00 buck + bennli question
 

hey guys, i posted this in deer thread but then i realized it fits better here, sorry for the double posts i hate doing that... I have a benneli nova pump action 12 gage. the barrel is smooth inside, it is not rifled or grooved. I usually dont hunt deer with it, but i want to. I always was under the impression that smooth bores were only used for bird shots and pellets or whatever, so i never wanted to hunt deer with it.I called the gun shop and asked what I could shoot to kill deer with out ofthis smooth bore barrelled gun. The guy told me 00 buckshot. I asked him if i needed a special choke onit to shoot this doulbe 00 buckshot and he said no, that i could just shoot it without a choke just using the smooth barrel. Does this sound correct? can buckshot be used in a shotgun with a smooth bore and can it be shot without a choke? is that how it suppose to be shot?Sorry for the amatuer question but im used to shooting a 270 for deer, not a shotgun - but i want to start practicing w/ it now that i might be able to use it. thanks alot for your help guys, i just want to be sure im using correct ammo for thisbarrel + gunso i dont kill myself lol

RE: 00 buck + bennli question
 

use slugs instead.

RE: 00 buck + bennli question
 

troy - i would but see the barrel i have is smooth, not rifled so i assumed that slugs couldt be shot out of a smooth bore. thats why i never shot slugs from it, b/c either the gun didnt come with a slug barrel or i lost it, so i just have the smooth. what do you think?

RE: 00 buck + bennli question
 

I've never hunted deer with a shotgun, so I'm not sure how a slug would work in a smooth bore vs. a rifled bore. There's alot of knowledge on this forum. Certainly fellers more knowledgable than me. Wait for a few answers before you make up your mind ,geterdun2. No offense intended ,t roy.

RE: 00 buck + bennli question
 

i definltely, thanks for your help and thank you troy for your input, i just nnnnnnneed to get this down before i go out to the mountains to start practicing

RE: 00 buck + bennli question
 

I have shot alot of deer with slugs, and two with 00 buckshot. I won't ever shoot 00 or 000 again. Up close, it can be ok, but out at 40yards, it just ruins good meat and I have had to finish off with a slug anyway. I hate the stuff. And you have tospend a decent amount of time patterning it to get even a 8" pattern at 40 yards.

Yes you can shoot sluggers or foster type slugs in a smoothbore, but I recommend a modified choke, and better yet, a rifled extended choke. Also, I highly recommend some decent sights.The bead on a shotgun covers the entire vitals when a deer is at 40 yards.

RE: 00 buck + bennli question
 

A 12 gauge with buckshot can be very effective on deer...But you must do your homework....I have a Browning B-80 that will put 5-00 pellets into a 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper (on the horizontal) every time, out to 40 yards...( I know that I need the Improved choke tube and use only 3 inch Winchester Supreme 00 buck)....That's the key...You need to pattern your gun with several brands and sizes of buckshot and with each choke tube to see what it is most effective with....I also have a Remington 1100 that I bought in 1975 that has a 21 inch barrel with rifle sights, it will group inside 1 1/2 inches at 50 yards with Remington Foster type slugs...and put 4-5 pellets of #1 into the same 8 1/2 x 11 paper....

You will probabably have best patterns with an Improved or Modified choke tube...You also need to try #1 buck as well as 00...I would start with Federal Premium and Winchester Supreme buckshot over Remingtons...I don't shoot buckshot over 40 yards...That's where most guys get in trouble (in duck hunting they call it sky blasting)....

I have killed 35-40 deer with buckshot, both 00 in the Browning B-80 (3 inch chamber)and #1 in the Remington 1100 (2 3/4 inch chamber)...If you are able to put 4-5 pellets into the lungs of a deer, and the range is 40 yards or closer, you will be fine....All this being said, I haven't killed a deer with buckshot in several years....A .24 diameter bullet movng 2800 fps or so is much more effective...Unless you are dog hunting, take the .270...

If your shotgun has a vent rib, you could install an aftermarket sight and use foster type slugs, this also helps center the pattern (much like a turkey hunter's shotgun with sights) of the buckshot...

Used properly buckshot is very effective....We have a huge problem with dog hunters dropping their deer dogs off beside a couple of our farms and trying to run deer off our property and onto the property they have permission to hunt....Many times I have killed deer running through the woods that they have pushed by me with buckshot...Last time I did this I dropped two does with two shots...But the range was about 25-30 yards....Good Luck

RE: 00 buck + bennli question
 

ANY smoothbore gun can shoot LEAD shot of anby diameter, including 00 buck! However, buckshot of any size is a very poor deer load, and has an extremely limited effectiver range-25 to 35 yards for reliable kills! Maybe as much as 40 yards for a 3" magnum shell with 12-15 pellets instead of the nine in a regular shell.

In your gun, you can shoot Foster-type and the old style Brenneke slugs, including the up-to-date Lightfield copy of the Brenneke. In a smoothbore, if accurate enough, the Brenneke or Lightfield is a better killer than a Foster type slug.

You need to test several makes of slugs to see which brand and load shoots best IN YOUR GUN. While slugs themselves are nothing to get excited about, they kill deer much better and at much greater range than buckshot will.

You only have to have a RIFLED bore if you want to shoot the modern, SABOT type slugs. BTW, the sabot-type slugs are much more effective than any other kind, and, because they are fired from a rifled bore, usually more accurate (but not always!)!

RE: 00 buck + bennli question
 

ok guys. thanks so much for the help. so i conclude that its alright to use 00 buck on a deer with the smooth bore, but not over 40 yards. also, am i correct when i conclude that...
1. a slug can be shot out of the smooth barrel
2.only sabots must be shot out of a rifled barrel?
all these different bores and barrel and chokes confuse me, i like the simple 270. also..
3.can i remove the scope from my 270 and shoot just the iron sites. its a savage 270 model 110 and i dont think the iron sites are that well illuminated, but i guess they are there. either way, where i will be hunting the longest shot i will need to take would be probably 30 yards (hunting in pines) so the 00 buck will be alright correct? thanks guys i really appreciate it.

RE: 00 buck + bennli question
 

maybe a better way to rephrase this question would be...if i have a benneli nova pump with a smooth bore barrel, what type of projectiles can i shoot from it that will kill a deer efficiently? what cant be shot out of this smooth bore....thanks maybe that will help a little

RE: 00 buck + bennli question
 

Probably the best place to get your answer is the Benelli website. Look under FAQ and you will find the answer to your question regarding chokes and slugs.

RE: 00 buck + bennli question
 

We are shotgun only here and I use both slugs and buckshot depending on how/where I'm hunting. Since buckshot does not travel as far as slugs I use it when the ground is frozen.

For buckshot you will have to pattern your gun, various chokes and different type/sizes of shells/shot, keep records of the pattern sizes and pellet counts. I've done alot of work on,and testing with my Benelli, it produces a great group out to 60 yards. What folks sometimes fail to realize is that buckshot looses alot of velocity after 50-60 yards and while you may be able to put pellets where it counts, they might not have the energy to penetrate far enough to do the job. With a good patterning gun and used within it's effective range, I don't know anything that puts deer on the ground faster than buckshot.

Slugs, you want a Foster style, Federal, Remington Sluggers and also try the Breneke, what ever produces the best groups from your gun, use the Cylinder or IC choketube. You can get rifle sights that clamp on to your vent rib.

This is probably my favorite deer pic, not because of the deer but for the hunt-(I used my Benelli this day). I tracked this deer in the snow all day, finally caught up to him standing where you see him. If you look up behind me you can see a small opening in the briars going back up the hill, it's about 50 yards to the top. I snuck up to the opening and peeked over the top, All I could see of him was his head and upper neck. There was 6 pellets in his head/neck, couple more through his ears and one knicked the spike, he tumbled foreward and didn't move(3.5" 12ga Federal-00). When I got down to him there was a very hungry coyote there wanting some free lunch, it's never going to be hungry again:)...I think the deer saw the coyote and stopped which is why I got close enough to shoot.




Doug

RE: 00 buck + bennli question
 

The benelli shotgun choke tubes are rated for steel shot. That means that you can safely use either buckshot from any of the choke tubes,or slugs with the more open chokes.
My reccomendation would be to either buy a slug barrel or a rifled choke tube for best accuracy with slugs.

RE: 00 buck + bennli question
 

The question was "what projectiles can I shoot from my smoothbore?".

The answer is, "any factory loaded shell of the correct length for your chamber".

You can even fire sabot-type slugs if you so desire. BUT, this kind won't shoot very accurately at any distance out of a smooth bore tube- it isn't dangerous, it just ain't accurate!

For killing power, like I said before: the Lightfield Brenneke slug copy, or the Original Brenneke type, are the BEST KILLERS. If your barrel shoots them accurately, use them. If you HAVE to use some brand of Foster-type slug to get accuracy, use that kind! They will kill deer.

Pattern your shotgun with any buckshot load you might contemplate using, to determine how far away the pattern stays tight enough to make multiple hits on a deer-size target. I would want at least five 00-buckshot in a vital area, and more would be better. Likewise, it would take alot more of the smaller sizes of buckshot to kill a deer efficiently.

I solved this deli=emma for myself, by swearing off the use of buckshot for any purpose.