Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Advice on a slug gun

It is frustrating because this makes slug guns even more expensive to shoot........ Reminds me I saw a couple boxes of those old copper solids in my stash the other day. They were WICKED and I remember Hastings putting out this big warning not to shoot them in their barrels

Yeah, sabots are going for about $5-7 a pop now... that is ridiculous for deer hunting ammo.

One thing no one ever seems to talk about with respect to rifled slug barrels is rate of twist. In fact, most manufacturers don't even advertise the rate of twist of their barrels, only that they are rifled. That leaves the owner to figure out what round fires best through trial and error, which can be both expensive and frustrating. But it seems to me that its as relevant as it is with a rifle if slug accuracy is important. When this thread started, I really had no idea why my Ithaca M37 and Savage 212 performed so wildly different with the same slugs. The light, short 300 gr SST slug printed all over the place out of my Ithace while in my Savage it was printing slightly over 1 inch groups at 100 yard. My Ithaca does a little better with Hornady American Whitetail 325 grain slugs and the Savagre a wee bit worse. My Ithaca shoots Remington 385 gr slugs very welll, and the Savage rerasonably well. I never really gave the rates of twist a thought. Not even when I got my Ithaca back from the Ithaca gunsmith who told me the gun was really meant for heavier slugs than I was using. Then I noticed the rates of twist between the Ithaca and the Savage were quite different: Ithaca 1:24, Savage 1:35. If you consider the what we know about rifle rates of twist and bullet weights, it makes sense what I was experiencing. My faster Ithaca will stabalize longer, heavier slugs and the slower Savage does better with shorter light slugs.

Just a thought. If you have a fast barrel, try a heavier longer, saboted slug. A slower twist, try a lighter shorter slug.

My old man had an oooold Hastings rifled barrel on a 20 gauge 870 way back when, and the twist was very fast. It was almost impossible to find a sabot it would shoot well.

It shot the old Brenneke tailed slugs terrific (as well as the Rem Buckhammers), but the lead fouling was absolutely horrible. I think it was probably intended to stabilize tailed and fosters, before sabots were common.

Guys I’ve probably shot every slug imaginable through that thing. The funny thing, is the Hornady slugs at one point were shooting great. Copper fouling maybe?

The bullet itself never touches the riflings, they're smaller than bore bullets in plastic sabot cups. If there's anything in the riflings, it would be plastic.

*added* unless you have shot old school foster or tail stabilized slugs through it. In that case, it is pretty much a guarantee you have some degree of lead fouling in the riflings.

If you've tried lead slugs in that gun and never scrubbed the lead out, then you'll have lead fouling in it. The soft lead slugs will quickly foul rifling and degrade accuracy. I recommend a very good scrubbing with a bronze brush and a something like Hoppes #9. Soft lead can be tenatious so a good scrubbing is needed.

The Hoppes tornado brushes have worked really well for getting lead fouling out of riflings for me, but it still takes a lot of elbow grease. Getting riflings de-leaded just flat out sucks.

Have you thought about a 45-70 or a 450 Bushmaster?

Here in illinois that isnt an option... yet... hoping with these slug prices that will be an option soon.

Savage 220 20gauge

......... That would be my first choice if I had to replace my current slug gun today. I've seen several 220's at the range and saw one harvest a big doe at about 90 yards and those things flat out shoot. But my current fully rifled 870 12 ga. is working good enough for me and I still have a lifetime supply of the 2.75" Winchester/ BRI sabot slugs that I purchased in quantity years ago annually until I realized it was probably more than I will ever use.

My Savage 220 with Accutips will do the job out to 150yds. Its expensive, but worth it.

Savage 220 with Remington accutips game over , get a scope with a BDC reticle and you can push well out to 250 yds

Savage 212 works well, and good sabot ammo is easier to find in 12 gauge than in 20. My 212 will hold an inch at 100 yards. The only issue with either the 220 or 212 is that they feel heavy when scoped and they are a pain to carry since the magazine juts out right at the balance point. Great stand guns. Getting them there is a chore. But when I hunt in this area, one of the few where I can get pretty long shots, out to 200 yards, its the only shotgun I have that can accurately reach out that far.

The Savages are great bolt guns. That is a nice view.

212s are great guns. The only reason the 220s are more desirable is they achieve equally impressive accuracy with less recoil. I don’t know about the bullet expansion past 150yds for either sabot.

As you pointed out, however, 12ga sabots are more available. They’re also more affordable. The Accutips and Barnes Expanders are obtainable. They just demand a premium price.

I don’t think you can go wrong with either one.