Tree climber

for someone to quote like that ; that has not tested buckshot in all occasions are really full of it.
I have used buckshot for the last 40 years and they will take game regularly at 50 to 60 yards.if you use the proper shot that patterns in your gun.you can't just pick up a gun and a box of shells and go hunting.I have taken more deer than my truck would haul off with shotgun with buckshot.most are taken at an average of 40 to 45 yards.(I said average)

I know everyone has an opinion,(there like a@@ holes,everyone has one) ; but just because it is yours , that doesn't mean everyone elses is wrong.
make the test and then state you results.I have made the test , and my results say "You Are Wrong".
JMHO ; my 2 cents , there are 98 more!!!!![:-]

Peyman

YES, I do have rifle sights and rifle barrel.....and well.....I havn't got any slugs yet, they are closed on weekend....so...I'm going next weekend to zero it....well...I did try some skeet/bird-shots with my shotty and it SUCKED!

It spreads the pellets way too much with the rifle sights....I found that it was good for about 5 yards. I shot 60 of them really close (20 yards or less) and I only hit one of them...so now I'm getting ready to get some slugs and get it ready for next hunting season.

I'll tell you guys how it went after I zero it.

Oh.....by the way.....what are the different types of slugs....all I know is the 2 3/4, 3", and the saboted slug I just read about. I am assuming the saboted slug is best for least drop.

What is a soboted slug anyways?

liquidorange

90% of my hunting areas in new jersey only sport 60 yard or less shots. buckshot puts them down quick especially if there moving . its way quicker than a scope. if you slow stalk its like shooting a big rabbit when they get up. i once hunted maine and one of the guys in camp were lucky enough to get on a set of tracks with the guide. he was sporting a scoped rifle. well the deer got up and the guy didnt shoot because he couldnt get the scope up quick enough. i told the guide if i had my shotgun on that tracking and some good ole buckshot we would have one on the pole

Peyman

Here is a pic of me and the Slugster Mod. 500. when we did the skeet/bird shot wxperiment that sucked.

Sorry about the size of the pic, don't know how to make it big without going over 30K.

akbound

Hi Peyman,

Rifled barrels are not designed to shoot "shot". As someone else already pointed out the rifling departs spin to the "shot cup" and as the shot exits the barrel it is essentially flung in a big spiral. It will not pattern well.

You need a smoothbore barrel for shooting shot. (And chokes are a completely different issue as well).

But to answer some other questions. A "sabot slug" is an underbore sized projectile that is fitted in either a plastic cup or plastic sleeves. The plastic cup or sleeves engage the rifling in the barrel and impart the spin to the projectile. Shortly after departing the muzzle the plastic falls away from the projectile, which is now spin stabilized, and on its way downrange. The stabilization of the slug is what contributes to the accuracy. The reason most sabots "shoot flatter" than full bore sized slugs is several faceted. One...they tend to be more aerodynamic. Two...they sometimes, (though not always), weigh less than a full bore sized slug. And three...they frequently, (though not always again), start at a higher muzzle velocity. All of these can contribute in flatter trajectory....and longer ranges. They will usually shoot better in a rifled barrel than other types of slugs.

Now having said that....let me say this. There are currently several manufacturers that make full bore sized slugs that are designed to shoot well in a rifled barrel. These slugs will be so marked on the box....."Rifled barrel only". So if you are so inclined....have the money...and have the time...you might want to give them a try as well.

Any how....best of luck!

Dave

P.S. I also forgot to mention earlier. Rifle sights work fine for shot....if they are installed on a smoothbore barrel. I know many turkey hunters that like them for that reason. And they also work with Buckshot patterns from smoothbore. And one of the best bunny/grouse guns I ever had was an 18 1/2" barreled smoothbore with rifle sights and choked "cylinder bore" (which means no choke at all).

Pro-Line

Tree Climber...READ my post. You will see that I am saying what you are saying. You cannot pick up a shotgun with BEADS (manufacturers bead sights...not iron sights) for sights and go flinging buckshot. After reading your post, I picked up 2 different shotguns, an 1100 and a model 12. The beads on BOTH of them would cover from a deer's butt to shoulder at about 60yds...(From house to my barn)

I said that buckshot is capable at distances of 50yds...if you take the time to put adequate sights on it and spend some time shooting it. I just for the life of me cannot see the reason for shooting buckshot instead of slugs unless one is flinging at running deer.

I also am not taking into accound deer size when I make my statements. Some of the people posting are from areas where the deer don't get as large as others.


Why shoot buckshot and limit your range when some modern shotguns can consistently group slugs at 125yds?

LITTLE MAGNUM

I going to stick up for buckshot here, it puts deer down hard and sometimes harder then slugs....Yes, it range limited, best result 40 yards or less. Two friends of mine, who hunt a shotgun only zone in high swamp grass, close range hunting, closed hunting zone a few hundred yards away. And they use buck-shot and top notch setups for buckshot. Rem 11-87sp with high dollar ported special buckshot choke tubes, and there is a reason those choke tubes cost 80 bucks, 25 yards 6inch pattern, 40 yards 8 to10 inch patterns. Up
close buckshot works better then slugs for them and maybe you.
Yes, slugs go faster, farther, higher energy, more accurate you name it, But,
at forty yards or less a tight pattern of 00 or 000 will put deer down quicker then slugs at that same range bar none!....before anyone jumps and say's slugs havn't dropped deer in there tracks ?....I not saying that, of course slugs have and can drop deer on the spot....But slug hunting is pretty close to black powder muzzle-load hunting. Projectiles can be dam close. a lot of deer shot well with shotgun slugs and blackpowder guns don't drop in there tracks.....a tight pattern of 00 bucks up close beats a slug anyday.
Yes, forty yards is range limited, however a lot of deer are shot at that range or
less....is buckshot for setting over a grain field with long shot possible, No, but
in thick woods and swamps it can be a real good option ! ....I have short brl 870, imp-cyl choke, can't pattern buck-shot at all, past 20 yards guess what I shoot slugs out of it. However my double barrel patterns buckshot well.....Buckshot gets a bad rap, because a lot of guns don't pattern it well and hunters shoot them beyond there guns range.....Now a scope on a shotgun, does help, however you can shoot beyond the guns range real easy ! a deer at 150yards looks like a easy chump shot(target )through a 4X scoped shotgun and if your shooting slugs that group nice and tight at 100 yards with that full-rifled brl shotgun you can shoot under that deer real easy at 150yards ....believe me I have shot under a too many deer with the muzzle-loader, just because in the scope they looked closer then they were....Range is everything with shotgun or muzzle-loader.
When you look across those coarse rifle sights, you know the differents between 75-100yards and say 130-150yards real quick....The words get closer
jumps to mind ....There is two sides to every story, both slugs and
buckshot have there place...Long range 50-125yards slugs WIN, under 50yards
tight pattern of buck shot wins.....0 to 125yard slugs got it covered and is always the better choice, just it's not the only choice.

slippery

for you guys that put down buck shot---come hunt with me for a week and bring your slug gun. i bet if you even come back the second day you'll be carring a buck shot slinger. i can knock them off their feet at 60 yards, troble is most places you can't see 30 or 40 yards. what would i want to use slugs for???

bigcountry

well slippery, I am close to your hunting in the swamps of md. Knock them off their fee at 60 yards? Come on slippery, thats a slippery statement. Call around the butcher shops on the Eastern Shore of MD and talk to them about buckshot. i learned my lesson. I shot a sika deer with buckshot and it barely got thru the flesh at 40 yards Never mind a good pass thru.. Fortunately, I used a slug first shot to get it down. I just couldn't believe penetration was so poor.

slippery

never said a thing about a pass thru--i expect that with my bow-- buck shot at 60 yards goes thru the deer and stops just under the hide on the far side. you don't beleive me, come on up, one hanging on the pole now, you can watch it being skinned and see where the pellets are. i've used buck shot for 40 years, i know what it does!