Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Long range 12ga shells?

I have been shooting a savage model 212 with hornady sst slugs. The combo is a tac driver at 150 yds but is opening up quite a bit at 200. Has anyone found a round that is working better at the long range? I have tried a box of rem 3" acutips with similar results. These sst's claim to be the only 200 yard slug? Any info would be helpful. Thanks.

I have had good luck with the Federal Barnes expanders 2 3/4" 1900fps

I did try a box of the federal 3" expanders but was concerned with the 1oz weight and the large open hollow points for 200 yard flight. The sst has been the best so far but I'd like to tighten up the groups. They stack inside 2" at 100 but are about 12" at 200.

Here is a 5 shot 3" group at 200yds 2 3/4" Federal Barnes

Nice. Lookout mr white tail. What are you shooting?

Browning Abolt

Very nice. Do you know the rate of twist and length?

22" barrel I beleive its 1:32 twist

What scope are you using? You might be experiencing issues with parallax. If you are shooting at 200 yards, you want to use a rifle scope, not a shotgun scope. Shotgun scopes are typically adjusted to be paralax free at shorter range, say around 75 yards vs. 150 yards for a typical rifle scope.

It's a leupold ultimate slam 3x9 shotgun muzzle loader scope. I do not know the parallax but would hope it would be accurate at 200 as it has hold points for 200 250 and 300 yards? This is all very new to me. Thanks again for your input.

Try the 2 3/4" Federals ....I went thru just about evey brand and style the Federal Barnes were the only High velocity sabot to shoot well for me at that range....others were more accurate at 100yds but opened up quite a bit at 200yds....also mind your wind at 200yds it will really push a slug off it's mark

BTW my scope is a VX II 2x7

Wind drift is terrible with slugs and is probably a lot of the problem you`re having getting a group @ 200 yd. A 12ga Hornady with a 50 cal SST is rated at 2000 fps by the manufacture. Running that slug - BC=.200 - at rated speed with a 10 mph cross wind through a calculator shows a drift of 11.9" at 200 yd. With out flags, and knowing how to read them, the wind is going to play merry little games with your slug.

That makes a lot of sense. I didn't think there would be that drastic of an effect on a bullet that heavy. There was an inconsistent wind when I was shooting and I was off as much as 8 inches at times need a calmer day to recheck what's going on. Thanks for the insite and I will try those federals.

Yep anyone can hold over but the wind is the real Voodoo...The group I posted was shot just before dark on a calm day

Remember, the trajectory AND wind drift are both functions of time of flight. Neither is a function of the projectile weight!

If the slug starts out at 2000 fps, it has considerably more time in flight for the wind to push it off course than a slug started at, say, 3000 fps. This is true with similar ballistic coefficients. Typical rifle slugs often have greater ballistic coefficients, which means they shed velocity slower than do shotgun slugs. If they keep up their speed, they arrive sooner. These are a few reasons a shotgun slug will have more time in flight, and therefore more wind drift, than a typical rifle bullet.

Shot the 12ga Abolt today just to make sure all was good for this fall. Shot the Federal Barnes expanders 2 3/4" at 100yds and 200yds...they are not the tightest grouping but hold the group at 200yds without dropping off the table...For comparison I shot Remington 2 3/4" Buckhammers at 50yds and 100yds they group great but really drop quickly,I use them for hunting timber where my shots are likely to be 75yds or less

As a note I had a left to right 10 to 15 mph wind I had to account for today

Federal Barnes 2 3/4" @ 100yds


Federal Barnes 2 3/4" @ 200yds


Buckhammers @ 50yds (aim is at bull)


Buckhammers @ 100yds (aim is at bull)

That is a big difference. Im going to need to try several different slugs to see what groups the best for me. I will try the federals for sure! Thanks for all the info.

Drift is a function of drag, or BC.