with the different choke tubes, found that it liked a modified choke for Remington slugs.

The advent of the rifled barrel makes much better accuracy and range. Don't know if they still make them, but for a while you could buy a rifled screw in choke tube for your smoothbore. Never tried those.....
 
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