12g slugs for Elk?

[bjk7]

Hello,
I have a Mossberg 12g 500 with an 18.5" smoothbore barrel w/ 3" chamber and rifle sights. Will rifled slugs form this setup have the penetration necessary to take an elk size animal out to 50-75yds. reliably? What brand slug would best fit the bill in this situation? Would I be better off with my bow? (max range 40 yds for me)

Thanks,
bjk7

 

[Plink]

A 12 gauge is more than enough for elk. The folks in Alaska use them for defense against Kodiak bears, so a little elk is no challenge.

The challenge is going to be finding a slug that shoots well in your smoothbore. I've never had any luck with the foster style slugs. They're also hollow and tend to flatten out and not penetrate as well as they should. The hot setup for my particular gun (smoothbore 870) is the "Brenneke KO", made by the Kent Cartridge Co. You can find them online. They're surprisingly cheap. Cheap enough to get in a lot of needed practice with. They're more accurate than any other slug I've tried, more so than some rifled guns in fact. They don't flatten out as much and tend to penetrate like crazy. Perfect elk and bear medicine, though it hammers a deer like a freight train also. Oddly enough, they prefer to be shot through my full choke tube.

For larger game like elk, I'd suggest you not use hollowpoint slugs. The slug is already .70 someodd in diameter. That's larger than a rifle bullet can ever hope to expand anyway, so you don't really need more diameter.

 

[Dave McCracken]

I'm no elk hunter, but....

KO Brenekkes usually exit on whitetails shot broadside through the shoulder. Rottweil Brenekkes nigh always do. I'd go for the Rottweils, sold under the Dynamit Nobel label.

IMO, these have the best penetration of all slugs, barring the old S&W LE sabots. Those were designed to bust car motors.

Do benchtest some slugs and find the one your shotgun "Likes" best.

 

[thertel]

Sauvestre Sabot's will do the trick. Kengs Firearm Specialty is the importer of the sabot's. It is designed by the guy a guy that developed Tank Sabot's, the rounds are fin-stabalized and just shy of 1oz in weight. We've fired them at level 3 vests with ceramic trauma plates on the front and back over clay dummys and had full in and outs on the vests. It will definently take out some elk.

thomas

 

[mete]

Something like the Win Partition is very potent and very accurate ,it would work !