Shotgun Slug Scope Recs

[nettereo16]

Helping my buddy get set up with a slug gun after he moved to a NE state... we both don't know much about slug hunting but he picked up a rifled cantilever barrel for his 12ga BPS.

Scope recommendations?
1-4x, 2-7x? 3-9x? Do we need the "shotgun" reticle?

Shots will be mostly under 100 yards, mostly in the woods and they are relatively open. If we can get his set up for 150yd max that would be great.

If you have any recommendations on sabot slugs to buy/stay away from, please share...

Thanks

 

[Binz17]

I have a Bushnell banner on my 12 ga. Cheap and reliable.

 

[Rich M]

Yup - Bushnell Banner. It is a classic shotgun scope. Get this:

https://www.bushnell.com/scopes/shop-all-scopes/banner-2-3-9x40-riflescope/BU-RB3940BS11.html

 

[Novashooter]

The first thing is to be realistic about the effective range. Shotgun slugs lore on the internet is insane. I grew up in a shotgun slug deer area, have seen hundreds of slug guns, have shot tons of them, own half a dozen. I don't care about ruffling feathers anymore, because anything else is only doing a disservice to others. Shotguns are NOT MOA rifles. They are NOT 2 MOA rifles. There used to be a fun little online club called the American Slug Shooting Association, or ASSA. It was basically a group of guys who loved slug guns, and put together informal competition to see what they could do. In the purpose built rifled slug guns, guys would often shoot 2" 5 shot groups at 100 yards, but not every time. You got unlimited attempts per month, so it wasn't like this happened regularly.

What I'm trying to say is if you think you can slap a rifled barrel on a pump action shotgun and shoot 2" or better at 100 yards consistently you are going to be wasting your time. A lot of that more accurate ammo like the Hastings and Lightfield slugs are no longer made. Neither are Buckhammers. A lot of the sabot slugs made today are only made to do one thing, shoot fast, and sell faster. There are good ones, Remington Accutips are often suggested. Federal powershok sabot slugs are another good one if you find them. Realistically you are looking at a gun capable of consistent 4" groups at 100 yards with the right ammo. You may or may not feel good for a 125 yard shot after trying it. You can probably put the idea of taking a 150 yard shot out of your head. 150 yards is asking a lot from even a purpose built slug gun like a Savage 212 or 220. Plenty of people have shot deer at 150-200 yards with slug guns, but I'm sure not taking a shot at an animal when my groups could be 6"-8", that's leaving way too much to chance. It could be even worse. I like to cast my own slugs and shoot at 200 and 300 for fun. At 200 yards sometimes slugs go haywire. Winchester BRI for example is one of the most accurate you will find at 100 yards, but seem to tumble sometime past that.

For sure go with a 1-4x. Nothing wrong with a red dot either. Drop is almost not a consideration, so no need for any reticle. Your accuracy will run out way before drop is a factor. Even a low recoil 1250 fps slug is going to be plus or minus 3" past 110 yards. Most are more like 1500-1700 fps.

 

[MN-Land of Does]

Run a Savage 220 with Federal Trophy Copper slugs. Sub 1 inch at 100yards. Currently have a Leupold 4.5x14 scope. Great setup.

 

[nettereo16]

Keep the feedback coming, much appreciated! Yeah, it will probably be a 100yd gun and we'll be happy. We will see how it holds up beyond that.

Also if you have recommendations on sabot slugs. We'll buy a few types and see what works best.

 

[Tmac]

I put an old fixed 4x Leupold on my 20 ga. Mine is an H&R Ultra Slug hunter. It’s a 2” ish at 100 yard tool and maxes out at about 125, almost can’t keep it on paper at 150. Shoots the old Winchester Platinum slugs, so moderate velocity. Would not shoot the higher velocity ones that may extend my range at all. I tried the cantilever barrel on a pump gun, dismal failure much past 75 yards.

We’re I to do it it again, I’d get a Savage 220. Probably will when we draw next for a shotgun/muzzleloader mule deer buck hunt nearby. Good luck.

 

[Novashooter]

Keep the feedback coming, much appreciated! Yeah, it will probably be a 100yd gun and we'll be happy. We will see how it holds up beyond that.

Also if you have recommendations on sabot slugs. We'll buy a few types and see what works best.

Most states have gone away from shotgun slug restrictions, and as a result a lot of the slugs made just for rifled barrels are now gone. It isn't like 10-15 years ago when every brand made 3+ sabot slugs each. They can vary widely in quality and size which can make a huge difference. Federal powershok sabot, Remington Accutip, Winchester BRI. Those are the 3 slugs you should try. If Federal still makes the trophy copper you can try that, I'm not a fan of lead-free slugs. Very few people have good results with Hornady SST. Many find they can't even keep them on paper.

Those are going to be your run of the mill answers. Despite having a rifled barrel, there is no reason you can't shoot rifled slugs in them. Sometimes a rifled slug will out shoot any sabot slug. It is worth trying a Remington Slugger, and Federal Truball. Rifled slugs are usually far more effective on animals too. The way they flatten out on impact is absolutely devastating.

 

[keystone112]

My two favorite low power scopes for shotguns and muzzleloaders are…

Leupold 1-4 and Nikon Omega 1.65-5x36.

I prefer a standard duplex reticle.

 

[Beagle1]

If you are only shooting out to 100 yards don’t over think it. Most any shotgun with a rifled barrel and a little experimenting with a few
sabots will work for you. On the very expensive end the Ithaca deer slayer III is a beautiful shooter.

On scopes I would go 2-7. If you see a nice buck in heavy cover the higher magnification comes in handy. Eventually you will have old eyes and an illuminated reticle is a big help but hard to find in the 2-7 range.

 

[WCB]

#1 is the barrel rifled? There are Cantilever barrels that are smooth bore.

#2 I grew up shooting slug guns and still hunt opening weekend with a slug gun. I like magnification and personally wouldn't put anything under a 2-8 or 3-9 on.

#3 Cantilever type are not always the most accurate. Your buddy could have the barrel pinned and that should help. If you find the right slug for a rifled barrel they can be extremely effective out to 200yds. Guys need to keep up with the times and quit thinking all slug guns are shooting old pumpkin slugs using bird beads.

 

[FLS]

Leupold Fixed 2.5 or 4X with the heavy duplex.

 

[tkhuntsman]

Helping my buddy get set up with a slug gun after he moved to a NE state... we both don't know much about slug hunting but he picked up a rifled cantilever barrel for his 12ga BPS.

Scope recommendations?
1-4x, 2-7x? 3-9x? Do we need the "shotgun" reticle?

Shots will be mostly under 100 yards, mostly in the woods and they are relatively open. If we can get his set up for 150yd max that would be great.

If you have any recommendations on sabot slugs to buy/stay away from, please share...

Thanks

I shoot a savage 220 slug gun and have a vortex diamondback 4-12 x50 with a BDC reticle. I sight in dead on at 100 first cross down is 150, then 175, and the final is about 200. I shoot Remington airotip saboted slugs in 3". It's deadly on whitetails and muledeer in weapon restriction areas.

 

[Novashooter]

#1 is the barrel rifled? There are Cantilever barrels that are smooth bore.

#2 I grew up shooting slug guns and still hunt opening weekend with a slug gun. I like magnification and personally wouldn't put anything under a 2-8 or 3-9 on.

#3 Cantilever type are not always the most accurate. Your buddy could have the barrel pinned and that should help. If you find the right slug for a rifled barrel they can be extremely effective out to 200yds. Guys need to keep up with the times and quit thinking all slug guns are shooting old pumpkin slugs using bird beads.

#1 very, very few smoothbore barrels have ever been made with a cantilever mount. The only references I can even find are a few special barrels for turkey hunting. None from Browning.

#2 no comment, all good.

#3 I really doubt any gunsmith will pin a BPS barrel, and I don't see how you could do it yourself either. If you were very careful I suppose it's possible, but there is no room for error on a BPS barrel extension. Really pinning barrels is only done on Remington's. Mossberg 500's have a cutout where you need to drill. The Remington 870 is the only shotgun I have ever seen pinned, and I even pinned one myself. It is a very effective method, but it doesn't work on all guns.

 

[Bigboone1988]

I had a 1-4 bushnell banner and killed a lot of deer with it. About 8 years ago I upgraded to a Leupold 2-7 and haven’t looked back. Much clearer and the 2 power is great for walking in to stand and deer drives. I saw to much of my barrel with the bushnell on 1 power.

 

[Boarmaster]

I had a 1-4 bushnell banner and killed a lot of deer with it. About 8 years ago I upgraded to a Leupold 2-7 and haven’t looked back. Much clearer and the 2 power is great for walking in to stand and deer drives. I saw to much of my barrel with the bushnell on 1 power.

I had bushnell trophy on my slug gun I used in Ohio. As I got older upgraded to a Leupold 2-7 because
i was having trouble picking out the deer in heavy cover With the Bushnell. No problem after the upgrade. I could have been good with any quality 1-5 power As I kept the new scope on 4 x mostly.
I think hunters sometimes get focused on magnification rather than clarity and contrast and quality glass especially in the short range hunting game. Where I used my slug gun was basically hand to hand combat with shots from 15-30 yards.

 

[LongWayAround]

I recently posted in another thread that I had put an SWFA 1-4x on an AR. I think it would make a fine slug gun scope or for anything that you want to have the probability of shooting quickly with both eyes open. It's also pretty often on sale with rings/mounts. I bought their one piece mount for mine. With the cantilever rail, you would probably want low rings though.

 

[mtfallon]

I almost went with a 1-4X but found the amount of light let in by the small tube/barrel end of the scope wasn't ideal at last light. I went with a Leupold 2-7X and love it.

 

[Novashooter]

I almost went with a 1-4X but found the amount of light let in by the small tube/barrel end of the scope wasn't ideal at last light. I went with a Leupold 2-7X and love it.

If you didn't like the light transmission it was because of the glass or coating, not the tube diameter. Even on 4x, the pupil exit diameter on a 1" objective is over 6mm, which is larger than most human eye pupil can expand. Nothing wrong with a 2-7x though, although technically at 7x and 32mm objective, it has a 4.6mm exit pupil. For most people 5mm is as good as it gets unless you are very young. Both great choices with minimal consequences between them.

 

[markanderson12wi]

I have a 1.5x4 on my 870 slug gun, personally I would like to have a 2x7. Ive killed deer out to 150 yards but with that 4 power it is not the best. I hunt in Wisconsin and we used to hunt in a shotgun county, now it was switched to rifle. Sometimes I still take out the 870 for the late doe season. Really liked the performance of the Winchester Partiton Golds out of my mossberg slug barrel.