Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Shotgun rifled / slug opinions

Bet one can fire a second shot from an 11-87 faster than from a muzzleloader... While the first shot should absolutely be the only one that counts, it's nice having options.

Indiana is legal for rifles as of last firearms season. Limitation is on cartridge case length. Complete listing of legal cartridges on Indiana DNR site. This is something they should have done back in the days of Foster slugs. Those Foster slugs are very richochet prone.

While shotgun slugs are more richochet prne, the manufacters have made good strides with introduction of the new slugs to eliminate much that problem. Many of the better slugs these days are merely pistol, or redesigned pistol bullets. And the power performance arena somewhere in the .44 mag to intermediate 45/70 performance perimenter.

I hunted with the 77/44 & .500 S.W. last season.

Availability of shotgun ammo might be a problem. I know it is hard to find the brand and type you want and sighted in with here, especially when deer season comes around.

Shaman got to disagree. Had too many of those old Foster whistle and buzz overhead or by me. Often hearing them richochet more than one direction. The new slugs are better, mostly because they are pistol bullets and/or a redesign of same as mentioned above.

Given that's it's legal to hunt with a rifle where he's looking to hunt, I can't see handicapping myself with a slug-gun on purpose.

If I had to, I'd take the ML over the slug gun for deer, time and time again.

That said, it's his money......

Yep, can totally agree that the newer pistol bullet loaded "slug" ammo is better, by leaps and damned bounds over the the old fosters....likely the reason I can stand to let the wife use her 20 gauge. that, and it's just easier for her than a ML.

BUT, even though the new slugs are more accurate, have more killitude, less likely to ricochet, and have a longer effective range....there are still downfalls with them.

1.)They are wicked more expensive and NOT everyone is going to buy them for that reason....

2.)They pretty much require a rifled barrel and a scope to make any kind of difference over fosters....

Even though WE here may all agree that the new slugs are better, NOT EVERYONE is going to buy them just for those two reasons. There are tons of guys in the woods in shotgun areas that ONLY buy foster slugs because they are cheaper, and, because why should they feel compelled to buy a new rifled barrel gun or a scope when the old sinle beaded bird gun has worked since Grandpappy's days?

That all skews the ricochet safety factor quite a bit, almost as if saboted slugs didn't exist at all.....and whistling slugs are pretty much common place in a shotgun only area. Probably why I grab my rifle and head up the road to rifle country.

The use of shotguns also breeds the deer drive mentality. Without the precision of rifles everyone is kinda forced in some way to gang up at some point and stomp deer like rabbits....producing in my opinion a way too unsafe atmosphere in the woods and fields. Have done it myself and have seen my share of 'too close". The last close call for me was about 18 years ago......

Have seen that style and attitude change as soon as rifles were allowed in several counties here. One county in particular was well known for deer driving, just about everyone did it right from legal light on opening day. And it was a freakin' war zone to put it mildly. When all of a sudden rifle were allowed, most of those people took a rifle and went still hunting or sat in stands. The same number of kills were happening but with far less shooting going on.

Rifles instantly made that county a safer county to hunt in.....

I will not buy the "shotguns are safer" thing, they just aren't, because human stupity and ignorance doesn't make them that way, and, there's enough proven evidence that slugs will likely ricochet and rifle bullets will more likely bury in a tree or the ground rather than ricocheting.....

Anyone who has ever shot steel with a CF knows about the lead splatter all around in front of the target about 2 feet out, there's no bouncing bullets seen skipping up little dust clouds off to the sides or coming back at you. I've seen foster slugs shot at swinging steel just once, and that was down right enlightening.........

Exactly...........

Thanks again for all the feedback. All in all, a lot of stuff for me to consider. The general opinion about the forster slugs buzzing around is good to hear. I looked into slug prices over the weekend. WOW. That's about all that needs to be said.

'Zactly.

Far more expensive; far less accuracy; far less range; far less "safe".....

I'd take a .223AI/TSX combo over a 12 gauge mag, ANY day.......

Can't disagree with that....

And given that such a combo is even legal in NC to hunt deer with, it'd be a no-brainer.....

A friend wanted to bring his new brother-in-law to WI northwoods for the deer opener and, and asked if could I find a suitable spot to place him.(WI north woods is rifle-legal) Well, brother-in-law shows up the night before the hunt with an 11-87 and no scope. He spent a pretty cold and fruitless first day overlooking a clearcut... Did manage to get a super buck chasing a doe across the clearcut at about 250 yards.................with his camcorder.....

Always use the right tools for the job.

I have hunted with a 11-87 12 ga. slug gun with the 21" rifled barrel, ATEC 2.8x10x44. I mainly use it in heavy cover with shots 75 yds or closer. The gun I have shoots Winchester PG 385 GR 3" shells into 2.5" groups at 100 yds. I have used the gun for about 5 years and like it. I'm considering putting it away and going to a 30-30 instead. The main reason is the recoil is wearing on me more than it used to and second the ammo is 20.00 for 5 rounds. I would have to agree with the posts from the guys that using a rifle would be better choice. If I had it to do over again I would have got the 30-30 over my slug gun in the first place. However I'm not going to kick it to the curb just yet, it might come in handy if NC changes some counties to shotgun only. There is a rumor going around that some of the central counties and some eastern counties will be shotgun only in the next 5 years.

then should all shot gun hunting w/slugs be banned? every gun has a purpose! ...same could be said about going too light,
ie .223ai... seen to many deer go too far w/.243, w/no blood trail (EVENTUALY died). yes there are better guns for the job but if you know your target why limmit ones self, we'er talking close range. slow, heavy, big dumps em in the dirt every time. 30-30 camp fire FRIEND!

Anyone shoot rifled slugs in a rifled barrel? Have a friend that says they are more accurate in his Mossberg 500...and they are cheap. Don't know if they can hurt the barrel..or pressure issues?

art

Back in the day I ran the Foster type slugs through a rifled tube on an 870 as sabot's were just coming into their own. For test purposes, I cut a handful of different manufacturers slugs apart to determine which product was the largest and would obvious "take" to the rifling better. (yes, even at 15 I had an accuracy "addiction") The Winchester's were the largest and the only slug that did not drop completely through the barrel when I slid them - they were, by far, the most accurate. They were also a beeeeotch to stand behind when shooting off of the bench....

SKane, that was a funny post..."yes, even at 15 I had an accuracy addiction." One thing that comes out in the post I have viewed and participated in, is how serious hunters and shooters take our sport. That is great!

Thought about using a 30-30. I bought a used several years ago, and shot all summer with it. I liked the round, but not the lever action. I kept coming back to my bolt action, and ended up parting ways with that Marlin.

How about a 35 Remington in a 7600?

That would be an interesting combo. To be honest, I didn't know about that chambering in a 7600.

It is one very slick combo. Action is nearly identical to the 870 Remington pump shotgun, and in the hand, it feels nearly identical as well.

The .35 Rem gives you better than .30-30 performance, but less than .30-30 recoil in the heavy 7600.

Accuracy is surprisingly good, on average, and it's about as finicky to feed as a fat kid at a buffet....