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20 ga slugs

Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 1:55 pm
by bbhack
Anyone shoot 20 ga slugs with a smooth bore? Is there a difference between a smooth and rifled bore for 50 yard shooting? I don't own either one yet.

Re: 20 ga slugs

Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 3:10 pm
by The Annoyed Man
Not with a 20 gauge, but have shot 12 gauge slugs out to 50-60 yards with surprising accuracy, from an unrifled cylinder-bore Mossberg 590A1. There are YouTube videos of people hitting well out past 100-150 yards with 12 gauge slugs, with "minute of man" accuracy. I don’t see why a 20 gauge wouldn’t be as accurate....if a bit down on power from a 12 gauge.

Mind you, when I say "accurate", I’m talking about practical accuracy, not precision accuracy. I was shooting at a 2/3 scale IPSC steel silhouette target, and hitting it pretty consistently. If you hit someone in the thorax or abdomen with a 1-oz lead slug traveling well in excess of 1000 FPS, it’s going to be almost irrelevant whether you hit them in the upper right or lower left quadrant. I’ve never used a shotgun for hunting, other than during dove season, but I would imagine that a slug from a 12 or 20 gauge would pretty much anchor a deer or a hog as long as it hit anywhere in the vitals.

Re: 20 ga slugs

Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 3:38 pm
by mrvmax
Never tried from a smooth bore. I bought a Savage 220 (bolt action, rifled, detachable mag, slug gun) last year I need to get sighted in. Supposedly with the 3” sabots it will group well out to 200 yards.

Re: 20 ga slugs

Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 5:22 pm
by crazy2medic
I have Ithaca 20ga. that I have put slugs through several times, it's not match grade but I could put a slug in a deer's chest at a hundred yards with the improved cylinder barrel that's on it!

Re: 20 ga slugs

Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 7:24 pm
by narcissist
The Annoyed Man wrote: Sun Sep 15, 2019 3:10 pm Not with a 20 gauge, but have shot 12 gauge slugs out to 50-60 yards with surprising accuracy, from an unrifled cylinder-bore Mossberg 590A1. There are YouTube videos of people hitting well out past 100-150 yards with 12 gauge slugs, with "minute of man" accuracy. I don’t see why a 20 gauge wouldn’t be as accurate....if a bit down on power from a 12 gauge.

Mind you, when I say "accurate", I’m talking about practical accuracy, not precision accuracy. I was shooting at a 2/3 scale IPSC steel silhouette target, and hitting it pretty consistently. If you hit someone in the thorax or abdomen with a 1-oz lead slug traveling well in excess of 1000 FPS, it’s going to be almost irrelevant whether you hit them in the upper right or lower left quadrant. I’ve never used a shotgun for hunting, other than during dove season, but I would imagine that a slug from a 12 or 20 gauge would pretty much anchor a deer or a hog as long as it hit anywhere in the vitals.
Same here ive only used the 12 gauge slugs but like ( The Annoyed Man ) stated the accuracy is pretty consistent imo impressive. He is right on the money about this subject.

Great round for whitetail or wild piggys, as far as 20 gauge I see not much point when the recoil is almost the same but totally understand you use what you have. I think you will still have great luck with that 20 gauge though. Good luck!

Re: 20 ga slugs

Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 7:35 pm
by Daddio-on-patio
I bought a Mossberg 20g rifled slug gun for my son, when he was a boy, over 10 years ago. Fixed powered scope, Hornady sabots, 4" groups at 100 yards with light wind (I'm no dead ringer). Kicked like a mule till I bolted on a Limb Saver recoil pad. Bought a smooth bore from a local parts guru for birding. Solid as far as I am concerned.

Re: 20 ga slugs

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 1:23 pm
by bbhack
Thanks all for the information.

Re: 20 ga slugs

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 3:47 pm
by The Annoyed Man
bbhack wrote: Sun Sep 15, 2019 1:55 pm Anyone shoot 20 ga slugs with a smooth bore? Is there a difference between a smooth and rifled bore for 50 yard shooting? I don't own either one yet.
It sometimes pays to reread the OP!

Narcissist referred briefly to this, but the difference in recoil between 12 and 20 gauge is negligible. I’ve been told before that this is because 20 gauge is a higher pressure shell than a 12 gauge, so while 12 gauge recoil could be described as "stout", 20 gauge recoil could be described as "sharp". I have a 12 gauge O/U and my wife has a 20 gauge O/U that we use for skeet. Neither is what I would call unpleasant to shoot, but there is also not much difference between shooting the two.

Given that, you might want to consider a 12 gauge.....and maybe some "low recoil" am for it if someone else is going to use it.

Re: 20 ga slugs

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 4:22 pm
by mrvmax
The Annoyed Man wrote: Mon Sep 16, 2019 3:47 pm
bbhack wrote: Sun Sep 15, 2019 1:55 pm Anyone shoot 20 ga slugs with a smooth bore? Is there a difference between a smooth and rifled bore for 50 yard shooting? I don't own either one yet.
It sometimes pays to reread the OP!

Narcissist referred briefly to this, but the difference in recoil between 12 and 20 gauge is negligible. I’ve been told before that this is because 20 gauge is a higher pressure shell than a 12 gauge, so while 12 gauge recoil could be described as "stout", 20 gauge recoil could be described as "sharp". I have a 12 gauge O/U and my wife has a 20 gauge O/U that we use for skeet. Neither is what I would call unpleasant to shoot, but there is also not much difference between shooting the two.

Given that, you might want to consider a 12 gauge.....and maybe some "low recoil" am for it if someone else is going to use it.
And I read/viewed the opposite when looking for a slug gun. Multiple articles (or reviews and videos) I read stated that 12 gauge performance was not significantly more than 20 to warrant the extra recoil. Here are a couple but there are videos on YouTube and much more if you search Savage 212 vs 220.

https://www.chuckhawks.com/savage_slug_gun.htm

https://www.chuckhawks.com/savage_212_slug_gun.htm

Re: 20 ga slugs

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 8:58 pm
by The Annoyed Man
mrvmax wrote: Mon Sep 16, 2019 4:22 pm
The Annoyed Man wrote: Mon Sep 16, 2019 3:47 pm
bbhack wrote: Sun Sep 15, 2019 1:55 pm Anyone shoot 20 ga slugs with a smooth bore? Is there a difference between a smooth and rifled bore for 50 yard shooting? I don't own either one yet.
It sometimes pays to reread the OP!

Narcissist referred briefly to this, but the difference in recoil between 12 and 20 gauge is negligible. I’ve been told before that this is because 20 gauge is a higher pressure shell than a 12 gauge, so while 12 gauge recoil could be described as "stout", 20 gauge recoil could be described as "sharp". I have a 12 gauge O/U and my wife has a 20 gauge O/U that we use for skeet. Neither is what I would call unpleasant to shoot, but there is also not much difference between shooting the two.

Given that, you might want to consider a 12 gauge.....and maybe some "low recoil" am for it if someone else is going to use it.
And I read/viewed the opposite when looking for a slug gun. Multiple articles (or reviews and videos) I read stated that 12 gauge performance was not significantly more than 20 to warrant the extra recoil. Here are a couple but there are videos on YouTube and much more if you search Savage 212 vs 220.

https://www.chuckhawks.com/savage_slug_gun.htm

https://www.chuckhawks.com/savage_212_slug_gun.htm
That's a pretty convincing review in favor of the 20 gauge. My limited experience between the two gauges is with O/U's, shooting bird shot, and my only experience with shotgun slugs is with rifled slugs from smoothbore barrels—the recoil of which is within my tolerance.

Re: 20 ga slugs

Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2019 5:23 am
by mrvmax
The Annoyed Man wrote: Mon Sep 16, 2019 8:58 pm
mrvmax wrote: Mon Sep 16, 2019 4:22 pm
The Annoyed Man wrote: Mon Sep 16, 2019 3:47 pm
bbhack wrote: Sun Sep 15, 2019 1:55 pm Anyone shoot 20 ga slugs with a smooth bore? Is there a difference between a smooth and rifled bore for 50 yard shooting? I don't own either one yet.
It sometimes pays to reread the OP!

Narcissist referred briefly to this, but the difference in recoil between 12 and 20 gauge is negligible. I’ve been told before that this is because 20 gauge is a higher pressure shell than a 12 gauge, so while 12 gauge recoil could be described as "stout", 20 gauge recoil could be described as "sharp". I have a 12 gauge O/U and my wife has a 20 gauge O/U that we use for skeet. Neither is what I would call unpleasant to shoot, but there is also not much difference between shooting the two.

Given that, you might want to consider a 12 gauge.....and maybe some "low recoil" am for it if someone else is going to use it.
And I read/viewed the opposite when looking for a slug gun. Multiple articles (or reviews and videos) I read stated that 12 gauge performance was not significantly more than 20 to warrant the extra recoil. Here are a couple but there are videos on YouTube and much more if you search Savage 212 vs 220.

https://www.chuckhawks.com/savage_slug_gun.htm

https://www.chuckhawks.com/savage_212_slug_gun.htm
That's a pretty convincing review in favor of the 20 gauge. My limited experience between the two gauges is with O/U's, shooting bird shot, and my only experience with shotgun slugs is with rifled slugs from smoothbore barrels—the recoil of which is within my tolerance.
I had no clue but the more I looked the more people stated that so I stuck with 20. Unfortunately Savage recommends the Remington Premier Accutip 3” for best accuracy. It mentions those in the owners manual but I never read it until after I bought 2 3/4. I may try what the OP asked and take out my 870 and see how slugs do at 50 yards just out of curiosity. It will be a while before I take it out but when I do I’ll try and find this thread and post my results.

Re: 20 ga slugs

Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2019 5:35 am
by Liberty
Whatever happened to 16Guage shotguns? They were very popular when I was growing up in New England. My inlaws let me use their Belgium made Browning Sweet 16 for duck and bird hunting. Beautiful gun smooth shooting.