What I just learned about slugs. (from a slug shooter)

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kaylaindy

kaylaindy

Member
Jun 3, 2017
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Washington, United States
Hey guys. I just got done talking to a guy from AGW that has a large gun collection, a large budget, and has been shooting slugs for years.

Here is some stuff he told me.

ANY gun can shoot slugs. It's just a matter of finding the right weight (and slug).

AVS and Griffin are the high end slugs.

The main affordable slugs are NSA, H&N's, and now ZAN. NSA being the most affordable. 

The best thing to do is get a few slugs of each weight and experiment. It is harder to shoot slugs than pellets, I guess they are less forgiving. but once you find the right weight for your gun, you can extend the range of any gun 30-40 yards. 

He found in .22: 30-40 foot pound guns like 20gr to 23gr slugs 

50 foot pound guns like 25gr to 27gr slugs

70 -80 foot pound guns like 30+gr slugs 

He said try and get variety pack if you can, but after 10-15 rounds you will know if the slug is right. This guy shoots all caliber slugs and had alot more info, but that's just what I wrote down. 

...so if you want to get into slugs, you don't need a special gun, or a special barrel. You just need a small amount and a good variety of slugs. If you have a few guns, and you want to try it: just get maybe 4-6 boxes of NSA (I don't know how many weights there are). ...and I'm sure H&N only makes a few, a tin each of those...and your in the game. Chances are you WILL find one that exceeds the performance of ANY pellet. 

This guy told me pellets are a thing of the past. Are pellets old news? He convinced me to at least give slugs a try. I'm going to start collecting some. 

These were ZAN 30.5gr five shot groups out of my M3 at the stock 18.1gr tune at 43 yards today...slugs can group! 

20210912_093423.1631484395.jpg


20210912_093442.1631484456.jpg


zan1.1631484476.JPG


zan7.1631484494.JPG


look how cheap these are! (NSA website)

nsa.1631485006.JPG





 
Ok I get it!

I buy sample packs from five different manufacturers, in five different weights, five different styles, test and "after 10-15 rounds you will know if the slug is right".

So, it takes 10 projectiles to get the barrel seasoned, 10 projectiles fired at any / all tested velocities then there's various DISTANCES to test for.

So, for several hundred dollars and MANY HOURS of testing I can shoot something pretty similar in kill performance as what I already have. Great deal.


 
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I have rimfires and centerfires for long range. Pellets are awesome for the shorter ranges and I think they rule —— read the “Lewis ‘n Clark” history! They have been around forever. I have hunted my entire life and have no need for slugs at 100yds or less. Often inside buildings nothing else would work for me as holes in the building are not desired.
 
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Most of what he said is good information. But like shambzzie, and the others, I do not agree that pellets are a thing of the past that is just a fallacy. They are excellent projectiles for lower to medium powered guns and will give you the lower FPE and the much shorter maximum range that is often required for pesting and targeting at under 75 to 100 yards. It is not likely they will ever go away as their uses are diverse and many.
 
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pellets arnt a thing of the past for me because i can shoot a 500 tin for 6,7 bucks 'and' a pellet gun for me fills a specific role .. quiet pest control on my property ... slugs arnt needed, pests by nature are close in except in special cases .. nothing agianst a 3000$ gun and 50$ a 100 box ammo if thats your thing, but a thing of the past ..nope .. any 300$ walmart powder rifle will be about 20 times more effective than any high end pellet gun far as power and for exponentially less money .....
 
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Missed one key part to the puzzle. Solid projectiles NEED to be the right size for optimal performance. Even a great bullet design with the right barrel twist won’t shoot well if it isn’t sized for your particular barrel. Sounds simple but it isn’t. Anyone serious about shooting cast or swagged bullets should invest in an assortment of sizers. I prefer the selection from NOE bullet molds , once you have the press and die body the sizing dies are cheap. Not to mention even though one barrel loves one bullet at a certain size doesn’t mean the next billet will like the same size. I keep a notebook with my favorite recipes of gun, barrel and bullet with the correct size. Make it repeatable which I think is the most important. 
 
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Most slug shooters won’t open up their book of secrets to some random dude who’s going to shout from a rooftop and take all the credit for it. But I will let you in on one little secret, not all barrels will shoot a slug with the accuracy and more importantly the consistency of a pellet. Getting a good group with a slug out of a pellet gun is not rocket science. Getting a gun to do it every day, all the time, from max fill to refill is.
 
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Original Smooth Twist barrels DO NOT shoot slugs. I don't care what that guy says. However they are some of the best PELLET barrels ever made & will easily reach out over 100+ yards. Hope he's also very wrong about pellets becoming a thing of the past.
Click to expand...

On ted’s holdover vlog, he didn’t 3-4 videos testing KO slugs in all of fx liners 

the smooth twist performed quite well 
 
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Last year I watched one of Tofazfou videos on slugs from JSB, knockouts. The JSB rep said you have to treat shooting slugs like you would shooting a 22 LR, from a safe backstop kind of thing. With pellets you have a little more “safe space” than with slugs.

Translation, like @l.leon and other said, pellets are a different tool from slugs. You don’t use a long stem screw driver when a short stem is needed.
 
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Why is it some folks just discovering stuff others already figured out and many well on there way to figure it out, be it good or bad feel the need to make posts of LOOK AT THIS !!!

Wisdom comes from DOING with some FAILING and LEARNING ..... just because you read it on the internet, or a few persons has stated there belief it is so ... that alone does not make it so !!

Unless one is part of the Bigger conversation and sharing exploration of learned information or supporting fact by personal experiences .... we become just background noise and a distraction IMO.



Just another post on the web of an opinion voiced by someone who thinks there the voice of reason and level headed thinking ..... Applies to ALL.


 
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