Slug question

I’m not a shotgun Hunter so I’m not familiar with grouping size. What is a reasonable pattern size for 12-gauge slugs at 100 yards when shot from a bench with Optics

Rifled barrel? Is the optic mounted to the receiver or the barrel (via rail extension over the receiver)?. I have had mixed success with slug grouping. For some reason, one of my 870 barrels likes Federal Fusion (which I do not believe is made anymore) and the other likes Brenneke. I see 2″ groups at 100 yards on a sled to be very good with barrel mounted optics. I would say anything under 3″ should be acceptable. You will quickly find out your slug barrel will be keen to a certain ammo. Grab a few different boxes and drop the gun in a sled.

He has a rifled barrel, 3×9 on the receiver not on the barrel. Shot 4 different brands and they all were producing 3 to 4″ groups on the sled. In a positive note, I was having a great trigger day. Was shooting 1/4″ groups with my 270wsm

Randy Wieland wrote:

Shot 4 different brands and they all were producing 3 to 4″ groups on the sled.

Go with it.

A slug gun is a “good enough” weapon. Guys have been trying to make them better than that since the 1960s and the results (on average) has been minute-of-softball-sized groups. The exceptions just prove the rule.

Trying to improve beyond that is the road to madness.

Grouse

3-4″ is acceptable in my mind, specially with a receiver mounted optic. Some guns barrel-receiver fit are very sloppy, some are not. That could be where your 1″ is coming from. It’s been my experience, however, that there is a magic round that works much better in some barrels. a 12ga slug with a hit 3-4″ from the vitals is a dead deer, no question about it.

Thanks. When I’m accustom to placing a bullet like a surgeon, 3″ looks huge. No doubt it will kill at 100. Made Swiss cheese out of a 4″ target

Randy Wieland wrote:

Thanks. When I’m accustom to placing a bullet like a surgeon, 3″ looks huge. No doubt it will kill at 100. Made Swiss cheese out of a 4″ target

Just make the switch to an AR pistol chambered in .300BLK. You’ll get your accuracy back, plus they’re fun to shoot. And building up loads for them is even more fun. I no longer gun hunt deer, but when I did, the .300BLK pistol was an absolute must for me. I can’t see going back to a slug gun.

It’s a friends slug gun. Personally, I can’t stand shooting it.

This I can tell you from running sight-in clinics in a shot-gun county for 30+ years…the best slug guns (rifles darned near) are capable of inside 2 inches now. Recognize that these people are using bolt action weapons where the barrels are threaded into the receiver. They also took the time/expense of finding a sabot that actually shot well. They are kind of like a 22LR rifle and you must find what it likes because they are all unique. Those kind will then buy a goodly amount of slugs that shot well from the exact same lot of ammuni8tion.

Barrels that have a cantilevered scope rail can be equally as accurate. But again, it takes some effort to see what shoots the best.

Action-mounted scopes where the barrel flaps in the breeze can be hit or miss. It really depends on the tightness of the fit of the barrel to the receiver and how long that engagement is. The longer, the better. They can be as accurate as inside 3 inches…or as much as 8-10 inches. You won’t know until you try it.

The scope mount that uses the trigger pin holes in the receiver and clamps it in place is by far the least solid system and “can” have accuracy characteristics similar to throwing the ammo down range.

My Savage 220 20 gauge has amazing grouping and i have even taken shots out to 200 yards with excellent results. It took a long time to find the right slug/sabot for it.