Best slug guns

[S.W.A.T. 33]

Gafrage where do u hunt in wisconsin. Any luck this season with the bow. I hunt in Amery Wisconsin no luck for me yet. Good luck during the rut and the rest of this season.

[Gafrage]

I hunt in northwest Waupaca County.  I've harvested 2 does with the bow.  Now it's the waiting game for something with antlers, and worthwhile to shoot.  One night I sat I saw 30ish deer.  Mostly all of them were bucks.  Spikes to 8 pointers.  Nothing of age though unfortunately.  Trying my luck again Friday...maybe tomorrow night, if I get to bed here soon, and go into work early enough.

[S.W.A.T. 33]

Well i will be in Wisconsin this weekend also, good luck put um done . Them bigger ones will be getting on there feet soon let me no how u do and what u see.

[Dave]

I just bought a Remington 870 Express 20 ga slug gun with 18.5'' cantilever barrel that is fully rifled. Have to use sabots so I bought a bunch of Hornady 250 gr SST slugs at Dick's on sale for 10 bucks a box. I am an old Rem. Sluger guy so the price really freaked me out. I just came back from TRYING to sight my new gun in. After more shots that I will admit to (ok 30) I still am shoting about a 4 inch group at 25 yards. Really I am not that bad of a shot. Does anyone have any experience with this round in an 18.5 inch barreal? Any sugestions on other amo that may work better.
 
Thanks
 
Dave

[Gafrage]

First off, how does your shoulder feel after that many shots?


It might be you?  I was shooting a 4 inch group at 100 yards today with a smooth bore.  I have shot my gun a whole lot, and am very familiar with the gun, as it is the gun I prefer and have used my whole hunting career.  Shotguns kick a ton, more than most, if not all rifles I am aware of (especially 12ga. and up).  I've had people who shoot .300's and haven't even spent time trying to adjust their sights on their shotgun, because it hurts too much.

So to answer your question, no, I have not had any experience with anything like that at all.  I would be guessing that you might be pulling off, especially when shooting that many rounds through a slug gun.  Do you go to a range where the people there have tools to adjust you sights?  Also, are you using a scope, or open sights?  Firstly I would say if you are using a scope, to be sure that everything on there is screwed down tight.  The kick alone could simply knock the scope around a little bit.  Another thing too that I would recommend, is if you are using an open sight, how to aim it.  I'm not trying to be condescending or anything like that, but a quarter of an inch, or less than that even can put the gun off quite a bit.  I use open sights, and put the front bead at the base of the back "v" where I can see the whole front sight, and the bottom of the front bead is at base of the "v".  Hard to explain, but I hope I did a good enough job.  Also, like bow hunting, I like to have my neck/cheek area in the same place on the gun every shot, for consistency.  Make sure you are doing some of the things that are often overlooked and give it another shot.  In addition, I know you said it was a 20 gauge, but make sure that you don't over shoot.  It'll make you jumpy, pull off the target and fear the kick.

Let me know some of the things you have on your gun besides the bullet and the barrel.  Such as the sights, where you put your "anchor" point, and how you aim, if you have an open sight shotgun.  Then I'll be able to help you out a little bit.  I don't think it is the slugs, I could be completely wrong, but I did a google search and nothing came up directly linked to those bullets.  I'm sure it's not the 870.

[Dave]

Shoulders not to bad. I also have a limb saver on a 20 ga so the recoil is not to bad. Broke my shoulder ...twice... so I had to give up my 12 ga, it was a killer.
I have a Simmons fixed 4 power scope mounted on this gun. It was on my 12 ga and worked well. I checked the screws and all seemed tight as well as the allen screws on the scope mount.
They bore sighted it in for me when I bought it. My first shot was about two feet left and one foot low. By the time I got it anywhere close to the bulls eye I  had shot 15 rounds. You are probaly right, I should have stopped there and returned another day. But I wanted to get it sighted in today so I took a break and started again. Actualy the last five shots were the best all landing inside the four inch square at 25 yards. I know that still is not good. My old 12 ga smooth bore shot better than that at 100 yards. (Even with all the flinching from the pain)
I was shooting from a bench rest that I really can't seam to adjust to my confort. The last rounds I shot I just braced my self on some tires and I seemed to shoot a little beter.
As far as shooting I try to place my cheeck in the same place each time like shooting a compound bow...like I used to be able to do untill my shoulder injury, have to use a crossbow now. But at least I can still hunt.
I will get a few more boxes of Hornady ( I think my wife still has some jewerly left that I can hawk). Any direction on any other brands that may work? Also can I shoot rifled slugs out of this riffled barrel? I've read yes you can and no you can't? If rifled slugs are out can I shoot Foster type slugs? I don't know the difference between the two.
I have not set up the spell check yet so please forgive my spelling!
Thanks for you hepl..

[Gafrage]

I don't think you can shoot rifled slugs through a rifled barrel, without messing up the rifling in your barrel?  You might want to check out lightfield's 20ga sabot slugs.

http://www.lightfieldslugs.com/lightfield/ecatalog/index.cfm?pageid=103&id=2&cfid=19542387&cftoken=13479486

A few of my friends use those, in the 12ga anyway, and I haven't heard any complaints about them, other than the cost.  Like I said previously, it's probably not the slugs, but you might want to think long term as well, and not purchase something that's on clearance, or you'll be sighting in again next year, when you switch slugs.

Good luck.

[Dave]

Thanks for all the info. I may try the Lightfields to see how tey work.
 
Thanks again!

[Squirrelhawker]

You need to stick with sabots in that rig.
 
Check all your screws and mounts if you're using a scope mount.
 
Be sure of your scope in terms of functionality- was it used,dropped,etc?
 
Clean the barrel thoroughly. Put it back on and screw the cap down snug, then back it off a notch or two, no more.
 
Sandbag the gun thoroughly on the bench. Start at 50 yards minimum.
 
Stick with 2 3/4" slugs for now.
 
Sabots are expensive. It is the cost of doing business. Once it is done and you know what the gun wants to shoot, you will recoupe the cost in consistency and performance. You will not want to go back.
 
You will most likely need to buy three brands. Two minimum. The more data, the better your results. Remember once you know, one or two shots every year and your done.
 
Lightfelds
 
Winchester partition Gold
 
Remington copper solids
 
Hornady SST's
 
These would be my top 4 choices to choose from. My bolt action prints the Wins and Rems virtually the same. Of those 4, the SST's will most likely give you a different trajectory. Not worse, just different. This can be a problem should you run out of them one day and need to shoot something else. This should a be a fixable problem.

[Dave]

Checked the scope seems ok, not dropped everything tight,worked ok on my 12ga last year. I will try the different loads you listed. Why back cap off two turns? I,ve always cranked it tight.
 
Thanks
 
Dave