Shotgun Slugs with a Bead

[SquirrelMan]

How effective is a bead for shooting deer within 50 yards? I have been buying and selling guns like crazy lately and have come to realize that I am without a slug gun this year for deer. I was hoping a Beretta 391 sporting that has the bead at the end of the barrel (of course) but also had the mid-rail bead could do the job. I will sight in the shotgun and see how it shoots, but I was wondering what your experience was.

Thanks,
SquirrelMan

[10/22]

I live in SE MN and it's a shotgun only season around here for deer. A bead sight is more than effective at 50yds or less. The key is to just get out there and practice with different loads and see where the slugs hit. Last season I used the trusty Win 1300 Deer shotty and nailed two deer on one drive and the next day I took the Win SX2 Field with a improved choke and some Win Super-X slugs. I was standing at the base of a hill waiting for the drivers and had a doe come right at me. She stopped at about 30yds and I put the bead right on her chest and she dropped where she stood. Several other guys in the party use shotguns with beads only and they have no problems shooting deer.

[Bob Freddy]

18" barrel, fixed choke, just a front bead sight.

2 3/4" remington slugger shell

5 shots - 4 inch group @ 50 yds

This is a smoth bore barrel , not rifled

hope this helps

[Dfariswheel]

If you gun has a rib, you also have the option of buying a set of the rifle sights that clamp onto the rib.

These work quite well, and don't require any alterations to the gun.

I know several people who use these with excellent results.

[sm]

I happen to like bead and mid beads - I have shot a LOT of rds with this set up in competition. Slugs are just one more payload to me...
I shoot this set-up the fastest and best. My accuracy mirrors those of Bob Freddy's above. My guns tend to like The Win or Fed slugs best.

Get a 5 pk of various brands, shoot for groups , select the best for YOUR gun. Run back to store and buy plenty of the same lot number.

[Hawgleg44]

I have a barrel for my Remington 870 that I cut down and faced off on a milling machine to be perfectly square. It's 20", and I installed dual beads on it. I went to the club to try it out with slugs before deer season a few years ago. I just bought whatever slugs were the cheapest at Dick's Sporting Goods one day.

At 80 yds, it shot POI and made the 3 shot group right inside the 4" bullseye. That was while standing, too. I never bothered to even install my 18" deer barrel with Remchokes after shooting that one.

[Rocco]

The usual problem with the Slugs 'n' Beads party mix is that most -if not all- barrels with beads for sights are regulated for shot instead of slugs. As a matter of fact, the common shotgun barrel will shoot slugs quite high in comparison to shot. Therefore, one must aim (or should I say point?) LOW in order to compensate the difference and achieve the desired POI. One general rule of thumb is that @ 25 yds, one should aim @ 12" below center. There are a few variations to this so called "rule", inasmuch John's thumb is larger or shorter than Mary's, if you get my drift.

[SquirrelMan]

Thanks for all of the responses. While TFL was down, I bought a cheap 870 Express with a fully rifled barrel.

I hope this thread proves useful for a future budget slug hunter.

-SM

[Rocco]

Generally speaking, a stock shotgun with rifle type or ghost ring sights' that are zeroed for your run-of-the-mill 1 oz. Foster slug @ 50 yds would print a half inch to barely an inch over POA @ 25 yds and less; a couple or so inches below @ 75 yds and about six to eight inches below @ 100 yds. It's safe to say that for all intents and purposes, from ECQ distances up to 50 yds the slugs in a shotgun so zeroed should impact dead center.

However, as you are interested in using the same bead sighted barrel with both shot and slugs I'd say that in regard to the actual grouping, it's not only HOW it groups, but WHERE and HOW HIGH with ammo brand X, Y, or Z. Remember that a bead is not adjustable for windage nor elevation. Those "adjustments" reside within your eyeball.

[Rocco]

Try and picture your common target or patterning board with a sufficiently long cross printed on its face. Divide the board in sectors relative to the cross, like slices of a pie, in 12 sectors - to use the "clock face" analogy. Standing at your common field positions and preferably using the same attire you'd use for hunting, aim at the dead center of the board and record the sector of the shots in addition to the spread, distance to the target and ammo used, as well as relative height of each group to the horizontal axis.

After doing so, you will have ascertained to the closest approximation possible the necessary hold-overs (hold-unders?) vs. the various relative distances in order to establish the correspondent PsOA to where you want the PsOI to be.

YMMV, of course.

Best regards,

[Rocco]

Thanks for all of the responses. While TFL was down, I bought a cheap 870 Express with a fully rifled barrel.

I hope this thread proves useful for a future budget slug hunter.

Holy smoke, my furry friend! Talk about FAST!?!

Congrats on your purchase and good luck, Squirrel! May that new gun bring you the deer you want!