shot my slug gun today

[howie1968]

i bought a mossberg 500 12 guage for a 100.00  and a friend from graybeards sold me a slugster barrel for it for 30.00 man this thing shot good  at 50 yards after  putting it on the first shot hit dead center 4 shots later it was 1 inch high and centered not bad for a smooth bsrell i was using winchesters 1 oz slugs rated at 1600 fps the gun shot several froups in the 1.5 to 2 inch range which is better than what i expected i know i should test others to see if i can improve but these are cheap i can buy a 15 pack for 5.97 at wal-mart  so ill stick with these recoil was fairly stiff from a bench kind of reminded me of my 45-70

[victorcharlie]

Man, that thing does shoot good!  That gun would be the perfect deer gun around these parts.....have you tried it at 100 yards yet?

[howie1968]

I havent tried it at 100 yet as my eye sight wouldnt let me. i painted the front sight an off pink and it shows up well in the morning and evening do you think i should try different loads or stick to these winchesters?

[victorcharlie]

I don't really see the need to go to a different slug unless you just want to.......with the accuracy your getting with the winchesters, and the price, unless you find something cheaper, why?  Your already shooting much better than I would have expected.

I've chased the same hole for many years, and spent loads of money doing it.........but for deer at close range, I don't need to eek out the last bit of accuracy.......Now if it were a heavy varmit, benchrest, or one of the latest wiz-bangs, and I intended to shoot small targets at extended range, then I would probably experiment..........after all, how many slug rounds per year do you think you'll shoot out of that gun?  If it were me, it would probably get zeroed before the season.......shot a few times to get familiar with the gun......used during the hunt.......cleaned and back into the safe.......or the barrel changed and used for small game........

I'd be happy is shot so well on the cheaps!

[Robert]

Cool...if you are getting good accuracy with the bulk slugs...adding more recoil is not going to help.  Don't underestimate the power of those things.  A 12 gauge slug has got to be one of the most devastating rounds ever conceived.  I took a deer with one a few years back and it was incredible.  I wont go into gory details here....but a well placed shot on a deer, Elk or bear will put it down real real fast.  But what realy amazed me was that with the incredible wound channel is makes,.....the meat was all good within an inch of the wound.
  Practise out to 100, but most deer that I usually see are 25 to 50 yds.

[howie1968]

SINCE MY SLUG BARREL HAS SIGHTS ATTATCHED TO IT AND NOT THE RECIEVER CAN I TAKE THE BARREL OFF  AND ON WITH OUT RECHECKING ZERO? I ALSO HAVE THE ACCU CHOKE BARREL THAT CAME WITH THE GUN WHEN I BOUGHT IT, THE SLUG BARREL I PICKED UP ALONG WITH A MODIFIED BARREL FOR 30.00. i sure would hate to re-zero every time i take the barrel off. since i moved to another part of texas ill be hog hunting the WMA around here they all require slug guns

[Ramrod]

howie1968, I have been hunting with slugs since 1974, in smoothbores at first, and rifled barrels later. All I can say is, changing the barrel shouldn't change impact all that much, an inch or so at 50 yards, maybe. Not enough to worry about for deer. You will never get it assembled exactly the same, with the same tightness on the barrel nut, so it can shoot a little off, due to different barrel vibration. Don't sweat it. Do try your gun at longer range, though, as most smoothbores run out of accuracy at around 75 yards. And those old Winchesters kill better than any fancy sabot I have used in my rifled barrel.

[howie1968]

thanks for the advice and to all the others. i will go to the range on saturday and raise my pioint of imopact up an inch or so  i have only 50 and 100 yard ranges to work with and  my eyes are not to good at 100 let me ask 1 more questions  what do you  think about the 3 inch winchesters 1 oz rated at 1750 fps? should i try those, i am sure  the extra 160 fps  will knock my shoulder around a little harder or do ya thinjk those ones at 1600 will work fine. to be honest i am new to slug gunning and never would have bought one except the area where i live know all the areas require slug guns muzzle loaders or archery i have a bow anmd thought this would be a good way to get into some good deer land

[victorcharlie]

Absolutely nothing wrong with trying something new!

[Ramrod]

Right, never anything wrong with trying something. But they are not really needed. Are they going to kill a deer deader than the 2-3/4 inchers?