12 Gauge Slug Gun Choices?

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Max-4

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I am looking for a fully rifled 12g slug gun for deer, I would like it to have wood stocks and blued finish. I have not yet decided if I want good rifle sights or a cantilever and scope.

What are my options in a brand new gun? Pump, bolt, semi, break barrel? Who makes them in wood and blued metal anymore? Thanks
 
I'd recommend a pump combo package. Giving you the option of rifled slugs in the smoothbore or sabot slugs in the cantilever rifled barrel. Mossberg 500 and Rem 870 come to mind. Plus they are affordable and reliable.
 
Superbrad said:
The Browning mentioned is very nice... if money is an issue you may also want to take a good look at the Ithica deerslayer... very sweet
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Yes, my favorite here. The best option IMO, a dismountable M87 Ithaca fully rifled barrel with a scope mounted on the barrel's rear sight mount (scout scope) via Millet rings, or if you can find them, the discontinued Redfield rings. Then you don't have a drilled and tapped reciever and with another bird barrel you have a complete hunting package with little hassle.
If your target is just deer only, why not just get the smaller package with adequate thump and get yourself a 20 gauge with the goodies you need.
The Post 855,000 serial number M37s & all the M87s barrels are interchangeable. Saying that I have one older M37 M&P 7 shot magazine model, that does not except any M87 barrel. I think this is just a one off though myself.
Everything else in my small collection of 12 gauges, interchange barrels fine. As long as the tubular magazines are the same length of course.
Just for extra info, in my smoothbore 12 gauge Deerslayers, the cheap Winchester Super X 1 ounce or 7/8s ounce slugs are about the most accurate at 25 and 50 yards, with the excellent Brennekes a close second. In 1959 Ithaca was the very first US company to make a smoothbore iron sighted slug barrel as an option.
The rest just followed thier example.
 
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You can also buy a Browning BPS, as you can get a riflied barrel wit cantalivered scope mount. Makes switching from bird to deer very fast. Great thing about the scope and barrel together like that, not much sighting in needed from year to year.

biggest thing is how much do you want to spend. You can go cheap with Mossberg and Rem 870's, or keep moving up until you hit Benelli/Bretta's. I'm sure there are a ton more too.
 
Max-4 said:
Who in Canada sells the new Ithaca Deer Slayer 2? And around how much can I be expecting to pay for it? Thanks
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Try Prophet River, they have a banner here. Expect to say alot more for a brand new Ithaca Deerslayer II.
Myself I like the older ones, purely because I can dismount/remount the barrel at will. And the older ones are alot cheaper on the used gun market here.
 
Max-4 said:
The Ithaca Deerslayer is $1099, how is that for the budget minded? :eek:

I am looking for a brand new gun but over $1000 is a bit out of my budget. Thanks
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Here's some advice, feel free to take it or leave it:

There are older used M37/M87 Ithaca Deerslayers around for much cheaper prices. (300-350ish)

Use that mysterious tool called the world wide web and actually seek these out.

cheers
 
Max-4 said:
The Ithaca Deerslayer is $1099, how is that for the budget minded? :eek:

I am looking for a brand new gun but over $1000 is a bit out of my budget. Thanks
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Sorry Max... maybe I should have been a bit more clear... Ithaca and the deerslayer were amongst the pioneers for this type of gun... you should look for a used one... that being said, how much do they want for your Browning bolt action?
 
The OP I myself think, needs to educate himself to some degree before laying out cash for a purchase.
He needs to spend some time at shotgunworld.com or the American Slug Shooter's Association.
There's plenty of choices out there that will serve his needs within his own budget.
 
Brutus said:
The OP I myself think, needs to educate himself to some degree before laying out cash for a purchase.
He needs to spend some time at shotgunworld.com or the American Slug Shooter's Association.
There's plenty of choices out there that will serve his needs within his own budget.
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Agreed... there are many nice choices out there... but I was going by the original options.....

If I was to buy a new shotgun fo rdeer it would be a Remi 870 combo... but fancy grade wood and blued (not parkerized) metal are not priorities to me....

They do need to do some research....
 
First post says "what are my options for a BRAND NEW GUN". I will not set a budget for this gun yet until I do some more research on what I want. It is kind of weird that Remington doesn't make an 870 slug gun is wood and blued steel, looks like just the synthetic stuff.

I do like the fact that the Deerslayer has the raised comb built into the wood stock, it looks like it is a dedicated slug gun and not just trying to transform a Mossy 500 or a Remmy 870 to shoot like a rifle.
 
Ithica Deerslayer

(quote)I do like the fact that the Deerslayer has the raised comb built into the wood stock, it looks like it is a dedicated slug gun and not just trying to transform a Mossy 500 or a Remmy 870 to shoot like a rifle.(quote)

My Deerslayer is about 15 years old...... Bought her new for around 500 bucks.
She has a 20inch barrel that is not removable (more accurate than multi barrel guns? )

I remember debating whether to buy the 20 or 24 inch (i think) barrel, so I actually called Ithica. The fellow there asked me if I hunted in(Hiked through) any trees. Yes was my answer, so he reccommended the shorter barrel. This fellow also said that there was barely any difference in accuracy.

What I can say is this 12ga. is very accurate using 2-3/4inch WIN SABOTS. I'm sure others would work well, but I'll stick with the winchesters. One thing, though I have noticed that to remain accurate they need to be purchased in lots all with the same batch numbers. After shooting very well for a few years, I ran out of my original sabots, bought a few boxes of the "same" ammo and soon found out they were not on the mark.

After a trip to the range, and recalibrating, though...I was good to go. (She's fitted with a wide angle fixed 4X scope)

shots touch at 50 yards, 2'' groups at 100, and 6" at 200...

trajectory falls off quite sharply after 150, so I am zero'd at about 3" high at 100.

My first buck with this Ithica was taken at 160 yards... and many others at 40 to 125.

A reliable, accurate deer shooter, that is light enough, and compact enough, to carry comfortably all day.

I'm not surprised to see that they have gone up in price, as they are very well made units!

LUCKY
 
I'm using an 870 express that I installed a fully rifled barrel with open sights on.I use cast lyman sabot (trap wad) slugs in it.I think it's a solid gun for the money, I only wish I had purchased it as a factory combo package.and better stocks might make the rem a bit better as a dedicated slugger.one of the great things about the 870 is the wealth of aftermarket parts and info on options, fully self customisable off the shelf.
 
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