slugs and chokes

[Rob10ring]

Mossberg 500, 28" smoothbore modified chock barrel, Remington 2 3/4" saboted slugs, 1" groups at 100 yards consistantly.  WITH WITNESSES! 

Are you shooting sabot slugs in a smooth bore? I wouldn't think that it'd be worth the extra price.

I shoot my slugs in a Benelli with screw-in chokes - no problem, but like I said, improved cyl.

I'm waiting my 10 days on my new house clearing gun and couldn't wait until I can take pictures of it myself. I get one of these on the 5th.

[Badgersmilk]

I'd got a box of the shells on clearance at KMart at the end of the season.  Tried them out at the range, went back and bought all they had!  

I've had the gun for 23 years.  Something around 2,000 rounds or more through it, never had a FTF, jam, or one single problem yet.  I've heard Moss'ys even older than mine had a single rail on the for-arm, and were prone to problems.  Dont know.  

I've also got an 870 that fits me better than any gun I own, or have ever even picked up, but the Mossberg is better IMO because it doesnt pinch your thumb when loading the magazine (STUPID design on Remington's part), and the Mossberg has operated smoother, and more solidly from day one.  Just my opinion.

The 870's still a fine gun too!

Chokes I've got for it (Marbles front bead, fugly Remington camo):
Remington "Breacher" "cylinder" choke on top, "Jelly Head" "super full" on bottom.

[ericire12]

So, you shotgun hunters explain to me why .410 slugs have not been developed into the premier hunting round

I would think that you could use the smaller .410 to get closer to true rifle performance then the enormously heavy 12 gauge slugs. It seems to me that all that ridiculous amount of weight in the 12 ga slugs is what really puts the limitations on shotgun hunting as far as range is concerned. I would think, that you could use .410 to get a lighter slug with a greater ballistic coefficient, and have more then enough room for the need gunpowder.

[tombogan03884]

I'd got a box of the shells on clearance at KMart at the end of the season.  Tried them out at the range, went back and bought all they had! 

I've had the gun for 23 years.  Something around 2,000 rounds or more through it, never had a FTF, jam, or one single problem yet. I've heard Moss'ys even older than mine had a single rail on the for-arm, and were prone to problems.  Dont know. 

I've also got an 870 that fits me better than any gun I own, or have ever even picked up, but the Mossberg is better IMO because it doesnt pinch your thumb when loading the magazine (STUPID design on Remington's part), and the Mossberg has operated smoother, and more solidly from day one.  Just my opinion.

The 870's still a fine gun too!

Chokes I've got for it (Marbles front bead, fugly Remington camo):
Remington "Breacher" "cylinder" choke on top, "Jelly Head" "super full" on bottom.

I bought a Mossberg 500 in the mid 80's BECAUSE it had twin rails. And this spring I picked a Mossy over Remington for the same price for the same reason.

[Badgersmilk]

So, you shotgun hunters explain to me why .410 slugs have not been developed into the premier hunting round

I would think that you could use the smaller .410 to get closer to true rifle performance then the enormously heavy 12 gauge slugs. It seems to me that all that ridiculous amount of weight in the 12 ga slugs is what really puts the limitations on shotgun hunting as far as range is concerned. I would think, that you could use .410 to get a lighter slug with a greater ballistic coefficient, and have more then enough room for the need gunpowder.

I know .410's legal to hunt deer with in MI.  But not in some other states.  

What you have confidence in, and are comftorble with goes a looooonnnng way in shooting accuracy / a good hunt.


12 Gauge, 3 1/2" chamber, 18" full choke barrel, hair trigger & Marbles front bead, removed lead "recoil reducer" from stock.  Load'er up with "Magnum Turkey" #6 shot, and go looking for grouse, pheasant, turkey, chipmunks, godzilla, anything you want!  Possibly the most fun to shoot gun I'll ever own!  LOVE IT!!!  Yes it scares me, no I dont flinch.  JUST SUCK IT UP AND RELOAD!  

As my dad puts it.  "Kills in front, cripples behind."    It's just to much fun!

Wouldnt a steel butt plate be fun?!?  I might even give it up at that point!

[Sponsor]

[MikeBjerum]

So, you shotgun hunters explain to me why .410 slugs have not been developed into the premier hunting round

I would think that you could use the smaller .410 to get closer to true rifle performance then the enormously heavy 12 gauge slugs. It seems to me that all that ridiculous amount of weight in the 12 ga slugs is what really puts the limitations on shotgun hunting as far as range is concerned. I would think, that you could use .410 to get a lighter slug with a greater ballistic coefficient, and have more then enough room for the need gunpowder.

I hunted with one guy that went with a .410.  He bought the gun on the tails that you could run .45's through it   We convinced him it was not safe to do that, but now all he had was a .410 to hunt with   

I've been down range and heard 12 and 20 gauge slugs tumble.  Doesn't seem to matter how "good" the ammo or the gun, they all seem to start tumbling at some point.  The same thing happened with his .410.  He took a shot at a doe, and all I heard from where I was posted was whoop, whoop, whoop ... thud.  He hit the deer in what I would call a "good enough" spot, but didn't drop the deer.  After another guy dropped it, we found the .410 slug in the close side lung, while the 12 gauge had passed all the way through.

I haven't dug deep enough into it, but I believe that a .410 may have good ballistics at the muzzle, but they may bleed energy too fast to be good at any range.

[MikeBjerum]

Back on the thought of chokes with slugs:

I am a believer in either using a slug barrel (either smooth or rifled) or a cylinder choke.  I have heard of old guns splitting barrels (one of our firearm safety demo barrels was a result of slug through full choke).  I have also heard of a rifled choke tube being ripped from its threads (the theory is that the threads may have been weak to start and the force of the slug resisting the spin broke it all loose).

Regardless of what should work, when it comes to firearms I will always error on the side of caution.  When I have seen proof of one issue, and heard reports from sources I trust I will stay with what I know all manufacturers recommend ... Cylinder choke!

[m25operator]

Cylinder bore or rifled barrel or choke tube specific for slugs, tend to be most accurate, but Herb Parsons, told us in the 50's " slugs will not hurt your gun" if they do, something is wrong with the gun, not the ammo, the ammo makers take all of this into consideration, and make their product accordingly. Would you only shoot .38 spl, in your .357 because it might be a problem?

I mentioned modern guns, that does mean like since I was born. Like when Herb was still alive. Jeez I am getting old.

[Badgersmilk]

There are LOTS of slug guns out there shooting VERY accurately at 200 yards.  How much farther would anybody be taking game at?    Granted people in arizona (where it was 107 degrees yesterday!!!) shoot ground rats and such at much greater distances.  But, for game big enough to use a slug on I think 3" groups at 200 yards will more than get the job done.  Especially when your projectile hits like a brick turned sideways  (all but a very lucky few of us wont be hunting mountain goats regularly either).  I LOVE long range shooting!  But, if you cant get within 200 yards of game...  Better to leave the hunting to the wife.

Shotguns wont be as trendy as AR's EVER, no matter what magazines, movies, government, or TV were to do.  To much recoil. 

BUT, surfing channels on Saturdays it seems to now be illegal to use anything but Thompson Center rifles on tv.  Marketing single shots has got to be tough in a nearly all AR market.  Wonder how much TC's paying people?
 

[Badgersmilk]

K, not so much about slugs.  But if you want to learn about chokes...

http://www.wildfowlmag.com/tips_strategies/shotgun_062304/