What are some good 12ga Slug recommendations for Deer?

Remington Premier Accutip and Hornady SST. I still have a bunch of old remington CoreLokt Sabot slugs and they hit the hardest but are discontinued.

my mossberg 500 prefers the hornaday's. Its a popular deer and black bear load here in jersey

I am a huge fan of the performance of the Lightfield slugs myself, but the Remington Accu-tip, Copper solids and Buckhammer seem to have a pretty good following and reputation around here. I am not a fan at all of the Hornady SST, to me it is too well built for deer and punches through without expanding, but some guys swear by it.

I like the buckhammer made by Remington in my mossberg 500.

slugs

I started out with BRI sabots. They were later bought out by Winchester and i used them for a few years.

A friend started using Rem copper solids so I tried them and also bought a few boxes of Lightfields.

Here is a target I have posted on a few of these slug postings.

This target is at 100 yds. The SG is a 20" Ithaca Deerslayer with a rifled bbl. The scope is a cheap 3X9 Simmons. ( I bought this not knowing if the gun would beat up the scope over a few seasons. As it turns out , it's been on for about 15 yrs).

What was strange was the 2 Lightfield hits on the left were 1 1/4 oz and the 2 Rem copper solids were 1 oz. Aside from left/right the group size and elevation were pretty close.

Brenneke slugs

Winchester platinum tip saboted slugs are fantastic in my FIL's savage bolt-action shotgun. One-inch groups at 75 yards. Of course, I've never shot more than 3 at a time because the kick is considerably more than my .300WM and the shells cost about $3 per, IIRC.

I've shot four deer with that ammo and three of them were bang flops. The fourth ran 30 yards.

http://www.winchester.com/products/...ced/Shotshell-Platinum-Tip/Pages/SSPTH12.aspx

most of the folks that deer hunt here don't change their loads to head up to the foothills up north for bear. mainly wetlands, streams, and dense forest here but not much elevation change.

Too bad the Win platinum tips are dc'ed. They were fantastic. Maybe they were just too expensive?

I bought a Hastings rifled barrel for my 12 ga. 870 and it shoots regular Forster-type Winchester slugs as good or better than the saboted loads. Much cheaper too. Just try out different ones to see what's the most accurate from your barrel.

+1 for Brenneke

I used to use the Remington premier accutips on hogs. The bullet expands well and mushrooms out very well. I used them on hogs at night and the problem that I had with them is that they wouldn't exit. Even on hogs less than 100 lbs. the bullet would flatten out and get stuck under the skin just before exiting on 100 lb hogs and on 250 lb hogs. Did massive damage, but wouldn't leave a blood trail at night on lung shots. Almost lost a really good boar bc of it. Since then I've switched to Hornady SSTs and love em. About 200 fps and 300 grains does the job. They've always expanded well for me... Difference is the way they expand-- the bullet opens up with jagged edges and tears through tissue. So If the animal does run, there's a big exit hole with a good blood trail.

Find the one that shoots best in your shotgun. Most will pattern alright, but usually one load will stand out as being better, accuracy wise, than the others. For me and my smoothbore, it's the Winchester Super X 2 3/4. Also happens to be pretty inexpensive. Happy coincidence, that.

I admit to selling my rifled barrel and going back to rifled slugs after I shot a deer with the sabots. I was unimpressed with the performance versus the additional cost. Accuracy was a little better than traditional "pumpkin balls" and range was a little longer, but not by enough for me to justify it. I get 1" center to center groups with a smoothbore at 50 yards. That's plenty for the places I hunt. YMMV.

I have been using 3in lightfields for about 10 years. they have always shot very well out of my h&r ush, but went to the range today and tried the remington accutips and shot a 3 in group at 200 yards. the lightfields shoot about a 5in group at 200 and have 6in more drop. have not used them in the woods yet can anybody tell me how they do?

2 3/4 federal/barnes are deadly!

+1 for federals. The issue with slug guns is the inconsistency between barrels and manufacturers to be able to tell you what round shoots best. I have a lot of trials with different guns that provide different results with the same ammo. With the Rem 870 i found that Accutips are wonderful and also perform well in aa Winchester 1300. Saying that, Lightfields have also performed well in a 870 but do not have the superior performance of the new Federals or the Accutips. Warning!! the accutips require you to buy some locktite for your scope mounts and advil for your shoulder. The best thing to do is shoot multiple brands through YOUR gun. If they can't pattern past 125-150 they are not worth shooting. Best of luck and sorry for the late post.

"Truballs" I got at Dicks sporting and the Federals from Walmart are accurate and the Remington Sluggers came in third but still good in my "18 smooth barrel with rifle sights.