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20 Ga. Shotgun Question

WKP - Todd

WKP - Todd

New Member
Hey Guys, I'm not very smart when it comes to guns, so any feedback on the topic would be greatly appreciated.

I bought my wife a new 20 gauge savage shot gun. Bolt action, pretty sweet. My question is this; do you recommend aiming at the shoulder with a 20 guage - or back like a bow? I've heard both.

We'll be shooting those expensive Remington plastic tip shells, and I've got it sighted in for 75 yards. What is the expected drop out to say 150 yards? I doubt either myself or her will ever shoot over 100 yards, but just curious to know what would be normal for drop at that distance. I would have practiced it, but ran out of time.
 
I aim right behind the shoulder regardless of my weapon of choice (12 gauge shotgun, bow, and muzzleloader for me).
 
No matter what im shooting, gun or bow, I always put it right behind the shoulder. As far as drop of the bullet at 150 yrds, Its hard tellin without practicing it. But then again im no expert on bullets or shooting either
 
I shoot the exact same setup. Same gun and ammo. I was told the ballistics are very similar to the hornady 20 ga sst. I'd check that out. Also, if you aren't going to even shoot 100 yards, why sight in at 75? And why know the drop at 150? I sighted in at 50, figuring 100 yards would be my max.
 
Got the same gun in 20ga but its still in the box. I have yet to break it out and would love to hear some feedback on the gun.

I also have the savage 110 smokeless ML.
 
Lwadzie said:
No matter what im shooting, gun or bow, I always put it right behind the shoulder. As far as drop of the bullet at 150 yrds, Its hard tellin without practicing it. But then again im no expert on bullets or shooting either
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Same here. Rifle (out west or in Texas) or bow, I always aim right behind the shoulder. That doesn't mean I always hit there, but that's where I aim. :D Breaking the front shoulder blade will make running hard, but it doesn't always put them right down. IMO, right behind the shoulder gives you less chance of a bone deflection with any projectile, beyond simply giving you a bigger vitals target.

I don't know the ballistics of slugs, but I'm guessing it will be quite the drop with a 75-yard zero. I'd be willing to bet its close to 6 inches, though (4-6"?) Like others have said, if you aren't going to shoot that far, why worry.
 
Like others have said. Aim right behind the should just like you would with your bow. Not only is that the center of the kill zone, but, hit a shoulder with a slug and kiss most of that shoulder's meat goodbye (there are variables in this obviously). As for drop at 150, don't guess and miss or wound and animal because of it. Either practice it and know what it will do or don't shoot that far. Good luck and be safe.
 
LYON said:
hit a shoulder with a slug and kiss most of that shoulder's meat goodbye (there are variables in this obviously).
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A very good point!

I was going to bring that up as another reason not to shoot the shoulder, but elected not to as I've heard counter-arguments that some people don't care since there's not that much meat. For me, any meat wasted, is just that...meat wasted. I unintentionally hit a deer in Texas in the shoulder with my .30-06 and most of the shoulder meat was worthless. I was MAD!
 
If you zero your gun at 100 it will be closer to 3 inches low at 150. I think the manufacture recommends zero at 150 then you will be 3 inches high at 100 but if you only plan on shooting at max 75 I would zero it there. Make sure you practice with it those slugs will raise quite a bit out of the muzzle. As far as shooting through the shoulder at 75 yards the deer won't make it far.
 
most slug boxes have specs on the box. they are all different even with the same manufacturers. some slugs are heavier and dont have near the fps as others. some will fly pretty far, the rem bonded tips i shoot in my 12 say zero @150. While the copper solids are zero @50 i believe. the only true test as with anything else is practice!
 
How many different brands of slugs have you practiced with? Guns will shoot different brands of slugs differently - I was pretty surprised at that.
 
I shot it probably 10 times with Federal ammo that I was told to use to sight in because it was cheaper. I shot the remington's and it was 8" high at 75 yards. Got it back to zero, but wanted to make sure it was normal for it to be so drastally different between shells. Obviously in the future, I will make sure I buy more, but they aren't cheap!
 
that is your problem, don't shot anything but sabots thru a rifled barrel.(I assume that is what you have?) they don't fly at all the same. sabots are suppose to spin with the rifleing, regular round bullets will tumble and gum up and ruin your rifleing. if it is rifled, you better give it a good scrubbin! that lead will build up in the rifleing. suppose to shoot copper loads thru rifled.
 
And always sight in with what you are hunting with. As was said earlier, most firearms shoot different ammo very differently. I've also seen that big of a difference between my hunting rounds and cheap "plinking" ammo.
 
A lot of good info here from randy wakeman.....

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]The 15 foot recorded velocities were 1731, 1755, 1763, 1734, and 1746 fps for an average of 1745.8 feet per second. The Standard Deviation is 12.15. A static Ballistic Coefficient applied to the tipped Barnes Expander of .19 is good enough for government work. Tracing back to the muzzle, correcting the 15 foot intrumental velocity to actual muzzle velocity equates to about 1775 fps. Roll it all together with a 6 inch kill MPBR indicates a true target zero of 141 yards and we get something that approximates a 165 yard PBR. So, essentially it is center of the body hold on a whitetail to 165 yards. You can sight in 3 inches high at 80 yards, or zero at 141 yards which (with a 1.5 inch scope height with a "standard" atmosphere) which is close to the same thing. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Granted, this might be considered "too much information" by some, the reason this type of data is rarely included in a review. The short version of all this is to suggest an initial sight-in of 3 inches high at 80 yards, then confirm your POI at 165 yards. For most hunting applications, this very quickly gets you where you need to be with the Federal P209XT1 load. If your hunting conditions don't allow for longer range shooting, just the standard 100 yard zero should suffice. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Using a 3 MOA reticle subtension hold point, or something like the 3 in. @ 100 yards line on the etched Bushnell Ballistic reticle on the tested rifle, will take you from 165 yards to right at 195 yards. Like anything else, you are the one that has to determine your own complete confidence level. Like Jack O'Connor repeatedly expounded, the maximum point bank school or range (or top of the shoulder hold as Mr. O'Connor wrote) style of hunting is good hunting, and awareness of ambient conditions (wind), animal stance, and animal movement mandates that the more experienced hunters adjust their maximum shooting distances to closer ranges in concert. A representative view of the exterior ballistics of this individual rifle with this individual load under the tested ambient conditions follows.[/FONT]
 
INative said:
I was told the ballistics are very similar to the hornady 20 ga sst. I'd check that out.
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I have my mossberg 500 20ga sighted in at 50 yds with the hornady sst slugs, and it shoots 2-2.5in high at 100yds and according to the box it would shoot about 2in low at 150yds
 
For the sake of conversation, I'll take a different tack on where to hold when shooting with a bullet (slug, muzzy or rifle). I prefer to hold on the shoulder. That will usually break the deer down right there. No tracking! As far as meat loss, I have found over the years that a bullet to the shoulder is fairly easy to trim around and meat loss is not that bad. On the other hand I have also found that a bullet right behind the shoulder that allows the animal to run a ways before expiring results in a lot of bloodshot meat that occurs as the animal is running & bleeding. You can trim most of the blood out of these areas but it is a PIA. Commercial processors just dump it. I would rather trim a little meat and bone fragments from a shoulder shot than deal with all the bloodshot tissue from a shot behind the shoulder, not to mention some muzzy shots don't leave a very good blood trail. Just my $0.05 worth...
 
Just to add another point of view. If I have a good standing shot at a calm deer and have a nice solid rest and the shot is 75 yards or less and it is not a "trophy" then I almost always shoot for the neck area. A good shot centered in the neck will drop the deer instantly with no worries about tracking. This shot also gives you as much latitude for being a "little" off either left or right or a "little" high or low as a shoulder shot does, also it doesn't damage very much usable meat. Over the years, especially while using my Knight rifle, I have used this shot much more often that any other. It is also a shot that is either a clean kill or a clean miss, with little or no issue of a wounded deer running off. Remember "aim small, miss small". With the setup you have it sounds like a center hold on the neck at any range from 50 to 100 yards will put the deer on the ground right now! For longer shots or deer that I can't stop I shoot for the shoulder, usually a high shoulder shot that will also anchor the deer on the spot. I hardly ever take a shot at a running deer any more unless it is a follow up shot on one that has been hit, but even then most aren't very successful. :way:
 
The shot placement was more a question of whether the 20 ga. had the knock-down power to drop them in their tracks so to speak. I would rather put em down and lose a pound of burger over it. Around here, if I shot one through the chest and it ran off my property, it would likely get un-loaded on by all my neighbors. They're more of the shoot first, ask questions later type! he he....
 
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