You never said what range (distance) you were expecting to shoot. In a rifled barrel, regular slugs (not sabots) might be fine for close range (under 50 yards), but they will lead the rifling badly and quickly. In my Ithaca Deerslayer II, the best sabots were the old BRI Sabots (before Winchester bought them). They would group 3 shots under 2" at 100 yds from sandbags. Now after shooting everything on the market except the new Remington Core-Loc slugs and the new Winchester Platinum (testing will happen this week if the wind lets up), the best for my gun are the Winchester Supreme. But, every gun is different, and just like a rifle, the ammo will vary from lot to lot. So if you find a particular shell that works very well, buy enough of that lot to last as long as you will have the gun - the ammo won't go bad if you store it in a cool, dry place.

Maybe I'm a bit more anal about accuracy than most people, but I'm still not happy with the 3 to 4" groups that I'm getting at 100 yd. with the gun now. If this years new ammo doesn't work any better, then it's out with the old and in with the new (for next year). Maybe I'll try one of the 20 gauges - they should have less recoil!

Whatever you decide, just remember that consistency in how you test (don't change anything other than the ammo) will give you the best indicator on what ammo your particular gun likes the best. In my experience, don't even bother with the 3" stuff. They have never grouped better than that manufacturers 2 3/4" shells in my gun.

If you are really curious, I've got a bunch of odds 'n ends (sabot shells) that didn't work in my gun. Cheap!

esshup
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