Slug Guns - what do you use?

Gun Dude

Gun Dude

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I'll be doing some hunting in the Midwest again this fall, and some states only allow the use of slug guns. I'm contemplating picking one up, and have been doing some research online.

I'm contemplating a Savage bolt action 212 with a rifled barrel. This gun will only be used once or twice a year for deer hunting in those states. I have several other 12 gauges, but want a separate rifled barrel slug gun.

What do you use? Any other recommendations from anyone?

Thanks!
 
I hunted for years in md with a single shot new england bull barrel 12 gauge. Used lightfields and bushnell 1.5 to 4.5 scope. Always put meat on the table. I also used a mossberg 500 with dedicated slug barrel, with rifle sights. Shooting winchester slugs. You can clearly spend more, but these 2 options are economical and work.
 
Flounderfs92 said:
I hunted for years in md with a single shot new england bull barrel 12 gauge. Used lightfields and bushnell 1.5 to 4.5 scope. Always put meat on the table. I also used a mossberg 500 with dedicated slug barrel, with rifle sights. Shooting winchester slugs. You can clearly spend more, but these 2 options are economical and work.
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Thanks for the recommendation!
 
Like i say, are there better options? Probably. I know these work. Hell i still have the scope 20 years later. I put it in some nikon rings and used it on an AR to function test the gun. The mossberg is still around, it has a shockwave grip and an hd barrel on it. Its semi retired and only used for hip shooting beer cans at family reunions. The single shot i sold to my brother in law whi hunts with it to this day.
 
Here is what I use:

Ultra Slug Hunter Deluxe
A true tack-driver, this shotgun has a 24" fully rifled Ultragon barrel crafted of heavy steel. This barrel design promotes more consistent harmonics and better long-range accuracy with today’s high-velocity slug loads. It has a walnut-stained American hardwood stock with a Monte Carlo comb that promotes rapid alignment with your crosshairs. Choose from 12- and 20-gauge versions. Scope mounts are included. And
the 12-gauge model is available with a factory-mounted and bore-sighted 3-9X scope. Compact 20 gauge has a 22" barrel. Our Deluxe version has the added weather resistance and distinctive looks of a laminated stock.

http://www.hr1871.com/firearms/shotguns/ultraslug.asp
 
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Tailhunter said:
Here is what I use:

Ultra Slug Hunter Deluxe
A true tack-driver, this shotgun has a 24" fully rifled Ultragon barrel crafted of heavy steel. This barrel design promotes more consistent harmonics and better long-range accuracy with today’s high-velocity slug loads. It has a walnut-stained American hardwood stock with a Monte Carlo comb that promotes rapid alignment with your crosshairs. Choose from 12- and 20-gauge versions. Scope mounts are included. And
the 12-gauge model is available with a factory-mounted and bore-sighted 3-9X scope. Compact 20 gauge has a 22" barrel. Our Deluxe version has the added weather resistance and distinctive looks of a laminated stock.

http://www.hr1871.com/firearms/shotguns/ultraslug.asp
Click to expand...


Great gun. Sadly the H&R brand is gone now, but sure there are some still available at dealers and wholesalers, just no support if you have a problem.
 
I use an 870 with a fully rifled cantilever barrel when I hunt in the Northern Neck of VA, since rifles are not allowed. Plenty accurate enough for the ranges I usually encounter deer, and the great thing, switch the barrel to a smoothbore and go quail or duck hunting in the afternoon.
 
Tailhunter said:
Here is what I use:

Ultra Slug Hunter Deluxe
A true tack-driver, this shotgun has a 24" fully rifled Ultragon barrel crafted of heavy steel. This barrel design promotes more consistent harmonics and better long-range accuracy with today’s high-velocity slug loads. It has a walnut-stained American hardwood stock with a Monte Carlo comb that promotes rapid alignment with your crosshairs. Choose from 12- and 20-gauge versions. Scope mounts are included. And
the 12-gauge model is available with a factory-mounted and bore-sighted 3-9X scope. Compact 20 gauge has a 22" barrel. Our Deluxe version has the added weather resistance and distinctive looks of a laminated stock.

http://www.hr1871.com/firearms/shotguns/ultraslug.asp
Click to expand...
This is the gun to have.
 
I use to hunt with a H&R Ultra-slug hunter as well. Pretty accurate for me with the Hornaday SSTs and Remington Accutips. I'm sure the Lightfileds are plenty accurate too, I just never tried them out.
 
Think I've finally decided on a Savage 212 bolt action 12 gauge. After reading many good reviews on the shotgun, think I'll be placing an order for one this week, pick out a scope for it, then do some range testing!

Thanks to everyone for their feedback too! Much appreciated!
 
Wow...this is my mind of thread! I use a Remington 1100 with a rifled barrel. I threw a 4X Leupold compact on the cantilever mount. At 50 yards it'll put five shots in one ragged hole. At 100 yards, it will put five shots in a hole the size of a coffee cup. The last eight deer that I harvested were all killed with one shot...to the head. (I hate chasing wounded deer thru the brush and I REALLY hate dragging them further than I have to!)
And: yes...it might be brag, but it's also fact. I got faith in my little Remington deer killing machine!
 
I've got 2 slug guns, both smooth bore. A Remington 870 with a 20" rifle-sighted barrel, and an Ithaca deerslayer. Both 12ga.

The Remington will put 5 rifled slugs into a 3.5" group at 50 yards. Never tried it at 100.

I haven't shot the Ithaca enough to determine just how accurate it is, but I do know that little gun can kick the shortening out of a cathead biscuit.
 
My 870 with a Hastings rifled slug barrel has put about a ton of Michigan venison in my freezer. The last decent buck was taken with a Remington copper solid. It is an all copper slug that has four petals that peel off creating one entrance wound and five wound channels. He dropped like a pallet of bricks fell on him. I thought for sure I had clipped his spine but it was a through and through lung shot. I was impressed. He had enough life left in him to try and hook me with his antlers, but he never got up again.
 
Howland said:
My 870 with a Hastings rifled slug barrel has put about a ton of Michigan venison in my freezer. The last decent buck was taken with a Remington copper solid. It is an all copper slug that has four petals that peel off creating one entrance wound and five wound channels. He dropped like a pallet of bricks fell on him. I thought for sure I had clipped his spine but it was a through and through lung shot. I was impressed. He had enough life left in him to try and hook me with his antlers, but he never got up again.
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Oh! Another Michigan Escapee from below M-57?!?
They grow the deer a little bigger up there, but they taste about the same.
 
Windage-n-Elevation said:
Oh! Another Michigan Escapee from below M-57?!?
They grow the deer a little bigger up there, but they taste about the same.
Click to expand...

Livingston County to be exact. More Shanghaied than escapee. My parents pulled up stakes and moved to NH at the beginning of my senior year of high school. I stayed in NH until coming to SC a couple years ago.

I made the annual pilgrimage to Michigan for deer season for about twenty years or so. It is truly amazing to see a herd of 40+ deer run by. I didn't see that in NH or down here. Folks here can't appreciate it. All you need to know is that their wildlife agency estimates the size of the deer herd with a simple calculation. Miles of road ÷ road kill. When I first moved to NH, Livingston County MI (24 miles X 24 miles) had a higher deer population than the entire state of New Hampshire! When I started hunting in NH, the success rate for bowhunters was a whopping 3%!
 
My Midwest hunts this coming season will be in Illinois and Indiana. Lets just say Illinois is a challenge for non res licensing! :rolleyes:
 
Gun Dude said:
My Midwest hunts this coming season will be in Illinois and Indiana. Lets just say Illinois is a challenge for non res licensing! :rolleyes:
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Michigan used to be;
Resident Buck - $10, limit 2
Resident Antlerless - $3, one per day (16 day season) until that zone was sold out (the doe:buck ratio is at least 10:1, way out of balance!)
Nonresident Buck - $20.50, limit 2
Nonresident Antlerless - $3, same one per day

I would buy two buck tags and replace doe tags as soon as I filled them. I could usually count on at least one opportunity each season to take a nice buck. Sometimes several. There were days I could have taken twenty does.

Then they jacked up the nonresident fees.
Nonresident Buck - $120, limit 2
Nonresident Antlerless - $30

After that, I only bought one buck tag a year and watched the does run by. I guess they don't want nonresidents to help restore the balance caused by mismanagement and a cultural bias against shooting does.
 
Howland said:
Michigan used to be;
Resident Buck - $10, limit 2
Resident Antlerless - $3, one per day (16 day season) until that zone was sold out (the doe:buck ratio is at least 10:1, way out of balance!)
Nonresident Buck - $20.50, limit 2
Nonresident Antlerless - $3, same one per day

I would buy two buck tags and replace doe tags as soon as I filled them. I could usually count on at least one opportunity each season to take a nice buck. Sometimes several. There were days I could have taken twenty does.

Then they jacked up the nonresident fees.
Nonresident Buck - $120, limit 2
Nonresident Antlerless - $30

After that, I only bought one buck tag a year and watched the does run by. I guess they don't want nonresidents to help restore the balance caused by mismanagement and a cultural bias against shooting does.
Click to expand...
Still very reasonable! Illinois is a Lottery for Non residents, and was $308! Indiana is $125 for 5 days, non resident license.
 
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