Deerslayer_37

Two recommendations: Shoot 2 3/4" slugs and don't get a 3-9X scope. 3" slugs are completely unnecessary for deer hunting. All they do is give you a little more KE at range. Not worth the extra bruises, believe me. On the 3-9X scope, it's really overkill for a shotgun. the very most i'd go with is 2-7X. a friend has a custom made Tarhunt 870 with a 3-9X Zeiss, way too much scope for that gun, even thought the thing can shoot out to 175 or 200 yards. I have a 1-4X Leupold and i love that thing to death. I shot a doe this past year at 131(LRF) yards. Dropped her in her tracks. However, average shots for a shotgun will be 50-75 yards. For slugs, i'd shoot a few different brands. Yes, its expensive, as I quickly found, but getting your gun to shoot straight is more important. I don't have to have to have 1" groups like alot of guys. Same with my rifles. I don't go for that high precision crap. If the slug goes where i want it to go, i'm cool with that. Getting it to put 3 slugs in an 1" group or getting 3 .270 bullets in a 1/2" group isn't what I'm looking for. I'm looking for hunting accuracy, being able to put the bullet in the vitals when i have to make it shoot through gaps and tough shots. sure, its nice to have ultra tight groups, but necessary? No.

My slug of choice is the 2 3/4" Remington CopperSolid. Most of my group in iowa shoots copper solids. And almost all of us shoot Remington 870's(exception being an 1187 and an Abolt shotgun). The copper solid has the best weight retention of any slug on the market, and it really puts them deer down. Other slugs i'd recommend: Barnes Expander(by Federal), Winchester (I can't remember the name, i think premium something..extremely expensive, but good. I've seen the lightfields in the field before, and I don't like them. They get mad expansion, but i think they could break up easily upon hitting say, the opposite shoulder. They roll out flat to a little more than a quarter shaped pancake style chunk of lead. That i don't like, as i think the slug could break up too easily. I prefer pass throughs by far. Two holes is always better than one. Hope all this helped

slayer

jcchartboy

Deerslayer, is dead on about the 2 3/4s I have not found any 3in that shoot any better than 2 3/4s. Not to mention the extra recoil.

As far scopes, I had a Leuplod VX-II 1-4x20 and found that I never used the 1x magnification, but often wanted more on the high end. I then switched to Leupold 2-7x33 and am much happier than I was with the 1-4x.

DoctorDeath

Deerslayer thank you for your info however the scope came as part of the package ....

DD

jcchartboy

DD,

3-9x will do you just fine....

uncle matt

I recommend doing the great bulk of your scope zeroing with 2-3/4", finding brand that shoots best.

Then go to the 3-inch stuff and see what is delivered.

jerseyhunter

[blockquote]
Doesn't mean you can't sell it or put it aside. I usea 1.5-4x .

I think your going to have trouble at close range with that 3 power. Let alone a second shot, or if the deer refuses to stop. Just a thought to ponder.[/blockquote]

STUMPYBARNES

Gentlemen,

I have seen lots of great advice and figured I would give my 2 cents. I live in SE VA and here our county is shotgun only. We use buckshot when dog hunting but when we climb a tree, most of our hunting group does it with a 20 ga slug gun. I have a single shot NEF Laminated Stock Special Edition. It only set me back $200 and the thing is a tack driver. I shoot Federal Barnes Expander slugs, 3", out of it and have never lost a deer. I do use a 3-9X40 Leupold RIfleman, but with high rings. If the deer is to close for the 3X, I just look down the barrell. I even killed a coyote running last year with it. Just wanted to mention my setup but to each his own!

AJ52

DD,
IMO your 3x9 should work just fine. If you ever change scopes,consider one with 50 objective. Will give you 15+- minutes addt'l shooting time at dawn/dusk, particularly in heavy cover.

I have found after 25+yrs of slug slinging 3" slugs don't do much but cause addt'l pain.
2-3/4 slugs have come a long way in 10-15 yrs. They will cleanly take deer out to 150yrds.

With slugs I like to start at about 30yrds to get a decent group and then back off to 50-75yrds.
Then mark off 125 yrds and try that. Then go back to 50yrds and shoot. I've also found that a good cleaning after 3-4 shots(with sabots)can make a big differance in groups.

Bottom line is - you might get lucky and only shoot 2 boxes of slugs or 5+ before you find out exactly what that lead slinger is doin out to your desired range.

Good Luck

RIStrutStopper

Simms recoil pad.Nuff said

jcchartboy

I can safely say, I would want more than just a Simms pad if I was planning on shooting 50+ rounds out of my slug gun in one afternoon.

RIStrut...have you shot 50 slugs in a day with your gun and its Simms? Was your shoulder showing signs of bruising two days later?

How could you possible make a fair comparison of accuracy withoutany rest?