Slug guns

All you slug gunners out there, talk to me about hunting deer with slugs. I am finally getting around to reviving my granddaddys remington 1100 12 gauge (interceptor spring/latch broken, wouldnt shoot more than one at a time so i retired it for a while) and i am wanting to put a fully rifled slug barrel on it for deer. Planning on getting one with rifle sights, and also possibly using a scope on it (ive got a weaver s3 quick detach mount i got on a trade years ago, works for 1100/1187/870s) i have no clue what im getting into i have always hunted with rifles or buckshot. I have no clue how sabot slugs behave, how well the scope mount works (if anybody has any experience with this type of mount), what scopes work best, what ammo works best, what kind of range should i limit myself to, etc etc. i am all ears rigt now so talk all you want about slug guns

You gun will tell you how far you can get out of it with a particular type. Some of those old 1100's with rifled barrels would do real good if you hit on the right combo. It is just trial and error. I would go with a cantilever barrel since you are buying a barrel though.

You will be shocked at how hard a slug hits a deer at 100+ yards. I could not believe the damage that was done. I feel confident to 150 yards with mine and still hunt with it a lot. I have an older Mossberg with a 24" rifled barrel and a Nikon Slughunter scope. You do need to try different brands of slugs to see which one your gun likes best. Mine loves Hornady but my buddies newer Mossberg doesn't. And like was stated above, I would get a cantilever barrel so the scope is dedicated if you want to swap out.

I'd go with a cantilever as well. Throw in a LeadSled, or Tylenol for the sighting sessions. Slugs are rude...

Don't skimp on a scope either, because an inferior quality scope won't handle that recoil well. As with any other gun, find what it likes and feed it.

Only reason i was planning rifle sights and the weaver mount is so i can have a scope when i want and take it off for iron sights in the brush. Do cantilever mounts typically hold up good?

And i was lookin at a nikon slughunter. Might go with a redfield revolution though, the one on my 25-06 has held up great

JBGrizzley said:

And i was lookin at a nikon slughunter. Might go with a redfield revolution though, the one on my 25-06 has held up great

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There is a LOT of recoil difference in those 2 guns. Not putting down the Redfield at all but the Nikon is designed to handle it.

I have Redfield Revenge on my slug gun. It has been on there for several years and I would say probably 100 rounds have been fired through it. I shoot the heavy recoiling the stuff, too! The 385 grain slugs at around 1900 fps. Shot the slug your gun likes. I have shot somewhere around 100 deer with my slug gun, I liked the performance of the Hornady SST the least, when it encounters heavy bone at angles I have seen more than one deflected. I have not seen this with other slugs I have used such as the Federal Barnes, Win. Partition Gold or the Rem. Accu Tips. I will say I tried to set up a Rem. 11-87 with with a Hastings barrel w/cantilever mount the older Win. Partition Gold slug running 1950 fps broke the slide that the bolt rides on and the cantilever would not return to zero. I tried two different barrels and three different scopes. 100s of shots out of that shotgun. I gave up one that project. I fixed the slide mounted a saddle mount scope base and shot rifled slugs down the smooth bore barrel and it is accurate and sure death on a deer if you keep it under 75 yards. Now, I just use the rifle sights on that barrel with no scope. My dedicated slug gun in a Savage 210F bolt action that is the one that has taken the most deer and wear the Redfield. I primarily hunted with this gun for around 15 years and still do some now. It made me a believer. At the extreme distances of around 175 yards or so bullet exits have been lacking so I prefer to keep my shots under 150 yards. Under 100 yds. many of the shots are DRT. When Win. dropped the velocity on the Partition Gold slugs I moved top shooting the Rem. Accu-tip slugs I have been pleased with the results so far.

Good luck on your quest, hunting deer with slugs is very effective and I don't feel one bit under gunned in the woods.

I am a huge fan of Lightfields. They make deer DRT.

Welp. I like messing with the different. I have found a 28" stock bird barrel with an improved cly. Choke will stack rem slugger 1oz slugs at 75 yds with a scope.

kilerhamilton said:

Welp. I like messing with the different. I have found a 28" stock bird barrel with an improved cly. Choke will stack rem slugger 1oz slugs at 75 yds with a scope.

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My uncle used to do the same thing, but used truglo open sights that clipped on the rib... He could hit a pie plate at 100 every time...

I shoot an 870, fully rifled, iron sights. Farthest kill was 120yds and the Lightfield slammed him on his side stiff legged. That being said, put a cantilever barrel on that 1100, top it with a good red dot, feed it Lightfields, and you have my dream deer gun...

Here's my experience. Remington 870 with Hastings slug barrel with cantilever scope. I bought all the sabot slugs the store had for a sight in session. I had 3" and 2 3/4". The 3" would barely group on the paper and some of the slugs entered the target sideways making an hour glass tear. Once I finished with the 3" slugs I switched to the 2 3/4" and was able to stack them on top of each other at 50 yards. Apparently the 3" was sending them down the barrel too fast for the rifling and they were unstable in flight. Your mileage may vary.

I agree don't go cheap on the scope. I have an 870 slug gun and used an old Simmons scope I had. After about 20 shots the scope was done.

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snakeskinner said:

Here's my experience. Remington 870 with Hastings slug barrel with cantilever scope. I bought all the sabot slugs the store had for a sight in session. I had 3" and 2 3/4". The 3" would barely group on the paper and some of the slugs entered the target sideways making an hour glass tear. Once I finished with the 3" slugs I switched to the 2 3/4" and was able to stack them on top of each other at 50 yards. Apparently the 3" was sending them down the barrel too fast for the rifling and they were unstable in flight. Your mileage may vary.

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I have never gotten good groups with 3" slugs either

snakeskinner said:

Here's my experience. Remington 870 with Hastings slug barrel with cantilever scope. I bought all the sabot slugs the store had for a sight in session. I had 3" and 2 3/4". The 3" would barely group on the paper and some of the slugs entered the target sideways making an hour glass tear. Once I finished with the 3" slugs I switched to the 2 3/4" and was able to stack them on top of each other at 50 yards. Apparently the 3" was sending them down the barrel too fast for the rifling and they were unstable in flight. Your mileage may vary.

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Have to agree here as well... 2 3/4" is the way to go.

Another vote here for the cantilever mount. Get a good quality variable scope and then just dial it down for hunting in the thick. No need to remove the scope, and when you want to go bird or bunny hunting, just put the rifled barrel with the scope still attached in your gun cabinet. It will still be there next season and still be lined up. I used a Mossberg 500 for years with a cantilevered barrel and a 3x9 with no complaints, except the awful trigger pull, and the shape of the stock putting a knuckle into my nose. I now use a Mossberg 595 with a rifled barrel that shoots 100 yd moa groups with 2 3/4 Winchester supreme sabots. At 150 yds, I just put the horizontal line right on his backline and shoot his heart out, although over 100 yds, I seldom get an exit wound. I've had the same experience with the 3" loads as a lot of others. I can get a little more range out of them, but accuracy suffers, probably from moving too fast to stabilize One interesting note, I also have a Mossberg 595 smoothtbore. camoflauge "turkey gun" with a 3x9 and an open choke screwed in. At 75 yds with federal 1 oz sluggers, I get the same group as the rifled barrel at 100 yds. I have a buddy that goes on a hunt with me every year at Shearon Harris, and he grabs the smoothbore every time. He ALWAYS gets more meat that I do

Thanks yall. For those with the cantilever mount, what kind of rings do you prefer? Im looking at leupold prw rings currently. Will low rings clear on the cantilever mount ? Especially with a nikon scope seeing as they run the objective bell a few milimeters bigger than everybody else

I have a 42 mm objective on my Mossberg 500 with plenty of clearance

.....also use the low weaver quad-lock rings