Groups With Slugs?

[ACP230]

From my cylinder bore Mossberg 590 with a ghost ring peep I can shoot Remington "Slugger" one ounce slugs into three inch groups at 25 yards. Shooting is from a rest on a bench. Most often two slugs touch and one is far enough away from the other two to make the group three inches.

If I remember right at 50 yards the same slugs go into about five inches in the same type of pattern.

What kind of groups do you get with slugs?

 

[birddog]

With my Mossberg 500 Slugster off a rest, very similar groups to yours with an Aimpoint Red-Dot.

 

[USSR]

What kind of groups do you get with slugs?

Much better than that, but I use a rifled choke tube. Try shooting Winchester's slugs - they are larger in diameter than Remington's and just may shoot better out of your Mossberg.

Don

 

[scout26]

If I'm doing my part, I can get 2" groups at 100 yds. But then, I'm shooting Winchester Platinum Tips out of a rifled barrel with a cantilevered scope mount and a Bushnell 3-9x scope on my Mossberg 500.

 

[ACP230]

I have no plans to scope the 590. I don't think they make a rifled barrel that fits it either.

I think I do have some Winchester slugs around here somewhere.
I might try them.

I was happy with the groups from the Remington slugs.
The last gun I shot slugs out of much was an old ACME single shot that used to belong to my grandpop. It was showing its age by the time I got it. The Mossberg is a long way ahead of the ACME.

 

[Dain Bramage]

I've only shot two brands of slugs so far in my new Lanber 2087 O/U; S&B 2.75" and Federal Powershok 2.75".

With the bead sight, from a rest, I've been getting consistent 1.2" (3 shot) groups at 25 yds with the S&B. With the Federal, my groups have been averaging just under 3".

You might just need to find a brand of ammo your gun likes. Or the 3rd round could be a flyer. The Lanber slaps me upside the head from a rest, but does fine from the shoulder. It's hard not to develop a flinch.

 

[Dr.Rob]

Remington Sportsman 12 Magnum, factory 21 inch Remchoke barrel w/rifle sights, rifled choke + Winchester Super X 1 oz slug (not sabot) = 3 slugs touching at 50 yards.

That's off the bench.

I have also been known to make a bullseye at 100 with that set up, though a three shot group is more like 5 inches across.

 

[jacobtowne]

Rem. 870 smoothbore deer barrel, Rem. 2 3/4 inch shell, 2 inches at 25 yards, plenty good for deer in the kind of woods we have here.
JT

 

[charby]

Beretta Pintail 24" barrel, improved cylinder choke, 2 3/4 inch Winchester rifled slugs from wally world, I can get a 4" pattern at 25 yards rapid firing, this is good enough to drop a deer in the woods for me.

I'm buying a 870 with a smooth slug barrel and 4x scope for this fall, I imagine my accuracy will improve.

Charby

 

[mec]

Sitting on the ground no support-consistently.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Bench, sub 4" at 100 yards. Peep sights, etc. Changing slug brands can open this to 10".

Truck hood, bead sight, sub 3" at 50 yards.

 

[NMshooter]

I get a bit of a twinge in my shoulder reading this thread.

Bench resting a shotgun is not my favorite use of that weapon...

When I had a Benelli M-3 I could get the holes to touch at 50' using Fiocchi 1 1/4 oz. slugs, but I had no fun doing it.

From the standing position with a bead front sight at 50' I can keep them all in the torso of a B-27 or similar target with my Mossberg 500 and assorted Foster pattern slugs.

The sights seem to make more of a difference for me than the type of slugs used.

 

[imas]

With a plain barrel mossberg 500 and a bead sight I normally get groups less than an inch at 25 yards using Winchester 2 3/4 or 3in rifled slugs. I have had the same results using my cheap BSA red dot sight.

If I'm careful I can usually make .5 inch groups but my concern has been more for across the room accuracy. I don't really enjoy bullseye shooting with my 12ga.

I have also found the 2 3/4 Winchester Platinum Tip sabots to be very accurate. They also penetrate much better and hit alot harder than even a 3in regular slug. I tested some using old phone books and while the regular slugs did their job, the Platinum Tips made the box DANCE.

 

[ACP230]

Shooting slugs off the bench doesn't stay fun for me for long either.
That's one of the reasons I didn't shoot at 50 and 100 yards too last time.
I either use a PAST pad, or pad my shoulder with a gun case.

Once it was more fun than usual. Every shot blew big chunks out of the shot up target board and some chunks flew over the berm. That made me laugh after each shot.

 

[Dr.Rob]

No kidding... the recoil off the bench is fierce... my pump shotgun will eject the spent shell all by itself...

It doesn't kick anywhere near that hard in a 'real' shooting position.

 

[JShirley]

The smallest group I've seen from my Mossy 500 GR cylinder bore was two 3" Mag Remingtons in touching holes from 25 yards, offhand.

Most of the time, I shoot Rem Reduced Recoil slugs, and probably get about 2" 25 meter groups

 

[driven]

Offhand groups of 2" at 25 yards with Remington Sluggers, my 870, and Wilson peep sights.

I don't like benching a 12 gauge either.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Benching a 12 gauge is like a Prostate exam, necessary but uncomfortable. A couple things...

Good form helps. Be upright, not bent forward, so the whole pad is in contact.

Heavy up your shotgun. Adding a weight under the pad helps, heck adding weight anywhere on the weapon does.

With the extension and S/S on my HD 870, the weight runs close to 9 1/2 lbs loaded. What kick?

One respondent on TFL used a gallon jug filled with water and tied to the front sling stud while it rested on the ground in front of the bench. With no slack, the weapon weighed close to 15 lbs.

The PAST pad and similar is of great value here. So are good quality pads mounted on the stock. A few rounds of Brenekkes fired from a shotgun with a butt plate will make you think Vlad the Impaler was back in action.

Keep the sessions short. Three sessions of 15 rounds each may give better results than trying to fire 15 three round groups in a morning.

HTH....

 

[GRB]

I have never measured my groups when shooting slugs and, I rarely measure other groups I have shot. At work: We shoot a ten rounds of buckshot, not for score at paper; we also shoot buckshot or slugs for tactical shotgun, not for score.

I do know that when I shoot to qualify at 25 yards, I am usually the fastest shotgun shooter in my office by far. We shoot only four rounds from the gun, combat reload with one and shoot it. That is all we shoot for qualification. My groups of 5 shots are often 4 shots touching with one flier, less often all 5 touching and, sometimes none touch. When they are all close - not necessarily touching one another, the group is less than the size of my fist. If I really take my time I can, fairly often, make em all touch within what I guess would be a three or four inch diamter circle. That is when shooting a Remington 870 with either rifle sights on a smoothbore barrel or when shooting using Ghost Rings on a smoothbore barrel - all of that is shooting without a rest from standing position. I imagine shooting from a rest, taking a bit of time, I could maybe do better.

As for the advice to have the 'whole pad' in contact, I imagine that meant the recoil pad. I rarely if ever have more than about 2 inches of the bottom of the pad/butt plate in the v of my collar bone. I cannot remember the last time I did something like try to place the recoil pad against my shoulder so the whole pad connected because that invaribly means butt to muscle mass and that hurts real bad with a shotgun. Maybe it was more than 25 years ago when I last did it on purpose. All I can say is ouch for anyone who does it that way. Just way too painful and scary for me with a combat gun. Holding it in the v formed when you raise the rear elbow is the way I go; unless of course the gun slips out doing tactical. Then who cares, I shoot to survive and a little recoil never killed anyone. Though, when I can avoid the ouch it is in the V for me.

All the best,
Glenn B

Just love that Remington 870. I shoot it quite a bit more than required at work.

 

[DougW]

With my Benelli M1 Super 90 Tactical, I was able to put 4 1oz Ranger Tactical Low Recoil slugs in a 4" group at 100 yards from the bench. Half the felt recoil, not bad to shoot from the bench. I was amazed at the accuracy potential. I try to avoid the full race slug loads.

 

[3 gun]

I can get 4" groups with a Mossberg 500 with a rifled barrel, iron sights and Remington 2 3/4" Copper Solids. Finding this out HURT

 

[Snowman92D]

Ithaca M-37 smoothbore Deerslayer will cloverleaf (or very nearly so) at 25 yards and print a trifle under 4 inches at 50 with Brenneke 1-1/8 ounce "Classic" slugs.

 

[scout26]

Finding this out HURT

That's why I like the integrated scope mount on my rifled slug barrel. It took three trips to the range on three seperate weekends (Needed time to heal between). To a) get the thing zeroed and the b) find out what flavor of ammo it prefers. I shoot wearing what I would normally be wearing out the woods, no PAST pad or any other recoil prevention aid.

Now I just reattach the barrel before deer season, go out to the range and (hopefully) fire only 3 rounds to confirm the zero. And yep, it becomes an autoshucker on the bench. OUCH !!!!

 

[nitesite]

I, too, have a 590 w/ Ghost Rings 8+1 that is box stock.

Winchester Super-X and Federal Game-Shok 1-oz slugs group 3-4" for me off a rest @ 50-yards. Sometimes 2-1/2 but that's just luck.

I don't shoot anything 3" thru it. Call me whatever names you want, I'm sticking with 2-3/4" ammo.

BTW ACP230 - do you love or hate the forend on yours? I'm gonna have to get a Pachmayr or Hogue overmolded one.

 

[ACP230]

The 590's forend is OK by me.