Title says it all.

 

Which single brand of 12 gauge rifled slugs is best for expansion, and which brand is best for penetration?

For penetration I like the Brenneke Special Forces Short Magnum (12ga 2 3/4").  I was issued these on the North Slope of Alaska for Polar Bear protection.  Brenneke also makes a Special Forces Maximum Barrier Penetration slug that I have no experience with.  I don't really use slugs based on expansion because they are plenty big enough.

they stopped making them but you still see them around, Remington buckhammers

A sabot slug is going to have better penetration than a rifled slug, but you'll need a rifled barrel to shoot them accurately.

I use hornady

 

 

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Brenneke's offer great penetration. Foster's do as well. Foster's tend to change shape more than Brenneke's upon impacting bone. Foster's in my experience retain most of their weight after traveling through flesh and bone. I think the "hollow-point" that is molded into the nose of the lead Foster slug is a superfluous gimmick. I suspect Buckhammer's offer good penetration but I never tried them. I've not used sabot's either but some that use light HP bullets may offer less penetration than the others mentioned under some conditions. Those that use sabot's swear by them for their accuracy potential and they do offer extended shooting range with the right gun.

As for "expansion," 12 ga. slugs exit the bore at .700 caliber. Why would you need more expansion than that?

 

 

Some recovered 1 oz. slugs of mine from deer next to an unfired Foster slug for comparison. I found that broadside hits with early 7/8 oz. Foster slugs that were first available back in the 70's to slugs weighing an ounce or more always penetrated completely on whitetails. Just my experience, others may have had different results. 

 

 

 

What type of creature are you shooting at where this is a concern? I have never hunted with anything other than sabot slugs and they have all gone through and through whitetail deer.

What type of creature are you shooting at where this is a concern? I have never hunted with anything other than sabot slugs and they have all gone through and through whitetail deer.

 

Jon,

 

What sabot's do you use now? I may go to a rifled barrel someday and want to explore my options. 

Jon,

 

What sabot's do you use now? I may go to a rifled barrel someday and want to explore my options. 

 

Currently running the 3" Lightfield Hybred Elite 546gr behemoths. When I picked up my new(at the time) ultra slug hunter I spent $160 on 7 or 8 different boxes of slugs at Midway and shot groups with all of em. The 546gr Lightfields gave me a cloverleaf at 100yds, so I bought a case of em to last me forever.

Holy jaloopas that's a heavy load. I suspect in the USH recoil isn't so bad?

Holy jaloopas that's a heavy load. I suspect in the USH recoil isn't so bad?

 

It'll wake you up at the range, but in the field(especially wearing my hunting jacket) you don't feel the kick. They actually had less recoil than some of the 1oz options I shot.

The ME of that load is intimidating.

Just looked up my receipt from Midway. It was actually just a smidge over $100, and these are the slugs I tried in the gun...

 

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/539988/brenneke-usa-ko-ammunition-12-gauge-3-1-oz-sabot-slug-box-of-5

 

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/675746/lightfield-commander-ids-plus-ammunition-12-gauge-3-1-3-8-oz-sabot-slug-box-of-5

 

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/127181/lightfield-hybred-elite-ammunition-12-gauge-3-1-1-4-oz-sabot-slug-box-of-5

 

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/287186/winchester-supreme-elite-ammunition-12-gauge-3-300-grain-xp3-sabot-slug-lead-free-box-of-5

 

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/890439/winchester-supreme-ammunition-12-gauge-3-385-grain-partition-gold-sabot-slug-box-of-5

 

Federal Premium Vital-Shok Ammunition 12 Gauge 3" 1 oz Barnes Expander Hollow Point Sabot Slug Lead-Free Box of 5 (no longer offered for sale by Midway)

The ME of that load is intimidating.

 

The IDS was 3852

Title says it all.

 

Which single brand of 12 gauge rifled slugs is best for expansion, and which brand is best for penetration?

  what will be your primary use? self defense? hunting?   how much penetration do you want and at what range do you want maximum penetration?   rifled slugs are big enough! lol!

 

if you want the most wallop at impact on intended target i'd look at lightfields and brennekes.

What type of creature are you shooting at where this is a concern? I have never hunted with anything other than sabot slugs and they have all gone through and through whitetail deer.

^^^THIS^^^^

 

I shoot Winchester Partition Gold in 2 3/4". I used Winchester BRI in 3" before that. Every shot was a through and through, and I've taken out a half dozen deer or so at + - 100 yards.

 

When I took the NJ F&G bear course they said that they found that sabots penetrated the bears better than rifled slugs. They found the people hunting with rifled slugs had to shoot the bears multiple times to kill them (sometimes as many as 8-10 shots), anyone who killed a bear with a single shot was using sabots.

What type of creature are you shooting at where this is a concern? I have never hunted with anything other than sabot slugs and they have all gone through and through whitetail deer.

 

^^^^^THIS^^^^^

 

Jon, this is NOT meant for you.  Just the respondents in a general way...

 

Unless you're hunting on Kodiak Island for Grizzly, and therefore need the penetration, almost any modern sabot will fly right through the Boiler Room of thin-skinned deer.  A 1 oz 12 ga. slug makes a wound channel that's tremendously effective, as long as "Buck Fever" doesn't make you shoot the poor animal in the arse.  Plenty of deer are harvested in PA with .45 and .50 cal flintlocks firing a soft lead ball that expands upon impact to under 1.5x caliber size.  More deer have been harvested with a .30-.30 soft point that expands to approx. .40 - .45 caliber than any other cartridge in America.  A tiny 150 grain or 170 grain bullet sails right through the vitals.  So why are we debating what a well-placed .60 - .72 cal slug weighing 2-3x more will do?  How about go through a couple more deer AFTER killing the first!  Is THAT enough penetration for you?

 

During the Civil War it's been documented by several Historians that Enfield rifle .58 cal. Minnie's  had a tremendous "Thumpability".  555 grains of lead could go through two men and well into a third, while traveling at considerably less speed than a shotgun slug weighing 1/4 oz. less.  On more than one occasion, 3 men in a row were felled by a single Minnie, so please consider this when contemplating factors such as penetration of thinned-skinned game.

 

Dave

Good info Dave.

 

Just want to mention that the reason I use the monster Lightfield slugs is simply because they were most accurate in my gun, and if I got the same precision out of some cheapo 1oz 2 3/4" shells I would use them instead.

Good info Dave.

 

Just want to mention that the reason I use the monster Lightfield slugs is simply because they were most accurate in my gun, and if I got the same precision out of some cheapo 1oz 2 3/4" shells I would use them instead.

 

Well said!  Accuracy is after-all the primary ingredient in a successful harvest, no matter which tool the NJDEP forces us to use.....

Also recommend you do some searching on YouTube.  There are hundreds(thousands, perhaps) of ammo reviews there. Some include tests with ballistic gelatin and measure penetration.

Wow, thanks for the answers guys.

 

I posted this question out of mere curiosity, and I didn't expect such a response, lol.

 

It seems like the consensus is any slug with have enough penetration or size for the job, but Brennekes hit harder.

12 Gauge From Hell

 

12 Gauge From Hell

 

 

The fellow who claims ownership to that shotgun monstrosity has its history penned on the slug shooting forum on ShotgunWorld. Interesting stuff.

 

This is another interesting forum for slugshooters. http://www.slugshooting.com/

^^^ Jesus christ!

12 Gauge From Hell

 

More details on this?

 

 

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http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=75206

FWIW, I found the 1 oz. 3" Remington Slugger worked in my  Win. 1300 smoothbore,. In my Rem. 870 rifled, I found the Lightfield 2 3/4 Hybred EXP  are very accurate. I have the Rem. BuckHammers, but haven't tried them. Interestingly, it says Shotshells on the BuckHammer box (?).

breneake ko's penetrate good I shot a deer on an farm permit at 30 yards smashed the heaviest part of the hip several ribs bullet was found in the neck and had one dent on the tip. I was very satisfied with these $1.75 rifled slugs but now I use lightfield's because Im friends with a rep and have done work for the owners