Looking for range reports on the Ultra Slug Hunter

[phaessler]

Anyone have one ?  Reloading for it? factory slug preferences?
Thanks

Pete

[d_hiker]

I have the 20ga. USH and love it.  It shoots the Remington 2.75" BuckHammers very well, about 1.5" to 2" group at 100 yards.  With the scope zeroed at 100 yards I am about 2" high at 50 yards.  Last fall I shot a nice 5pt whitetail at 110 yards.  He went about 25 yards and that was it.  The cheapo Remington Sluggers shot good at 50 yards, about 1.5" but opened up to about a 10" to 14" pattern at 100 yards.  The cheap Winchester slugs were about the same as the Sluggers.

[PHATINJUN]

I'll second what hiker says I found the buckhammers work better than most others in mine before I sold it .I am now waiting for the new one to get here and will work on reloads latter this summer. If you go to the slug guns and thier ammo forum there is a little reload data there . Kurt

[garandsrus]

Phaessler,

I tested several brands of slugs in my 20ga USH and the cheap Remington's shot about 2" at 50 yds and 4" at 100 yds.  The Lightfield slugs did even better at about 1.5" at 50 yds and 2" at 100 yds.  I picked up several boxes of each so I should be set for several years.

The other 4 or 5 brands I tried shot poorly, with some groups over 6" at 50 yds.  The difference between the brands was eye opening to say the least.

The recoil of the 20ga USH is not bad at all.

John

[55esox]

I'll have a report for you after this weekend.

I'm shooting a 12 USH with 6 different load combos.

[55esox]

Here are the results from the range. For the record I was using a 12 gauge USH with a Nikon ProStaff 2-7x-32. I would shoot a 3 shot group at 50 yards, and if the groupings were satisfactory I would shoot again at 100. I had a slight cross wind at about 5-10 mph. I would run a bore snake through the barrel every 3 shots.

Load #1- Hastings Laser Accurate Slug 2.75"- This shot very well, 50 yard groups were 1 LARGE ragged hole. 100 yards was approximately 3".
Load #2- Lightfield Hybred 2.75"- Pretty much the same as the Hastings above.
Load #3 Winchester Platinum tip- 2 shots grouped pretty much in the same hole, the third shot was a flier about 5" away. 100 yards these opened up to about a 5" group.
Load #4 Federal Barnes Tipped Expander 2.75" 1900fps- These loads were horrible. I had a hard time keeping them on the 12" paper at 50 yards.
Load #4 Federal Barnes expanders 2.75" 1450 fps- 50 yard group of approximately 2" and 100 yard groups of 3". All 3 of these shots at 100 had the same verticle impact point, the spread was horizontal. I don't know if this was due to the wind?
Load #5 Federal Barnes Expander 3" 1530 fps- Very good load. 50 yard group of around an inch, and a 100 yard group of around 2.5"

I wanted to try a variety of different types of loads in this gun. I had read that the fast loads (1900fps) wouldn't fly well, and that was definately that case. I also heard that the platinum tips were prone to an occasional flyer, which I believe I saw. At $20/box, I think I am done experimenting with those.

Both of the Lightfield/Hastings and the slower Barnes shot well. I would have to give the overall nod to the 3" Barnes, with the Lightfield a very close second.

This was my first time shooting a slug gun, and had a few observations. 1. 100 yards is far. Maybe after a little more range time I will become confident to shoot past that, but as of now that is all I want to try. 2. The kick of the 12 gauge USH is nothing. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't like shooting a trap load, but in comparison to a 3" turkey load (let alone a 3.5") the recoil was hardly noticable. I did install a limbsaver pad, but I don't think that was nessessary. 3. Lightfield/Hastings slugs leave a HUGE hole.......

[whiskytangofoxtrot]

Thanks for the report!  I plan on doing some range tests of my own soon and will post results.  I want to try the Fusion ammo.  I have heard nothing about this slug, but it is being sold at Big R for $10 per box.  I also spoke with someone who had success with Core-Lokt in their USH, so I will give that a try as well.  I have yet to hear anything bad said about Hastings or Lightfield ammo out of the USH.

[MI.sabot]

Load #4 Federal Barnes expanders 2.75" 1450 fps- 50 yard group of approximately 2" and 100 yard groups of 3". All 3 of these shots at 100 had the same verticle impact point, the spread was horizontal. I don't know if this was due to the wind?
Load #5 Federal Barnes Expander 3" 1530 fps- Very good load. 50 yard group of around an inch, and a 100 yard group of around 2.5"

This has pretty much been my experience with my 12 ga. USH as well.  Best with 2-3/4" Barnes Expanders and at times seemingly even better with the 3" Barnes.  You might find that the Copper Solids perform equally as well as they are very similar in fps and construction.

2. The kick of the 12 gauge USH is nothing.

Thank you...I thought I was the only one who felt this way.  I also used to own a 20 ga USH and yes there is a noticeable difference between the 12 and the 20, but the recoil from the 12 just isn't that bad.  This statement is coming from 50+ year old with a 5'8" 165 lb frame who used to get beat up by a Remington 870 in an earlier life.

3. Lightfield/Hastings slugs leave a HUGE hole

Barnes Expanders....small hole in, HUGE hole out and down right devastating on whitetails.