RE: help me pick a slug gun
If I didn't get better than 2 inch groups with a centerfire I wouldn't have it very long. I think that lends itself more to shooting ability then it does accuracy of the weapon. Some just can't shoot well with a gun that recoils a lot, and lets face it slug guns are not that pleasant to shoot for the most part.
I guess our personal experiences just differ then, because I have not seen any H&Rs be vastly more accurate then any other properly set up slug gun being shot by the same person. And I have owned an H&R Ultra deluxe and a mossberg 500 and know many more that own them along with remingtons. Most that shoot really well "out of the box" just got lucky and found a load that worked good fairly quickly. And those that seem to have bad luck probably didn't put much time, effort or money into finding a load their gun liked.
We are talking barrels with similar twist rates with optics fixed to the barrel, there really isn't any rocket science to it. Like I said before, the H&Rs got a reputation for being accurate guns for the price, then it somehow snowballed into they were ultra accurate weapons, which I personally haven't seen. Not saying there is anything wrong them though. They are a great value. $250-$275 for a gun that on par with guns that may cost twice as much is a pretty good thing. As long as you are ok with one shot and rifle that weights in well above 10 lbs.
Do some research, I used to post just as much as JCC did and belong to many of the same forums. To my Knowledge he doesn't even own an H&R unless he got one recently. I haven't visited Shotgunworld in a while though. I decided I liked my muzzle loader better and sold my slug gun. My muzzle loader is more accurate and doesn't cost nearly as much to shoot.
Paul