Shotgun sabot testing...

I have an 870 with a rifled barrel and cantilevered Leopold scope on heavy duty rings. I have always struggled to get great accuracy out of this set up and tried several brands of ammo, until a few years back when Rem came out with the Accu-tip sabots. I was then able to hold a 2-2.5" group at 100 yards and go 2 for 2 at a 12" paper plate at 185 yards. In 2010 I still used the same slugs from the above sight in and had the same results. Now, last year, I needed more slugs so I bought the same ones. This time I couldn't hold a group better then 6-8" at 100 and with no consistence. I triple checked that every thing was tight but still same results. All that being said, after the gun season I bought several boxes of sabots of differing brands when they were on sale to try to find a "new brand" that my setup likes. I'm just wondering if anyone has any ideas on the best way to test them out. My plan is to shoot a 3 or 5 shot group at 50-75 yards on a fresh target for each brand of ammo. If I go with the 3 shot group I might repeat with a 2 shot group at 100 yards as well. I am also thinking about running a bore snake through the barrel after every 5-10 shots to keep fowling at a minimum and to keep consistency in the test. If anyone has any ideas on anything different I could try that has worked for them I would really appreciate it. Thanks!!

shot many different sabots when testing my TC Encore 20gauge, the one it liked best was Lightfield Hybred Expanders, there pricey at 17.99 a box and are hard to find in the 20gauge but they are what my particular gun likes best, every gun definitely has a mind of its own. On a side note if anybody shoots a 20guage and shoots hornady sst's, shoot me a pm, i have a bunch of boxes sitting around--shed

I have also had issues with the Hornady SSTs. Slugs and muzzleloader. That said the SSTs seem to be accurate in most guns. I also like the partition golds. Only drawback is they don't expand much but have been very accurate. But they are .475 caliber which is a plenty big enough hole.

Personally I like the Winchester Partition Golds the best. They have been accurate in my previous slug gun (Remington 1100) and current T/C Encore. However for accuracy, the Hornady SST was the most accurate in the Encore. Just not a fan of that particular bullet after having issues using it in the muzzleloader. I know it's a whole different animal but they failed to expand at all. Luckily I was still able to recover those deer. The Partition Golds aren't cheap but they sure pack a heck of a punch and put 'em down.

Hornady is great and they're cheaper then the Remington. Haven't tried the Winchester so I don't have an opinion there. Federal also makes a Sabot. I would recommend Hornady, but I'm kind of a Fanboy for their ammo.

Sorry to say but there is no surefire way to save any money, unless you get lucky and find one of the three you buy holds a good grouping. If you're hoping that someone has the same gun as you and recommends Brand X, don't pay attention to it! Brand X may or may not be the one that YOUR GUN LIKES. Just remember this much: start @25 yards with each brand,then 50, then 100. You'll have to adust the scope at each distance. You may be surprised at what you see. You may not even find the BEST slug this year. You may find one that is acceptable but there are always more to try. It took me years to find one that I truly would trust every time. Best of luck! Tim

I just bought a new 12 guage mossberg 500 pump with a riffled cantilevered barrel and bushnell scope. I'm going this weekend to pick up 3 different kinds of sabots. Just wanted to here everyones thought on my setup and what you guys would recomend for slugs. I know this can be pricey and im hopeing to get some feedback to save a little money. I was thinking about trying hornity, remington copper solids, and maybe winchester? Any thoughts?

The only reason I tried the 3" is because the Lightfield website stated they have a little flatter trajectory. I've had luck with the Lightfields in the past but was always looking for the flattest, fastest ammo I could shoot. Unfortunately, what I have found is my barrel doesn't like the fast stuff to much! Mike, thanks for the advice on the Rem. ammo. I actually had excellent accuracy with their Accu-Tip sabots 2 or 3 years back, but the next year when I bought more boxes my 100yrd groups where 8-10" at best.

There really is no need for a 3" (or 3 1/2"!) slug, IMO. I noticed that you said recoil was A LOT from the 3" you tested. As a point of reference, I once cut open two Remington Sluggers. (yeah, they're not Sabots but you'll see where this goes.) One was a 2 3/4" and one a 3". Upon review, they each, of course, had a 1 0z. slug. Identical. Same "wad", same powder in each. However, upon weighing the powder from each the 2 3/4" had about 32 grains. About standard for a game load shotgun shell. The 3" had 48 grains! Half again as much powder! That really surprised me. Of course, I knew they would be the same expect for powder amounts but what will that extra 50% of powder in a 3" slug get you, besides a very sore shoulder? I can't believe it will get you any more range. Good luck on your testing. You're off to a good start! Tim

Thanks for all the advice to everyone. I finally got around to doing a little testing. Here's what I found: Target was on a 4ft x 4ft piece of cardboard set at 100 yards. I took the best three shots I could squeeeeeze off with each brand of ammo. I tried four different ammo brands this weekend. 1. Lightfield 2 3/4 hybreds - 3.25" group, 2 touching (solid recoil) 2. Rem. Copper Solids 2 3/4" - 2.0" group, 2 touching (lightest recoil) 3. Win. BRI Sabots 2 3/4" - 14" group (sabots where tearing sideways holes in the paper) 4. Lightfield 3" Hybred - 3.25" group, 2 under 1" (recoil... A LOT!!!) So far that's what I got. Now I plan to thoroughly clean the gun and eventually get back to the range to test a few more brands. I'll keep you posted.

I have tried several different slugs for deer hunting out of my Remington 870 with a Mossberg rifled barrel (ported) and cantilevered scope. After several hundred dollars seeing what slugs this gun liked the best, i found that the Hornady SST's were the best and able to keep a decent group at 100 yds. This is truely what I feel is the maximum effective range for this gun, and if I know there may be a longer shot required, I am generally bringing the smokepole along as well, as that is far more accurate over 100 yds. Just nice to have more than 1 shot if needed!!!

My whole family shoots Rem 870 w/ rifled barrels and scopes. We shot the BRI slugs till it was bought out by Winchester. The BRI manufactured slug shot better but the Winchester slugs shoot very well too. We all have mid-priced scopes so nothing ultra fancy. The best purchased we have made is a lead sled, also pay attention to your trigger pull. Video tape yourself or have somebody watch you shoot, you maybe surprised. But some barrels just don't shoot, may just be a barrel. Good luck.

Winchester Supreme Partion Gold 3" shoot good out of my 695. Haven't shot a deer with this slug yet, so I cannot tell you how they perform terminally.

I currently have two slug guns. 1. Rem 1100 with cantilever 21" Rem slug barrel topped with a Leupold shotgun scope 2. Browning BPS with cantilever 24" Hastings slug barrel topped with a Bushnell shotgun scope The two coundn't be any different. It took me years and more shooting than I care to remember to find a slug that the Remington truly liked. I shot Winchester Partition Golds for a couple of years, as they were the best I could find out of that gun. Even those would seem to have a "flyer" every once and a while. This was shooting out of a vise for grouping, so I'm confident it was not flinching. That Remington has been a very frustrating gun. 3-4 years ago I stumbled accross the 1 1/4 oz. Lightfields. I've been shooting them since. The Remington likes those best, and I can hold a 3" group at 100 yards. They can reach out to 125 pretty easily, but drop really fast after that. The damage the Lightfields do is impressive. I've dropped several deer where they stood, which I hadn't done with any other slug. One odd thing I've had with their performance is I've shot three deer now where the sabot never released from the slug. Because of this, the slug did not exit the deer. All three have made it all the way to just under the hide on the off side. It did not seem to effect flight, as all three were hit where I was aiming, but they were all under 50 yards as well. The Browning with the Hastings barrel loves everything. That gun is just a flat out shooter for a slug gun. With the Hornady's, I sighted in at 2" high at 50 yards. Backed up to 100 yards and I was about 4" high. 125 and I was 1" HIGH. And everything groups well in that gun. I realize that likely contradicts the ballistics Hornady shows, but that was my real life experience with this gun. It certainly can't be the scope, as the cheaper one is on the Browning. The Hastings barrel has to be the difference, in both quality and the length. I should have put the Leupold on the Browning years ago and made it my primary gun, but it has been the back up since I set up the Reminton. Moot point now, as Waupaca county is now rifle and I picked up a Weatherby Mark V Accumark in .270 Wby Mag. That should lay them down right nice. I'll likely sell the Browning set up and use the Remington as a back up. So...my point is I believe it is likely the Remington barrel. You mentioned the Lightfields, and if your barrel likes them I would go with them. The do the trick. The rest of the advice you received on how to sight in was top notch. Nothing to add there.

It is actually a Rem barrel. and I did have it Magna-Ported some years back to help reduce some of the guns serious kick. It helped a little but now it is so loud I have to put something in my ears in the field or my ears will ring the rest of the day if I don't. I considered buying an aftermarket barrel with a faster twist to the rifling. I have also heard of "pinning" the barrel shank to the receiver but I would have to designate the gun to slugs only then. I use this same gun to bird hunt and turkey hunt, obviously with the other barrel. I only use it opening weekend of gun hunting with the slug barrel and then head north and use my 30-06. I just don't' want to stick much more money into it to try and improve the gun itself. I just want to have cofidence in it out to 125-150 yards. Maybe that's not going to be possible. Honestly, it has become a more of personal challenge to get it to perform well. Otherwise, I think I would probably just use a muzzle loader. I really apprieciate everyones ideas and tips. My plan is to check into a specified shot gun cleaning solvent and give the barrel one heck of a cleaning. Then head to the range and only shot 10-15 shots per range secesion at a large target at 50-70 yards. Do you think if I use a 3' by3' target I could get away with 100 yards? I think I have accumulated 7 or 8 boxes of different slugs so it will take a few trips but I agree there's no way to accurately shot all that at one time. I am planning to begin this in March so the temps are more similar to deer season and I can still have a few layers on to help reduce recoil. Thanks again

Who makes your barrel. Is it a Remmington barrel??? Maybe the answer is to look into more of a desinged slug gun.