May have the opportunity to go up north for whitetail. May be hunting with a slug gun. What are y'alls suggestions on what brand, 12 or 20 gauge with a scope? Thanks

Savage makes a dedicated bolt slug-gun, I would look at those. I would look at available ammo, too. There are some out there that have 150yd capability. If scopes are allowed, I'd put together as much range as I could afford (gun/ammo/scope).

I here ya. That's why I'm asking, I know nothing about shooting slugs so I figured I would ask on here to head in the right direction.

Thanks for the response.

The Savage 212/220 and Federal Trophy Copper sabots would be a very good place to start.

Have you had any experience with it?

I'll share my observations based on my in-field experience, but as they say "your milage may very".

Growing up in Kentucky I’ve sent lots of solid lead down a shotgun barrel. Our neighboring states (Ohio & Indiana) were shotgun only for deer until just a few years ago, when straight-walled rifle cartridges were legalized for the whitetail woods.

Smooth bores need brenneke slugs or even the old “rifled” Foster-type pumpkin balls to achieve minute of pie plate past 50 yards.

"Rifled" choke tubes are a gimmick.

You need to shoot sabot slugs in a barrel that is fully rifled to achieve acceptable accuracy at distance.

I’ve shot lots of the 300gr. Hornady SST rounds, and playing card size groups from a scoped slug gun at 100 yards were certainly achievable, but any claims of "rifle-like accuracy" might be exaggerated. I think Hornady claims accuracy “out to 200 yards” but sub-5 inch groups were about the best I could ever turn in at 200, even from a bench.

Shotgun triggers by and large suck. They are heavy, sloppy, and downright primitive compared to rifle triggers.

I've seen no difference in accuracy or terminal performance between modern saboted loadings of 12 or 20 gauge.

Your style of hunting should play a role in your firearm selection. I keep a fully rifled Benelli in 12 gauge with ghost ring sights for driven deer hunting. I use a bolt action 12 gauge or a break action 20 gauge with a fixed 4X or 6X scope for stand hunting. Both of these guns allow me to have triggers as good as a factory bolt action rifle.

Shooting slugs at targets, especially from a bench, is a less than pleasant experience. Heavy recoil and light guns are a recipe for flinching or jerking a shot. Physics will always trump ego. A 300 grain projectile at 2000fps in a 7 pound gun will rock you. Make sure any accuracy issues are indeed gun/ammo related and not shooter induced.

It's the only one I would buy but you need the proper ammo too. I can look up the internet study if I remember or PM me if I forget. Never mind. The Mossberg Slugster can work too but both might need hand-loaded ammo to work with power at any distance.

Savage or if you do not mind a single shot the H&R slug guns are pretty accurate. The built the 12ga on a 10ga frame and the 20 on a 12 frame. Makes for a heavier barrel and little heavier gun both are rifled barrels for Saboted slugs. Those are their Ultra Slug Hunter

Yes, with the 212. I grew up in Illinois, so all gun hunting was with shotguns. I also used, and currently have a Marlin 512, but they are discontinued and the Savage is a better gun. I've killed a deer at 163 measured yards with sabot slugs. If you really practice a lot, you gan get 200 yard range, but trajectory beyond 150 or so is much like a thrown rock.

I've shot the single shots. They are too light.

I had a Mossburg 500 combo that included a rifled slug barrel. It shot 2in groups at 100 yards. Used it for public hunting. Sold it before I ever had a chance for a kill with it, but I do regret selling it.

Bought a rifled barrel for my Mossberg 835 few years ago to hunt in Illinois. Shoots really well and killed a good 8 pt with it. Heavy as heck with the big thick barrel but it will kick like a mule at the range

Remington 1100 wtih cantilever slug barrel and 1.5x5 power slug scope has been the death of many whitetail deer...pretty accurate out to 75 yards too...!

I sold my buddy my old 1100 and keep telling him to get a slug barrel for it to make it the ultimate all around firearm, instead he spends all his money on custom bolts and whatnot for his Harley.

The reason shotgun scopes are so light is the heavy recoil will move the rings on a heavy scope. There's probably a solution to holding a good low light scope in plae but I gave up before I found one. Didn't put much effort in neither, to tell it all.

I’d get a Savage 220 and mount a Burris Fullfield on it.

I got into slug guns because of deer/nilgai hunting on the smaller NWR in the LRGV. As a dedicated arm, Savage owns it with the 212 & 220. If you have a Mossberg 500, adding a barrel is a straightforward way to go if this is a limited hunting opportunity.

Ammo, especially saboted ammo, has become expensive. Federal seems to be the best buy, but it is around $2/round. I just helped a fellow find some 20G ammo; that was the current price.

Over 15 years, I went down the bunny hole with slug guns, especially for a guy in South Texas, where I had never seen one in the field. But, as a bullet mold designer, bullet caster, and reloader, that hole became very deep. As a result, I became very interested in older bolt-action shotguns; I think at one time, I owned all the available models but passed them on to others that had the need.

Two losses in the last 18 months are so; Lightfield stopped producing their slug ammo (4/21). It outperformed any other ammo I shot across the sluggers I owned. Then, a small business, Slugs 'R Us, closed its doors a year later. SRS made sabots and offered the lead core as a component, plus they also provided molds for bullet casters to pour their own. This was a significant loss.

I've ended up with a Marlin 512, Western Field 170, and three barrels for my M500; a smooth bore with a Ghost Ring, rifled with open sights, and a rifled with the cantilever scope mount. My hands-down favorite is the WF170. It never was produced with a scope mount possibility, but that has not hindered my critter getting. I have both three and five-round magazines for it. It is a smooth bore but very accurate with the Lee 1 oz slug.

That is where I may be going. Thanks

Thanks for all the responses.

I bought one of these and it has open sights. I put a simmons 4x shotgun scope on it and bought a close out ted nugent slugs on close out. Use it when i want to go to LBJ grasslands. I can hit a pie plate out to 100 yds(im not a great shot with a thumper like a slug gun). They have them in coppell at grab a gun for $245

I have a Maverick 12guage I put the rifled barrel on. Recoil off a bench was causing the sight to walk up the ramp with each shot. They kick, but once the sight gets locked down properly they should be fairly accurate with sabots.

I have been carrying mine across the LBJ Grassland for two seasons but haven’t claimed anything with it yet.

I bought my oldest son a Mossberg with a rifled barrel so he could hunt some local federal land. Want to know how many sabot slugs I've seen for sale in stores? Zero. None.

Good reason to stock up when they are readily available.

My dad has a Mossberg 835 combo with the smooth bore and slug barrel. He has shot deer out past 150 yards with the slug barrel. The one time I used it the deer was about 15 feet away.

Love my Browning BPS 20G. Hornady 250g sabot, over-the-heart hit turns everything in chest cavity to soup.

Same here, 2" groups at 100 yards. The scope makes you raise your head off the stock so you get whacked on the recoil- just take a small sponge and electric tape it to the stock to make a cheek piece.