Shotgun Slugs

[abunaitoo]

I don't reload shotgun, but I was just wondering.............
Do all slugs use a roll crimp?????

[JBinMN]

No, some use a fold crimp. Lee slugs, in particular, are suggested to use fold crimps.

[Thumbcocker]

I had good results with the Lyman slug that looks like a big air gun pellet and seats in a standard shot cup with a star crimp. This was in 12 gage and worked very well on deer back when I still hunted with long guns.

[abunaitoo]

Did you used a rifled barrel????
All I have is a smooth barrel.

[megasupermagnum]

Lyman sabot slugs can shoot well from a smooth bore.

[JBinMN]

I use a couple of 870s, a couple mossbergs, including a 500 in 12ga., all with smoothbore & have no issues with any of them out to 75 yds @ "minute of paper plate".
Well within the "boiler room" killing area on an adult deer. I have shot many of them using this type of firearm with slugs.

I live in an area of Mn. that is "shotgun ( & slug) only" shooting/hunting zone. Been hunting with smoothbores since 1976 or so.

They work fine for me & most of the time the deer are 50 yds or less anyway. Most of the time stalking/still hunting, but sometimes sitting in a blind or a stand. 75/25% ratio for me I'd reckon. Many times in stalking the shot is 15 - 20 yds or less for me, but I am getting older & can't do the sneak up & shoot like I used to. ( Same for turkey... "Run & gun", is no longer a good thing for me. I feel it later & for too long.... ;) )

BTW, I do not take shots that are not what I consider, "killing shots" anyway, so the smoothbores do me just fine in this area. I don't like tracking deer all across the country because it is wounded & can keep getting up & moving farther.
Same reason why I do not wait for too late in an evening to shoot, so I am not going out tracking in the dark. That is for youngsters to do, IMO... My way is to shoot to kill, & they usually only run 100 yds max., IF that or less, & not too hard to find & deal with.
;)

My oldest son uses a rifled 870 & saboted rounds. He is "minute of paper plate" at 100 yds easy, using that combination, 95% or the time, but he also has shot more deer at 50 yds or less around here, so it really doesn't matter if he used rifled or not..

We just don't get the longer shots in this agricultural, hilly ( like "billy goat hilly"/bluff country) & wooded zone. Most of the deer around here stay right close to the woods edge, even when in a field eating. It is their "escape route", and they know it...

Of course, someone could use a rifle at longer distances if they chose to do so, but it would be like, "shooting fish in a barrel", being that the deer are out in a field with little to no cover. I reckon I just don't count it as a "sporting" thing to do to shoot the deer at long distance when it is not necessary to do so. Up close & personal is my preference. At least it feels more like hunting to me anyway...
Anyone, IMO, can shoot a deer with a rifle when it is out in a field eating & messing around with the other deer. It takes at least a bit of skill to either stalk/still hunt up close to them, or at least set up a stand or a blind where they travel, get into or out of there to hunt & not get caught by the deer & spook them from coming closer.

But that is another subject...
;)

[oldsalt444]

I have yet to see a factory slug with a fold crimp; always have a roll crimp. I think it's mostly marketing so the customer can see that big impressive chunk of lead and maybe even a "hollow point". (That dimple in a lead Foster slug does absolutely nothing except entice less knowledgeable customers.) As mentioned above, some reloads specify fold crimps. I have used both the Lyman and Lee slugs to take deer. These reloads were fold crimped. However, it's cheap and easy to get a roll crimp tool from Ballistic Products and they work well.

[megasupermagnum]

While many rifled slugs could easily be fold crimped, many slugs are pointed such that it would be impossible to make a fold crimp look good. There is also the thing with instant load ID, so you don't accidently mix up slugs with something else.

[dbarry1]

Lee 7/8 ounce slug with fold crimp, cylinder or improved cylinder choke, work great out of a smooth bore. Mark your slugs with a sharpie.