Slugs 101: Adding Range to the Shotgun

Have you ever wanted to chuck an ounce, or maybe more, of lead at a target? If so, then slugs are for you. Slugs are the solid projectile answer for the modern shotgun. Your normal load of shot throws anywhere from hundreds of small pellets to a few larger pellets depending on your target of choice. A good slug goes a long way, and I mean that literally.

A slug is a solid chunk of lead, and their main goal is to extend the effective range of a shotgun. Normal shot will disperse quite quickly. Modern tactical loads of buckshot have extended the effective range of buckshot, but you’re still limited to about 50 yards. Anything further than that, and it’s tough to predict where the pellets will land, and that makes it tough to be accountable for your shots.

The World of Slugs

There are two types of slugs. The first is your standard rifled slug. These slugs have an external rifling designed to help stabilize these slugs as they fly through the air. These are designed to be used for smooth-bore shotguns. You’ll typically see these slugs designed for several different applications, including hunting. Rifled slugs are the slug of choice for tactical shotguns as well.

The second type of slug is the sabot slug. These are more traditional rifle projectiles that are designed with a spitzer tip. These slugs are used with a rifled shotgun barrel. They maximize the range and accuracy of a slug gun. These are typically designed for hunting applications and mixed well with dedicated slug guns and magnified optics.

The rifled slugs are typically used for around 100 yards. Beyond that, accuracy gets tough. The sabot slugs can reach out to 200 yards or so quite effectively. In general, the sabot slugs are much more accurate. They produce tighter and more consistent groups. Rifled slugs tend to be quick and easy to use with your average shotgun and within the realm of iron sights.

Where Slugs Shine

As we’ve covered a few times, slugs extend the range of a shotgun and allow you to reach out and touch targets beyond effective buckshot distances. Beyond just extending effective range, slugs can be used for their devastating effect on targets. If you’re hunting, say, large game like bear, a slug may be a better choice due to its increased penetrative power, even if you are only shooting at close range.

In tactical applications, a slug can be quite the option for dealing with bad guys held up in vehicles. They rip through vehicles and even engine blocks with the right slug option. They tend to deflect less when fired through hardcover and chew through metal, glass, and beyond with relative ease.

What About Home Defense

In the home defense world, slugs often tend to be a bit much. They do penetrate quite effectively, including through threats, walls, and beyond. A basic tactical slug can penetrate through several interior and even exterior walls. With that in mind, for most people, they are not the most effective home defense round.

Special situations do exist where a slug makes sense. If you live in bear country, then a bear may show up. I’m not saying bears are commonly home invaders, but it does happen, and in that case, a loaded slug makes plenty of sense.

Sights For Slugs

If you plan to utilize slugs for any variety of tasks, then your sights matter. If you have a dedicated slug gun, you likely have a magnified optic or some setup you are likely familiar with. With that in mind, let’s focus on the use of rifled slugs. Since you are shooting these through a smooth barrel, it’s a gun designed to fire shot.

With that in mind, it might not be optimized for slugs. Shotguns with bead sights certainly make slug use a little trickier than most other options. They can work, but without a rear sight when you move back to 100 yards or even fifty yards, firing with precision can be difficult. I took some slugs out to 50 yards with a bead sight, and while I could hit man-sized targets, my groupings were all over the place.

When I tried to use ghost ring sights, I saw things instantly clean up. In fact, ghost rings turned out to be the best iron sight option. Mossberg’s ghost ring sights are slightly adjustable, and you zero in your shotgun with more precision-oriented shots. Even out to 100 yards, it was possible to put a pile of rounds into the chest of the target.

Rifle sights were also quite nice. Sights mounted to your barrel make it easy and fast to get on target and put the slugs where you need them. The best option, however, came from red dots. A red dot side made it easy for me to make four headshots at fifty yards in an impressive group. At 100 yards, it was much faster to put those shots on target to achieve the same accuracy as with ghost ring sights.

At the Range

I’ve tested a lot of slugs, and before we go, let’s talk about what I’ve found to be the best option for rifled slugs for tactical use. The Federal Tactical slugs loaded to 1,300 feet per second are a fantastic option. They tend to recoil a lot lighter than most hunting slugs, and believe it or not, they offer the same power and penetration as all those 1,600-feet-per-second slugs.

You’ll still get the extra effective range of a slug without all the recoil and violence from a 1,600-feet-per-second slug. As you can see, at 50 yards, they are quite accurate. The groups were all fired from a standing position and were delightfully accurate with a properly zeroed red dot. These were excellent groupings for a shotgun.

Slug Select Drills

For most tactical shotguns, the user is likely going to have their shotgun loaded with buckshot. In the event they need a slug, they have to find a way to toss one in. A slug select drill allows you to practice loading a slug quickly and getting it into action.

There are a variety of ways to conduct a slug-select drill. The most common is to simply load a slug directly into the tube and then work the action to load the slug directly into the chamber. It’s fairly simple and faster than fiddling with a port load.

Some guns have a magazine cut-off. Benelli’s Supernova and M4, for example, allow you to work the action and quickly port load a slug into the action without having to deal with losing two rounds of buckshot.

Slugging On

Slugs are powerful and capable tools that allow you to reach out and touch a target with a firearm typically used for handgun ranges. They add some versatility to the platform and the idea of the shotgun. If you are a shotgunner, then having a healthy understanding of how to use slugs gives you another tool for the box.