Sabot slugs

[mag30079]

Hello all,
 
I got my shot gun out this past weekend and went to the range. I just changed my scope rings and wanted to sight in. I have been using remington 3"sabot slugs copper 1600fps. I had a hard time grouping this time and was thinking about trying a different brand of slugs. I've read mixed reviews on the remington slugs and wanted to know what my fellow hunters are using. I'm using a remington 870. I switched barrels at the range to my smooth bore and shot better with open sights, 4" group at 50yrds. I have to much invested in to my riffled barrel and scope to not get the results I'm looking for.
 
Any feed back is greatly apreciated

[FFKEVIN]

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[Spurred]

It sounds like you are saying you have been using Rem. copper solids before and had success with them? Then changed the scope rings and now don't? I don't think that's a problem with the slugs.

[mag30079]

Never had any success with the remington sabots. Last time I just got frustrated and went back to my trusted smooth bore. I'm just revisiting this set up early in the session. One of my hunting spots is on the edge of a field and could get a long shot. This is the reason I'm looking in to the whole riffled barrel and the sabots. One thing I have never liked is the price of sabots. I've had very good success in the woods with my smooth bore. The wooded area maximun shot is 40-50 yards. Sabots claim you can get out to 100-150yds
 
Thanks FFkevin I'll give the Hornady slugs a shot

[Spurred]

I understand now. You might want to try a few brands. Slug barrels tend to be particular, kind of like turkey chokes and loads.

[mag30079]

Thanks spurred, one more question. When dialing in my scope at the range I noticed the top and side adjusters didn't change the cross hairs much. Ammo aside, what else am I missing. My mount has been triple level'd and even bore sighted.
 
 
????
Thanks 

[lonlon]

For fathers Day last year my son gave me a New England single shot slug gun(weighs 3.5 tons unloaded) we put a new Nikon slug scope on it, with Hornady slugs at 100 yards it is unbelievable !!! You can pound tacks, does need a limb saver though!!!!!! A Stoney Point single stick helps hold the gun up if you get in a waiting game. Happy Hunting!

[wack]

I've never tried a sabot I like yet and I've tried a few with several different guns.I don't trust them. I can get most to group fairly well and then one always "Takes off!" Almost every flyer I've seen I've seen the sabot sleeve wad fly off crooked . When I recover the sleeve wad it usually has one wing broken or deformed.If the sleeve flys poorly, so will the bullet with in the sleeve and in my opinion, the sabot design has 1 too many moving parts to be perfectly consistant. If 1 out of 10 fly off, or even 1 out of 20 is too many for hunting. I need them to work in all conditions, every time.
 My honest advise is to forget the sabots and the high price. When I go shopping for slugs for a new gun, I start with the cheapest and work my way up. My Mossberg  likes Breneke and they're about $1 per slug. The cheaper the ammo, the more you can practice, the better and further you'll be able to shoot.You have a rifled barrel, it will spin any slug designed for rifled barrels but it will spin one load a little better than the rest.
  I'm not sure why but the 12 GA seems to be the popular choice for slug guns. Heck, I even have a 12 GA 3.5" rifled slug barrel! The truth is, a 3.5" slug is only more painful to shoot, not more powerful, doesn't shoot any further any straighter.. 3" is plenty enough (how big of a hole do you need?) but IMHO the 20 GA 3" rifled slug gun is by far the better deer gun. Kicks less, shoots further and flatter and in the right hands will ruin less meat.
 BTW I'd also forget about shooting my slug gun much over 100 yards any ways. I practice out to 150 and occasionally stretch it out to 200 yards. I practice those just in case for some reason I may need to put a wounded animal down. In over 20 years I've had to take a long shot 1 time. If you can't get with in 100 yards, it's not your guns fault. Man up and learn to hunt. I take shots I CAN'T miss.
 When changing or mounting the scope and rings, base, did you torque every thing in properly? Didn't strip anything out? Did you use loctite? Just one loose screw and sighting in can be affected. With out loctite it could be 100 shots later that your scope starts floating around. If you do not use a light weight thread locker it's just a matter of when, not if , the screws come loose.
 As for that single shot that NEF shot gun, I love my 30-06 single shot. I've put limb saver pads on my shotgun and rifle and also added a mercury suppression  tube inside the stocks. Take the pad off, measure the stock bolt hole for width and depth, buy one that fits the best. Follow the instructions to install, it's pretty easy. For a little gun, my NEF is pretty hefty also. I was leary off adding more weight with the mecury suppressor but I feel it actually balanced it out better. The gun is all barrel and scope. To me, adding weight to the stock makes it feel lighter and comes to my shoulder better, even though its over 5 Oz's heavier. I found this to be true with both my NEF 30-06 and Mossberg 835 deer /turkey combo.

[mag30079]

Welcome back wack, I missed reading your well detailed posts. You metioned lok-tight which one do you like to use.

[lonlon]

Wack, Interesting and informative, Thanx Lon   PS T/C Pro hunter in 50 cal w/sabots, your nemesis, pretty accurate. Powerbelt elminates sabot pieces.