What do you guys is more accurate (in general) a shotgun with rifled barrel shooting slugs or a scoped, in-line muzzle loader. I always figured the in-line. The action is tight and there are less moving parts. Plus - the bullet is seated tighter from the start. There are some accurate slug guns out there, though. What do you think?

It is my experience that my T/C Encore with the .50 cal ML or the 20ga. slug barrel is an accurate and lethal proposition.

Out to 100-125 yds either would work great. I might pick the slug barrel just for reasons like faster 2nd shots.

It is a general question, but for consistency, the shotgun will win every time. Smokeless powder burns much more consistently than BP. My slug guns shoot better than my muzzleloaders, but not by much. They are just more consistent from year to year. Some lots of powder I get shoots well, some don' t.

How about when you use pyrodex or smokeless powder in that Savage ML?

Pyrodex is in the same boat as Goex, or Elephant. But that Savage might be a different story. All my buddies with them can really outshoot even my Browning Gold Slug gun which is a tack driver of a slug gun and shoots out to 150yards too.

My experience has been a bit different, though you are no doubt a better and more practiced shooter than most hunters. I' ve worked rilfe sight in clinics for several years and have seen litterally thousands of shotguns sighted in. I have seen a few really accurate shotguns, but at best it would be about 1 out of every 20 I see. The few Ithacas and Brownings I see typically shoot really well, and the mossberg bolt action slug guns seem to shoot pretty well also. The few muzzleloaders I see tend to shoot much beter than the shotguns, my own smokepole shooting roundballs will outclass just about every shotgun I' ve seen.
I often wonder if its the shotgun or the shooter behind the inaccuracy, I' m leaning toward the shooter. 12 guage slugs kick hard, and for a person who dusts off the shotgun and sights it in once per year may waste his best few shots, trying to get the holes adjusted into the bullseye. What usually follows is shots start creeping all over the paper- maybe because the thin barrel of the shotgun is starting to warp from the heat or the shoters shoulder is screaming for mercy after 3 or 4 shots- maybe a bit of both. I' ve also seen a guy bring out a TC encore type muzzleloader and put 10 shots in an area that would easily be covered with the palm of my hand at 100 yards- probably as accurate if not more accurate than alot of hunting rifles out there. Less recoil, thicker barrel less prone to warping, and a more experienced shooter probably make the difference there.

Now, I have to put in a disclaimer- I don' t shoot shotgun slugs and have no interest in them, but have observed many others shoting them, with me occasionally finishing a sightin if the shooter' s shoulder gets to sore.

For pure raw accuracy the ML wins in my experience. Some slug guns are truly fine, but the well handled ML is still supreme.....but it does give license to the term single shot!!

i think id have to give the nod to the ML but my experience is limited in this departement

I was thinking the ML for the pure reason that it has less moving parts. Just like a bolt action or single shot rifle is generally more accurate than a pump or lever rifle, the ML has no moving parts. I didn' t think about the thin barrels on the shotguns. That would have an effect, too. The most accurate target rifles have thick, bull barrels. I also think the bullet fits tighter in the ML barrel. It' s already engaged in the rifling when the gun is fired. It doesn' t have to leave a plastic shotgun shell hull, exit the chamber and find the barrel. Plus, the sabot is not necessary in the ML. It just seems that the ML would have the advantage. I have the choice to use a shotgun or in-line this buck season and I was leaning towards the in-line.

Deer hunting in NY with a shotgun for the last 25 years, I can tell you that an In-line BP gun can shoot " rings" around a slug gun anyday of the week!!
Talk about consistancy!! Sure you can pick up one of those Tar-Hunt bolt action slug guns for $1,200.00, which are more accurate than the regular off the shelf pump guns, but then you still have that wind to deal with!!! A In-line BP gun has it all over a slug gun accuracy wise and at a much cheaper price tag than a Tar-Hunt to boot!!