i wondered how hard slugs in asuitable action probably a combination gun could be fired that is alot higher velocity and how effective and on what game at what range?

I killed a 400lbs Black bear at 10 yards last year...I was on the ground not in a tree. I had to wait for the perfect side view shot. Slug looked like a doughnut when recovered. What I thought was so neat was you could see blood vapor and lung tissue haze in air for few seconds after the shot. The slugs were federal 3 inch classics. They did not leave the bears body. One put him on the ground....one in the sturnum for insurance.

urdubob

I know of a few guys who used it on Kudu and other large game and it worked fine

the EASIST way to think of high performance slugs are

lead pills in a 450 marlin. The winchester supreme chunks either a 385 at 1900 or a 400 at 1700, just about what you get from a 450 marlin. BUT, you are shooting SOFT lead, and it WILL "coin" on you... that means looks flat, like a dognut.

jeffe

I've had the old foster style stop in deer at 10 yards range. Not the newer style yet; I use a Federal 2 and 3/4 Barnes Expander in those.

With the foster style I believe the soft lead and big frontal area combined with relatively low velocity are working against complete penetration, even if they do weigh a ton.

I have seen some miserable results with slugs, I much prefer 0 buck if I am going to use a shotgun, which is doubtfull...

My wife and I have both killed pigs with slugs. both were shot behind the shoulder [got to save that shoulder roast ] at 20 yards. Both slugs went through and left a large exit wound. Both pigs ran about 80 yards. Nether left a blood trail. I also killed a whitetail doe with a slug. She was hit about 55 yards and ran about 80 or 90 yards. All slugs were US forrester type.
My niece shot a pig at 20 yards with a 16" 44Mag rifle, WW 250 Nosler Partition. The pig never took a step.

A friend an I went on our first hog hunt back in December he took a 12 gauge shotgun loaded with 2 3/4 Federal slugs and he shot 2 hogs at close range( ~20 yards) which we never recovered. I shot two hogs, one at 75 yards and one at 50 yards, that dropped on the spot. I was using a 45/70 using Federals 300gr Speer ammo.

Lance

First, let me say, unless prescribed by law, I don't use shotguns for big game! let me qualify that statement by saying I don't consider big game to be anything smaller than an Elk. Having said that, I think if one is to use slugs on game it should not be past 100 yds,MAX,and that probably should be set at 50 yds max, regardless of type of slug or game hunted! Buck shot is not worth beans past 35 to 40 yds, and is illegal in my state to use on deer.

I have shot some Russian boars with Brenneke slugs, and they worked fine, but the longest I've shot one is not over 15 yds, and usually after the hog being hit with a 196 gr soft point from an 8X57JR @ 2500 fps! I have a hog gun that is a cape gun, with the 8X57JR (.318 bore) on the right barrel, and a 16 ga shotgun on the left barrel. It is a perfect combination for deer, black bear, and cats over bait! It will place a 16ga Brenneke slug right in the same group with the rifle side at 100 yds.

I would never use a slug on anything like Cape buffalo, but maybe for follow up on leopard, if I had a good 10 ga double that would handle hard cast sabot slugs, or Brenneke slugs to the same POA at up to 30 yds, or less! I'd far rather have even a tiny 9.3X74 R double rifle, with good bullets, for this than any shotgun, regardless of guage, or ammo used in it!

In my experience shotgun slug performance, at least for "Foster" type slugs, is unpredictable. I shot a deer at 7 yards with a 1.25oz 12ga slug and it ran another 150 yarda but I've also seen a deer shot with a 20ga slug at 275 yards and it only walked a few yards.

My conclusion: They work but performance is unpredictable.

I have used the Selleir & Ballot S-ball plastique slugs, which are a solid brass sabot encased. It looks like a big brass bolt though I cannot recall the wieght of them.

I would feel very confident using them on big game up to 30meters, expecting devistating results and still good at 50.

I have had one of these drill a hefty pig of it's total lengthways (texas heart shot) at around 10m.

I would limit their use to as far as you can accuratly shoot them out of an open sight shotgun.

a long time ago, I read where Bob Brister shot a cape buffalo with a foster slug. it took at least two shots, with the last breaking its neck.
my experience on deer is:
foster slug- if the deer is under 100 yards, it works well. drops 50%, the rest run a few yards.
BRI slug- 20 to 120 yards shoots flat but does not "shock" deer. they run 100 yards every time.