Hunting with slugs in non-rifled shotguns

Supposed to warm up to 16 degrees today, so I took the day off work and am heading to the range for a few hours.
I will stop and pick up a few different boxes of slugs to see what works best while I am there. Bringing two rifles and two shotguns, I have a lot of testing to do (multiple mods to test out).
I'll report back on my accuracy at 25 paces.

If I have any more troubles with this shotgun, I will for sure be looking for a replacement. This is my turkey hunting gun and the last thing I need is for it to jam up or fail during my spring hunt. I may just stick with my crossbow for this season just to be "safe".
 
>Intimidated to shoot slugs

I felt the same way about shooting slugs out of an aluminum framed Turkish semi. Painful on the arm, and hard on the action. The chamber was so roughly machined that it almost felt like a fine thread and I had to beat/pry shells out of it.

I traded it for a heavier-than-my-conscience steel framed Chinese Ithaca 37 clone and it made a world of difference. Build quality is almost as low, but with those extra kg the painfully hard kick is now a stiff shove, and the extraction/feed (while being mechanically more complicated) is also more positive. Decades of design progress in this example was figuring out how to do the same thing, almost as well, with half as many parts that are cheaper to build.

It is touchier about contamination (snow and sticks get into and interfere with the action easily) and you really notice the weight on a long walk.

>25ya...slugs

Might want to just stick with a solid cylinder bore then.

Opinions differ, but I come to see the whole "interchangeable chokes" thing as a marketing gimmick.

Actually, bush at 25ya would have me using 00 buck rather than a slug.

>28" barrel

You may find that to be awkward in the bush.
 
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18.5-20 inches of smooth bore barrel and iron sights on your pump or semi is about perfect.
A quick detachable sling is nice to have.
When one is dragging out something it's very handy to have a sling. And when things get tense in the close bush, it's best to swiftly remove that sling so you can hunt through dense foliage without being hung up branch thru your sling.
 
Smooth bore slug guns with the right ammo should get you 4-6 inch groups to 75’ish yards.. Use a lead sled and bring you wallet. Test as many different slug types as you can get your hands on. My best luck for accuracy has been slugs with wads attached. They don’t make em any more but the old Remington buck hammers with a rifled choke was Thor’s hammer to about 80yrds
 
I've got both a 14" pump Hatsan and 19" Gas-semi Daly and I put Limbsavers on them, as well as on my Hatsan 28"pump and Girsan 28" Inertia semi. Makes a world of diff in felt recoil, worth the $50 or so each. And the 14" Open bore (no choke) will hit 6" at 50 yds with just the front bead from a bench.
 
Rayleigh_Scattering said:
>Intimidated to shoot slugs

I felt the same way about shooting slugs out of an aluminum framed Turkish semi. Painful on the arm, and hard on the action.



Opinions differ, but I come to see the whole "interchangeable chokes" thing as a marketing gimmick.
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A good recoil pad will go along way to tame 12g recoil.

So you’ve come to see it as a gimmick because you’ve tried different chokes with different loads and seen no difference, or you haven’t tried them and just came to that conclusion out of thin air?
 
AdamRoby said:
I am looking at hunting wild boar, and the outfitter mentions that only 12-GA shotguns with slugs are permitted.
My 12-GA shotgun does not have rifling, do you need a rifled shotgun for accuracy when hunting @ 25 yards (it is a heavily forested area and they said 25 yards is the average).
I have never tried slugs in this gun, I would probably need to purchase a cylinder choke for this shotgun before testing it at the local range.

Thoughts?
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Hunt farm ?

Grizz
 
I've shot slugs out of several different shotguns over the years. It's what we used to use exclusively on bears over bait. My best experiences were with a Winchester 1300 pump and a Baikal MP153 semi, both with mod choke and full-length barrel, bead sight. Both shot well enough to take down a deer well past 50 yards with the bead sights.
 
Grizzly Adams said:
Hunt farm ?

Grizz
Click to expand...


Indeed. It's not really my thing, but my buddy's Dad used to hunt them when he was younger and would like to do one more hunt while he still can. He's 88 years old, tough bugger but still, he's getting on in age. There are places in the states we can go, but I don't much feel like driving 28 hours for a hunt. I found this place about 1 hour and 15 minutes from where we live, but its a bit pricey. I believe they have a couple hundred acres which must be fenced off to avoid introducing them into the wild.

So much for the testing. Anyone interested in a used 12 GA... cheap for any CGN member!

They did not have any slugs on hand. I bought a couple boxes of Federal target loads. I would say 1/3 would cycle right, 2/3 would not eject properly. I don't know what's with this shotgun but I've had enough with it. She's going up for sale, cheap.

I will start shopping for a replacement. I am not big on long distance hunting, especially with a shotgun. I would like to hunt various game with it though, with my main goal being Wild Turkey (30 yards), possibly boar if this hunt ever happens, and eventually duck and goose (unless my 20 GA O/U is adequate for the job). I think I need a shorter barrel for my usual hunts, but don't you need the longer barrels for duck? I've never tried duck or goose hunting before, but would like to try this fall. Maybe I need 2 replacements...
What about the Benelli Nova or Supernovas? They tend to be in the $500-750 range... not really looking to spend $1500 on another shotgun right now.
 
Rayleigh_Scattering said:
>
Opinions differ, but I come to see the whole "interchangeable chokes" thing as a marketing gimmick.
Click to expand...

One of my buddies also feels you never a choke, but going from duck to turkey sure does feel like the choke matters.
To get a nice shot on a turkey, at a decent range, I use an extra full choke and have a plate sized spread at 50 feet.
I just started shooting clays, and with that same choke I can't hit anything, and need to go down in constriction.
That could just be experience at play, but I do see it being useful to fine tune for each use case.
 
Buck1950 said:
I've got both a 14" pump Hatsan and 19" Gas-semi Daly and I put Limbsavers on them, as well as on my Hatsan 28"pump and Girsan 28" Inertia semi. Makes a world of diff in felt recoil, worth the $50 or so each. And the 14" Open bore (no choke) will hit 6" at 50 yds with just the front bead from a bench.
Click to expand...

I believe it. I have a Mossberg 4x4 in 30-06 that had a frozen puck for a recoil pad. I swapped it out for a grindable limbsaver a couple months back, and finally got to test it out yesterday. What a difference, I was actually shocked by how much less of a kick I felt and how better the control was (less flinching maybe).
 
The reason your shells are sticking in the chamber is due to roughness or burrs in the chamber - very common, even on North American guns these days (Rem 870 Express). Its a relatively easy fix that can be done by the average gun owner - Youtube is your friend.
However, even if you do fix it, you should sell it and buy something a bit more upscale. A pump is fine, unless you get into clay disciplines that require doubles - then a semi is preferred. Look around for a used Weatherby, Beretta 390 or 391, or a Baikal.
 
cosmic said:
The reason your shells are sticking in the chamber is due to roughness or burrs in the chamber - very common, even on North American guns these days (Rem 870 Express). Its a relatively easy fix that can be done by the average gun owner - Youtube is your friend.
However, even if you do fix it, you should sell it and buy something a bit more upscale. A pump is fine, unless you get into clay disciplines that require doubles - then a semi is preferred. Look around for a used Weatherby, Beretta 390 or 391, or a Baikal.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, I'll have a look. I need to take it down to clean it out anyway, so I'll have a look at the same time.

A lot of people seem to like the Remington 870, and quite a few mentioned using shorter barrels. Is the "tactical" version still considered good for hunting?
"Remington 870 Express Tactical, 18.50 Barrel, 2 Shot Extension, Ghost Ring Sights, 12 GA"
 
You can hunt with pretty well anything... Short barreled 870's often come with a cylinder bore (no choke tubes), which is sub-optimal for your purposes. Short barreled shotguns are generally considered sub-optimal for wingshooting and clays, due to sight radius and swing weight. The gun you describe would be well suited for wild boar hunting and shooting slugs at paper.
 
>gimmick
>no difference

That’s part of it. Cylinder/imp-cylinder with slugs is more accurate than I am, and cheap 00 buck spreads at about 1”/yd, loosing pattern fill and energy at about the same 30yd distance in my application.

But “limited utility” is only part of it. It also has to be visible (and advertised) to the buyer, and it has to get people spending more at the store. Removable chokes meet all three, which is why I see them that way.

But, if folks enjoy trying the different combinations, more power too ‘em.

If I shot different shot sizes, at different types of things, at different ranges it might have real utility.

And I too have had the experience of wrecking a choke by shooting heavy shot through it. An ATF soak, a heat gun and generous profanity got it out, but didn’t endear the thin-walled little things to me. Nor did the $60 cost of the replacement.
 
I know many prefer the 870 and it's a fine choice, especially if you can locate the older Wingmaster.
I shoot left handed myself, so the bottom feed bottom eject Ithaca is my thing.
Another fine variant is thier M87 Turkeyslayer Circa 1997.
Good camouflage paint scheme, 23 inch barrel removable chokes. Factory iron sites and it's drilled tapped for Remington 760 rifle bases. I replaced that Cation extra full turkey choke with Colonial brand Imp/Mod choke that has extended knurling, you can change the choke with only your fingers.
When Hog Wild .625 three inch magnum (two round balls) was an over the counter option, one had four inch group
at 50 yards. One spot on the sites & it's buddy few inches higher. Substantial recoil though!
 
Well, I think I found my problem and why the shells were not extracting. The bore seems pretty smooth already, but either the barrel is cracked or there is a manufacturing defect. There is a kind of key way or channel, and the edge of it is protruding into where the shell sits. I can try to file this down, but I am wondering now if the barrel has been compromised, or if this is safe to try to fix? Has anyone ever seen anything like this?
Hopefully you can see what I am referring to in these images.

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