The best slug performance in smoothbores

[kody]

 It seems Brenneke slugs are rated pretty highly. Why? What is it in their design that ups their performance? Are there any other smoothbore slugs that match them ? What design characteristics do they have in common with the Brennekes or what differences do they have that creates their good performance?   Ken

[pozoutdoors]

Most of the people i hunt with buy the cheap winchester foster slugs and we kill lots of deer!!! 100 yds is about all they will do but some have killed farther. It is like anything else you have to know your gun and load.

[FLNT4EVR]

I use Winchester ,or Remington slugs in my smoothbores.Both have proven to make deer 100% dead .

[Elijah Gunn]

I have recently tested the winchester, remmington slugger, and the federal truball rifled slugs through my win. 1200 defender, and the federal truball shot the most accurately. The truball is designed to work similarly to how a miniball does so that the slug will expand a little bit to better fit itself to the bore of the gun as it travels through the barrel.
The remmingtons work ok , and the winchester was least accurate for me.

[bo jaffa]

Federal Tru-Ball.

[NautiBuoys]

Winchester Forsters are best in my Ithaca 37. Just tagged my 2nd buck of the season with them...

[Mack in N.C.]

my ithaca deerslayer likes remmington sluggers.......wouldnt hesitate shooting a deer at 100 yds.....that said i am going to have to take it to the range........2 years ago i shot a doe for meat.....she moved as i was squeezing the trigger and i hit her a little far back.......DRT.............i fiqured it was me as these are iron sights and the rear sight has to be tapped either way, so it probaly hasnt moved.......i didnt use it last year............sat i decided to shoot a big fat doe.......40 yds....i hit her where i hit the last doe!!!........didnt matter ...even with a shot far back she fell over DRT................gun groups good but somehow my sights have gotten off..............mack

[rickt300]

Up till recently you could get the Rotweil Brenneke slugs which are the old style with the little point on the front of the slug. These shot great in everything I tried them in smooth or rifled. I can't find them anymore but what I liked about them is that they left the barrel pretty clean, hit hard and were accurate. I think the new style is called the "KO" and I have not tried them yet. I am now using Remington Buckhammers which are a flat nosed heavy slug. Very accurate in my rifled barrel and some say this slug shoots well in smoothbore barrels too. This slug also leaves the barrel pretty clean.

[Bigeasy]

I think most of the available Foster type slugs are pretty much the same.  Just find what brand is most accurate in your gun.  Now, the original Brenneke slugs (with the little point on the top of the slug) were cast of a slightly harder lead alloy then most US companies use in their Foster type slugs.  On the Brenneke slug, the powder and cushin wadd over it are attached to the slug with a small screw, holding the whole package together, down range.  Results seem to be deeper penitration, and better accuracy in a lot of guns.  The Brenneke was always my first choice when I hunted CT with a smooth bore Mossberg pump back in the late 70's to mid 80's.  Never seen a reason to buy a rifled slug barrel, as this smooth bore always shot good 100 yard deer groups.  I shot maybe 6 or 7 deer with it, all 1 shot kills. Not sure if this load is still available.  I have a couple boxes stashed away for if I ever decide to use my old slug gun again....

Larry

[Noreaster]

Haven't tried them, but I've heard great things about the Federal tru-ball. Remington also made something similar, rackmaster I believe.

[mcgrow]

I think that the reason is the slug diameter. All I have measured show that the Brenneke is close to the bore dimension and the forsters are a little bit smaller. So they goes "jumping" along the bore and are no so accuate.
Gus

[gaileyr]

I’ve tried several different brands of slugs in my smooth bore Ithaca model 37 DeerSlayer. Including the Federal Tru-Ball. The only slug that gave me consistent accuracy was the older style Brenneke with the fiber wad attached to the slug with a metal screw. Understand now… all firearms have their own preference as to ammo. But this combo of (Ithaca/Brenneke) was recommended to me by a gunsmith, after other brands of slugs proved unacceptable. His claim was Ithaca built their slug barrels with slightly tighter choke than others. And that... in combination with a slightly larger Brenneke slug with the superior gas seal of a fiber wad produced good accuracy. He must have known what he was talking about. My Ithaca will shoot 1-˝ inch groups at 50yds.

[mbopp]

Before rifled barrels were legal I had an Ithaca M37 20" slug barrel that didn't shoot worth a darn. I took a 28" VR modified barrel, cut 2" off it to take out the choke, and fitted a set of rib-mounted sights I made on a small mill (this was before fiber sights were available.) Last year I put a holosight on it, and working off old Federal Forester slugs it would do 3 shots in 3" at 75 yards. If I give up hunting with the Contender I'll have to try the Tru-Balls.

At one time I saw a high speed x-ray of a slug in a barrel. It had deformed due to the acceleration and had expanded to full bore diameter before it left the barrel.

[charles p]

About 40 years ago when I hunted deer with a smooth bore, someone made a slug with a round leather patch screwed into the base of it.  I think it was Breneke.  Are these type slugs still agound?  All I ever used was buckshot. 

About 20 years ago I bought a 12 guage Hastings barrel in 3' chamber with choke tubes for duck hunting  It has straight riflings in it to prevent shot cuts from spinning.  Might just be marketing BS.  Wonder how it would handle a Foster slug.

[Yak Angler]

My rem 870 with 20" smoothbore slug barrel shoots 2 3/4" winchester super x slugs excellent to 50 yards. cloverleaf groups are common. the woods i hunt in are to thick to ever get as shot any further then that. I think a smootbore 12 or 20 gauge is the ultimate woods gun. bring some rifled slugs, buckshot and standard shot shells and you can hunt anything you come across all with the same gun.

[ptpalpha]

My Rem 1100 smoothbore loves the cheap 'ol Win fosters, shooting cloverleafs at 75 yards.  Tried others (Lightfields, Rem fosters, etc) but none shoot in the 1100 as accurately as the Winchesters.

[Duckbill]

My rem 870 with 20" smoothbore slug barrel shoots 2 3/4" winchester super x slugs excellent to 50 yards. cloverleaf groups are common. the woods i hunt in are to thick to ever get as shot any further then that. I think a smootbore 12 or 20 gauge is the ultimate woods gun. bring some rifled slugs, buckshot and standard shot shells and you can hunt anything you come across all with the same gun.

I haven't tried Remington Sluggers, Brennekes or Federal TruBalls yet in my 870 smoothbore.  However, the 2-3/4 Winchester shoot great out to 50yds.  They sell for $3.17/box at Walmart.  It's hard to make myself try some thing else.

[Yak Angler]

My rem 870 with 20" smoothbore slug barrel shoots 2 3/4" winchester super x slugs excellent to 50 yards. cloverleaf groups are common. the woods i hunt in are to thick to ever get as shot any further then that. I think a smootbore 12 or 20 gauge is the ultimate woods gun. bring some rifled slugs, buckshot and standard shot shells and you can hunt anything you come across all with the same gun.

I haven't tried Remington Sluggers, Brennekes or Federal TruBalls yet in my 870 smoothbore.  However, the 2-3/4 Winchester shoot great out to 50yds.  They sell for $3.17/box at Walmart.  It's hard to make myself try some thing else.

Thats exactly why I use them too. I actually went out hunting coyotes with them this morning , nothing wanted to come in after about 1.5 hours of calling in the bush so I decided to see how the POI was. The temp was -19 degrees this morning , which is about 40 degrees colder then the day i adjusted the rifle sights on the barrel. I shot a small tree about 6" in diametre , I buy the super x slugs which are 1oz/1700 fps, They cost me $ 6.00 box canadian prices the shot hit exactly where i was aiming at 50 yards and cut the tree down, I think that was about as hard as i have laughed in a long time when i saw that tree fall over. I don't think you can get a better brush hunting round then these rifled slugs for smoothbore guns. The only complaint i have with mine is a 20" barrel is very loud and i don't like wearing ear protection while hunting,  i find they hinder you in detecting game. My left ear is still ringing from the 7 shots i fired this morning from that gun and i was wearing a polar fleece head cover for some protection, the other six shots resulted in 5 dead crows using 3" #4 steel loads. Other then that the 20" barrel with fixed ic choke is very accurate with just the tru glow rifle sights on the barrel, i don't like using scopes due to the dense forest i hunt in with this gun open sights on a fast approaching coyote works best for me.

Adam

[panman]

I dont think that if your gun shoots a slug accrately that it matters what slug it is.Geting hit with any of them is devesting.pan.