Slug Velocity

Boomer

Boomer

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Today was a nice day, so set up my chronograph to answer some questions that have recently plagued me. One of the questions was what is the velocity of Brenneke slugs, and how do they stack up against the competition? This was not going to be a long drawn out affair with dozens of rounds sent down range, rather 3 shots of each brands were fired. If 20 rounds of each had been fired I doubt if it would of changed the outcome by more than a few fps. The extreme spread was much closer than I had anticipated, particularly the Benneke's which were very consistant. I think the velocities shown below are probably representative of what we can expect from various manufacturers of 12 gauge slug loads. All shooting was from my 20" 590, and the chronograph was my Ohler 35P.

Here's what I got -

Brenneke 3" 600 gr. average = 1331 fps ES = 14 fps

Federal 3" 1.25 oz. foster average = 1453 fps ES = 31 fps

Challenger 23/4" 1 oz. average = 1518 fps ES = 32 fps

Winchester 23/4" 1 oz foster average = 1489 fps. ES = 39 fps
 
Interesting...

I never bothered to chrono a slug, since I never cared abotu it's trajectory, since I wouldn't be using them past 50 yards maximum, and more likely 25 yards.

I guess it woudld be a much different story if I hunted with slugguns, liek lots of our members here!:)
 
Note that 600 grains is 1.37 ounces, one ounce is 437.5 grains. Muzzle energy advantage goes to the 1.25 oz. Federal with 2564 ft./lbs., followed by the Brenneke at 2,360. With 1518 fps, the 1 oz. Challenger gives 2,238 ft./lbs. Anyone done penetration tests?

Sharptail
 
Sharptail said:
Note that 600 grains is 1.37 ounces, one ounce is 437.5 grains. Muzzle energy advantage goes to the 1.25 oz. Federal with 2564 ft./lbs., followed by the Brenneke at 2,360. With 1518 fps, the 1 oz. Challenger gives 2,238 ft./lbs. Anyone done penetration tests?

Sharptail
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I've doine penetration tests in wet and dry newspaper, as well as the CGN favorite, propane tanks.:p

Brennekes did a much better job than the Winchester or Federal Foster style slugs I tested them against.

Never tried Challenger, as they don't seem to be as available around here, and I am perfeclty happy wiht the Brenekke pwerfromance for bear stompin!:)
 
I agree with Gate's assessment of the Benneke slugs, what they lack in velocity they make up for in penetration and wound volume. Gary Shelton championed the use of Federals for bear defence, but I do not believed he would have had he had tried the Brenneke.
 
The point of the exercise was to see how big a tank could be stopped, based on the slugs I had on hand. I was going to set up to check out some .308 and .375 loads anyway, so it seemed like a good opportunity to compare slug velocities.

I was a little miffed that the Federals recoiled so much harder than the Brenneke, considering the Brenneke's world wide success on all sorts of beasties. A few months back I came across a claim that a Brenneke had fully penetrated and killed a large cape buff. Anyone familiar with the construction of that particular critter would be impressed, and had the author been anyone other than the late Jeff Cooper, I would of discounted the story as fiction.

Foster slugs show exceptionally poor terminal performance, they don't penetrate. Don't bother telling me about all the deer you've killed with them, because that is not my area of interest. I occasionally carry a shotgun for bear protection, in situations where the excessive penetration of a rifle could prove dangerous. I still believe that a powerful rifle is far superior to any shotgun load designed to be fired from a conventional shotgun, but having said that, I have developed a grudging admiration for the Brenneke.

The "Terminator Slug" from Dixie, also appears to be a real big game bullet for use in conventional shotguns. I have not had the opportunity to try any of these but, I would like to.
 
RobSmith said:
It's all about shot placement ... ;)
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Yeah, sure. But put a better slug in the same place and you will get better results than a poor one in the same place....:p

I still believe that a powerful rifle is far superior to any shotgun load designed to be fired from a conventional shotgun, but having said that, I have developed a grudging admiration for the Brenneke.
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I agree, of course. I have BS'ed here many times about shotguns for bear defense, but my basic premise was that " I would WAY rather have a rifle, but short shotguns are often handier when you dont expect to run into bear trouble"

I also have tried to make it clear that "If i was going into areas known to be grizzly habitat, or if hunting grizz, I'll take a rilfe"

For a shotgun, Brennekes kick ass. There may be other slugs out there that are equal or better to them, but I have not tested or seen them.

IMHO a 12 guage slug is already .70 caliber or so, so I dont' see any need for them to expand. I want ti to act like aslid, making a long, striaght wound, 3/4" inch wide. That works for me...
 
I have done a ton of penetration tests with slugs... mostly on deer!
Generally speaking a 24" cylinder bore gives better accuracy and optimum results over the Chrony with Foster style slugs.
I prefer 2 3/4 Brennekes they are faster more accurate and have less recoil than most every other slug I have used. They penetrate very well and have the best wad design. The Challenger is the worst slug made in my estimation.... the alloy is too hard and the attached wad design is prone to failure.
The Federal tru ball is a good slug but the accuracy and penetration is not as good as the Brenneke.
I have done some limited testing with the Remington Buck Hammer through a smoothbore 24 inch slug barrel and I found that it stabalized and gave amazing accuracy and hitting power. It performed even better using a rifled choke tube... and amazingly well in a rifled barrel.
From my limited testing I would be confident using the buck hammer for defense or hunting.... in my guns.
 
When I'm close to town I pack the shotgun, but I have my rifle with me once I'm on the sea ice or tundra. As to shot placement, if a bear catches you by surprise, that is the one time that your follow-up shot might be better than your first shot.

When I did penetration tests, I discovered that the 3" slugs had no advantage over the 2.3/4, and although I did not have the Brenneke to test at that time. Perhaps this can be explained by what I learned from conducting penetration tests with rifle bullets. If construction is similar, a light fast bullet and a heavier slower bullet exhibit equal penetration. The higher velocity of the lighter bullet makes up for the momentum of the heavier bullet. Challengers did not penetrate significantly better than the fosters which supports Red's finding about the Challengers.
 
I used to load 3" slugs since "bigger is better, right?"

All i found was that they recoiled a bit more.

IMHO (which is based on penetration tests and not actually having to stop charging grizzly bears with huge gnashing teeth in a heroic manner) the 23/4" Brennekes will do the job, with a bit less recoil and you may be able to fit an extra one in your magazine, depending on shotgun.:popCorn:
 
Now slugs with a combo rifle/shotgun like a valmet is hard to beat! Only two shots but does a person really need more...?

Boomer - do you have any manuafcturer published velocites?

joe
 
### International said:
Now slugs with a combo rifle/shotgun like a valmet is hard to beat! Only two shots but does a person really need more...?/QUOTE]


most people that have had to shoot a bear at 15 yards would probably need more and if they don't need more they'll most likely want more than 2 shots
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Challengers are very accurate!!! They are flat-shooting and "fast"!! They penetrate extremely well!!!!! Canadian made at that!!!!! Brenneke's are the same (slightly less accurate in my 1300) but are made by foreign manufactuers!!! I shoot a 1300 short turkey barrel(but with a I.C. choke screwed in) NO SIGHTS.....NO SCOPE....NO CRAP and have drilled deer at from 10 yds to 90yds(they perform just as well at 90 as they do at 10)
 
Hi guys,
I have tried different Foster slugs in my Winchester 1300,
smoothbore, improved cylinder choke,
and the best I have found so far are Brenneke, in 2 3/4"
I was surprised at the accuracy, and penetration on deer.

Roger.
 
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