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Im new to slugs, I know what rifled slug is and i know what a saboted slug is......but i hear guys talk about foster slugs and im not sure what they are?
What are foster slugs?
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Here:
"A Foster slug, invented by Karl Foster in 1931, is a type of shotgun slug designed to be fired through a smoothbore shotgun barrel.
The defining characteristic of the Foster slug is the deep hollow in the rear, which places the center of mass very near the tip of the slug, much like a shuttlecock. If the slug begins to tumble in flight, drag will tend to push the slug back into straight flight. This gives the Foster slug stability and allows for accurate shooting out to ranges of about 75 yards (about 70 meters). Most Foster slugs also have "rifling", which consists of thin fins on the outside of the slug. Contrary to popular belief, these fins actually impart no spin onto the slug as it travels through the air. Since the slug is fired at a supersonic velocity, the nose of the slug pushing a shockwave creates a vacuum on the side of the slug, where the fins are located. The actual purpose of the fins is to allow the slug to safely be swaged down when fired through a choke, although accuracy will suffer when such a slug is fired through tighter chokes.
It is also possible to fire Foster slugs through rifled slug barrels, though lead fouling (build-up in the rifle grooves) can be a problem."And the article is spot on. They are accurate out to about 70 yards.
If you learn to "tune" your smooth bore you can take deer to 100 yards.
The Brenneke slug is similar but superior to the foster .
Works on the same principle with center of mass forward keeping the nose forward and the slug from tumbling.
Brenneke slugs tend to be built a little thicker than American fosters and thus tend to penetrate better tho that is really a moot point on the typical whitetail deer now ain't it?
"A Foster slug, invented by Karl Foster in 1931, is a type of shotgun slug designed to be fired through a smoothbore shotgun barrel.
The defining characteristic of the Foster slug is the deep hollow in the rear, which places the center of mass very near the tip of the slug, much like a shuttlecock. If the slug begins to tumble in flight, drag will tend to push the slug back into straight flight. This gives the Foster slug stability and allows for accurate shooting out to ranges of about 75 yards (about 70 meters). Most Foster slugs also have "rifling", which consists of thin fins on the outside of the slug. Contrary to popular belief, these fins actually impart no spin onto the slug as it travels through the air. Since the slug is fired at a supersonic velocity, the nose of the slug pushing a shockwave creates a vacuum on the side of the slug, where the fins are located. The actual purpose of the fins is to allow the slug to safely be swaged down when fired through a choke, although accuracy will suffer when such a slug is fired through tighter chokes.
It is also possible to fire Foster slugs through rifled slug barrels, though lead fouling (build-up in the rifle grooves) can be a problem."And the article is spot on. They are accurate out to about 70 yards.
If you learn to "tune" your smooth bore you can take deer to 100 yards.
The Brenneke slug is similar but superior to the foster .
Works on the same principle with center of mass forward keeping the nose forward and the slug from tumbling.
Brenneke slugs tend to be built a little thicker than American fosters and thus tend to penetrate better tho that is really a moot point on the typical whitetail deer now ain't it?
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Of course you are spot on correct. On elk I would not use the fosters at all.
If I had to use a slug on elk, (why would you?) I'd go with a Brenneke or, much better still, the Dixie.
I've taken over 50 Ohio whitetail with Winchester fosters.
I'e had two complete failures to penetrate.
One was a running 8 point hit in the spine. Of course the slug broke the spine at 40 yards but the slug broke up on the spine and did not penetrate the spine, it broke the bones dropping the deeer ike a stone where a floow up chest shot ended the affair.
The other was a running buck, also and 8 point, at better than 75 yards. The shot hit the chest, went thru and dropped said critter. I approached, the critter tried to get up I went for the heart shot, missed, hit the shoulder joint, where the slug blew on contact failing to to anything, not even breaking the shoulder ball and socket joint. Had to neck shoot it. I felt terrible.
On the oher hand I shot an 8 point, (must be common to get 8 points hey?) looking at me at 90 long paces. The slug hit the deer square in the curl of the chest. It fell back on it's butt, ran for at least 75 yards pumping blood everywhere.
I found the slug in a rear ham.
Hit no bone.
I would never use a foster on anything bigger than a 150 pound critter.
Dixie and Brenneke are much better and any slug is one powerful, destructive, hunk of lead.
If I had to use a slug on elk, (why would you?) I'd go with a Brenneke or, much better still, the Dixie.
I've taken over 50 Ohio whitetail with Winchester fosters.
I'e had two complete failures to penetrate.
One was a running 8 point hit in the spine. Of course the slug broke the spine at 40 yards but the slug broke up on the spine and did not penetrate the spine, it broke the bones dropping the deeer ike a stone where a floow up chest shot ended the affair.
The other was a running buck, also and 8 point, at better than 75 yards. The shot hit the chest, went thru and dropped said critter. I approached, the critter tried to get up I went for the heart shot, missed, hit the shoulder joint, where the slug blew on contact failing to to anything, not even breaking the shoulder ball and socket joint. Had to neck shoot it. I felt terrible.
On the oher hand I shot an 8 point, (must be common to get 8 points hey?) looking at me at 90 long paces. The slug hit the deer square in the curl of the chest. It fell back on it's butt, ran for at least 75 yards pumping blood everywhere.
I found the slug in a rear ham.
Hit no bone.
I would never use a foster on anything bigger than a 150 pound critter.
Dixie and Brenneke are much better and any slug is one powerful, destructive, hunk of lead.
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Does that men i could pass a foster slug through a full choke barrel?
I've done it without any catastrophic results, and from my understanding conventional soft lead factory loaded foster slugs won't produce any damage to the average gun. However, I got a goodly amount of leading in the choke and accuracy was less then optimum.andrewkitney said:
Why would I use a shotgun slug on an elk ? Elk are hard to find and hunt down during rifle season up here because their rutt is already done and over with by opening day --- hunting regs. specify "Full-Brow Tine Bull Only" in almost every hunting district.jeager106 said:
So I get a call from a local farmer I know who says he's got elk in his feilds and worst of all their into his orchard area and killing all the young trees by pealing the bark off them and eating it. That particular hunting district is "shotgun / muzzle-loader / conventional-handgun only" in addition the hunting regs. in that section are very liberal stating "either sex elk" for the standard over the counter elk tag. So okay I grab my NEF-USH in 12ga. with my case of hard cast Lyman slug reloads and start driving in the general direction while calling my buddies on the cell phone at the same time. We collectively culled over a dozen elk out of that herd that day and much to the thanks of the farmer drove the herd off his farm in the process. Most of the guys showed up with 12ga. guns with slugs figuring that was the most powerful for use on elk of the available options. Many cheap-o soft lead foster slugs failed that day and I was handing out my hard cast reloads to guys needing to finish the job right and left.
So might have called that day unsportsman like --- but we were all interested in meat in the freezer not horns and most of the kills were big cow elk with plenty of meat. This was not a "gang hunt" everyone shot their own animal, unfortionatly many had to beg slugs off me to finish the job due to the failures of the cheap-o fosters. And the farmer was very gratful to us.
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I would like to play out a scenerio for you guys. I was on a whitetail trip with my party and the hunting was slow and food was getting low so i decided to do a quick grouse/partridge hunt to fill the void. While out birdin' i saw a nice eight pointer.
Now keeping in mind all i had was my model 84 single shot 20ga/fix full choke barrel with 71/2 loads on my person. The deer was approx 30 yards from me standing broadside. Now if I had have had a foster slug on me (given i could hit it) would it have killed the deer effectivly?
And how bad would the accuracy have been?
This is just for future reference.
Thanks
Now keeping in mind all i had was my model 84 single shot 20ga/fix full choke barrel with 71/2 loads on my person. The deer was approx 30 yards from me standing broadside. Now if I had have had a foster slug on me (given i could hit it) would it have killed the deer effectivly?
And how bad would the accuracy have been?
This is just for future reference.
Thanks
If you had fired slugs through the gun before and knew the point of impact --- Go For That Shot !!!! Thirty yards --- I would be very surprised if the slug/gun combination was not accurate enough to put it in the oven (hear/lungs zone).
Reason I say about firing slugs before hand at the range is because some guns respond different to slugs --- I had a full choke Braztec 12ga. that would shoot dead on with shot loads but threw slugs high and to the right. If you knew about the high and to the right thing with slugs it was simple just aim about three clicks to the left and and two clicks down from where you wanted the slug to go and presto !!! Not sure what your gun would do, but then no one knows till you try it. All it takes is a couple 5 round boxes at the 25 yard line to figure out how your gun responds to slugs at the range you described and then from there on out you know for sure if you end up in the exact scenerio you described.
Reason I say about firing slugs before hand at the range is because some guns respond different to slugs --- I had a full choke Braztec 12ga. that would shoot dead on with shot loads but threw slugs high and to the right. If you knew about the high and to the right thing with slugs it was simple just aim about three clicks to the left and and two clicks down from where you wanted the slug to go and presto !!! Not sure what your gun would do, but then no one knows till you try it. All it takes is a couple 5 round boxes at the 25 yard line to figure out how your gun responds to slugs at the range you described and then from there on out you know for sure if you end up in the exact scenerio you described.
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By all means go ahead and buy some foster slugs ( most call the foster a "rifled slug") and shoot at a target at that distance.
I'd be surprised if you didn't at least hit a gallon jug.
If you learn to line up your front bead exactly the same over the receiver, or second bead on the barrel, to maintain the same point of reference for pointing the barrel true each shot you should be accurate enough at that distance.
But shoot some 1st and understand where your s.g throws a slug.
NEVER use sabots slugs of any kind in a gun with a choke.
I'd be surprised if you didn't at least hit a gallon jug.
If you learn to line up your front bead exactly the same over the receiver, or second bead on the barrel, to maintain the same point of reference for pointing the barrel true each shot you should be accurate enough at that distance.
But shoot some 1st and understand where your s.g throws a slug.
NEVER use sabots slugs of any kind in a gun with a choke.
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Would it be fair to say that there are fellas out there that hunt deer with this type of shotgun and slug on a regular basis. By that i mean a gun with out a designated slug barrel ie. single shot/side by side etc:full/mod chokes
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Yes there are those that hunt deer with the shotgun, modified, full, choke, bead front sight only, etc.
Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too many! :evil:
That's why we find sooooooooooooo many deer after shotgun season with legs blown off, missing the lower jaw, dead from being gut shot etc.
If a person can't or won't get proper sights at least buy a few extra boxes of "rifled slugs" and practice a little.
If a person owns a s.g. and for one reason or another won't get a slug barrel for it there are darned good fiber optic sights that clamp to a vent rib.
Most nearly every hunter in the woods will attempt a shot at ranges far in excess of what they should.
A person with a bead front sight would be lucky to hit a deer in the kill zone at 75 yards yet they will blast away at deer far in excess of 100 yards.
Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too many! :evil:
That's why we find sooooooooooooo many deer after shotgun season with legs blown off, missing the lower jaw, dead from being gut shot etc.
If a person can't or won't get proper sights at least buy a few extra boxes of "rifled slugs" and practice a little.
If a person owns a s.g. and for one reason or another won't get a slug barrel for it there are darned good fiber optic sights that clamp to a vent rib.
Most nearly every hunter in the woods will attempt a shot at ranges far in excess of what they should.
A person with a bead front sight would be lucky to hit a deer in the kill zone at 75 yards yet they will blast away at deer far in excess of 100 yards.
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