The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Who hunts deer w/ a 12ga & rifled/slug barrel?

JackSparrow · January 6, 2010, 11:43 PM

I used to use a "deer slug barrel" for my Winchester 1400. It was smoothbore, and quite short compared to your standard bird or rifled barrel. I was also accurate with it out to 100 yards using Winchester SuperX 2 3/4" rifled slugs.

I've seen Brenneke 2 3/4" rifled slugs be quite accurate at over 150 yards through a smooth barrel, and over 200 yards through a rifled barrel.

Would I choose a shotgun over a rifle every time? No. There are times when I prefer a rifle, and it's usually when I'm taking shots at over 100 yards and want high reliability with low recoil for a quick follow up shot.

It also depends on what kind of game I'm hunting, as well as the regulations. For example, in southeastern Minnesota, shotguns (or handguns) are all you can use for deer, so it's what we use. However, when I go bear hunting in northern Minnesota, most of the locals used rifles until we showed up with our 12 gauge, and they saw what kind of damage they did to the bears. There was no tracking bears when they were hit with a 12 gauge slug, while the rifle hunters tended to have to track their bears a little ways. Now, the majority of the hunters in that area are using shotguns, because let's face it, who wants to track a wounded bear through thick swamp-woods?

So essentially, it's based on preference more than anything. I don't have a use for a rifled barrel due to the way I hunt, but there's plenty of people I hunt with that use a rifled barrel. For me, it's also a cost issue. Sabot slugs tend to cost $2 per slug, or more. And the barrel for my SX3 is $600 minimum. It's simply not worth it for me when I can use my standard bird barrel, firing $0.50 slugs, and being just as accurate out to 100 yards.

January 6, 2010, 11:43 PM	#15
JackSparrow Member Join Date: December 4, 2009 Posts: 24	I used to use a "deer slug barrel" for my Winchester 1400. It was smoothbore, and quite short compared to your standard bird or rifled barrel. I was also accurate with it out to 100 yards using Winchester SuperX 2 3/4" rifled slugs. I've seen Brenneke 2 3/4" rifled slugs be quite accurate at over 150 yards through a smooth barrel, and over 200 yards through a rifled barrel. Would I choose a shotgun over a rifle every time? No. There are times when I prefer a rifle, and it's usually when I'm taking shots at over 100 yards and want high reliability with low recoil for a quick follow up shot. It also depends on what kind of game I'm hunting, as well as the regulations. For example, in southeastern Minnesota, shotguns (or handguns) are all you can use for deer, so it's what we use. However, when I go bear hunting in northern Minnesota, most of the locals used rifles until we showed up with our 12 gauge, and they saw what kind of damage they did to the bears. There was no tracking bears when they were hit with a 12 gauge slug, while the rifle hunters tended to have to track their bears a little ways. Now, the majority of the hunters in that area are using shotguns, because let's face it, who wants to track a wounded bear through thick swamp-woods? So essentially, it's based on preference more than anything. I don't have a use for a rifled barrel due to the way I hunt, but there's plenty of people I hunt with that use a rifled barrel. For me, it's also a cost issue. Sabot slugs tend to cost $2 per slug, or more. And the barrel for my SX3 is $600 minimum. It's simply not worth it for me when I can use my standard bird barrel, firing $0.50 slugs, and being just as accurate out to 100 yards.