Smooth bore slugs

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mini14gb

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I was wondering if any of you could put together a respectable smooth bore shotgun slug for close range wilderness defense. I do not have a rifled barrel for my 870 and almost every box of slugs I pick up say rifled.

I'm a avid bird hunter but know nothing of slugs.
 
Any of the rifled slugs will be good candidates, they were developed for smoothbores.
Try three or four till you find one in particular that's the most accurate.
Denis
 
See you learn something new everyday. I thought the rifled slugs were made to be fired from rifled shotgun barrels.
 
This oughta be made a huge typeface sticky here. :)

Rifling on those slugs is there purely to allow the outer surfaces of the slug to swage down in passing through smoothbore chokes. It is not there to make the slug spin. It is neither restricted to smoothbores only nor prohibited from rifled barrels (two more common misconceptions).

Rifled bores were not built or developed exclusively for saboted bullets (usually called sabots), they were used with standard Foster type rifled slugs for many years before sabots were developed.

Smoothbores were also used with rifled slugs for many years & I'd consider it safe to say there were & are many, many, many more rifled slugs put through smoothbore barrels than rifled barrels.

Denis
 
Thanks for clearing all of this up for me. Shotguns to me have always been about bird hunting until I picked up a Remington 870 tactical. Now I have to get some good practice and training for my new defender.
 
Happy to help.
Good luck with your 870, remember not to be discouraged if the first brand or two doesn't work out well. Every shotgun's different & with the right slug you can get some surprising accuracy. The key there is good sights, not just a bead.
Denis
 
10-4 I've sent a few rounds of 000 buck down range but I'm looking for Grizzly Bear defense loads in lieu of my SOCOM 16 as my walk around camp rifle. Still taking the SOCOM for walks though in the brush during deer season.
 
I see some remington buckhammer 3" 1-3/8 ounce loads online. Damn those must be hell to shoot.
 
I've tested a bunch of 2 3/4 BuckHammers, they're typically quite accurate in a smoothbore & have a nice sharp shoulder on a wide flat nose.
They're the slug I carry in my 870s out in the wilds just a bit southwest of you in Utah.

I do very little with 3-inch 12 gauge slugs. The others ouch me enough.

You might consider the Brenekes, hard lead with blunt noses, good performers on big animals. Older Foster-type roundnoses are very soft & don't give the best penetration.
One other thing would be a GOOD recoil pad. Don't know what you have on your gun.

Denis
 
Currently the gun has pistol grips front and rear with no rear stock at all. I need to get the stocks put back on. Although the short configuration pistol grips are nice for walking with.
 
Nice for walking, lousy for accurate shooting.
We had one officer bring one to a qualification years ago, never made that mistake again. :)
Denis
 
Yeah more than likely I would be shooting under 10 yards in a pure bear defense scenario but I still want the stocks put back on it with a 3-point Specter Gear sling for comfortable walking. I love Specter slings. I have them on all of my long guns.
 
"...Grizzly Bear defense..." Yogi can run at 35MPH, flat out. He can cover 100 yards in 5.8 seconds. You'll never be fast enough with any firearm. If you're afraid of bears, stay home or wear jingle bells. Yogi will avoid you like the plague.
"...thought the rifled slugs were made to..." Nope. Sabotted slugs are made for rifled shotgun barrels. Rifled slugs are just that. A slug with the 'rifling' on the slug. Really just a big bullet. They can be surprisingly accurate at 100 though. Three inch groups with rifle sights and a C or IC choke isn't unusual.
"...with no rear stock at all..." A shotgun with no stock is, absolutely, the most useless thing on Earth. You have no control whatsoever. You might as well throw rocks. Buckshot, of any size, isn't far behind. Not enough energy or accuracy past 30 to 40 yards. Way too close to even think about using on Yogi.
 
Even close up, if you're looking for a bear gun you want to be able to aim accurately.
Those PG-stocked shorties can make do with buckshot at short distances, but in a hurry under stress against a large moving animal they're a very poor choice.
Denis
 
Damn it was to good to be true I was actually enjoying this thread. Another "bear" expert showed up to tell me everything I already know and bunch of things that have been proven to be false like BEAR BELLS. I've lived here my whole life and I've killed bears. I know what can happen all to well having staved off 2 charges in my life without firing a shot. I'm not afraid of bears but we have acquired a new neighbor in the form of a Griz up at my cabin. I'm out of this thread if it turns into a debate as Sunray seems to want to make it. I didn't ask for your "expert" (LOL) opinion about bear loads only information about shooting slugs in a smooth bore.
 
My primary "bear" gun is a .45-70 Marlin Guide Gun with heavy Garrett loads, it rides in the UTV in the high mountains.
Secondary for smaller bear country & general utility is either a 16-inch Marlin .44 Mag or one of the 870s with the BuckHammers.

The BuckHammers or the Brenekes could handle most larger bears & I could quite easily get along with an 870 for everything, but I'm just more comfortable with a levergun than a pump.
I would not use sabots for any large animal where penetration was critical, they're designed for hunting applications on deer & elk sized game where shallower holes are OK & less fat is common.

Denis
 
Rifled bores were not built or developed exclusively for saboted bullets (usually called sabots), they were used with standard Foster type rifled slugs for many years before sabots were developed.
Click to expand...

Not quite the way I remember it. What years might those have been that you speak of?

rich
 
See Dixie Slugs--they make and load some very powerful slugs for the 12ga. Muzzle energies are near elephant rifle stats. Just the thing for close in dangerous game. They also load a round ball load(tri-ball) that is very impressive. Both loads give deep penetration and good accuracy.
 
I agree - they are all good - I use Remingtons and have for years,

mainly because they have worked well for me in the past and that is what they sell around here - they are easy to find.

Stay away from new- ultra-super-magic-wonder loads and just use the old standbys. They have been around for a long time because they work.

mark
 
Mini14, do you handload shotshells?

I've tested these, and they don't deform at all and can be fired through a smooth barrel.http://www.ballisticproducts.com/prodinfo.asp?number=0721612

They're basically the same thing as a Brenekke slug, but if you're already set up, you can load them for cheaper, which means more practice. There are loads available for a AA hull and standard star crimp.

I'm also in the process of working up some loads for solid, milled brass slugs that are made by a Greek company. They make them up to 970 grains for a 3.5 hull. All I have are the 570 grain version for a 2.75" hull. I'll have the full report by the end of the week. My ballistics gel mix just arrived yesterday:D
 
The best known rifled shotgun barrel is probably the Hastings, developed for Foster-type slugs initially.
Denis
 
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