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What shotgun/barrel combo have worked best?

I hunt on a Army base that went lead free several years ago and early on there was only limited makers of lead free slugs.
I purchased a Savage bolt action 12 ga. (first year they came out) it would not cycle Federal rounds. I tried a Mossberg rifled barrel on my 535 that was sort of accurate but not great.

It has been a couple of years so I am ready to try a new combo so I am researching before buying this time.

I used an 870 special purpose 12 gauge with the rifled choke when I was in Michigan, and never had a problem with it.

Used either Remington slugs or brennekes.

I have a Remington 870 with the factory fully rifled barrel, it has proven to be a good shooter with 2 3/4" Federal classics, I had the receiver tapped & drilled for a conventional shotgun scope. I took 2 shots at a doe @ 154 paces,both slugs landed 1 1/2" apart, in the vitals, 2nd shot wasn't needed, several other deer, but much closer.It works very well for me,and it didn't break the bank.

RWE,

Thanks! After your post I did a search and found many positive reviews for Carlson choke tubes, I called Carlson and was told the trick is to make sure to use ammo that is 1650 fps or faster and the faster the better. For $40 bucks I am going to try one my on in my Mossberg 535.

Getting a 870 was my original thoughts and will try that route if the Carlson choke tube doesn't work well with my gun.

My family has had good luck with Hastings cantilevered barrels on both Rems and Mossy's. Good luck!

I grew up hunting with a 870 w cylinder bore and had good success on short shots in the thick brush of southern Il. Several years ago I bought a H&R ultra slug hunter (20g) fitted with a Hastings barrel. I have been impressed with this set up and have used a wide selection of slugs. My outfit is chambered for 3.5" shells made by Hastings and will put 3 in a 1.5 " @ 100yrds if I do my part, better with 3" shells which are more pleasant to shoot. If I would have known about savage 220 in LH I would have done that instead but I will likely never need another slug gun.

remmy with a hastings BBL and Barnes.

Savage 220 with Barnes tipped. Super accurate, great deer killer.

4 different one's while I lived in Indiana.

Best was the Xtrema II w/ a rifled slug barrel and the Remington copper slugs. 3 shots under an inch.
Next was the H&R heavy barrel 12. 3" groups with that one with brenneke and remingtons
third was the 1100 with a Hastings barrel and several different loads. Mostly a 3-4" groupings
Worst one of the bunch was an old Benelli M190 slugger. 5-6" groups no matter what I put down the barrel.

NEF single shot fully rifled barrel. It was very inexpensive and shot well.

Ithaca 87 deer slayer II with Winchester sabots ,that's what I used to hunt with in shotgun only areas

The only way to go is savage 212/220 bolt action with the leupold utlitmate slam scope. best slug gun for the money mine is deadly accurate to 200yds thats as far as i have shot it.

o and for the rifled slugs choice is remington accu tips with barnes expanders in second dont waste time or money on the other wizz bang rifled slugs or you will spend time tracking wounded deer...

your Savage bolt action 12 ga is almost always one of the more accurate guns listed in most rifled barrel shot gun tests , so Id suggest trying a few more different loads or hand loads, rather than spending money on a new gun
my savage likes the winchester sabot slugs but those are lead

never shot anything but lead but love the old ithaca 37's and the rem 870 is another i've used bought a hastings cantilever for it and then the state finally switched to rifle.

Try the carlson choke

LH Savage 220 with Federal slugs. Deadly. Absolutely deadly.

The H&R single shot slug guns are very accurate. For a repeater the Savage 220 in 20 gauge is all the slug gun you will need.

Doc

I have a Rem 1100 with a Hastings cantilever barrel with a mag extension and a Burris 4x scope (it lives in Iowa, I live in Florida). It is deadly accurate with Hastings slugs which are not made anymore, but I still have a few. I wouldn't change a thing about this rig.

it kilt this one......