Sabot slugs overkill for a 50 yard shot?
 

In preparation for my first ever deer hunt this year, I bought a Remington 870 Express combo package (26" vent-rib and 20" rifled barrels). Although I've used shotguns before (sporting clays, a few range shots, and one shot at a turkey this past season which I loved and prompted the purchase of this gun), I still consider myself a novice shooter. This being the case, I don't believe I'll take a shot at a deer much past 50-60 yards.

I plan on visiting the range this weekend to sight in the rifled barrel and get lots of practice. To do this, I bought 6 boxes of Remington's Premier Copper Solid sabot slugs (12 gauge, 2 3/4, 1 oz.). Ouch! Expensive stuff! An article I just read however, indicates traditional Foster-type slugs are reliable out to about 50 to 75 yards. The article also said shooting an old-fashioned Foster lead slug through a rifled barrel will result in much more accuracy than with a smoothbore.

Considering my novice skill level (not to mention iron sights), am I wasting money using sabots at relatively close range? Who knows, maybe I'll gain enough confidence at the range to shoot accurately at 100 yards but I doubt that in only one or two visits to the range.

If cheaper Foster-type slugs are the way to go at short range in my rifled barrel, could someome explain what a Foster-slug is? Maybe even recommend a brand? Isn't the Remington Slugger a rifled slug that should only be used in a smoothbore barrel? The cost of these was much more appealing than the sabots.

I really do appreciate your response. Thanks!

RE: Sabot slugs overkill for a 50 yard shot?
 

Best advice I can give you is to buy several different brands and types. Winchester Fedral Remington Brenikie ....
Shoot them and see what your shotgun like best.
Then use them!
Are you planning on mounting a scope on your shotgun? If so mount that before you conduct your accuracy test.
Good Luck


Greg

"Getting close to the game is the joy of Bowhunting for me, the harvest is a bonus."

Live 15 ft Python after eating a small Antelope!

RE: Sabot slugs overkill for a 50 yard shot?
 

Recruit first let me welcome you to the board, second I will give my 2 cents worth, as greg stated every brand of slug will shoot differently in your gun, if you find that Remington's Premier Copper Solid sabot slugs shoot well in your gun, stick with them. If they are all over the place on the target try another brand and see if they are better. I am a firm beleiver that once you have found ammo that shoots well in your gun, stick with it and never change. This is one reason why I stick with name brand ammo. BTW recruit good luck in your first season.

The Tazman aka Martin Price
Founder and President of
Virginia Disabled Outdoorsmen Club

RE: Sabot slugs overkill for a 50 yard shot?
 

I have shot several deer with the regular old federal or winchester "foster" type slugs with a rifled barrel. They were plenty accurate at 50-60 yards, the accuracy wasn't that great at 100 yards though. The only problem I had was they leaded up the rifling in the barrel so I had to clean it well. Don't shoot brenneke K.O's thru it, they have little wings on them to make them spin in a smooth barrel. They made a "whizzing" sound and flew every which way but where I wanted them. I am trying to come up with the best sabot slug for my combination with maximum accuracy and distance in mind. I hear of people shooting out to 200 yards now. I'd be comfortable with 125-150 with a solid rest at a standing deer when sighted in.

RE: Sabot slugs overkill for a 50 yard shot?
 

Hi Recruit..you and I hunt with the same weapon. And I, too, use open sights. There is another thread on this board right now having to do with this question and there is lots of good info there. I posted a lengthy reply on that one, so I wont do that again here. Bottom line is I've been using my 870/rifled barrel weapon by choice for 8 years and I love it. I've found that my gun shoots best with Winchester 2 3/4" sabots. You ask if Sabots are overkill. I say no. The accuracy is great. They dont foul up your barrel as badly as Fosters. And they are DEADLY. The confidence, clean kill ability and time saved in searching for wounded game and cleaning the weapon are well worth the expense of the sabots. One thought: If you're planning to shoot six boxes of slugs at the range you are in for a very, very sore sholder. After about 4 shots it stops being fun ;) Good luck!

RE: Sabot slugs overkill for a 50 yard shot?
 

I shoot the copper solids in my old mossburg 500. Killed lots of deer at 100yds.plus. At around 2 bucks apiece I am very careful not to bump the gun. I always case it when in the truck. I'm stuck on them.

RE: Sabot slugs overkill for a 50 yard shot?
 

Welcome abord Recruit!

Stick with the sabots. I shoot 3" Fedrals and can hit a beer can at 150 yds every time. You may have to try diffrent brands or even diffrent lengths or weights to get it to shoot good. But once you find the right combo it will be deadly accurat and your confidance will rise fast.

SCRIDER1 is right. It took me several trips to get mine sighted in because of the kick.

There is no mistaking weather or not you hit a deer with 1 1/8 oz of lead though.

RE: Sabot slugs overkill for a 50 yard shot?
 

I shoot lightfield hybreds and winchester partion golds, the lightfields shoot great in my ithaca but liek the others said i first went out and bought a couple boxes of each kinda expensive bu very much worth it and found which one i like then i went and bought a whole case of em lol so i would have a good supply,the partion golds got more kick them a .300 mag lol i had a shiner after the first time i shot one, wasnt expecting a kick like that and had my hands real loose and she flew back right into my eye,

"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."

RE: Sabot slugs overkill for a 50 yard shot?
 

I agree with the accuracy comment on sabot slugs! Overkill? No way! A sabot slug is smaller than a foster slug , but has much better accuracy at longer distances.

As far as shooting a foster slug thru your rifled barrel , again , no way!

A foster slug is for a smooth bore barrel. The quickest way to ruin a rifled barrel is to shoot foster slugs thru it. You can clean it and clean it , you'll never get the rifleing back to it's original state.

RE: Sabot slugs overkill for a 50 yard shot?
 

Alright guys...you all seem like-minded on using sabots instead of foster-type slugs. I'll go with them in spite of the cost. I also didn't realize the additional cleaning required with foster-types and like BOWFANATIC said, could even ruin the barrel rifleing.

That said, how many shots to you all take at a target to determine if a certain brand of ammo shoots well out of your gun? My guess, and TAZMAN alluded to it, was to shoot X number of shots at a target and look for repeatable shots, not necessarily on the bullseye, but repeatable. If one brand is not repeatable (i.e. all over the place on the target), try another brand. Once honed in on a repeatable brand for my gun, sight the gun in for accuracy (near the bullseye). Is this logical?

Also, where do you start? 25 yards? 50 yards? Should I zero at 50 yards considering my novice skill level and rifle sights? Anyone willing to share their "procedure" on how they do this?

I'm going to try 2 3/4 sabot loads from Remington, Winchester, Federal, and Lightfield. I'll start with the cheaper of the four (Lightfields?) and hope for some repeatable shots.

Again, thanks for your responses! You all have really helped.

RE: Sabot slugs overkill for a 50 yard shot?
 

Recruit start at 50 yards, if you are holding a tight group, like 3 shots within small area, set your sights, then shoot at 100 yards and see the difference, readjust your sights to where you are a little high at 50 and a little low at 100. This is the way I do it and it works fine.

One note, if at 100 yards you are all over the place try a different brand and repeat the above steps, I have known people that shot one brand through their gun at 50 with great results and when they moved to 100 it was all over the place, they tried another brand and got good groups at 50 and 100.

One other thing, do not even waste your time shooting at 25 yards, the difference between 25 and 50 is miniscule.

The Tazman aka Martin Price
Founder and President of
Virginia Disabled Outdoorsmen Club

RE: Sabot slugs overkill for a 50 yard shot?
 

Another suggestion I have when you go to sight in is to take your time. Don't burn through a box of sabots in 30 seconds. Shooting one shot then giving your gun (and shoulder!) at least a couple minutes to cool off more closely resembles the accuracy you will get in hunting conditions. (You probably are already aware of this, but figured I'd throw it in just in case.) Good luck to ya.

--Man who fish in other man's well often catch crabs--

RE: Sabot slugs overkill for a 50 yard shot?
 

Hey, Recruit--I've always felt like 3 shots was all it took for me know how well a round is going to work for me. Although that might be partly because I'm ready to quit after that many (ouch!). LOL. The nice thing about the open sights (at least on my Hastings barrel)is that they tend to stay put. If you dont take the barrel on and off, your gun should stay sighted in year after year. If you do take the barrel off, you'll probably have to spend some time getting it sighted in again. Lots of years I nail the first practice shot and just put the gun away ;) I sight in at 50 yds and thats it since my shots are always in the 20-70 yard range. Works great for me.
Good luck!

RE: Sabot slugs overkill for a 50 yard shot?
 

Here's another thought. If you are concerned with the cost of the sabot slugs, buy a box of foster slugs and try them in the smoothbore barrel with a modified, improved, or cylinder choke. You should be able to get the accuracy you need for a 50 yard shot without sights.

I would reccomend NOT to shoot the foster slugs through the rifled barrel. After the 1st shot, the rifling is filled with lead which can be very difficult to remove completely.

BTW, I'll take that rifled barrel off your hands for the cost of shipping if you decide not to use the sabot slugs. <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

RE: Sabot slugs overkill for a 50 yard shot?
 

Foster type slugs are really all you need for shots out to 50 yds. they are best in slightly choked bores,IC or in cyl bores, although I've found that they sail a bit in cyl bores.Brenneke slugs are solid with an expanding base that fills the bore when fired. Good accuracy and deadly, that solid chunk of lead exits like a cannon ball went through.I use them with a IC choke. They all recoil heavily, Brenneke's seem to be the heaviest.You never notice it anyway when you are hunting, then about 10 mins after making the shot your shoulder feels like you took a left hook from a heavyweight contender.Good luck,good hunting,be safe.

RE: Sabot slugs overkill for a 50 yard shot?
 

I'm a firm believer in &quot;it's better to have too much than not enough.&quot; I'm not sure there's such a thing as &quot;overkill.&quot; Just buy a few brands, and pick the one that performs best for you.

My mind belongs to my work...
My heart belongs to my family...

But my soul...belongs to the woods.