I'm planning my first deer hunt in a shotgun only state this year. I've bought the 12 ga. rifled remington barrel and scope for my Model 870. I have the lee mold for slugs and have loaded a bunch just to practice with. I'm fiquiring on buying a selection of different slugs to try. I'm aware of Dixie slugs and may order some. I guess I'm looking for advice from anybody with experience shooting deer with slugs. What kind of accuracy can I expect and what is a reasonable max range? Does anyone hunt with their own cast Lee or Lyman slugs?? Are they effective?

I'm sorry I put this in the wrong forum! I hope somebody knows how to move it!

Shotguns are KISS weapons. But you have to load test just like a rifle. My personal best with my shotgun with a rifled barrel and scope at 100 yards is 1.4 inches I average in the 3-3.5 inch range. I will admit that i think the 1.4 inch group was a fluke. My personal opinion a shot gun is a close range weapon 100 to 125 yards depending on load and your capabilities. I have personaly witnessed a few of my buddies take shots and harvest game out to 175-200 yards but they have impressive skills and know there shotguns!! Know your range. Make sure your load is minuit of critter your are hunting for your range. I tend to leave the riffled scoped barrel at home and bring my 18 inch smooth bore with brenneke sluggs into the woods. Most of the hunting i do is at realy close ranges usually under 50 yards and in thick bushes trees and swamps in florida. I preffer a beed sight or rifle sights for this kind of hunting. My longest shot taken where I harvested game with a shot gun was just over 82 yards and it was with a Brenneke slug and my smooth barrell. I actually though it was a lot closer untill I mesured it with a Garmen Rhino GPS. The Hog did a bang flop. Both shoulders broken. Had I realized it was that far I probably would not have taken the shot because 50 yards was the furthest I had shot this settup before. I would have tried to get closer. My prefferd hunting weapon is my Marlin 1895G in .45-70 but it is scoped with a low mount. I brough it to the swamp to go hunting and I fell into the muck the rifle came with me I tried to twist and roll on my back keeping my rifle out of the muck but it cam in also. That crap was like glue it got all over my scope. I tried to douse it in watter from the river but could not get a clear sight picture and that crap was hard to get off in the field. The truck was not far away and I had an allen key set in the tool box the scope cam off and I paced off what I though was 50 yards and tried to shoot a can figgured if I could hit the can I could hammer a critter at close range big mistake I fired 3 rounds then realized i never sighted in the iron sights!! and i only had 4 rounds left so I jumped in the creek and as much of the muck off me and when home. From now on the beed sighted shotgun goes to the swamps!!

When I was in shotgun-only areas, I have used just smoothbores, so I can't really comment on rifled barrels. I can tell you that when you load the LEE slug, put a hard card wad in the shotcup under the slug. I cut the wads out of hard gasket material, a 20 gauge card would probably work just as well. If the card isn't used, sometimes the wad will hang op with the slug. This produces some pretty terrible accuracy.

DC

I use Remington Buckhammer sabot slugs in my 20 gauge Browning Gold Deer Hunter and receive great accuracy.

I have the 870 deer gun with a 20 inch rifled barrel . I would stay away from the dixie slugs for deer though unless you want to bring it home in pieces . They are great for grizzly , water buffalo and large boars . The Hasting sabot slugs have worked the best in mine , very accurate . Cloverleaf patterns at 100 yards and fist size patterns at 150 yards . http://slugsrus.com/

Thanks guys for the advice and I have another Question. For deer is there any advantage to using 3" slugs instead of 2 3/4"? I haven't shot any 3" but after shooting the 2 3/4" I can't imagine they are fun to shoot! Thanks

I have the 870 deer gun with a 20 inch rifled barrel . I would stay away from the dixie slugs for deer though unless you want to bring it home in pieces . They are great for grizzly , water buffalo and large boars . The Hasting sabot slugs have worked the best in mine , very accurate . Cloverleaf patterns at 100 yards and fist size patterns at 150 yards .

Dixie Slugs reality: .73 hole in and .73 hole out. From any angle. You only need to "...bring it home in pieces" if your ice chest is too small!

Igloo 172 Quart Ice Chests are standard deer hunting equipment in LA -that's Lower Alabama for the uninformed.

I must say I get amused at some of the comments like ..if you use Dixies;, you will bring your deer home in pieces?...where did that come from? From use?
While our ammo is poweful, I have yet to see a deer blown up with it! It my come as a surprise to the uninformed, but a dead soft Foster slug, or one of the pistol type bullets is a sabot....will cause more blood-shot meat than a Dixie.
What can I say, when most of these adverse comments are pure speculation and posted by shooters that have never shot anything with a Dixie?
Regards, James

I must say I get amused at some of the comments like ..if you use Dixies;, you will bring your deer home in pieces?...where did that come from? From use?
While our ammo is poweful, I have yet to see a deer blown up with it! It my come as a surprise to the uninformed, but a dead soft Foster slug, or one of the pistol type bullets is a sabot....will cause more blood-shot meat than a Dixie.
What can I say, when most of these adverse comments are pure speculation and posted by shooters that have never shot anything with a Dixie?
Regards, James

Same as the comments from some who have never shot game with a large bore magnum rifle (such as the .375 H&H) where the meat damage from the tough bullet is much less than that from a faster small bullet from something like a 7mm mag.

I don't currently hunt where shotguns are required, but had the opportunity to work at a deer check station about forty years ago at an army base on "doe day" where slugs were required. Only Foster slugs were available back then and I agree with the extensive meat loss caused by them. Are Dixie slugs available in 20 gauge? I couldn't find them on Dixie's web page.

Thanks guys for the advice and I have another Question. For deer is there any advantage to using 3" slugs instead of 2 3/4"? I haven't shot any 3" but after shooting the 2 3/4" I can't imagine they are fun to shoot! Thanks

There is really no advantage to using 3" slug loads. If your shotgun is shooting & grouping well with regular 2 3/4" shells why switch? I would think the 3" loads would have greater recoil too.

I just got a hold of the Lyman 525gr Sabot slug mold. It has suggested loads etc but does not say what is the best alloy for the slugs. I'm tempted to try my #2 alloy but maybe pure lead is better? Anybody casting these slugs??

Let's talk a minute about casting/using hard alloy (and even heat treating)!
The reason for using pure lead is they will swage down in choked barrels!
Now...If you cast and heat treat there are some things you need to do! First of all mike (very careful) the choke of you gun...that's has to be where to start, Then mike the diameter of the slug (cast from your hard alloy). Divide the difference by two (2)....that's the max thickness of one wad petal! And you will be better off if there is no ridge inside the petal!
We like, in 12 bore, the Federal 12S3 (with 20 ga nitros to adjust the crimp index). Otherwords, the total diameter of the slug and two wad petal thicknes must not be larger the the diameter of your choke!
If you follow this simple rule, you are home free. Start with the same powder type/weight for an equal weight of shot. There is less sidewall pressure with the slug load than with shot...which means less pressure and in many cases more velocity. Both the Lyman Hourglass and the Lee Key slug work nice if you fooleow the rule I ststed about the relationship of the choke and total diameter of the slug and wad petals. If you go bigger, the hard slug will cut the petals...no accuracy indeed!
Regards, James

Mr. Gates, Thank You very much ! I will follow your advice and see how I make out. I'm looking for an economical way to learn slug hunting for deer and I think you have pointed me in the right direction. Thanks again.
Mike B.

Mike....When the rifled shotgun barrels came out, they were aimed at Shotgun-Only-States....Then the real brush shooters found that they work very good thowing full bore solids.....just like big solid handgun bullets.
The fellows in Shotgun-Only-States are trying for centerfire rifle distances, with mixed results. Now that maiy of those states are allowing In-Line ML's the situation is changing somewhat.
What Dixie has found is there is a fast growing interest in ultra bore guns, namely 12 and 20 bore!
Down South, the fellows like switch barrel guns....one frame and extra barrels....everything for little birds to bears/hogs!
Regards, James

I get a big kick of the 'meat damage' stuff. Unless you are worried about a few ribs or the heart it don't matter as long as the bullet goes in one side of the rib cage and out the other side.:confused:
If you shot them in the a$$ you will have meat damage reguardless of what expanding bullet or caliber you use.:eek:

Hey ,

In all fairnes to " Ralph Mclaney " .. !

Quote:" Dixie Slugs reality: .73 hole in and .73 hole out. From any angle.
You only need to "...bring it home in pieces" if your ice chest is too small!
Igloo 172 Quart Ice Chests are standard deer hunting equipment in LA -that's Lower Alabama for the uninformed. "


I read the post & concluded the following !!

" Dixie Slugs reality; One Big hole in & One Big Hole Out . From any angle.

You would only need to ... " figure out how to butcher it into smaller pieces ".. if your ice chest is too small


http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j161/A-PAPI/IMG_1136_edited.jpg
Remington 870 w/ Hastings Rifled Barrel, Leupold 1-4x20 Scope.
The " Dixie Slugs " are what " I " would use for any Large Game in North American / Canada: " * DEER, BOAR , ELK , BEAR, BISON *".

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j161/A-PAPI/IMG_1172_edited.jpg
Dixie Terminator : Slug / Bullet : 730 gr.
Dixie Predator : (No longer in Production); 600 gr.
Dixie Tusker : Slug / Bullet ; 600 gr.
Winchester : 1 oz Slug


http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j161/A-PAPI/chupacabra_11.jpg
I might also use them when I'm out Hunting, late at night ?
" Chupacabra's " :eek:

PAPI

Mike....When the rifled shotgun barrels came out, they were aimed at Shotgun-Only-States....Then the real brush shooters found that they work very good thowing full bore solids.....just like big solid handgun bullets.
The fellows in Shotgun-Only-States are trying for centerfire rifle distances, with mixed results. Now that maiy of those states are allowing In-Line ML's the situation is changing somewhat.
What Dixie has found is there is a fast growing interest in ultra bore guns, namely 12 and 20 bore!
Down South, the fellows like switch barrel guns....one frame and extra barrels....everything for little birds to bears/hogs!
Regards, James

James, you've got my interest now. What are you calling an ultra bore gun?? I'm sorry, you can see I'm really not up to speed when it comes to shotgun slug shooting, but I learning from you and others. Thanks Mike B.

Well...when rifled barrels for shotguns came out...the term large bore rifles seem to classed as .375" to around 50 cal. What the dickens would you call one from .625" (20 bore) to .730" (12 bore)??? So..for the lack of something better, I coined them as Ultra Bores.
We have re-discovered what the Brits did a 100 years agoe with shotgun bores.....only have used modern components. I find it very interesting that they settled on a 12 bore 730" - 730 gr hard solid at 1000'/" when using blackpowder! Today, the Rag Writers would laugh at that velocity. Then when smokeless Cordite came along, the bumped the velocity uo to 1200'/". There were some 12 bore loads, in the 600 gr higher velocity range that H&H had around 1893 fore fully rifled barrels....we re-did that load in 12 bore with a 600 gr bullet to an honest 1500'/" from a 20" barrel...and it's a real killer on both ends (tough with any gun under about 8 pounds).
Now...the big confusion is tissue damage indeed. These big solids penetrate big time, but you can eat right up to the hole!
Regards, James

Thanks again! Mike B.

I am very new to shotguns and I am looking at the Rem 870 with a 23" rifled barrel with scope as well as a 28" smooth bore barrel. As I understand it, im pretty sure you can pretty much through anything down the smooth bore barrel as long as you stay withing the specs of the barrel. As far as the rifled barrel though, I am kind of confused as to the limitations of the ammo used. I was recommended the Rem. Copper solid sabot slug. Looking around at the prices of these, they look pretty pricey compared to other ammo for the smooth bore. I would like to use quality when actually hunting but what about just practicing? Is there a cheaper alternative for the rifled barrel?

Thanks in advance for the help

The last time I looked, Slug R Us had some rifled Remington 870 barrels with scope bases at a very good price. We bought one as did a couple friends.
Now...Let's talk about rifled barrels, Hasting in particular. They have a 1 in 34" twist - .716" lands - 727" grooves....and are the best quality we have found. They will shoot sabot rounds and full bore ammo.
It all depends on what you hunt and where you hunt...as far as what to shoot! There is a basic problem you will run into on a slug shooting forum...they are trying to make long range rifles out of shotguns with rifled barrels. Take some of the groups that are posted with a grain of salt indeeed! As I see it...there's more concern with flatter trajectory, than bullet performance on game...which I consider of prime importance!
Yes, all ammo for rifled barrels is expensive...because it does not work good being loaded on the fast loading machines that are used for general shotshells...there is a lot of old time hand work involved. Most any of the sabot loads are good for thin skin game like deer...but when you move up to big hogs and larger game...best go with a good full bore solid.
Contrary to what you will be told by those in Shotgun-Only-States...there is a growing interest in rifled barrels where heavy cover and fast shots are the norm.....and the game runs on the large side...and in states other than Shotgun-Only-States!
I consider the limits for a good rifled barrel/ammo to be 100 honest yards...very seldon seen in heavy cover indeed! Any load/gun combo that will keep all the shots inside of 10" kill zone, with field shooting positions, is a real meat getter! So...decide what and where you plan to hunt.and then pick your ammo to fit the situation.
Regards, James