This early thread deserves a conclusion.

In the end I took a Savage 99 in .300 savage and a 12-gauge Benelli Super Black Eagle dedicated slug gun.

The night before at orientation, my outfitter said that if he had a choice, he'd take the Benelli, since it had a Zeiss scope on it and the sabot slugs I use are Winchester Partition Gold's that send a 385-grain 50 caliber partition slug down the barrel at 1,900 FPS. (this outclasses a most of 45-70 loads available). I'm sure the 180 grain Remington Core Lokt bullets would have been ok from the 99 but he said every year guys lose bears due to the lack of sign after the hit, so I took his advice.

I got a complete pass-through and the almost 300 lb. dry sow piled up in about 20 yards. This picture shows the exit side.

The slugs sure did the job and then some, but I keep wishing I used the 99.

[Linked Image from live.staticflickr.com]


"Somehow, the sound of a shotgun tends to cheer one up" -- Robert Ruark