Here in upstate NY I was forced to hunt with slugs for years. As for what you would need to set up your shotgun for slugs it really depends on what kind of slugs you want to shoot. If you are going to stick with just your plain smooth bore barrel all you have to do is make sure you have an improved cylinder choke tube in (in theory you can fit a slug through a modified but any tighter then that will create problems, I'd go with the IC though) and you will be ready to go. If you want to shoot some of the fancier, and much more expensive, new slugs out there you might want to invest in a rifled barrel, or at least a rifled choke tube. These slugs tend to be faster and more accurate downrange then the older style foster slugs. I used to shoot an 870 with a Hastings rifled barrel and Remington Copper Solids that was real accurate.
Although you could prob shoot just a bead if you were going to shoot at fairly close range I would at least get some type of iron sights on it. Even better would be to get a decent scope. The way I look at it shotguns w/ slugs are naturally less accurate then a rifle so any gain in precision in aiming (the scope) is a plus. You want to make sure the scope is made for shotguns specifically however, the recoil of a shotgun will blow apart most rifle scopes.
The one thing about shotgun slugs is that they usually have quite a bit of recoil, and if recoil bothers you it might be a good idea to try a 20 gauge, or some of the reduced recoil slugs Remington makes now. 20 gauge slugs still pack a powerful punch and some people prefer them over the 12 gauge. But that is a personal choice. All in all a shotgun slug at close range is some pretty powerful medicine for all North American big game, especially deer. The biggest shortcoming is their range and accuracy, but due to recent advances in slug technology even that is changing, and some people on here have claimed to make clean kills out past the 200 yard mark. (as a disclaimer I don't know if these 200 yard claims are true or not, you should establish your own maximum range). I realize that might of been more information then you were looking for but I hope it helps, if you have any other questions feel free to ask, their are a lot of knowledgeable people here
gmil, I love the way you say you were "forced" to hunt with slugs. I grew up hunting in Indiana and now live in Illinois. Both states are shotgun only, so I have hunting my whole life with shotguns. While the older smooth bore guns were less accurate (I would not shoot over 50 yards with them), the new slug guns are amazing. I have a H&R 12ga with a fully rifled barrel, shots at 150 yards not unheard of. In fact I have shot pumpkins with it at 200 yards, while I would never take that shot at a deer, I would never feel like I was "forced" or at any type of disadvantage because I had a shotgun in my hands. Goosehunter, you have to shoot several brands of slugs to find the ones that fly best out of your gun. If you have a smooth bore, check out the rifled slugs, try a few and see which one pattern best for you. Just because a buddy is shooting one slug, it does not mean it pattern well for you. I do agree that scope is very important; look around you can find slug barrels for your gun and mount a scope on it. Find the slug that fly"™s best for you and then you will have a deer killer for sure. Good luck!
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While I have rifled cantilever barrels for both my Benelli Nova and my Son's 870 20ga because I bought them as combos, if I were in your position, I would personally just go buy an Ultra Slug Hunter and put on a scope of choice. They are fantastic slug guns, close to the same price as a quality rifled cantilever slug barrel, and...you'd have another gun.
gmil, I love the way you say you were "forced" to hunt with slugs.
[quote]ORIGINAL: kickin_buck
haha I guess "forced" was not the correct word, "limited by law" to hunting only with shotguns would be more accurate. I used to use my father's old 870 and I loved the gun and had a lot of success with it, including my first rack buck. I just never enjoyed the beating my shoulder took shooting those slugs. That was especially true back when I was a 150 lb 16 year old just getting started deer hunting haha. Of course I had to shoot the 3 inch mags...couldn't risk looking like a wimp. Our county switched to a rifle zone now, and to be honest the two deer I have taken with the rifle since then were shot at 25 paces and 10 paces. In fact my longest shot on a whitetail in NY has been about 65 yards, with a shotgun. So I guess the main advantage of the rifle is I think it is nicer to shoot, but in the majority of hunting situations having a shotgun probably isn't a disadvantage.
If you shoot a smooth bore barrel - Brenneke rifled slugs... 4- 5 inch groups with iron sights at 100 yards work well out of my Mossberg 3000 pump.
If you shoot a rifled Barrel - Lightfields for supremeaccuracy out to 100+ - Or Federal Barnes, Winchester, Hornady SST's will get you out past the 150 yard mark.
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. Our county switched to a rifle zone now, and to be honest the two deer I have taken with the rifle since then were shot at 25 paces and 10 paces. In fact my longest shot on a whitetail in NY has been about 65 yards, with a shotgun. So I guess the main advantage of the rifle is I think it is nicer to shoot, but in the majority of hunting situations having a shotgun probably isn't a disadvantage.
