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Viability of slugs in unrifled barrel


Decidion

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I am hoping some folks here can educate me as far as the viability of hunting large game (say deer and maybe even as large as elk or moose) using slugs in an unrifled 12 gauge barrel.

 

It would seem to me that it is more a matter of getting close enough for accuracy than actual stopping power, is that correct?

 

Whats the best type of slug round for an unrifled barrel? I think I read somewhere they make rifled slugs?

 

I know the old adage, use the right tool for the job, but if you were forced to only pick one type of weapon for the vast majority of hunting, would you choose a 12 gauge?

 

Sorry for all the questions here, I'm just trying to learn whats out there and to make good choices.

 

Jeff

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One of the best thing about today's rifled slugs is that they offer both accuracy and stopping power. Federal Truball slugs are pretty darn good at dropping deer out to 100 yards plus. When hunting larger game like elk and moose you might want to consider a move up to rifle cartridges like a .270 (150 gr.) or better for elk/moose. It's not that a slug won't kill the animal but you stand a better chance of wounding it before you kill it at longer ranges. Just my opinion!

 

When hunting deer with a slug 20 or 12 gauge will get the job done. For best accuracy, if it's available for your shotgun, a rifled barrel will give you the best results regardless of gauge. I prefer my 12 to my 20 gauge shotguns for slug hunting but that's just a personal choice. Overall, in my opinion, the 12 gauge offers the most versatility and availabilty of ammo of all the gauges and would be my one-gun for all choice. Thankfully I have enough to choose from! ;)

Edited by Mr. Mac
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Get a good rifled slug (I use truball) and a looser constriction choke for maximum accuracy and you will be good to go. It's the best it's going to get in a smoothbore.

 

Edit - And me personally, if I could only choose one weapon for hunting it certainly would not be a shotgun, it would be a proper rifle.

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Edit - And me personally, if I could only choose one weapon for hunting it certainly would not be a shotgun, it would be a proper rifle.

 

Unless you lived in a state like Illinois, at which point you wouldnt be doing much hunting with that proper rifle...:(

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Unless you lived in a state like Illinois, at which point you wouldnt be doing much hunting with that proper rifle...:(

 

I would think a rifle also would limit your options more, especially if there is a lot more smaller, feather bound game.

 

But thanks everyone for the info :)

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There is no hunting season that you can use a rifle in Illinois?

 

 

Just vrments. (yotes, squirls,rabbits)

 

Deer hunting in limited to handgun that produces 500 foot pounds of energy with at least a 6 inch barrel, shotgun with only slugs, or bow. ( cross bow for handycap).

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Yeah thats the funny thing, coyote "season" is basically a free-for-all in that I can use any legal gun I so desire including "high capacity semiautomatic rifles" (yay assault weapons) EXCEPT a shotgun with slugs. Deer season is ONLY a shotgun with slugs...

 

I blame chicago haha

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OK back on topic here :p

 

So Mac calls out the Vital-Shok TruBall rifled slugs, but I also see Federal makes some Power-Shok hollow point rifled slugs.

 

Anyone shed some light on the real life differences between the two? I think both are 1oz slugs.

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The truball slugs literally have a plastic ball behind the slug that is said to stabilize the slug and make it fly truer, they claim some ridiculously accurate numbers at 50 yards that I will test out tomorrow.

 

I'm very interested in what you think of them. Also what will you be shooting them through?

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Guest cleefurd

I asked a similar question once on this forum, and after pouring over all the responses, the Truball rose to the top. Reviews, raw data, etc put it as a clear odds-on-favorite... I have yet to FIND any though.

Duggan, will they perform well from in IC choke?

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Cabela's has them here...

 

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=SEARCHFEAT_all&id=0016695215988a&navCount=2&podId=0016695&parentId=&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=XJ&rid=&parentType=&indexId=cat20841&hasJS=true

 

They listed them for $3.99 a box of 5 yesterday, although today they are showing up at $4.49. Neither of the local shops carried them in stock, so they ordered them for me.

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Dude ... I tried to find that out today, but my efforts were blocked by the %$(%*($*%@# piece of $#$#$@ rail on the m4. I brought 50 truball full power slugs to the range today to test, and never made it through more than 15.

 

I took my larue SPR mount and 1.5-5x scope off my AR and put it on the m4, fired a single slug, and checked for damages ... sure enough, I could see in the mount anodizing that it was starting to push, if I had fired 20 or so slugs I would have ruined the mount.

 

If you ever get your top rail completed, I will gladly do all the testing and get some solid data on all types of slug accuracy out of m4s.

 

As it is, I'm stuck shooting from iron sights, and the only pattern I really bothered to shoot was about 6 inches, 5 rounds at 50 yards. I could do much better with a proper optic and rail ...

 

:(

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... sure enough, I could see in the mount anodizing that it was starting to push, if I had fired 20 or so slugs I would have ruined the mount.

 

I'm a little confused here too...what do you mean when you are saying it was starting to push? How does firing a round ruin a scope mount?

 

Thanks :)

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^^ What he said.

 

The m4 rail is crap and is not compatible with many milspec optic mounts, as the stubs literally damage the mounts and push them out of shape.

 

It seems that optic mounts which use machined billet "bars" to grab the rails are vulnerable to damage from the m4 stubs, but cheaper mounts which use a "screw" type of anchoring system are not effected as much, which is rather odd, but understandable in the current scenario.

 

But yes, I explain my position in the above link.

 

ETA - 1000 posts, who would have thought ...

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Guest cleefurd
Dude ... I tried to find that out today, but my efforts were blocked by the %$(%*($*%@# piece of $#$#$@ rail on the m4. I brought 50 truball full power slugs to the range today to test, and never made it through more than 15.

If you ever get your top rail completed, I will gladly do all the testing and get some solid data on all types of slug accuracy out of m4s.

 

 

:(

The rails WILL happen. I don't want your misery, since I am on your path, I must move the fallen limbs. I will post as soon as the materials arrive... update... tooling HAS arrived. One step closer.

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