20 gauge slugs on game?

[analog_peninsula]

Has anybody used them on game, meaning deer, boar, etc.? How did they work? Good, bad, ugly? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[MontanaPat]

I used 20 gauge slugs as a teen in an old bolt action 20 and later in an 870 pump with a rifled slug barrel, very accurate and effective out to 100 yds

 

[BeeMaa]

My good friend (IGS) has used a Savage 220 bolt action (rifled) shotgun with a Leupold 1.5-5x20 and Federal 275 grain sabot slugs to take whitetail deer out to 150 yards with nothing but one shot kills.

He’s in NY and hasn’t used them on hogs but there’s no reason it wouldn’t work.

 

[Tgood1]

I have an old marlin over under .22 mag over 20 ga. Used the 20 with buckshot and slugs, very effective

 

[K-man]

I used a shotgun and slugs for the first three deer I took. (That was all I owned). It works just fine as long as you keep within the effective range. Then I got my first rifle thinking I would kill deer out to 200-300 yards. The next five deer were all still inside 100 yds.

 

[skydiver386]

Killed truckloads of Deer with 12 and 20 gauge slugs when I was in my teens. Back then only a few shotguns were available with rifled barrels. It was smoothbore barrels and front bead sights for most of the guys I hunted with.

Fifty yards was as far as most of us were able to hit a gallon milk jug with that setup. Then came the Lightfield slugs and rifled barrels. Decent groups at 100 yards became common, but most shots were in thick woods at 30 yards or less.

Most Deer that I've seen take a shotgun slug in the boiler room didn't make it 20 yards. Seen hundreds of them shot with shotgun slugs when we could still do drives with large groups of hunters in eastern Ohio, but this was in the 1970's and 80's. Most of those large properties have been broken up now, so hunting on a few acres from a tree stand is the norm.

Shotgun slugs can be extremely effective at short ranges, but lose energy rapidly. Even the best rifled slug setup is a 100 yard max setup in my opinion. Beyond 100 yards, the straight wall cartridges make more sense.

 

[Dinsdale]

Pretty standard stuff here in NY to hunt with slugs. Only in the last 15 years have many counties now allow rifles to be used, but my county with a couple dense population centers will not.

Mossberg 500, Remington 870 and 1100,Browning A5 and bolt action,Ithaca 37,NEF single shots were all pretty common, add in Savage 212 and 220 for full rifled bolt actions.

I’m over 120 deer or so all with 20ga. Vast majority with a 870 shooting basic Remington sluggers. Moved to Brenneke which were a bit more accurate out of my smoothbore, fixed choke,rifle sight barrel. I can count on one finger wounded and lost, and use the other 4 fingers if I had to shoot twice. Slugs are really effective with good shot placement at comfortable distances.100 yds would be really far, I’d guess 40yds would be average. Shot a few at under 5 yds.

A few years ago i bought a Savage 220 and shot Hornady SST 250gr sabots. With an Aimpoint on top it shoots under an inch at 75 yd zero with a 3moa dot. It’d do better with a scope but my shots are short and i like the red dot.

Our gun season is really long and generally easy to get tags for deer management, so many years I’d fill a freezer with several does.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

I grew-up in a slug/muzzleloader only state and have used them for a bunch of deer. The Savage 220 Slug Gun in 20ga is accurate well past 250yds. The 20ga slugs have better ballistics than their 12ga counterparts. Aside from a 220, my preferred slug gun was a Mossberg 835 with a Rifled Cantilever Barrel wearing a 3.5-10 Leupold that I could swap barrels on without losing zero on my scope.

 

[Ray B]

I've killed deer with 20 ga slugs- All were while I was upland bird hunting with a 20 ga Browning Superposed. I'd have birdshot in the barrels, action open expecting birds to fly but when we'd see a deer I'd replace the birdshot with slugs (Winchester superX), put the sneak on the deer and 1 shot was all it ever took but none were alerted or running.

 

[Northview902]

20-gauge slugs work very well on deer and boar, provided you use the right ammunition and adhere to a strict range limit. They are a humane, powerful, and often more shooter-friendly option than a 12-gauge.

 

[Altitude sickness]

The Savage 220 was a game changer for shotgun only zones. Before straight wall cartridges were allowed.

My wife’s 220 is very accurate out to 200 yards. She has killed a few deer just under 160 yds. Her gun likes Remington Accutips

 

[uplander01]

Killed truckloads of Deer with 12 and 20 gauge slugs when I was in my teens. Back then only a few shotguns were available with rifled barrels. It was smoothbore barrels and front bead sights for most of the guys I hunted with.

Fifty yards was as far as most of us were able to hit a gallon milk jug with that setup. Then came the Lightfield slugs and rifled barrels. Decent groups at 100 yards became common, but most shots were in thick woods at 30 yards or less.

Most Deer that I've seen take a shotgun slug in the boiler room didn't make it 20 yards. Seen hundreds of them shot with shotgun slugs when we could still do drives with large groups of hunters in eastern Ohio, but this was in the 1970's and 80's. Most of those large properties have been broken up now, so hunting on a few acres from a tree stand is the norm.

Shotgun slugs can be extremely effective at short ranges, but lose energy rapidly. Even the best rifled slug setup is a 100 yard max setup in my opinion. Beyond 100 yards, the straight wall cartridges make more sense.

My experience was the exact same only in northern Iowa, all we could use was slugs , and the main method was deer drives. 80’s and early 90’s. It was a big community affair, and lots of deer were killed. At close to moderate range a 20 gauge slug is very effective.

Sad that for the most part this family/hunting party tradition of deer drives is over.

 

[coreydb]

The 20 gauge slugs/buckshot will be fine for whitetail deer down. I had an old bolt action 20 gauge shotgun that worked well for me.

 

[RR 314]

I used 20 gauge slugs as a teen in an old bolt action 20 and later in an 870 pump with a rifled slug barrel, very accurate and effective out to 100 yds

Haaaaa. I shot a deer when I was 7 or so out with a piece of junk H&R “Junior Topper” at about 20 yards and rolled him. Smooth bore and bead front sight. I was aiming for the heart and hit him high shoulder.

 

[TnKen]

Just got back from Illinois yesterday using my Savage 220 and Federal Trophy Copper. The 220 with sabot ammo is a slug "rifle". The ammo recommended for the 220 is the Rem accutips or the Federal. I have used both and think the Federal is better. I have had several deer run as if they weren't hit with the accutips, but would die and didn't get pass throughs. The Federal usually drop them in their tracks or a a short death run. I have never recovered a Federal slug, always complete penetration.