So this year of the 20 deer that we brought home, 14 were shot with shotguns. I am looking to invest in good scopes for my slug shotguns.

What are good shotgun scopes these days?

Would a SWFA 6x work on a slug gun?

Wait a minute....shotguns and slug guns ain't the same thing. You want to put a scope on a shotgun give some thought to a low power piece of simplicity like a Weaver K series (El Paso version) if your OK with artifacts. Or maybe a Leupold Compact of the same horsepower.

Slug Guns look like the pic below and use a different kind of scope. And they are muzzle loaders.



They were popular for target shooting a long time back.



And still are....

1-4,1.5-6, 2-7 or some thing Along those lines.
There was a monarch 2.5-8 on classifieds for cheap.
IMO..The Low power monarch are best bang for buck

There's a lot of 'em that'll work. If I were lookin' I'd put on a Steiner P4Xi 1-4x24.

And Doug has 'em for like $500 bucks.

https://www.steiner-optics.com/riflescopes/p4xi-1-4x24

I put a Weaver Grand slam 3-10x on the 12 gauge Mossberg 500 but I fear I may have broke that scope as it wont hold zero now.

The 20 gauge Handi rifle ultra slug barrel has a 3-9x buckmaster on it that seems to be holding up.

We have 5 12 ga shotguns with rifled barrels using scopes.
4 are Leupolds and none have failed. They are 1@ 2.5X 8
3@ 1X5 and 1@1X4
typical shots are within 100 yards
All of them were bought new at various times from the mid 1980s through
2005








2

old K3 or K2.5 Weavers work very well


Burris FF2 2x7 not bad

I used a $20 Simmons 2.5X shotgun scope on a Marlin Guide Gun for many years and many hundreds of heavy reloads at the range. I loved it as an aiming device. It had enormous eye relief and was incredibly easy to get behind. It never lost zero. I cut many sub-moa 100 yard groups with that little scope. I couldn't take advantage of the last 5 minutes of legal shooting light with it, but otherwise it was ideal. I have never used a scope that worked so naturally for me. Shooting with both eyes open was very instinctive.

Do I recommend a cheap Simmons? Only if you are guaranteed to get one like I had. The point of my contribution is that you won't need much magnification. You will appreciate generous eye relief and a forgiving eye box.

Most of our shots are between 100 and 200 yards. I think the farthest this year was 160.

I bought a red dot for my deer hunting shotgun but don't yet have it mounted. It will be that or a 1-4 scope for me. For close range I want a very quick one power and 4 is plenty for my practical shotgun range, even with a rifled barrel.

I used a Leupold 1.5x5 and a M8 4X on mine for out to 150 on my old 11-87. Worked well for my slug gun hunting.

A few good options would be:

Steiner P4Xi 1-4x24 - P3TR Illuminated

Athlon Argos BTR 1-4x24

I have the Nikon Prostaff Shotgun Hunter 2-7x32 BDC 200 - 4 Circle on my Savage 220f and I really like it.

These are great scopes. I have one on a AR I shoot in competition and I really like it.

I just bought an older Redfield 1x4---20mm from the classifieds here. It was made in Denver. I plan on putting it on my Remington 870. It's a smooth bore--imp cly. I'm good out to 75 yards maybe a bit farther. Where I hunt in Ohio----75 yards is a long shot.

All personal preference and what works for you, so their is really no right recommendation......
I own 4 scopes
One on a .45 cal Cva kodiak pro mag
One on a mod 70 ot6
One on a Sako customized 98K 8 mm mauser
One on a Savage 220

All the same exact thing.......
Same eye relief , same reticle.
They RTZ , HZ, and adjust per stated value and have good mid level glass.
3 of the 4 have been bought NIB on the classifieds here.
One for 135 , 125 and 165.
I am always looking for this model of scope.

If your stretching a shotgun to 200 yards I'd look at a Burris FF in 2-7 with a BDC ret. those slugs aren't the flattest shooting projectile.

I have that same scope on my Rem 870 slug gun.

Hard to beat the late model Weaver 4x or 6x. Leupold in the same if you just want to spend the money. I think the SWFA would be to big for a slug gun.

Renegade50, are they all sightron SII?

I am looking to stretch the range to 250-300 yards. I am looking at getting a Savage 220 for next year.

My main concern is the scope holding up. I had a UTG 4x on the 20 gauge for about 4 years before it crapped out.

Anyone dial for slugs? Got little slug zone antelope at 150 but more commonly 225ish...

Burris DropTine 2-7X35 on my 870


Mike

Leupold VX-1 2-7x33 Heavy Duplex on my Savage 220

I had a Vortex Diamondback 2-7 on my H&R Ultra Slug 20 ga. and it worked fine, but I replaced it with a Nikon 2-7 slug scope to put that Vortex on something else. Only issue I have with the Nikon is the crosshairs are a bit to thick for me. I prefer the thinner crosshairs that the Diamondback has.

I hunt on Fort Knox which requires shotgun or ML. Out of the 20 plus deer I have shot here, I never shot one past 100 yards, most were in the 30-60 yard range. Saying that, it would be interesting to put a SWFA 6x on my H&R Ultra Slug and testing it out. Local range goes out to 325 yards.

I think those Nikon Slug Hunter scopes are a pretty good value for the price. Better get them while you can now though since Nikon will no longer be making scopes.

A friend bought one of the Remington rifled 12 ga. barrels that came with the cantilever mount and a Remington scope. The scope didn't last long enough to even sight his 870 in. You can shake it and it rattles. He put an old Burris (American made) 3-9x on it, and has been very successful with it.
I would hope Remington dropped that scope set up!

Another option is the Leupold Ultimate Slam. It has a ballistic reticle and can be used for slugs or muzzleloader. VX-1 on my Savage 220 top and the Ultimate Slam on my Omega bottom.

Yes.
All Duplex reticle.
Had a SI 3- 9 x40 on a 20 gauge USH with the 1 pound weight bar taken outta the stock, put a sims pad on it to compensate.
Shot around 100 rds of the hastings lasar accurate 410 gr discarding sabot slugs thru it.
350 gr round 60 gr sabot 1600fps
Hard and i mean HARD recoiling gun.

Had it for about 4 yrs before i sold it.
Never lost zero.

Daughter hunted with it for 1 year shooting 250gr sst slugs and weight bar in it.



The SII,s are way better.
And for the price they cant be beat IMO.

My 8mm shooting 196 gr SPCE Sellior& Bellot at almost 2600 Fps has not lost zero.
Nor did it over the previous 2 yrs shooting 196gr ppu at 2250 to 2300 ish
That rifle probablly weighs 7.50 total w/ scope and 5 rds.
Not pleasant to shoot at the range.
The 220 with 3 inch accutips was a beast with the factory recoil pad
Sims pad and 12 oz of fishing sinkers stuffed in the butt stock with wally world bags helped its recoil alot and got its balance under the magizine better, IMO in factory config it was a little muzzle heavy.
Mod70ot6 probably around 8.25 pds decked out
Kodiak ml around 8.5 to 9ish

All SII 3-9X42, s
Fire a couple rds to confirm zero each year.

They are good scopes, just discontinued, but backed up with lifetime warranty.
Sightron will upgrade your replacement if need be.
Which i doubt would be ever needed.
Look for em on our classifieds.
Elsewhere people are asking 250 to 300 for em.
Buncha guys on here picked alot of em up from seirra trading post on clearance for 113 to 115 ish a year or so ago.
I waited too long, dragged my feet and they was gone..

Phillipine and Japanese Models
Buy each with confidence
I have 3 phillipine,s and 1 Japanese.


JMO....

6 deer been shot with my 220 with the 3 inch accutips this year.
4 by me
2 by a guy I brought into one of my spots( random act of kindness)
Left my 220 with him, gave him a quick class , carried his model 12 winchester bird gun with pumkin ball slugs in it to go gut out a buck i had shot earlier

Didnt get 75 100 yds away from him and he whacked 2 does with it.
LOL!!!
He then realized he needed ta upgrade to a 220 i think.

Lol!!!

The Sightron SII mentioned above is a great all-around scope.I use a Jap Weaver K4 on a Mossy500 12 slug-gun.Works fine for me...

You all remember back in the day 70,s and 80,s when alot of ius disdained japanese scopes.


Swfa SS scopes can trace their lineage back to Tasco of all companies........

Slumlord got an old school tasco mid to late 70,s AO scope on a real nice 6.5 x55 custom swedish mauser.
Might not be sexy, but it works.


LOL!!!

I run a Sightron Big Sky 2 6x42 on one and really like it. There is a bunch of eye relief and that's handy on a 12ga slug gun. The Leupold 6x36 would be a good option too.

I would likely go fixed power for simplicity and eye relief.

"stretch the range to 250-300 yards"

Really ?

I try to not shoot that far with a centrefire !

I found hitting a 16" gong at 150 was easier than petite antelope at 125! This was with an open sighted 870. After a few Elmer Fudd-like attempts I decided I should work on it for future years. Savage 220 sure is tempting.

Bushnell Banner 1.5-4.5x is a tough scope that no one can break for some reason. they just work

^^^^^^^ This !!!!!!!

We've had them on slug guns for years, both 12 and 20, and despite repeated beatings in the Lead Sled in addition to shooting deer, they have never failed.

They track true and that wide field of view makes it easy to get on a fast moving deer at 10 yards. Son shot a deer with one on his Ithaca 37 at 128 laserd yards.

All together we have 5 slug guns wearing the Bushnell Banner 1.5X4.5's and we wouldn't consider changing them.

Whatever rifle scope I had available at the moment. My slug guns currently wear a 2-7xa Redfield Wideview, 3-9x Burris Fullfield, 2-7x Nikon Prostaff, and a 1980's vintage, Philippines made 3-9x Tasco World Series scope. They have all been in place for at least 4 years and have survived at least 100 rounds each on their current home not to mention what the scopes formerly rested upon. I like a little bit of magnification as I hunt some areas with antler point restrictions and need to count times before shooting. Otherwise, I've used 4x and less scopes with satisfaction in the past.

One spot here is just an open field and another spot we hunt the most is prairie and coulees. The typical shot is 125-175 yards. We scare off 90% of the deer still hunting the coulees but still get deer.

I was looking at a couple hills that I could set up a blind and wait for the deer to come in but it would be at the longer range but the deer would not even know the hunter was there.

I have a Ithaca Deerslayer III in 12 gauge that has to be scoped. I plan on buying 2 Nikon Super Slug scopes both refurbished. They are sold and recommended by Ithaca Gun but I am not paying the website price for that Scope.

You won't regret it Boom! It's basically like cheating in the slug zones. lol

First two out of the box:



A little adjustment and a 3 shot group:

Bushnell Trophy Shotgun Scope with Circle-X Reticle, 1.75-4 x 32mm I have had one on a 12ga 870 for more than 2 decades with several hundred shots down the tube. Very wide field of vision and plenty of eye relief. Many moons ago in the infancy of rifled slug barrels, sabots, etc, I was a member of "The Slug Group" started by the owner of Lightfield slugs and a few others (like Tar Hunt) trying to promote rifled slug hunting. They tested many scopes for rifled slug guns and found this Bushnell, at the time it was marketed as a "turkey scope", really held up. I don't know if current production models of this scope are as stout as those made prior to ownership changes at Bushnell.

Rooster7,

What scope is that?

What slugs do you use?

Nikon Prostaff Shotgun Hunter 2-7x32 BDC 200 - 4 Circle

As for slugs, I started out with Remington Accutip. They are extremely accurate but I had crappy results with them. For me anyway, blood trails were poor to non-existent, never had a pass through and the deer traveled way farther than they should have before being found. Shot a buck through the heart that only went 50 yards but the slug was fragmented into little pieces in the off shoulder so I was done with them. Some people like them. Renegade50 seems to have good luck with accutips.

I switched to Federal Premium Trophy Copper slugs. Just as accurate as the accutip's and WAY better performance, in my experience.

We used accutips this year. Some of them failed to fire due to the rims being deformed.

They work fine but are expensive. I might use more Hornady ssts again and I do like Federals as well.

Nikon Slug Hunter 3-9x40 with the BDC reticle and 5" eye relief. Even with the BDC, 250 to 300 yards is a stretch. The BDC will only get you to 200 yards. This Encore kicks like a mule with the 3" Breneke Magnum Crush 1 1/2 oz slug. It's made for rifled barrels only and is very accurate. I had a couple of cheap scopes on it and none of them held up. In the past 15 years, I've only broke one of these Nikons.

Anyone need an assortment of 12-gauge slugs? I have experienced and recovered from two retinal detachments. Eye doc says no more heavy recoil, therefore I am cleaning out the ammo cabinet. I have the following assortment of 2 3/4" 12-gauge slugs:
Qty 2 boxes (15) Remington Slugger 1 oz - Item # SP12RS
Qty 4 boxes (20) Remington High Velocity Slugger 1 oz - Item # SPHV12RS
Qty 2 boxes (10) Remington Buckhammer 1.25 oz - Item # SP12LSS
Qty 4 boxes (19 rounds) Hastings Youth/low recoil 1.25 oz - Item # LRY12
Qty 9 rounds Hasting Magnum 1.25 oz. - Item #2MS12
Asking $45 obo. Prefer FTF pickup and but will ship for additional $20.
I don't get a chance to get online very often, so if you're interested please contact me via text message @ 814.449.1768. Items are also listed in the classified forum.
Thanks.