Nomercy

I shoot a couple shotguns for wing hunting and trap, my favorite of which being a SxS 12ga, but I only use my pump for slug hunting deer. I got to wondering recently, I shoot that SxS for everything, and very well (cowboy action shooting at targets), just got to wondering what everyone would think if I took it deer hunting, if I could shoot well enough with it that is?? Anyone have an opinion on it??

Screw the 10 ring, keep them in the zero!!!

hoythunter48

I like fully rifled barrels for my slug hunting, but a double barrel would prolly work, just slip a imroved cylinder or a rifle choke in er and try it out thats the only way you can find out.

"She said if I hit that fishin hole today, she's be packin all her things and she'd, be gone by noon....I'm gonna miss her, when I get home."

Deerslayer_37

double barrels tend to shoot bad with slugs. the barrels tend to shoot different ways.

slayer

mauser06

i thought sxs the left barrel is tapperd to the right and the right barrel to the left so the pattern hits in the center right?? if thats how it goes a slug will keep sailing that way..sure it might not make that much of a diffrence within a certain yardage but say...you sight in at 50 dead on...say a nice buck it at 80...you have a good chance of wounding or missing because of that 30yds if it works how im thinking..but i dont know for sure...just seems like thats the only way they can get the shot to go where your aiming..i may be wrong..

Coastie

NOMERCY, that is a question only you can answer. Go out and buy some slugs for your gun and take it to the range and see where they shoot. Try several different styles of slug, rifled slugs, Breneke, Sabot, even Punkin' balls if you can find them and see where they go. My 20 Ga. SXS shoots rifled slugs about a foot to the left and 6" high at thirty yards (both barrels), not good enough for hunting. I haven't tried the Sabots or Breneke yet but might in the future.

Coastie
"Children are tastier than Dogs or Goats and they're far easier for a Leopard to catch" Indian Magistrate Hari Prasad Tivari

Tazman

Nomercy a double will work fine with slugs, the range will be a lot less though with a smoothbore versus a slug barrel, do as coastie says and check it out, normally the barrels will not shoot the same. Another thing is with a smoothbore double barrel I would keep my shots to under 75 yards and you will have to know where each barrel is hitting at any distance, if I was you I would stick with the pump, one barrel, nothing to confuse you.

The Tazman aka Martin Price
Proud father of a Devil Dog

Warren

Nomercy; The first 2 whitetails I every took were with my 12ga. side by side. The gun shoots dead on at +/-40 yds. After that the right side travels to the left and the left side goes to the right. One of the deer I shot was about 90yds and broadside and walking from left to right. Aiming for the heart/lung area, the first shot(right side barrel) hit the deer in the back hip. The second shot (left side) hit the deer in the neck. So at about 90yds the spread was almost the length of the deer.

basserman

Warren supplied good info. I'll give you the gunsmith answer (my long time job). What Warren said is absolutely true. I have had customers come to me a couple of times thinking their barrels were "bad". Side-bys will work at short ranges but move left and right after 30 to 50 yards depending on the shotgun. I suggest you stay with the single barrel for slugs.

"Semper Fi"

uncle matt

I would think about this before slugging it out with your fine ss.

No rifled sight set up so accuracy is going to be a crap shoot, period. You say that you wing, trap and action shoot the ss "very well", but keep in mind there is alot of help from the fact that the shot spreads out and a slug can only "spread out" (expand) once it hits the meat and only really if it's designed to.

That covers the "performance" potential. Now for the mechanical drawback I envision. I may be wrong, and anyone feel free to correct me cause I am by no means an "authority".

Those doubles (especially nice over and unders) are designed for light weight for fast handling, etc.... Therefore the most weight trimming is going to be in the barrels. I imagine that these barrels are designed with the expectation of blasting terget load and other type of shot loads which do not exert high pressure levels in the barrel. Now on the subject of slugs, these are propelled by a much higher pressure level and will probobly only help to deteriorate your barrels future performance.

Just my thoughts.

basserman

uncle matt, That is true with some dbls, not all. They do make light weights but there are many models that have barrels good enough to "slug" it out.

"Semper Fi"