perrysho Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 A shooting friend was complaining that a stage in 3-gun was shooting about 110 / 120 yds. I told him I didn't know , never shot slugs or 00 that far. I keep recalling that I read some where 70 yds is about max, but I'm getting old and mind don't work good all the time. Any info, anyone? Thanks in advance. Perry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadeslade Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 Most slug shots are 40-70 yds. The Pan American Shotgun match in 2010 at RockCastle had 2 100 yd targets. Can be fun. Gotta practice them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GorillaTactical Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 slugs can easily be shot out to 100+ no problem...not that it's an easy shot, but the slug will get there will plenty of force if you hold right. Depending on your choke, 00 can be fairly accurate out to 50+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan 45 Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 Ozark '11 had two big steel slug targets at about 150 yards. I'd say about 50% of shooters hit them. I've shot at MGM flashers at a shade over 200 yards before. You kind of have to walk them in, and it takes a few shots to get a hit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtm Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 I hit a Badger once at around 260 yards with an incredibly lucky shot (or unlucky if you happened to be the Badger) and would have to say the slug was still pleanty effective at that range. It was a low recoil Remington slug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
co-exprs Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 Man, how am I supposed to compete with a guy who has moving varmint targets at 200+ yards to practice on!? With a shotgun slug hitting that badger... was there anything left for the stew pot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 A badger @ 260 ain't that hard with a bowling ball. The badger saw it coming and attacked it, just misjusdged his opponent as badgers are apt to do. Hitting slug plates at distance just takes practice. Beyond 100 yards, slug targets may border on the silly and unreasonable. But, I'd rather shoot a static slug gong of decent size at 160 than a spinner at 80! Some matches are going towards way too simple. Others are about right and some are tough. Just pick the matches you like and shoot those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T Bacus Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 A local club here usually has slug targets between 90 and 115 yatds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan 45 Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 If it's over 50 yards, it should be optional slug/rifle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Sierpina Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 If it's over 50 yards, it should be optional slug/rifle. Heck over 50 yards, I'd be willing to shoot my pistol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiggerJJ Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Being a southern Michigan whitetail hunter, I have played around with a lot of slugs. (In the southern half of the lower peninsula, the mitten, whitetail hunting is restricted to shotguns only, and I go back and hunt with my dad every year) Yea, I know, we use rifled barrels, full pop slugs and specialized sabot loads at nearly $4 a round for hunting, and these can be surprisingly accurate out to 200 yds and beyond. But we are talking about low recoil slugs for 3 gun here... By no means have I done a scientific study, but I have deducted the following for low recoil slugs, which most of us shoot, YMMV of course! Most lowrecoil slugs out of a 3 gun shotgun with a IC or LM choke are accurate (about 6 inch groups) out to around 75 yards, from 75 to 125 or so they are good for about 10-12 inch groups, with a 15% chance or so of a flyer. Further than 125 is pretty much a crap shoot; about 50% of the low recoil slugs I shot recently at 150-175 yds were in a 14 inch circle. So, being a MD and stage designer, I take this info and try to use it in a sensible way, but sometimes my evilness dominates... but... Under 50 yards, paper only for safety (but the 1/2 sized paper targets are in play here), 50 - 75 yds, 12 inch steel (or larger), or 1/2 or full sized paper, full sized paper and bigger steel targets (14x14in+) out to around 95 yards, usually nothing over around 100. But a full sized ipsc steel at 125 or so is not being unreasonable. It won't be a quick shoot and run with the possiblity of a flyer being so great, but forcing shooters to bear down and be accurate with a slug at a longer distance is part of the game. Much to some's dismay, slugs ARE part of the game, so a practice session with them on occasion is money well spent. JMHO jj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steviesterno Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Am I the only one that doesn't get why slugs are part of the game? I mean, I know they are shotgun ammo, but this is THREE GUN! which means I should have my rifle, and that's for a single projectile at distance, right? I do practice slugs, have sighted them in and all that, but I don't see the need. At $1 a piece for even cheap ones, it's a pain to have to stock and worry about. I would be happier if shotgun targets were reserved for spreading shots. But I do like clays and flippers and poppers and skeet, so I guess I'm a different kind of crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Slugs are a very real part of "practical" for the shotgun platform. Go hit a couple of the "tactical shotgun" forums and you will see all manner of debate related to buck vs. slugs. The tactical crowd, and even scientific data, pretty much shuns birdshot. The fact that we shoot birdshot at all is a deviation from the roots of the sport, much less clay birds flippin' and flyin'. The US Forest Service runs the "Bear School" at one of the ranges I belong to, they shoot a LOT of slugs. I have a group of LEOs from very small rural departments that I work with for free since they have to pay for their own training, they always want slug practice and drills, more than any other platform we work on. Yeah, I know things change, but the historical practical application of the shotgun was of the most versatile platform so bringing in slugs and buckshot is not adding something new, it is returning to a more balanced origin of the practical/tactical shotgun. I've never paid more than 95 cents for any slugs I use in 3Gun and most of my slugs are in the 55 to 70 cent per range. RM3G and Blue Ridge have some of the harder slug shots and in 2012, I needed 2 rounds for the 108 yard target and only one for the others. Since I loaded 2 for each of the further targets, I burned the backups, which was like 6 maybe. I don't think I shot more than 25 in the whole match...$16 worth. not even 2% of the total cost of shooting a major. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steviesterno Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Yeah, I get the idea of slugs for hunting, bear defense, HD, and some of those frangibles for forced entry type stuff. My thought it that the shotgun portion of 3Gun is to enjoy the sporting aspect of it, like skeet, trap, clays, and whatnot. I think birdshot might mimic buckshot in spread and idea (at least to a certain extent) so I'm all for keeping that in. But I see slugs as a specialty round, like flachette, tracers, API, etc. Just because it's out there, doesn't mean we have to use it. Not to be rude or anything, just playing Devil's Advocate. That's why I liked the FNH ideas. Slugs OR pistol. Slugs OR rifle. made you decide what to do (Don't get me wrong, I'd love to shoot a stage with API and tracer, but I'm pretty sure the MDs would get pissed) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urikagold Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 We recently use some full size IPSC steel targets at 100 yards for slugs. We used them as bonus targets to get guys broke in with slugs at that distance. We will be using them fairly regularly in the future. Just like when we started to shoot 300 yards with the rifle, everyone started to cry. In a couple of months everyone wanted to go back to 400. I am sure the slug targets will be the same. Once everyone finds the zero we will end up using them more and more by request. It is pretty cool to stand off to the side of the shooter and watch them travel down range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GorillaTactical Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 Yeah, I get the idea of slugs for hunting, bear defense, HD, and some of those frangibles for forced entry type stuff. My thought it that the shotgun portion of 3Gun is to enjoy the sporting aspect of it, like skeet, trap, clays, and whatnot. I think birdshot might mimic buckshot in spread and idea (at least to a certain extent) so I'm all for keeping that in. But I see slugs as a specialty round, like flachette, tracers, API, etc. Just because it's out there, doesn't mean we have to use it. Not to be rude or anything, just playing Devil's Advocate. That's why I liked the FNH ideas. Slugs OR pistol. Slugs OR rifle. made you decide what to do (Don't get me wrong, I'd love to shoot a stage with API and tracer, but I'm pretty sure the MDs would get pissed) I think the point is that, a large amount of practical shotgun application includes utilizing multiple loads (usually that means slug or buck)...that means, knowing how and when to changeover between rounds, how to hold for those new rounds, etc etc etc It adds a layer of complexity to the sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EkuJustice Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 200 I think I'm gonna do a one and run on that ine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
co-exprs Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 Yeah, I get the idea of slugs for hunting, bear defense, HD, and some of those frangibles for forced entry type stuff. My thought it that the shotgun portion of 3Gun is to enjoy the sporting aspect of it, like skeet, trap, clays, and whatnot. I think birdshot might mimic buckshot in spread and idea (at least to a certain extent) so I'm all for keeping that in. But I see slugs as a specialty round, like flachette, tracers, API, etc. Just because it's out there, doesn't mean we have to use it. Not to be rude or anything, just playing Devil's Advocate. That's why I liked the FNH ideas. Slugs OR pistol. Slugs OR rifle. made you decide what to do (Don't get me wrong, I'd love to shoot a stage with API and tracer, but I'm pretty sure the MDs would get pissed) I think the point is that, a large amount of practical shotgun application includes utilizing multiple loads (usually that means slug or buck)...that means, knowing how and when to changeover between rounds, how to hold for those new rounds, etc etc etc It adds a layer of complexity to the sport. Yep. Slugs just adds one more level of complexity to the game, which I welcome. The tough part is getting a shotgun set up to do it all. While some are able to put together multiple guns, catered to different match styles, most of us struggle to get one decent set of guns together, with backups a nice to have. When you're on a budget the cheapest way to be competitive is to have 3 really good guns which are excellent for 80% of the scenarios and pretty good for the rest. Pretty easy to do for pistol, a little more work getting your rifle set up just right. Setting up a shotgun to handle all of the different types of shooting, be fast to reload and 100% reliable can be a bit more challenging and requires a generous pinch of magic dillo dust. As we are starting to find it can also be fairly expensive. Some people pay more for thier shotgun than for a very competitive rifle. Way more when you start adding in loading equipment. For me, part of the challenge and fun is figuring out how to skin the cat without breaking the bank. There are tons of IPSC M's and GM's in 3gun and guys who can run thier rifle like a Ferrari. Load 2 has equalized the shotgun loading playing field a great deal, leaving only long range rifle, shotgun target variety and course technical complexities as wild cards for competitors. I shot USPSA for years and drove myself to burnout in pursuit of a stupid "M" on my card. I need technical and physical challenges to keep me interested and all of the different shotgun targets is certainly challenging. A 3gun competitor could eat up all of his practice time and budget, just shooting shotgun and never master everything. Some days, I go shoot 5 stand, other days I run plate racks and practice shooting on the move. Once a month or so I put up an IPSC target at 100yrds and shoot some slugs. Last weekend I took a case of clays to the range pitched them into the air 2 or 3 at a time, Tom Napp style, and busted them with my pump ( I can usually get 2, but 3 is a stretch). Shotgun is the great unknown and all of the different types of targets is what makes the shotgun so challenging and fun. It used to be just a reloading race. Now you have to be able to reload, mow down static targets fast, be pretty decent at sporting clays and hit 100yd slug targets offhand. Perfect! It isn't about what is tactically realistic. It's a celebration of being good at shooting anything and everything, even if it means being tested on what seems like the occasional trick shot. Brihg it on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcloudy777 Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 The effective range? It's way longer than you could ever actually hit anything with a slug, barring possibly some of the dedicated slug guns with scopes and rifled barrels. As much as I don't like shooting slugs, and don't like shotgun no-shoots, I say keep 'em....they are the only thing keeping the shotgun from being completely about loading. DanO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbrowndog Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 JJ's answer is probably the most accurate, but I'll throw in my MD experience, of all the LR slugs I've looked at and thats around 15 different types and brands, they ALL go from supersonic to subsonic inside 100yds, its a simple external ballistic question, the BC of a slug is super sucky ( technical term), then launch it within 300fps of the SoS, (speed of sound) and its not a pretty picture for accuracy. all this to explain that trying to get good repeatable, reliable accuracy (<10 inches) from LR slugs beyond 75yds, is asking a whole lot from the shooter/gun/ammo combination. The MD is much better off asking for smaller targets at closer distances, if they want the competitor to be challenged and not frustrated. Buck and Slug, are all ammo types that should be tested in a shotgun during a match. just because you don't agree or feel hey I should be able to shoot that with my rifle or pistol instead, don't mean squat. If the stage designer or MD want you to accomplish the task with a SG then so be it, just like if they wanted you to hose a bunch of close targets with a single shot bolt gun, its all skills that should be tested. Having options for target engagements is nice, but in the end you have an option to engage the targets with whatever gun you want, you just get penalties or worse for your decision, or you can simply not go to the match. Trapr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OUshooter Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 I am the least experienced guy in this thread, but my shotty is zeroed for slugs at 100m and ringing a 12" plate at 100m is easy peasy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now