Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Tar-hunt --deer slayer--savage slug gun?

tar-hunt is taking deposits on slug guns for 2900.00, deer slayers are 1300.00 and savage slugs are under 800.00. I want a slug gun and wondering what opinions are on these guns? Are each gun really worth the xtra$$$ as you step up?

I have owned Tar-Hunt, Savage 210, custom 11-87 and 870's. They all have the strong points but the Savage 210 shoots darn near as good as the Tar-Hunt at a faction the cost, but recoil is stout.

The custom 11-87 I has was a shooter too but feeding was an issue, got fixed but almost cost me a good buck.

I would be hard pressed to spend 3k on a Tar-Hunt, you can find them used for half that. They are a dam fine slug gun though, the best IMHO, but there the most money too....

I have killed a big truckload of deer with an older model scoped smoothbore Deerslayer over the past 30+ years. Out to 100 yards, I have complete confidence in it.

Tar-Hunts are supposed to be the cats azz, but man, $3000?!? Ouch!

Of the three, I'd have to go with the Deerslayer, but really don't think that it is a $1000 "upgrade" over my older deer killing machine.

Buy the savage.... remove the recoil pad... install a mercury recoil reducer. Replace the factory pad with a pachmyr. Recoil issue solved, same accuracy... less price.

Keep your eyes open for a Browning A-bolt slug gun with a fully rifled barrel (there were choked models too but they are not as good).
If you find one, you will not let it go without a fight.....

A big +1 on that Coldbore. I did the same for about 35 years with an old Ithaca 37 smoothbore Deerslayer. Shot it with iron sights as a kid, and when I could afford a scope, I scoped it. Passed it on to my son who is doing the same with it. This season, he took a large doe at 129 lasered yards, one shot bang flop. We have several other smoothbores that will do the same, all scoped of course.

I've been playing with slug guns both smoothbore and rifled barrel since the sixties. It's really not that difficult to tune a smoothbore with foster slugs and make it a 150 yard gun. And with foster slugs selling on sale for $1.99 a box, it's affordable to practice at that range if you need to convince yourself, LOL.

I think rifled barrels and sabot slugs are way overrated, unless you plan to consistently shoot at ranges from 150 to 250 yards, and it's going to break the bank to do much practicing at those ranges.

I distinctly remember, when Hastings first came out with their rifled barrels, and sabot slugs weren't even invented yet, how they touted Winchester foster slugs for best results in their barrels. But what REALLY caught my attention, was in their advertisements, they stressed how a rigidly mounted scope will increase your accuracy 350%. I realized what they were really telling me, was that if I had a rigidly mounted scope on my smoothbore sluggun, I didn't need their barrel.

That is what I did, I think its spot on.

Your right and I won't but these are bringing a $1500 to $1800 premium now for that I'd grab a savage 210 and drop it in a McMillan stock as they make one for the savage 210

Browning A-bolt fully rifled stock bedded and camo dipped

Nice looking Browning

For what it's worth, don't underestimate the old Mossberg 695 slug guns. I wanted a Browning or Tar-Hunt but couldn't justify the cost. I have two of the Mossbergs and they both shoot lights out with Federal Barnes Expanders. Both guns together cost me about the same as one Savage. Not pretty in the slightest but get the job done. I also recently picked up a used custom T/C Encore slug gun to give that a try.

I do a lot of rifle hunting but also live in a shotgun zone in PA. I have 3 sons so I've picked up a few dedicated slug guns over the years. I have a Browning A-Bolt, an Ithaca Deerslayer and a Benneli Super Black Eagle. I use them on different occasions for different reasons. If I'm gonna be in a stand all day, like during buck season, I'll usually take the Browning. If I have a couple of doe permits and want to meat hunt I'll usually take the Bennelli unless I'm with a bunch of guys and we are going to doing a lot of drives. My Ithaca is the short barrel version and it is real handy when you are crawling through the thick stuff. If you are the type that wants to or has the opportunity to really stack em up then you might find that a bolt is not for you. In shooting the breeze at my local gun store some of the counter guys say that is the number one reason given for guys coming in to trade or sell off their bolt guns, they want a pump or semi-auto to let the lead fly.