I have really become a fan of the 50gr H&N Slug II ammo shooting out of my FX Maverick VP .30cal. It just does a fantastic number on groundhogs and flies very accurately!
My New Favorite Groundhog Ammo
- Thread starter N2 Shooter
- Start date
Groundhogs are tough and I‘m impressed with your combos performance on anchoring the ones shown in the video. Even the one where your slug was way left of where you were aiming. I thought for sure that hog was going to attempt to crawl off. I might have to try that slug in my .30
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Thanks a bunch! They are really smacking these groundhogs down.
Thanks for the kind words!
One of my secrets is to try and ensure the entrance, exit or both goes through a major skeletal point. For instance, my shot that was a little off to the left, but still in line with the clavicle on the entrance. The last shot was a diagonal traversal through the vitals on the left and exit through the clavicle on the right.
These shots attacking the skeletal system usually anchor them in place, and greatly enhance expansion while the slug continues its damage journey through the rest of the body.
The Hybrid Slugs on the other hand tend to fragment when hitting bone, so this round is best tucked just under and behind the clavicle and mainlined to the vitals. This technique starts to run out of steam at distance, as the lighter weight just doesn't carry the momentum for deeper penetration. The H&N Slug IIs on the other hand, have had full longitudinal passthroughs at near 90 yard distances, oftentimes after engaging heavy skeletal structures.
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Those 50 grain don't even have any explosive action. You should try the hybrids at 1054 fps. The results will be alot different from what I just seen on your video.
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Lights out, excellent shooting on those porkers, the one standing upright on the cement 
was my favorite…
was my favorite…Upvote 0
I have been an avid fan of Hybrid Slugs for years. Nevertheless, with a 600mm barrel, higher velocities are out of my reach. With my setup, Hybrid Slugs run out of gas with bodyshots at longer distances that I tend to engage groundhogs at.
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Thanks! I almost made him do somersault!Lights out, excellent shooting on those porkers, the one standing upright on the cement
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I’ve been shooting .30 Hybrids out of my RTI at 960fps. I’m still on the fence about their terminal performance. Accurate, yes. I’ve only recovered one from an animal and it was a head scratcher. So I hate to jump to conclusions. I too really don’t want to push a .30 at 1,054fps. I’m also not sure why such a precise speed was given. Maybe it’s a magic number but either way, I don’t want to go there in the environment I use airguns within. Here’s the .30 Hybrid I recovered. You say you had them fragment?
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Here is a recovered slug from a 60 yard passthrough on a groundhog. The video of this shot is right here.
Also, here is a video that shows two distinct exit wounds on a squirrel taken with a Hybrid Slug.
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Those look great. I will continue to use them. Like I said, I didn’t want to jump to conclusions over one recovered slug.
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At 1054 my impact ,with a 28in tj barrel shoots these hybrids with excellent accuracy. They are explosive, I tell you. If you made vids,these are what people want to watch. My impact has more juice,it's just at this speed it also has good accuracy. I shot several living targets,you can tell for sure when it's a hit,even out past 150 yards. The pop is not neighborhood friendly,...
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Been using CCI Mini Mags on them for years, and they have all killed them dead. I have a cousin that has a farm, and he kills more groundhogs with his .22lr than his high powered rifle, and he has used nothing but Mini Mags all his life. We were brought up on head shots also, and this should be the norm for trying to kill something with a tough hide with a .22lr. They have worked well out to and past 100 yards on occasion also, so they have plenty of power.
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Well, since I'm in the city, that solution ain't gonna cut it. I'll continue to use air power for my pest disposal, as it has proven plenty effective.
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Decided to try your new favorite slug. I haven’t stretched them out to see how accurate they are at distance, but they shot the same as my Hybrids at 30 after a couple conditioners. Saw a young grundy working along the field across the street when I grabbed my mail. I snuck up to around 35 yards because I haven’t shot these slugs enough to trust the accuracy. Waited for a quartering to me shot so there would be no pass through. My gun shoots them 935fps on my 960fps Hybrid settings.
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This is a zans 49gr slugs recovered after shooting an iguana at 33yds, I was shooting these around 944fps when I had my mk2 impact .30. For downright accuracy, the H&N 50gr and 54gr were the absolute best, for both accuracy and expansion, it was the zan 49gr.
I should've ordered the .30 varmint knockers when I had a .30, I’ve seen those expand like the zans.
I should've ordered the .30 varmint knockers when I had a .30, I’ve seen those expand like the zans.
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Zans do expand nicely. And I don’t know how sturdy an iguana is, but that’s some serious expansion. I’m not a fan of square slugs for shooting long distances. These 50gr H&N’s are definitely a little short. I’ll try to test them at slug distances tonight when this wind calms down.
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Iguanas skin is incredibly sturdy, you wouldn't be able to tear their skin or rip their skin unless you use tools to clamp tightly and A LOTA of force, but it is also very thin, maybe a half a mm thick on the small ones to 1.5mm on the larger iguanas. The bigger they are the harder their skin gets. Their skulls are though but they have a soft spot you can shoot to turn off the light MOST of the time.
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Did some shooting. At 50 yards, fantastic. At 75 yards, very very bad. @N2 Shooter, if you want two free tins, PM me your address.
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