Rifled slugs...yup.

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  • john17427

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    The video pretty much supported what I always believed. That is, that the foster slugs do fly with a mild spin. Not perhaps helpful for long range, but of some benefit for the range these things get used. The question I’ve never followed up on is what is the difference in accuracy potential between saboted slugs from a true rifled barrel versus fosters. I would expect sabots to be better, but again how much for the given range these things are operating at.
     

    hunter5567

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    In the northern shotgun only states they use the saboted slugs in rifled barrels and from what I read, they sight them in out to 150 yards. They are a lot more accurate than slugs in a smoothbore.
    They have slug gun competitions with some shooting close to 1" groups at 100 yards.
     

    Magdump

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    Just wish they’d have shot a few at longer ranges to see how stable they would fly out to a couple hundred yards. The fact that they do actually rotate and don’t tumble is impressive regardless of the amount of spin.
     

    john17427

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    In the northern shotgun only states they use the saboted slugs in rifled barrels and from what I read, they sight them in out to 150 yards. They are a lot more accurate than slugs in a smoothbore.
    They have slug gun competitions with some shooting close to 1" groups at 100 yards.

    1* groups with slugs would be impressive to see.
     

    DarkHorse07

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    I purchased a Typhoon F12 semi auto shotgun (AR style) with a 18" barrel a year ago for fun deer hunting gun in areas where only shotgun is allowed. I did a lot of reading on what a rifled slug did, and it seemed like the general consensus was that it just allowed the slug to compress a little out the choke.

    Accuracy was really awesome at 50 yards... where I was able to put multiple rounds on top of each other. The 100 yard mark was a little more challenging and I was about a 3"-4" group with 5 slugs. This was also with a red dot and a 3X magnifier. So maybe with a better optic it can be tighter at a 100 yards, but I doubt it. With that said I am hunting in regions where the max shot is 60-70 yards and that is about the extent to which I care to hunt deer with a shot gun at.
     

    themcfarland

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    Like like any barrel really in guns, certain barrels and gun setups prefer certain types of slugs.. I have always tried to use breneke slugs in smooth barrels as they seem to be better performing for me in both mossberg and Remington 870.. But some guys swear by the remington foster type slugs.. as well.
    I recently went to a rifled barrel with hornady ftx slugs.. I do not see a large difference in 50 and 75 yards, but they do shoot better at 100.. I did not measure but felt I could easily be comfortable shooting a hog or deer ethically.. with all of them
     

    Magdump

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    I’m glad this thread got bumped because I did a little half ass test about a month ago with 4 different guns since I was sighting one in with a scope. I shot about 120 slugs that day because I wanted to see for myself what they were capable of in 4 slug guns. I didn’t get pics or take anything but mental notes but it was plenty for me to come to my own conclusions and I don’t mind sharing the info. You can take my word for what I say or not, just like anything else, but I’m not trying to sell anything.
    Rather than tell the story I’ll just do my best to chart it out and maybe someone will find the info useful

    All my testing was at 100 yards on a couple of 12x12 inch plates and a few paper sight in targets.
    With federal, Remington and Winchester 1oz run of the mill rifled slugs I could hit the plate every time with every gun. I shot a decent variety of slugs to broaden the test as much as I could for my curiosity. Iron sights on 3 and a scope on one. 2 were rifled barrels 2 were not. All shooting was done from a lead sled being as precise as I could for open sights.
    Ithica Deer Slayer 12ga smooth bore
    Best 3 round group: Fiocchi Aero slug 7 inches

    Mossberg 500, 24 inch smooth bore ported
    Best 3 round group: Federal skirted 6.5 inches

    Mossberg 500, 24 inch rifled barrel, iron sights
    Best 3 round group: Remington 3inch Mag slugger 3.5 inches

    Savage model 212, 22inch rifled barrel, 4x32 Simmons shotgun scope
    Best 3 round group: Remington 3in mag slugger 1.9 inches

    Further tests with only the Savage using Remington copper solid 1oz, Other lower weight and smaller caliber Sabot Slugs from Hornady, Federal and Remington all netted better groups than the Fosner slugs, but I consider those specific to that scoped gun and not testing the generic rifled slug.

    Also noteworthy is the round holes that I noted with every shot from the smooth bores. I was curious to see whether or not and how many I would notice at 100 yards and was surprised that I saw no key holes at all. The worst group was still just over 8 inches from the Ithica using federal rifled slugs

    The Fiocchi aero slugs were in 2 groups for each gun as I had low recoil and high power loads. I highly recommend these for any slug gun and I buy them by the can.
    There’s an audible hiss when they fly downrange with the finned slugs from both barrel types.

    I consider the Savage a 12 ga rifle and I’m currently looking for a model 220 (20 ga)
    as I’m thinking there will be less drop with the heavyweight slugs in 20ga.
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    This is about the extent of the ammo selection I used (or what’s left anyway).
    I didn’t try sabot type in the smooth bores but I’ve shot them from smooth bores before and they did keyhole most of the time. I’ve also hand loaded slugs several years ago that my father cranked out with some mold he has. They were simple Fosner slugs with no rifled slug marks, just a smooth lead cup with a rounded nose. They did not shoot well at all from the Ithica as I recall and I believe they did a fare bit of tumbling.
    The Fiocchi aero slugs are finned and skirted and performance wise, they’re my favorite all around slug. It’s also nice that each slug is clearly marked with weight and velocity for when you have loose rounds in the field.
    The Royal slugs pictured are finned and skirted and are touted to be armor piercing although I don’t truly believe that. There is a pointed steel core and you can see the back tip poking out from the skirt. If one is so inclined, they can be hopped up by pushing them into a 3in magnum shell. The chronograph said over 200fps faster. I simply cut the top with a razor knife and they fit nice and tight and if you change your mind you’ll have to break out the needle nose pliers to get them out.
    The skirted slugs are more accurate overall out of the smooth bores and apparently pretty stable in flight.
     
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