[muzzleblast]

Hey All,

Thinking about trying my hand at shotgun hunting this fall since the ranges of typical shots here are pretty friendly to buckshot. Other than just patterning different kinds of shot, the only experience I have is a buck taken from 40 yards with 00 and that was kind of pushing it. Only one pellet found the mark.

If anyone here uses buckshot a lot, what woud you suggest? Stick with the 00 or go smaller for a denser pattern? How does the lighter stuff likwe No4 fare against medium game?

 

[hypno]

couple weeks ago i shot a rabbit with some of my dads old 00 at like 10 yards away. nothin left muahahaha--my suggestion is to put on a ghille suit and wait for the deer to get like 5 feet away then unload :lol: not really--but a possibility


dom

 

[ekaphoto]

Stick with the OO buck. The heavier pellets are more effective and hold their velocity better. Just get a couple of diffrent brands and see what shoots the best in your shotgun.

The other option is slugs. I prefer brennkie rottweil slugs, although I hear good things about sabot rounds. The Brennikie can be good out to 100 yards and are more accurate than any other full size slug I have tried.

 

[muzzleblast]

lol, worth a shot I guess, Hypno

Sounds good, Eka. One thing I always wondered about with smaller buck is how many pellets touch the barrel and end up warped, compared to large shot in buffer powder. I'll have to just pattern again and see what 00 works best and stick with the old double aught.

Someone on the biggest Canadian gun forum did a test about slugs penetration, and the Brenneke won top honours. Good to know! There is a great special going on right now for Winchester foster slugs though, I may just stock up on those.

Thanks all!

 

[SpEcTeR]

I have seen the Remington Copper solid sabot slugs in rifled barrels perform very well at nice generous distances for shotguns.

These slugs are getting harder to find for some reason, maybe they discountinued them, however with a rifled barrel, they make a deadly precise alternative.


Good luck.

 

[AKvsAR]

I've used "00" for deer, and would have rather had slugs. Once you pass that 25/30 yds mark, it's all to chance, unless you have a Turkey-Full choke.
The only thing that stopped my doe was that one of my buckshot found the left rear knee, and decided to obliterate it. The doe was moving, so don't think I am that bad of a shot :wink:

I think it was past 30 yds, but not over 50.

 

[American Rifleman]

Are you stuck on buckshot or are you also thinking about using a slug? Only one problem when using a slug, your shotgun cant have any choke!

If your stuck on Buckshot i would use either 00 Buckshot with a 3" shell ( no light loaded stuff ) or the infamous 000 Buckshot.

 

[muzzleblast]

I thought firing slugs with Mod or IC chokes was okay?

 

[mlammers]

Muzz,

A Slug(it is all we can use in OH for deer other than handguns or muzzle loaders) will fire through any choke, but full and modified are not very accurate, and lead up the barrel quick. IC is fine and is what Police 870s are choked. My rifled barrel Mossberg 500 is very accurate on cheap remmy slugs at 100 yds, and only cost 250.

I called my wifes uncle in VA(he uses buckshot on deer every year) and he says with his full choke 12GA he is good to 40yds maybe 50 in the open. He uses Remmy or Federal 2 3/4 shells.

 

[muzzleblast]

Thanks for the info!

I had thought it safe to fire slugs in any choke but full (so my father had told me, it shows that I am not much of a shotgunner) but I had not known IC provides the best results. When I patterned my O/U I had found with a Mod choke that 30-40 meters was still enough to put 50% of the pellets in an 8 inch killzone, but I found out at 50 meters it would only put one there. Based on that I think I will go with the slug.

I have a Maverick 88 that I picked up as more or less a toy, but I'm kinda interested in taking a go at hunting with it this fall, so I think I will try it with the slugs. Along with a Weaver mount and an Aimpoint I picked up last month that is basically collecting dust. Should be interesting.