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I got a remington 870 cantilever 12 gauge rifled slug barrel to try the local slug hunting and started sighting it in.

I'm using the "start with the cheapest slug" and try them until I find one that works. Cheap sabot slugs start at $6.70 for 5 and get real expensive fast!
So far I've tried cheap 2.75 federal and hornady sst and getting 5-6 inch-ish groups at 100 yard.


I know every gun has what its preference, but I'll poll the crowd to see if they have a preferred load for this common shotgun.

Plus save expense and my shoulder too. ;-)

Throw me out suggestions


Other than that, How was the show Mrs. Lincoln?
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I have had good luck with Lightfield 2 3/4 " both accuracy wise and terminally.

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I'm more a M-L guy when it comes to a 'restricted area', but shotgun slugs don't seem to shoot as well as a tuned centerfire rifle. By tuned I mean the whole setup, sights, scope, trigger, ammo, etc are usually a few steps behind CF performance.

If you cut your groups below an honest 4" at 100 yards, I would hunt with it. I sight in my Gold 12 ga with a Hastings barrel as backup for my IL hunt, but I hardly stray from my Knight Elite. My buddy has used it more than me, but I did take one deer with it.

I don't spend an excessive amount of time with my slug gun, since I hardly use it. I've mostly used Hornady SST slugs at 75 yards. I did a 'shoot off' just last year with the Gold against the Knight, the Knight handily won.

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Remington copper sabot 2.75" 1 oz

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My suggestion is to borrow a muzzle loader! lol.

Shooting 12ga slugs sucks. At 5-6" at 100 will kill every deer that walks.


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I burned up probably $300 worth of slugs over 10 years ago. Link to my post a about it here:
https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/360390/Re:_Slug_guns_and_accuracy#Post360390

Gist of it was, my gun LOVES the now dicontinued Remington Buckhammers. Fortunately, I secured a lifetime supply. 2nd best were Remington Copper Solids at 3.5" 100 yards.

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Originally Posted by bhemry
... Gist of it was, my gun LOVES the now dicontinued Remington Buckhammers. Fortunately, I secured a lifetime supply...


And, as an added bonus, you will have clear sinuses (albeit you will have snot everywhere), and you will be able to applaud behind your back with your shoulder blades - worst kicking things that I have come across. smile


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My son has an 870 Express with an after-market rifled barrel made by Mossberg. It is the least finicky slug gun that I have ever seen.


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OP here:

I should add my barrel is the 870 express 12 ga version mated with a 870 express.


Other than that, How was the show Mrs. Lincoln?
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Should also point out: once you have found a slug that gives acceptable performance - QUIT! You can dislodge your retinas and go deeply into debt searching for something that is marginally "better".


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My Remington 11-87 likes the discontinued Federal Sabots that look like an hour glass, P154 SS, my gun has a rifled choke tube and shoots pretty good, 3" at 100 yards, luckily I bought 20 packs here on the Fire. My father has the same gun and he put a fully rifled barrel on it and with the same slugs shoots about a 1/2" tighter. Most guys I know shoot Lightfields or Remington Copper Solids. I've heard good things about the Hornady and Federal Fusion slugs. Good luck, it took me 60 rounds (12 5 packs)to find the right one!

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Quote
worst kicking things that I have come across. smile


Oh, I shot some 3" magnums with heavier than 1 oz slugs that kicked far harder than Buckhammers in all that testing!

As an aside, I always wanted to try a 10 gauge slug on a deer too. I came across a used H&R 10 gauge in pristine condition with the 36" barrel for $100 and ran a box of 5 slugs through it. 3 1/2" magnums with a 1 3/4 ounce slug. Now that kicked something fierce! Unfortunately, it did about a 2' pattern at 50 yards and hurt like the dickens even wearing a PAST pad shooting it, so I immediately gave up on that idea.

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I got lucky. My little Mossberg 500 with a ported, rifled cantilever barrel likes the Hornandy SST's. I'll try a different brand each year, but this little 20 gauge is shootin 1 1/4 inch groups off the bags at 100 yards. 'Don't know how much more than that I can expect from it.


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I feel sorry for the guys that have to shoot the premium stuff. Some of those slugs are over $5.00 a shot. Heck, that's like buying elephant ammo!


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I have shot, and hated, slugs for the past 15 years. But SSTs have been the most accurate of the bunches I have tried in many guns.


"You know why nobody panic buys 30-06 ammo? ... Because men with 30-06's don't panic"
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Quote
I feel sorry for the guys that have to shoot the premium stuff. Some of those slugs are over $5.00 a shot. Heck, that's like buying elephant ammo!


Well, we got lucky here in OH a few years ago when they legalized pistol cartridge rifles. I've only shot my slug gun a few times since, and that was to confirm that it was still on in case I needed a backup. Easier on the shoulder and the wallet!

And from what I've learned over the years about slug guns, if I were starting from scratch, I'd go 20 gauge and buy the Savage stainless bolt gun for much better accuracy and way less recoil. From some of the stuff I've read about them, they're measuring groups at 200 yards!

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Originally Posted by bhemry
Quote
I feel sorry for the guys that have to shoot the premium stuff. Some of those slugs are over $5.00 a shot. Heck, that's like buying elephant ammo!


Well, we got lucky here in OH a few years ago when they legalized pistol cartridge rifles. I've only shot my slug gun a few times since, and that was to confirm that it was still on in case I needed a backup. Easier on the shoulder and the wallet!

And from what I've learned over the years about slug guns, if I were starting from scratch, I'd go 20 gauge and buy the Savage stainless bolt gun for much better accuracy and way less recoil. From some of the stuff I've read about them, they're measuring groups at 200 yards!
I grew up in the Youngstown area before moving up here to Minnesota. At the time, rifled slug barrels were still illegal in Ohio, so I had set u an 870 with a smoothbore slug barrel, which necessitated shooting Foster style rifled slugs. Man, was that thing painful to shoot! I wanted more accuracy, so I had the barrel permanently mounted to the frame and the receiver drilled and tapped for a Leupold base and rings. It made the gun quite accurate, but still didn't do anything for the walloping recoil.

When I slug hunt now, it's with a little 20 gauge Mossberg with a cantilevered rifled ported barrel and saboted slugs. What a difference. The rifled barrels shure make a huge difference, and the porting helps immensely. The cantilever mounting system still allows the gun to be switched from upland use to deer hunting without sacrificing accuracy.


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The Hornady SST shoot great in my 12ga 870. I bought a TC Prohunter in 20ga but haven't fired it yet.

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A shoulder injury forced me to use my Beretta 391 with slugs last year instead of my Ithaca. Other than the extra weight, all positive! I am using a rifled barrel, Winchester 2 3/4 BRI Sabots @ 1350fps. Very tight groups out to 100yds, and manageable recoil.

A fellow with lots of slug shooting experience stated to me that shooting too high velocity slugs with rifled barrels are a problem for accuracy. Proved his theory in my shotgun!

That said, I would look at a new muzzleloader if that was an option. Boy are they accurate!

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OP again:

How often do you have to clean the barel to reduce plastic build up?

More slugs: I have some winchester slugs (based on co-worker recommendation) and federal premiums to try on the next round. They are starting to approach the $3 a pull cost after that. May drop back to the hornady sst's if no clear winner comes out and its seems like a popular on in the poll.

The 1500 FPS federals were not bad, but I could here the splat on the paper making me wonder how much knock down they still had.

Last edited by humdinger; 08/31/16.

Other than that, How was the show Mrs. Lincoln?
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