Author Topic: 1 ounce 20 gauge slugs (Read 5503 times)

Oldtimer · « **on:** March 11, 2004, 03:32:28 PM »

The next county to the east is a shotgun-only area and there is an excellent gunshop. I stop in a lot and I found some Brennecke 20 gauge slugs that weigh one ounce. It seems to me to be something that might make a decent hog load. Has anyone had a chance to try them out?

daddywpb · « **Reply #1 on:** March 12, 2004, 01:18:03 PM »

I don't have an answer, but I will also be waiting to see one. I just got my 13 year old daughter a Remington 870 Express 20 gauge, and BPS has a fully rifled barrel for it that I could get her for Christmas. I was also wondering if the Remington 20 gauge sabot slugs would work on hogs or a small Florida whitetail.

Oldtimer · « **Reply #2 on:** March 14, 2004, 02:26:08 PM »

The Rmeington slug is 5/8 ounce, and I have heard it compared to the 25-35 Winchester in power. From what I have seen of Florida deer, I think that the Remington slug would work fine, but I would prefer the heavier Brennecke slug on a hog.

Whodaheck99 · « **Reply #3 on:** March 22, 2004, 05:51:02 PM »

I have seen 20 ga. slugs, take 150- 170 pound deer, off there feet. They just drop in there tracks. It should work great on hogs.

Masterblaster1 · « **Reply #4 on:** April 13, 2004, 04:24:26 AM »

Remington also makes a 1 ounce 20 guage slug. It is called the buckhammer and shoots at a velocity of 1500 fps. It is a sabot slug so u need a rifled barrel to shoot it, unlike the brenneke

Highbrass · « **Reply #5 on:** April 13, 2004, 02:02:13 PM »

I recently posted about useing 30-06 for hog.All my wife has is a 243 and i see the negative posts on that subject.How about a 20 gauge slug.Just regular old rifled slugs through a smoothbore?It scares the heck out of me to think she would get hurt by one of these animals so I want her to have follow up shots just in case(her .243 is a single shot). :blaster:

Oldtimer · « **Reply #6 on:** April 15, 2004, 04:06:10 AM »

You raise an interesting question about a 20 gauge slug vs. a .243 bullet.
The wieght of a .615 round ball is 350 grains, while a 5/8 ounce slug is about 267 grains. My concern about the standard 5/8 ounce slug is about its penetration, especially if you hit a big hog in the gristle plate. I would feel much better with a one ounce slug, which weighs 427 grains. I think a premium .243 bullet would be adequate, but would have grave reservations about a standard 100 grain bullet. That said, there is also the recoil factor. If your wife can shoot accurately with the recoil of the .243, I think she would be better off than if she flinched shooting 20 gauge slugs. A one ounce slug is going to recoil about as much in a 20 gauge as in a 12 gauge, all other factors being equal. If she can shoot all equally well, my preference would be a 20 gauge, one ounce slug over the .243 with a premium bullet, then the premium .243, then a standard .243, and finally, the 5/8 ounce 20 gauge slug. I wish you both good luck on your hunting.

Dusty Miller · « **Reply #7 on:** April 17, 2004, 09:32:12 PM »

Oldtimer brings up a good point. If you can't shoot your gun accurately against dangerous game then give up shooting dangerous game!! A big old nasty boar pig is indeed dangerous game. Unless you want a trophy head on your wall, pick out a smaller and younger hog to shoot, it'll taste a hole bunch better!!

dukkillr · « **Reply #8 on:** April 18, 2004, 01:29:23 PM »

A few years ago i took a 250 lb boar with a .270 in south texas. The outfitter (Hugh Star or Star Ranch) told me to shoot at the base of the head, and that's exactly what i did. My guess is that you could shoot pigs with any rifle you want, provided you stick to head shots. Considering most shots are inside 100 yards I don't think this makes for an overly difficult shot.

rickt300 · « **Reply #9 on:** April 19, 2004, 07:01:34 AM »

I hunt hogs at night with a 20 gauge Remington youth model 870. I put an add on recoil pad to lengthen pull and drilled/tapped it for a red dot sight. All shots have been under 75 yards. My slugs are Brenneke 7/8 ounce slugs, Winchester 3/4 ounce slugs and Remingtons 5/8 ounce slugs. All are surprisingly accurate but the Brenneke slugs get to go hunting and give pretty good penetration on feral hogs up to 175 pounds and generally go all the way thru. Remingtons slug is very accurate and I would use them deer hunting any time for our Texas deer. In testing the 20 gauge Brenneke slugs penetrate a bit deeper than 1 ounce 12 gauge foster style slugs. The 12 however makes a bigger hole.

Lawdog · « **Reply #10 on:** April 19, 2004, 02:36:15 PM »

Highbrass,

My wife used to use a .243 Win. for deer hunting as did my kids but when the local Wild Boar population got so hunting them wasnt so hard she wanted to try them on too. After watching her place 3 100 gr. Nosler Partitions in the heart/lung area and the boar still didnt go down I built her a 6.5mm Swede. I keep in mind this, when I was still on the force I was part of the Sheriff Departments Search and Rescue team. I help haul out of the hills two hunters that tangled with a 200(+/-) Russian Boar after shooting it a number of times with their .22 centerfires(one was using .22-250 and the other a .223 Remington) using Nosler 60 gr. Partitions. They had been told that their varmint rifles were good enough if they just placed their shots right. WRONG. I got the report on the hits on that boar, 3 thru the lungs and two that ricocheted off the head, and there was nothing wrong with their shooting. If it hadnt been for their friend who was using a .270 loaded with 150 bullets those men would have ended up much worse than they did. Wild boar are tough and can take a lot of killing at times. I would not want to bet my wifes life on a 20 ga. slug. Lawdog

rickt300 · « **Reply #11 on:** April 22, 2004, 12:50:07 PM »

After shooting a bunch of hogs and trying to get good results with a 6MM Remington with different bullets I say a 20 gaiuge with Brenneke slugs will outperform rifles of that caliber and smaller by a big margin at ranges of 75 yards and less. I would like to see a heavier slug built for the 20. Even so It is in the realm of 45-70 loads of the old factory mild variety.

buckslayer · « **Reply #12 on:** April 27, 2004, 09:42:37 AM »

i use a 20 ga.

h&r

ultra slug hunter :lol: :lol: !!!!!!!!! and boy does it ever kill a hog :twisted: :twisted: i load 'er up with win partition gold 2/34 260gr slug. for the winchester fieldtest they hunted hogs and one 400lb hog dropped at 120+ yds :twisted: :twisted: if you go with brenneke's use the 3'' mag and you wont be sorry

the brenneke has 1020 ft/lbs at 100 yds,the win part gold has 1400 ft/lbs at a 100 yds ,the rem cor-loct has 1500 ft/lbs :shock: and the win foster slug has about 600 ft/lbs at 100 yds. so a 20 ga. will do it no problama :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

scruffy · « **Reply #13 on:** April 27, 2004, 10:44:42 AM »

I agree with buckslayer. If you look at the ballistics of the new high velocity 20 gauge sabots like the win partition golds, 1900fps, 260 gr 45 cal partition gold bullet, you'll see the 45 cal bullet/20 gauge sabot is ballistically close to the old 45-70.

I don't think many hogs have looked down the barrel of a 45-70 in capable hands and lived to tell about it. And if you hit that hog with one of the new high velocity 20 gauge sabots that hog won't notice much of a difference. That 45 cal bullet, out of a rifle or shotgun, will still do ALOT of damage.

later,
scruffy

Zachary · « **Reply #14 on:** April 29, 2004, 06:40:22 AM »

I have used 12 gauge slugs on hogs and they work great. The only problem is that they are not accurate (in smooth bore barrels). I have only shot 2 hogs I think, and they were within 30 yards.

I don't think that a 20 gauge 1-ounce slug will be a problem, but still with premium loads like the partition that was mentioned. Also remember that placement is very important.

Zachary

FOsteology · « **Reply #15 on:** June 17, 2004, 06:06:46 PM »

I have a Remington 870 SPS 20 gauge Slug Gun. Using Lightfield slugs. 7/8oz/385 grain slug at 1502fps and 1929fpe @ the muzzle.

Haven't had an opportunity to test it out on the hogs here in South Central Texas. I do know from testing various loads at the bench that the Lightfields are better (Compaired to Federal, Winchester, and Remington). Haven't been able to find the Brenneke in 20 gauge :cry:

rickt300 · « **Reply #16 on:** June 19, 2004, 04:59:26 PM »

I guess that different shotguns shoots slugs much differently. Both my slug guns are smoothbores and they are very accurate, plenty for hunting. With both fosters and Brenneke slugs m9ine shoot three shots under 2 inches at 50 yards. The foster types require a clean barrel and they will lead your barrel a bit after 5 or 6 shots. The Brenneke's seem to clean the barrel as they are shot.

hoosierdaddy1 · « **Reply #17 on:** June 23, 2004, 08:18:21 AM »

Anybody use 00 buckshot? Would that be a good couple of rounds to keep in the magazine if you are shooting slugs and need a quick follow-up shot up close? Just curious...kills the heck out of deer. Thanks...

Mohawk · « **Reply #18 on:** July 27, 2004, 06:37:35 AM »

I've never used the Brenncke slugs. I'm still waiting for the Fosters to not work.

Lawdog · « **Reply #19 on:** July 27, 2004, 09:04:30 AM »

hoosierdaddy1,

Quote

Anybody use 00 buckshot? Would that be a good couple of rounds to keep in the magazine if you are shooting slugs and need a quick follow-up shot up close? Just curious...kills the heck out of deer. Thanks...

No buckshot of any size on any big game animal but especially not on Wild Boar and any bear. These animals can and have nailed hunters that take them too lightly. The use of buckshot works on frail humans but anything tougher it's use shouldn't be allowed. I have seen to many autopsies where buckshot was used and seen just how easily it gets deflected inside the human body to ever trust it on a big game animal. Lawdog

Gowge · « **Reply #20 on:** September 01, 2004, 12:24:45 AM »

Quote from: Oldtimer

The next county to the east is a shotgun-only area and there is an excellent gunshop. I stop in a lot and I found some Brennecke 20 gauge slugs that weigh one ounce. It seems to me to be something that might make a decent hog load. Has anyone had a chance to try them out?

Oldtimer, the Brennecke slugs are good medicine, but unfortunately, they're made of soft cast lead for choked barrels. There's NOBODY right now offering a hard cast lead slug for 20ga cylinder or improved cylinder barrels - but there's help on the way!!

The folks @ Dixie Slugs are already offering several very special shotgun loads designed for big mean hogs and other dangerous game. They're working on a new 20ga hard cast slug very similar to their 12ga Terminator, Predator & Talon loads. The Predator & Talon are ok to use in smoothbore barrels or fully rifled barrels. The Terminator is a fully rifled barrel ONLY proposition.

Be sure to check out their Tri-Ball (Dixie Hog Cruncher) load too. Right now, it's only available in 12ga - loaded with THREE 58cal hard cast musket balls, it's a devastating load on any game animals! James says it kills'em, guts'em & skins them in just one shot!

These are seriously heavy loads for strong, modern shotguns but the Talon is available in a 2-3/4" package so you can use it in older guns in good condition.

http://www.dixieslugs.com/products.html

You might wanta' contact James Gates @ Dixie Slugs and see if he's gonna' have some 20ga slugs available for this hunting season... He did write a while back that he loaded a 20ga shell with a single 58cal ball for his grandson to hunt our big Spanish Hogs down here and the kid connected on a big porker at pretty close range. The soft cast ball delivered full penetration, but was flattened like a silver dollar just under the skin on the off shoulder. A hard cast ball woulda' gone all the way thru IMHO...

GOOD LUCK!

Oldtimer · « **Reply #21 on:** September 02, 2004, 08:22:42 AM »

Gowge, I plan on being in Florida in a couple of weeks, if it doesn't all blow away and am thinking about loading up on some of those 12 gauge slugs and the .58 caliber buckshot. I might even get to do a little field testing while I am down there. I once tried to load some .390 balls in a .410 to see if I could improve on the little 90 grain slug. to keep the pressure down, I loaded Pyrodex CTG. I was surprised at how accurate the load was, but did not have a chronograph, so I don't know what velocity I was getting. The experiment was halted, because I was using .444 Marlin cases and the blowby gummed up the locking bolt I would like to see a 20 gauge load using .50 or .54 balls.

Gowge · « **Reply #22 on:** September 02, 2004, 06:26:46 PM »

Be sure to contact James and the crew @ Dixie Slugs before you leave to come down. He might just have some 20ga stuff on hand that will work really well for you. He's located down in the swamps over on the Gulf Coast near where Hurricane Frances is supposed to pass this weekend. It will probably bring some of the really big old porkers out of the swamps to high ground for a change.

BTW, a popular 410 load is three 000 buckshot in a 3" shell. It hits pretty good even if it's not super accurate past shotgun range.

GOOD LUCK! :wink:

huntsman · « **Reply #23 on:** September 15, 2004, 06:21:36 AM »

This discussion brings to mind an article I read not long ago where a scientist actually did some hard research on energy vs. momentum to determine what kind of WOUND would be produced by various projectiles. His results are very, very interesting. You can check this out at the following website: http://www.kineticpulse.us/math/kp.html

"Stopping power" is a function of wounding, that is how big the wound is and how much trauma force is absorbed by the wounded animal. Based on his (IMO reasonable) research, the 7/8 once 20 ga slug traveling at 1509 fps mentioned below will create about TWICE the trauma wound in a hog as a 100 grain .243 bullet traveling at 3100 fps, PROVIDED BOTH STOP IN THE ANIMAL. If a bullet or slug goes through the animal, then the wound is reduced by a factor proportional to the velocity/energy of the exiting bullet. If you want STOPPING POWER from the .243 then you need a frangible bullet that will not exit or will do so with as little velocity/energy as possible. That might explain why the 100 gr partitions mentioned above were not good stoppers. It also explains the statements above that deer "knocked off their feet" when hit by slugs.

I would not hesitate to use the 20 ga slug on hogs, especially if you want the hog to drop in its tracks. Definitely I would choose it over the .243 for pure stopping power with a close-range offhand shot. However, if at all possible, I would prefer to work on hogs at a distance of more than 50 yards from a solid rest, where the .243 would be ideal for the accurate head/spine shot that would floor it. Pressed to do my work inside 50 yards, then I would want to be carrying the shotgun with slugs.

Probably the ideal setup with a .243 would be either to get off the ground with the .243 and take head/spine shots with expanding bullets (jacketed soft points), or to take a careful first shot at a distance from the ground with the same .243 loads, keeping a big-bore shotgun or sidearm handy for close-in work. I would stay away from heart/lung area shots with high-velocity, small-diameter bullets, especially those constructed for no expansion or limited expansion (core-lokts, interlocks, partitions, A-frames, X's, core-bonded, etc.). Heavier bullets of 140 grain or more at modest velocities with rapid-expansion bullets will and do work fine on shoulder shots; in fact they are spectacular "drop in their tracks" hog-stoppers in my own experience (2 hogs with 140 gr .264 soft point bullets at 24-2500 fps = 2 x zero travel post-hit).

Gowge · « **Reply #24 on:** September 16, 2004, 12:12:42 PM »

Huntsman, thanks for the link - I'll go have a good read of that one!

I think you'll find the BIG BAD Florida Hogs down here don't have much respect for fast & fragile bullets and shoulder shots just wind up as big surface wounds with softpoints. The permanent wound channels created with a big FULL BORE hard cast 12 or 20ga slug will allow you to trail a hog with a pretty good blood trail for dogs to track. They usually give you two good holes for the blood to come out freely. It's thick and hard to see much past 20 yards down here in the Swamps where the big boys play. NOT much in the way of stand hunting if you wanta' score on a big boar. The little WEBBER (Grilling) PIGS some guys shoot will drop pretty easy with small & fragile bullets, but a mature boar with a thick shield over the shoulders and ribs is a whole different critter. Remember, there's NO BACON on a wild boar - just hard, tough gristle up to an inch thick! Caked on mud in the coat makes little bitty soft bullets just self destruct.

Florida Wild Boars are like Mini-Tanks! :wink:

GOOD LUCK!

huntsman · « **Reply #25 on:** September 16, 2004, 06:42:02 PM »

Just to clarify, I said that I would stay away from small bore and lightweight bullets on shoulder shots, but that soft points over 140 grains traveling at modest velocities were okay. Modest velocity is key here. High-velocity bullets must have either a very high sectional density or be extra well-constructed to penetrate the hog's gristle, mud, hide, and bone. The .243 would be a head/spine shot cartridge all the way, as standard bullet weight is not over 100 grains and close-range velocities are too great for good penetration.