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Best groups from non rifled barrel slug guns ?

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hunterdan199

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Just toying with the idea of a new project 870 12 gauge slug gun thick brush close quarters gun, just curious what's some of the best results you guys got at ranges with smooth bore barrels and what slugs was you shooting ?

Any help thanks just wondering if it worth the time and effort .
 
#3 ·
My oldest son has a 870 pump and he uses Federal Hi Shock 3" slugs. Nice groups at 50 yards, about a 2 to 3" group at 75 yards and a 5 to 6" group at 100 yards and he is an expert marksman in the military. He's tried Brenneke slugs and they were not bad either.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Remington 870 super mag. 26 inch smooth bore, B Square saddle scope ....federal 1 0z rifled slugs (blue box), Modified choke, off rest 25 yards, touching. Have to get out to Range 14 soon with it. Would like to see 75 yards....will PM you when I get out there Dan....this is my deer gun in NJ, never lost one yet
 
#7 ·
I have a Remington 870 superslug, but I just wanted to see what kind of groups I could get if I put a smooth bore barrel on it, so I took a 28" smooth bore barrel off of my late 70's model wingmaster and I was incredibly shocked. I was shooting 5" groups at 100 yards with 2 3/4" Remington reduced recoil rifled slugs. STILL can't believe it. LOL
 
#8 ·
alecsZ7 said:
I have a Remington 870 superslug, but I just wanted to see what kind of groups I could get if I put a smooth bore barrel on it, so I took a 28" smooth bore barrel off of my late 70's model wingmaster and I was incredibly shocked. I was shooting 5" groups at 100 yards with 2 3/4" Remington reduced recoil rifled slugs. STILL can't believe it. LOL
Click to expand...
That's really good. Was it scoped at that distance?
 
#9 ·
Have not shot it enough after acquiring last year to know for sure, but after making a few adjustments and getting it zeroed, had two shots an inch apart dead on at 100 yards, and that's all I needed to see. Got a nice doe with it a few days later. Ithaca Deerslayer 12 gauge, 2.5x scope, and Remington Sluggers.
 
#11 ·
I also had good luck with a 70's era Ithaca Deerslayer using 2 3/4 Remington Sluggers. Can't give you a for certain of what that combo was capable of because the gun never had a scope on it. At 75 yards with open sights it was capable of 3"-4" groups which was plenty for the woodlots I was hunting.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Sig220 said:
I also had good luck with a 70's era Ithaca Deerslayer using 2 3/4 Remington Sluggers. Can't give you a for certain of what that combo was capable of because the gun never had a scope on it. At 75 yards with open sights it was capable of 3"-4" groups which was plenty for the woodlots I was hunting.
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Some more info. on the old Ithaca Deerslayers for those that might be interested: "Deer Slayer first appeared in Ithaca's catalog in 1959 with a 26" smoothbore barrel, and a carbine barrel of 20", straight bored to within a few thousands of SAAMI specs for slugs with rifle sights mounted, or for the Deluxe model, a receiver sight. Of course this was the Model 37 Featherlight pump. Available in 12, 16, and 20 gauges.

It all started on a deer hunt some years earlier in upstate NY. Ed Thompson, the head of Ithaca's repair department was among a hunting party when one of the fellows shot at a trophy buck at around the 100yd mark with a 12ga. slug, (type of gun was not mentioned, but it was a regular shotgun). The deer fled and the hunter assuming he made a clean miss retired for the day.

The next day the party hunted and stumbled across the trophy buck, dead from the previous day and rotting. Ed Thompson being a sportsman with a concern for game decided to take the problem of accuracy to Ithaca and see what could be done to make the most accurate slug gun possible. In 1958 Ithaca's sales department sent a letter to the barrel department requesting a barrel specifically for deer hunting. Two longtime Ithaca employees are credited with the development and technique of straight boring for the Deer Slayer barrels, Howard Lelik, and Francis Keene, (barrel room foreman). A straight bored barrel with rifle sights which closely fitted factory slugs was the end product.

Accuracy tests were done by H.P. White laboratory before the Deer Slayer made it's debut, "We have confirmed the company's claim to superior accuracy and stated that the performance of the Deer Slayer closely approached that of a .35 caliber deer rifle at 100 yards distance."

Shortly after, other gun manufacturer's began offering slug guns of their own design, but in my opinion, the Ithaca '37 is still the best. The company has changed and made improvements over the years, with rifled barrels introduced in the 1980's, with the D-S II and the D-S III currently available. Sadly, gone is the smoothbore Deer Slayer barrels from Ithaca's current catalog. We have to resort to used smoothies these days, but they're out there! I bought one this year for my '37 Magnum model on Gun Broker.

As for buckshot, Ithaca currently does not recommend or warrant it's use in Deer Slayer barrels. They make an 18.5" home defense barrel for the '37 for buckshot."
 
#20 ·
I used to shoot a mossberg with remington sluggers and could keep them in a pie plate at 75-100 yds pretty consistently. I really got tired of shooting that gun as the recoil was one of the worst I have ever shot. I now shoot a 20 gauge and am much happier.
 
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