Dedicated deer shotgun

Orbis

FNG
Joined
Feb 9, 2021
Messages
76
I have a older mossberg 500 slugster, it shoots well great for short range only weapon areas. Just use the old Winchester super x in it and performs well.
What max effective range do you recommend for hunting w/ the rifled 500?
 

Orbis

FNG
Joined
Feb 9, 2021
Messages
76
Not sure what the max with it would be, the areas I use it in I can only get to 100 yards and it does well within that range
Great, thanks - pretty heavily wooded here, too, so I should be good - will zero my scope at 100.
 

Fordguy

WKR
Joined
Jun 20, 2019
Messages
585
Find an H&R or New England Firearms ultra slug in 20 or 12 ga. My 2 longest distance shotgun bucks were 140 yards (with the 12 ga) and 160ish yards with the 20 ga. Lightfield hybred sabots were the most accurate (2 inch groups were pretty common, sometimes better) from my experience, though the 140 yard buck was shot with a hornady sst. If you can't find the entire gun, you might be able to find an ultra slug barrel on e-bay. Some barrels require fitting (not terribly hard to DIY or you can pay a gunsmith to do it), others may fit perfectly. Just make sure you don't put a rifle barrel on a shotgun frame. Sb1 vs sb2. Additional Barrels were available but had to be fitted to your receiver at the factory when H&R was still in business.
Additionally, before Hastings went out of business they started buying batches of ultra slug 20 ga shotguns, reaming the chamber to 3-1/2" and restamping them as open field hunters for use with their own 3-1/2" 20 ga sabots somewhere north of 2000 fps. Those 3-1/2" chambered barrels had a reputation for being more accurate with standard length rounds than the original factory barrels. Just something to watch out for. I've only ever seen 1, and I passed because I thought it was too expensive. I should have bought it anyway. Sorry for the novel. I had all kinds of fun hunting with those singleshots.
 

Fordguy

WKR
Joined
Jun 20, 2019
Messages
585
A neighbor of mine used to shoot a browning A bolt 12 gauge- he reported 1-1/2" to 2" groups from the bench. I never saw him shoot it, but he did kill a lot of deer with it.
 

Mk44

WKR
Joined
Aug 21, 2020
Messages
416
Go with a rifle barrel (better accuracy and distance.)

You have a few options... Savage 220 would be my 1st choice. Or you can go with a rifled barrel Remington 870, Mossberg 500, Winchester 1300, etc.
You can even go with a rifled barrel single shot H&R. A friend picked one up w/ a scope for $100.
 
Joined
Feb 2, 2021
Messages
10
A neighbor of mine used to shoot a browning A bolt 12 gauge- he reported 1-1/2" to 2" groups from the bench. I never saw him shoot it, but he did kill a lot of deer with it.
I've killed quite a few on army bases (and Iowa) with a browning a-bolt 12 ga. Remington Premier accutips would group around 2". Farthest shot i made on a whitetail was 157 yds but I would have been comfortable to 200.
 

Biggie

FNG
Joined
Dec 17, 2020
Messages
91
Location
Kansas
Inside of 100 I'd just see what your current bird gun does with cheap rifled slugs before buying another shotgun. When I was living in IA I shot all of my shotgun deer with an old Benelli SL80 and winchester super x slugs using just the bead.
 

Skee7533

FNG
Joined
Jun 23, 2020
Messages
42
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My Remington 870 Slug Gun with rifled barrel will shoot 2" 3 shot groups at 100 yards. My son took his biggest buck to date with it last year in Illinois.
 
OP
jt4

jt4

WKR
Joined
Dec 11, 2018
Messages
513
Good info all. Decided to go with a savage 220, but haven't been out to shoot it yet as I'm still deciding on what optic to put on top of it.
 
Joined
Feb 22, 2021
Messages
410
Location
Georgia
I used to shoot a Mossberg 695 rifled slug gun with Hornady SST’s. It was a very accurate combo that didn’t cost an arm and a leg.
 

Fordguy

WKR
Joined
Jun 20, 2019
Messages
585
I used to shoot a Mossberg 695 rifled slug gun with Hornady SST’s. It was a very accurate combo that didn’t cost an arm and a leg.
I used the SSTs for a season or two with a heavy barrel NEF 12 ga. For the most part they were very accurate, but occasionally (frequent enough for concern) I would have a flyer that would impact 4 inches or so away from the rest of the group. Similar results with Remington copper solid sabots. I had the gun weighted, in addition to the heavy barrel. It probably weighed 12 lbs. Switching to the slower, heavier lightfield sabots solved that problem.
 

Jakerex

WKR
Joined
Aug 29, 2020
Messages
716
I don’t have a dedicated slug gun but have researched them. Obviously, the savage is at the top of the list, but I always like the H&R NEF (whatever it is) heavy barrel single shot. Probably 20 gauge. Be a sweet setup for cheap. Well, used to be cheap


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Themic86

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
May 16, 2021
Messages
163
Location
DFW, Texas
I would get a savage 220 in 20ga rifled barrel. Shoots well out to 100 yards or further and not a bad price. TC pro hunter would be my second choice but is a single shot.


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