I will be using a new gun this year for WI. in a shotgun zone, and I will be using sabots for the first time and was curious on everyones good and bad experience’s with diff. brands. My bro keeps telling me to try Lightfields, any comments and that brand also? My goal is tight groups at 100 so I am guessing I should pick one of the higher velocity shells.
Hornaday SST 2 3/4 shoot real tight out of a hastings rifled barrel. Probably 3 to 4 inch groups at 100 yds for me. I recommend them.
I just went through this with my new 20 ga.I dont know that you can count on every gun shooting everything the same.I started with 4 diff brands,and all were good through my gun including Hornady,Lightfields,winchester supreme and Federal Barnes expander.Lightfields had the best group,with the lowest ballistic numbers.The others were very close group wise,but on paper anyway,were far supeior for 100 plus yard performance.I opted for the federals myself for the downrange performance.I would encourage to not just hang your hat on one load,but let your gun tells you what it likes the best! Good luck! 
My Remington likes the Winchester slugs for some reason. When I bought it I also bought several brands of slugs to test with. They do group differently out of each gun. Take a few types out and test them, it will be worth the time and money to get it right from the get go.
I agree with Dean and Besox. You need to find what works best in your gun. I use Federal Barnes Expanders as well. They group better than anything else I tried in my gun, and their terminal performance has always been very good.
Also, higher velocity does not equal tighter groups. It all depends on matching the gun to the load.
I tried them all and my gun seems to favor the remmington copper solids!
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Hornaday SST 2 3/4 shoot real tight out of a hastings rifled barrel. Probably 3 to 4 inch groups at 100 yds for me. I recommend them.
That is the shell!!!
Anyone know what the differance is between Federal Premium Barnes Expander Tipped Sabot Slugs & Federal Fusion Sabot Slugs?
So I went and shot four boxes of sabots today. Federal barnes expanders, federal fusions, lightfield comanders, and brenneke Ko sabots. At fifty yards they were all good with tight patterns. At 100 they were all very differant, the brenneke were very poor @100, the lightfield came in third and the best group went to the federal fusion. Im not sure what the diifferance is between the fusions and the barnes but the fusions @100 were amazing(4 inch group) that was very impressive to me. So for this gun that is what ill be shooting for awhile, thanks to everyone for there ideas, im very glad I took your advice to try a few differant brands before deciding. Honestly in the past I would have gone and bought the most expensive shells and ran with them, in this case the fusions were very cheap @ Fleet Farm for 10.99.
ya did the right thing shoot a few different brands but you should have given the Hornady SST’s a try…they shoot the best for me with 3″ groups at 100 yards.
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ya did the right thing shoot a few different brands but you should have given the Hornady SST’s a try…they shoot the best for me with 3″ groups at 100 yards.
That does not necessarily mean that they will work for him and his gun, besides I believe that the Hornady’s are more expensive then the federal Fusions. If he is getting 4″ groups at 100 yards with Fusion at a cheaper price then I would say he found his slug.
I have been shooting the hollowpoint Barnes expanders in 1 ounce 2 3/4″ and have been shooting “lights out” for years! One shot per year to see if my zero is still on, and it ALWAYS is. Nice when they are as expensive as they are! 
Now I see they are now tipped, and I am wondering if they shoot the same as the slugs I am used to. I guess I will have to buy a box to see now. Has anyone had any success stories with the Winchester Platinum tips? I hear they are screamers as well.
Winchester XP3’s are the best sabots on the market.
A picture is worth a thousand words here is a Barnes Expander in 1 ounce 2 3/4″ that came out of one of my deer this year, not only are they very accurate out of my gun but they leave one heck of a exit hole as well. To say I am sold on the Barnes Expnders would be and understatement.
Sorry for the blurry pics.
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A picture is worth a thousand words here is a Barnes Expander in 1 ounce 2 3/4″ that came out of one of my deer this year, not only are they very accurate out of my gun but they leave one heck of a exit hole as well. To say I am sold on the Barnes Expnders would be and understatement.
Sorry for the blurry pics.
I agree 100%. I’ve been using them for a long time now and I bet I have 5-6 of those slugs just like you have pictured. Xcept mine all have one leaf folded in. Wierd. But those are some BAD A** slugs!
Heres a 3 shot group from sndbags at 100 yards with my Remington SPS Super Slug shooting 2 3/4″ remington acutips. A close second was federals barnes tipped. I shot 10 diferant slug loads through this gun and the biggest group I had at 100 yards was 4″. As far as knock down power I haven’t made any magrinal shots and Have only shot 4 deer with them. Shot 2 does in the head, down on the spot. 1 doe and 1 Big right behind the shoulder. Neither went more than 30 yards. Bottom line is you have to shoot a few loads to see what your gun likes.
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