I am wondering what folks shooting shotguns (with adjustable sights) for a while recomend for a zeroing distance (slugs)...I am torn btwn 50 and 100 yards.

 

Any thoughts appreciated...

 

Thanks.

 

PS, i shoot at paper, steel, and prepare for that 1 in a million chance of a home invasion (nothing very exciting :-)).

I zero my slug gun at 100, but that only gets fired at furry woodland creatures.

 

Sent from my reloading bench while wearing Kevlar.

100 yards and I dont see much of a difference at 25 yards poi

Quick answer: A zero for 50 yds. will put most slugs .3" - .4" high at 25 yds. and 4.5" - 10" low @ 100 yds.

 

Long-winded answer: Foster & Brenneke slugs (I assume you are shooting slugs designed for smoothbore) vary in weight from 7/8 oz., 1 oz., 1 1/8 oz., 1 1/4 oz., to 1 3/8 oz. And velocities vary greatly too, from as low as 1,200 fps for reduced recoil slugs to as high as 1,800+ fps. If you intend to shoot out to 100 yds., you may want to know which slug shoots where, so test them thoroughly in your smoothbore. At 50 yds., most slugs from smoothbores average 3 MOA (or 6 MOA @ 100 yds.) This is another reason why you should test as many permutations as possible to see what shoots best in your shotgun.

 

This is one link with drop tables for various slugs. If you search you can find others: http://outdoors.lcparks.com/slug.html

 

If you search further on the internet, you can find downloadable ballistic tables if you want to be anal about research and analysis. (Then again, slugs are not the most precise projectiles to be anal about.)

 

Federal used to have a downloadable executable for ballistics and they had a separate section in there just for all their slug and sabot offerings. You might find something browsing a slug shooting forum as well.

For more info -

 

The ASSA website & forum: http://slugshooting.com/

 

ShotgunWorld has a separate slug shooting forum as well. Depending on what week it is, those banned on ASSA come back to ShotgunWorld and those banned on ShotgunWorld show up on ASSA.

For more info -

 

The ASSA website & forum: http://slugshooting.com/

 

ShotgunWorld has a separate slug shooting forum as well. Depending on what week it is, those banned on ASSA come back to ShotgunWorld and those banned on ShotgunWorld show up on ASSA.

Thanks Everyone for your comments - esp. Parker...I will look at these links today...

 

I am shooting remington sluggers...They have a trajectory chart on the side of the box..Looks like a 50 yard zero...-.1" (negligable) at 25 yards and -4.8 (essentially 5") at 100 yards (within the range you suggested above)....If I can find a slugger chart with a 100yards zero and compare to the 50 then I can decide...Thanks again.

Remember that you should shoot a variety of loads to determnine if in fact they provide the ballistics stated. Most don't have access to a chronograph to verify velocities, but know that published velocities for all shotshells from the various manufacturers are taken from a 30" barrel unless otherwise noted. The velocity won't be that far off given shotshell powders are fast-burning, but there will be some loss comparing a 30" barrel to an 18.5" or a 20". Always test loads yourself at various distances.

 

Not a Slugger, but something similar. Trajectory of 1 oz. Federal slug @ 1500 fps. This gives you an idea of where to impact at 50 yds. in order to zero at 100 yds.

 

Remember that you should shoot a variety of loads to determnine if in fact they provide the ballistics stated. Most don't have access to a chronograph to verify velocities, but know that published velocities for all shotshells from the various manufacturers are taken from a 30" barrel unless otherwise noted. The velocity won't be that far off given shotshell powders are fast-burning, but there will be some loss comparing a 30" barrel to an 18.5" or a 20". Always test loads yourself at various distances.

 

Not a Slugger, but something similar. Trajectory of 1 oz. Federal slug @ 1500 fps. This gives you an idea of where to impact at 50 yds. in order to zero at 100 yds.

 

This is great - thanks again! This will be my first ever SG shoot. --- I have a New 870 tactical. - I will start with up 2" at 50 to give me an in vicinity 100y Zero (tweek after moving target out to 100 if needed)...

it will depend on how high your sights are and what slugs you are using. I can tell you that on my 11-87 with low recoil slugs a 50yard zero is still good enough that I can hit 8" steel targets at 80" with the same hold (off hand to boot). However I have the rather tall rifle sights on it instead of rib mounted low ones, but this works fine for me for 3gun, I can basically take dead center hold on anything I'm likely to shoot from 0 to 100yards. If the target is smallish, at 100 I may hold for the top of it.

it will depend on how high your sights are and what slugs you are using. I can tell you that on my 11-87 with low recoil slugs a 50yard zero is still good enough that I can hit 8" steel targets at 80" with the same hold (off hand to boot). However I have the rather tall rifle sights on it instead of rib mounted low ones, but this works fine for me for 3gun, I can basically take dead center hold on anything I'm likely to shoot from 0 to 100yards. If the target is smallish, at 100 I may hold for the top of it.

I agree with you guys that I need to get out there and see what works...I find the trejectory curves helpful as a starting point...Thanks again.