# 12 Gauge Deer Slugs



## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Here's a 1 oz, 12 gauge deer slug taken out of an Illinois whitetail I shot below my tree stand some years ago.

front view of slug:


rear view of slug:


The mushroomed rifled slug is approximately 1 1/16" wide! 
It came out of an open choked smooth-bore Remington 870.


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## SingleShot man (Dec 24, 2007)

Prime example of why I say "the difference between modern cartridges and the old blackpowder rounds is as subtle as the difference between a sledgehammer and a dumptruck."
Sure, a slug is 'modern' too, just same size chunk of lead.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Recently there's been some talk here about shotgun slugs. So I did a search and found a lot of threads on the subject. I started this thread back in 2007. Let me add some pics to it:

12 gauge Copper Solid sabot slug at 186 yards - Illinois deer


12 gauge Copper Solid sabot slug at 77 yards - Illinois deer


This comparison of projectiles is pretty cool. The .243 looks pretty wimpy next to the others, but it did it's job.


The Foster-type slug on the far right mushroomed out to 1 1/16" wide! The 44 Mag is also a copper solid bullet.

When the copper solids first came out they didn't open up very well. Today rifle and shotgun copper solid projectiles open up well at a wide range of distances and energy levels and retaining their original material extremely well.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Slugs have been legal in Wyoming for a long time but few use them. Wyoming has a special shotgun/muzzy-only hunt area for bison and elk. The butcher that took care of my bison gave me these slugs he dug out of a elk and a bison that were harvested in that special hunt area:


I don't know any details i.e. distance or where and how the animals were hit with the slugs in the above photo.

They didn't open up much; not as advertised anyway:


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

wyogoob said:


> Slugs have been legal in Wyoming for a long time but few use them. Wyoming has a special shotgun/muzzy-only hunt area for bison and elk. The butcher that took care of my bison gave me these slugs he dug out of a elk and a bison that were harvested in that special hunt area:
> 
> 
> I don't know any details i.e. distance or where and how the animals were hit with the slugs.
> ...


It looks like I could put my mouth on the base of the accutip that went into the bison and blow into it and it would pop back up and be ready for another shot. Yep. Not as advertised.


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

You got to love the new all copper stuff. I haven't shot any critters with a monolithic from a rifle yet, but I shot a Nebraska whitetail doe with a 325 grain (I think) Knight red hot which is just a Barnes copper bullet in Knight packaging. That thing opened up beautifully into six neat petals and had to have caused some serious devastation as it was passing through. I should post up a pic of it on here. Barnes could use a photo of it in their advertisements; it was textbook!


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

colorcountrygunner said:


> It looks like I could put my mouth on the base of the accutip that went into the bison and blow into it and it would pop back up and be ready for another shot. Yep. Not as advertised.


True, but in all fairness to Remington, and like I said, I don't know the circumstances of the kill. The guy could have been 400 yards away, I don't know.

.


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

Maybe you should buy some accutip slugs and use them on one of those umpteen Wyoming big game licenses you get each year so we can see for ourselves, Goob.:mrgreen:


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

colorcountrygunner said:


> Maybe you should buy some accutip slugs and use them on one of those umpteen Wyoming big game licenses you get each year so we can see for ourselves, Goob.:mrgreen:


Yeah, I might do that, maybe shoot an Illinois whitetail and see how they do. Although I'm pretty happy with the slugs I'm using now, Remington Premier Copper Solids:


I've tried the Hornady SSTs and my brother's Lighfields at the range. There OK, but not as accurate as the Copper solids. I really want to try the Core-Lokt Ultra Bonded Sabots next; flatter shooting with more (relative) down range energy.

There's a bunch of fast shooting and effiecient shotgun slugs out there these days. I don't stay up on them like I use to.


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## waspocrew (Nov 26, 2011)

I think it'd be cool to have a dedicated slug gun - although I don't see too much difference between that and a muzzleloader. VA has a shotgun deer hunt for a few weeks later in the season - I may give it a go at the end of the year.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

waspocrew said:


> I think it'd be cool to have a dedicated slug gun - although I don't see too much difference between that and a muzzleloader. VA has a shotgun deer hunt for a few weeks later in the season - I may give it a go at the end of the year.


I have a couple dedicated slug guns; one rifled and another smooth bore. I can easily swap out the slug barrel for an upland game/waterfowl barrel if I want to.

Rem 870 with a Timney trigger, Burris 1.5x6 ElectroDot scope and rifled barrel with cantilever scope:


http://utahwildlife.net/forum/18-firearms-reloading/25036-870-trigger-job.html

http://utahwildlife.net/forum/18-firearms-reloading/24632-slug-gun-deer.html

.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

wyogoob said:


> ...................................
> 
> ...................................I really want to try the Core-Lokt Ultra Bonded Sabots next; flatter shooting with more (relative) down range energy.
> 
> There's a bunch of fast shooting and efficient shotgun slugs out there these days. I don't stay up on them like I use to.


Got some Ultras to try out. Check out the ballistics of the Remington Ultras compared to the Copper Solids I've been using:


Ultra Bonded have 700 ft lbs more energy at 100 yards with a 2 3/4" shell. the Copper Solids are 3" shells. The trade-off will be in recoil I'm afraid. We'll see.

.


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## Mtnbeer (Jul 15, 2012)

I think the recoil will be similar (i.e. barely distinguishable) between the two slugs. While the core-lokt ultras are 1.2 times faster, they are also 0.88 times lighter than the copper solids.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Mtnbeer said:


> I think the recoil will be similar (i.e. barely distinguishable) between the two slugs. While the core-lokt ultras are 1.2 times faster, they are also 0.88 times lighter than the copper solids.


Thanks

Nothing can be as bad as the old 1 oz Remington Buckhammers.

.


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## gdog (Sep 13, 2007)

Ever shoot those Lightfield 3 1/2" 1 3/8 slugs:shock:

Man I hated having to sight in slug guns. That's all we could hunt with in Western NY...no rifle season back then.


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## Mtnbeer (Jul 15, 2012)

I imagine they're just as bad as the Brenneke Black Magics we used while bear guarding in AK. 1 and 3/8 oz slug going at over 1500 fps. Made me glad I didn't have to use a scope with it, as I wanted my cheek no where near the top of the stock.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Lightfields are still popular back home. My brother used them for a number of years. I have little personal experience with them. I have a box of 3 1/2" slugs though; they're yellow. Might be 10 gauge


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