geterdun2

hey guys, i posted this in deer thread but then i realized it fits better here, sorry for the double posts i hate doing that... I have a benneli nova pump action 12 gage. the barrel is smooth inside, it is not rifled or grooved. I usually dont hunt deer with it, but i want to. I always was under the impression that smooth bores were only used for bird shots and pellets or whatever, so i never wanted to hunt deer with it.I called the gun shop and asked what I could shoot to kill deer with out ofthis smooth bore barrelled gun. The guy told me 00 buckshot. I asked him if i needed a special choke onit to shoot this doulbe 00 buckshot and he said no, that i could just shoot it without a choke just using the smooth barrel. Does this sound correct? can buckshot be used in a shotgun with a smooth bore and can it be shot without a choke? is that how it suppose to be shot?Sorry for the amatuer question but im used to shooting a 270 for deer, not a shotgun - but i want to start practicing w/ it now that i might be able to use it. thanks alot for your help guys, i just want to be sure im using correct ammo for thisbarrel + gunso i dont kill myself lol

t roy

use slugs instead.

geterdun2

troy - i would but see the barrel i have is smooth, not rifled so i assumed that slugs couldt be shot out of a smooth bore. thats why i never shot slugs from it, b/c either the gun didnt come with a slug barrel or i lost it, so i just have the smooth. what do you think?

mcawful

I've never hunted deer with a shotgun, so I'm not sure how a slug would work in a smooth bore vs. a rifled bore. There's alot of knowledge on this forum. Certainly fellers more knowledgable than me. Wait for a few answers before you make up your mind ,geterdun2. No offense intended ,t roy.

geterdun2

i definltely, thanks for your help and thank you troy for your input, i just nnnnnnneed to get this down before i go out to the mountains to start practicing

bigcountry

I have shot alot of deer with slugs, and two with 00 buckshot. I won't ever shoot 00 or 000 again. Up close, it can be ok, but out at 40yards, it just ruins good meat and I have had to finish off with a slug anyway. I hate the stuff. And you have tospend a decent amount of time patterning it to get even a 8" pattern at 40 yards.

Yes you can shoot sluggers or foster type slugs in a smoothbore, but I recommend a modified choke, and better yet, a rifled extended choke. Also, I highly recommend some decent sights.The bead on a shotgun covers the entire vitals when a deer is at 40 yards.

nchawkeye

A 12 gauge with buckshot can be very effective on deer...But you must do your homework....I have a Browning B-80 that will put 5-00 pellets into a 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper (on the horizontal) every time, out to 40 yards...( I know that I need the Improved choke tube and use only 3 inch Winchester Supreme 00 buck)....That's the key...You need to pattern your gun with several brands and sizes of buckshot and with each choke tube to see what it is most effective with....I also have a Remington 1100 that I bought in 1975 that has a 21 inch barrel with rifle sights, it will group inside 1 1/2 inches at 50 yards with Remington Foster type slugs...and put 4-5 pellets of #1 into the same 8 1/2 x 11 paper....

You will probabably have best patterns with an Improved or Modified choke tube...You also need to try #1 buck as well as 00...I would start with Federal Premium and Winchester Supreme buckshot over Remingtons...I don't shoot buckshot over 40 yards...That's where most guys get in trouble (in duck hunting they call it sky blasting)....

I have killed 35-40 deer with buckshot, both 00 in the Browning B-80 (3 inch chamber)and #1 in the Remington 1100 (2 3/4 inch chamber)...If you are able to put 4-5 pellets into the lungs of a deer, and the range is 40 yards or closer, you will be fine....All this being said, I haven't killed a deer with buckshot in several years....A .24 diameter bullet movng 2800 fps or so is much more effective...Unless you are dog hunting, take the .270...

If your shotgun has a vent rib, you could install an aftermarket sight and use foster type slugs, this also helps center the pattern (much like a turkey hunter's shotgun with sights) of the buckshot...

Used properly buckshot is very effective....We have a huge problem with dog hunters dropping their deer dogs off beside a couple of our farms and trying to run deer off our property and onto the property they have permission to hunt....Many times I have killed deer running through the woods that they have pushed by me with buckshot...Last time I did this I dropped two does with two shots...But the range was about 25-30 yards....Good Luck

eldeguello

ANY smoothbore gun can shoot LEAD shot of anby diameter, including 00 buck! However, buckshot of any size is a very poor deer load, and has an extremely limited effectiver range-25 to 35 yards for reliable kills! Maybe as much as 40 yards for a 3" magnum shell with 12-15 pellets instead of the nine in a regular shell.

In your gun, you can shoot Foster-type and the old style Brenneke slugs, including the up-to-date Lightfield copy of the Brenneke. In a smoothbore, if accurate enough, the Brenneke or Lightfield is a better killer than a Foster type slug.

You need to test several makes of slugs to see which brand and load shoots best IN YOUR GUN. While slugs themselves are nothing to get excited about, they kill deer much better and at much greater range than buckshot will.

You only have to have a RIFLED bore if you want to shoot the modern, SABOT type slugs. BTW, the sabot-type slugs are much more effective than any other kind, and, because they are fired from a rifled bore, usually more accurate (but not always!)!

geterdun2

ok guys. thanks so much for the help. so i conclude that its alright to use 00 buck on a deer with the smooth bore, but not over 40 yards. also, am i correct when i conclude that...
1. a slug can be shot out of the smooth barrel
2.only sabots must be shot out of a rifled barrel?
all these different bores and barrel and chokes confuse me, i like the simple 270. also..
3.can i remove the scope from my 270 and shoot just the iron sites. its a savage 270 model 110 and i dont think the iron sites are that well illuminated, but i guess they are there. either way, where i will be hunting the longest shot i will need to take would be probably 30 yards (hunting in pines) so the 00 buck will be alright correct? thanks guys i really appreciate it.

geterdun2

maybe a better way to rephrase this question would be...if i have a benneli nova pump with a smooth bore barrel, what type of projectiles can i shoot from it that will kill a deer efficiently? what cant be shot out of this smooth bore....thanks maybe that will help a little