which gives the best "reach out and touch someone" in a 12 ga buckshot or slugs? i know they have limited range but which goes farther better?
1 Oz hunk of Lead, traveling at just under 900 ft/sec, is good for 100 Yds, and hits just like a Freight Train, and is about as unstoppable..... ..... YMMV....
So, do slug shooters need a special barrel to get the best performance or are they just as good shooting from your regular shot loading shotgun? I've read about how the development of Sabot slugs (manufactured by multiple firms) has greatly enhanced slug performance but I am not clear on what shotgun setup works best to maximize slug performance. Can somebody help educate those of us interested in slugs?
Start with the concept of more flavors of slugs than Baskins and Robbins ice cream. Short, really short, list. You can find more: Plain Foster Sabot carried Hollow base Hollow point and combinations thereof. Then there's the gun Plain barrel Rifled barrel Rifled choke And don't think of using your trap choked barrel with any slugs. Suggestion: Get a Midway catalog and see what is offered and check out the ballistics tables for the various loads. 'Bout all I know, or care to. I decided a long time ago to keep them out of shottie reach with faster and rangier pills, and if they get inside that, it's a hail of 00 buck time.
You need a rifled slug barrel to maximize the effect of a sabot slug. The plastic surrounding the slug cuts into the grooves of the rifling and that is what stabilizes the round for longer range and more accuracy. Problem is, you become limited when you have a rifled shotgun. A shotgun is for just that, shot. If you are looking for range and stopping power, get a rifle, that is what they are made for. If you are looking for a shotgun you are going to be shooting shot loads out of it like 00 buckshot, #4 buckshot, BB shot, turkey loads, HD rounds, etc. If you get a shotgun and decide to buy other barrels, that could work but then you open yourself up to issues with vulnerability when changing barrels or limiting yourself to one working reciever (kinda like puttin all yer eggs in one basket). If you are in the market for a shotgun, buy a good one like a mossberg 500 or a remmy 870, they have the most options available and they always work.
Shotgun Slugs vs Leadshot As pointed out by others....slugs and sabot rounds will outrange leadshot....it's a simple matter of physics. Your friend is wrong...but if you want to settle the matter....invite your friend to a duel...both with identical shotguns, his loaded with shot and yours with slugs.....stand at 90 metres apart and blaze away until one of you is hit. Nothing convinces better than the data from a well devised empirical experiment. ; ) Shotguns and shotshell loadings have inherent design / performance characteristics, and depending on specific circumstances, they may be advantageous or otherwise. Performance may be improved somewhat by some finetuning and tweaking...but marginal increases in ballistic performance may be offset by losses in practical tactical utilty. If it's flexibility in a hunting weapon you're after that combines the advantages of shot for close up targets, with the reach to hit targets so much further away than a slug.....then a "drilling" or combo gun may be an option to consider. Bear in mind that for some combo guns, telescopic sites may be problematic...so any increase in reach by the centrefire component of a combo gun, may be limited by the accuracy of using iron sights. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combination_gun For personal defence it's a bit like choosing a golf club for particular strokes...sure you could use a sandblaster for putting with if that's all you had...but why would you if there are better options available? Here are some useful / interesting links about shotgun ammo performance and characteristics...enjoy! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotgun_shell http://www.shotgunworld.com/amm.html http://www.angelfire.com/tx/ShotGun/ http://firearmsid.com/A_distshotpatt.htm http://www.angelfire.com/tx/ShotGun/story1.html http://www.angelfire.com/tx/ShotGun/INFO/AllOutdoors/accrev.html
if i was equipped to do youtube videos... id be sharing my simple living skills and crafts like making bows, axes, hammers, knives and many other things out of scrap metal and wood
I'm sure that they would be ...useful additions to the survival literature, and feature prominently in the SM site, in the same way that Fish's, and Sticks's have become.