Thoughts on guns, loads and what not.
Alot has been asked and said on here about what shotgun would be best, what rifle is best, and what loads most people would use in the wilds for a bush or brush gun.
So after being a Range Instructor in the Army for 3 years (yeah you military guys know me as the one hollering on the line and then you walking up and saying NO BRASS NO AMMO in a loud booming voice), and curently being a range instructor for my department, and teaching hunting/shooting skills at my gun club here is what I say on these thoughts.
Advances in technology and trends of market whimsy have done nothing to stifle the discourse about which rifle "bucks the brush" better. Hunters of the old school say that a heavy, fat, blunt-nosed bullet traveling at low to moderate velocity will plow through brush with less deflection. The "enlightened" modern thinkers say that the long, thin bullet with a high rate of rotational speed will perform better because the gyroscopic effect of the rotation will keep it on course or aid it in returning to a stable course after a disturbance. Then there is the matter of bullet construction. Certainly, a low-velocity bullet will need to be of a softer construction than a premium bullet designed for magnum-type impact velocities. It follows that the softer bullet will deform more easily than the tougher "modern" bullet and destabilize in flight. That is certainly true if the velocities are the same, but the very natures of the bullets dictate that the tougher bullet will be traveling at a higher velocity. What effect will that create?
Finally, there is the argument that in a given caliber, a round-nosed or flat-nosed bullet is better for shooting through brush than a pointed bullet. Nobody seems to know why, but a lot of hunters will argue the point passionately.
I have heard arguments on the extremes of both sides. A Saskatchewan outfitter once told me that his .35 Whelen would mow down the thick second-growth brush that dominates the east side of the province like a "weed whacker through your front lawn." On the other hand, a manufacturer of a gun-related product told me during a SHOT Show that if a bullet traveling over 3,500 fps even comes close to a tree branch, without necessarily hitting it, the pneumatic pressure of the air displaced by the bullet compressing against the tree branch will cause the bullet to fly off course and often even disintegrate in flight.
So who can you believe?
Testing The Theory
I think that it is accepted that any bullet will deflect in flight if it hits brush. My grandfather's response to this was, "If you can see the animal well enough to shoot at it, then there is a hole big enough to fit a bullet through without hitting the brush." Good advice, but it still doesn't answer the question of bullet deflection.
To find out for myself, I decided to shoot several rifles through brush under controlled conditions and record the results. Because using actual brush provided inconsistent results, I turned to hardwood dowels to simulate brush.
I drilled holes in a couple of two-by-fours to hold the 1-foot dowels. The holes were carefully spaced with 1/8-inch between them to ensure that no bullet could slip between without hitting something.
Because the target backstop on our range is higher than the bench inside the shooting house, I constructed a frame to hold the "brush" high enough to approximately center the groups on the plywood backstop. A target was hung between cross-members on the front of the frame. This was placed at a measured 10 yards in front of the backstop, which was 100 yards from a shooting house. One foot behind the target was a barrier of 3/8-inch dowels. This was designed to be about twice as wide as the front barrier so that it would catch any deflected bullets.
I covered the backstop with white paper, and shooters fired three shots at that target with each gun without the "brush" in place to establish a center of impact on the backstop. Unless noted, we then fired five shots through the "brush" from each rifle. After each shot, we replaced the dowels and marked the resulting hit on the backstop. This ensured consistency in the "brush" encountered by all bullets.
All shots were fired from a bench rest, and caution was taken to make sure that they were carefully aimed. However, since I was recording the differences in group sizes before and after hitting the brush and the deviation from the center of impact, exacting accuracy was not necessarily important. All rifles showed acceptable hunting accuracy with the ammo selected, but the results are not to be interpreted as the "best" that rifle can shoot.
Analyzing The Results
The results are recorded in the accompanying chart, but I will note some key points. Long, pointed bullets tended to keyhole (turn sideways), particularly when they hit the first dowels a glancing blow that put them between two dowels. Often, the second barrier would have two or even three dowels cut off, indicating that the bullet was traveling sideways.
Round- or flat-nosed bullets tended to track better and showed less tendency to keyhole. The old-timers who liked big, slow bullets were on to something. The .35 Rem., .44 Rem. Mag. (discounting one flyer) and .45-70 showed the lowest percentage change in group size.
To spoil the theory, the .270 Win. showed no change in group size if you discount the one flyer.
Check out the .308 Win.! It actually showed a smaller group size after hitting the "brush." All calibers showed evidence of losing stability or deforming.
In summary, you would be ill-advised to intentionally take any shot through brush at a deer. Every bullet that hits brush, regardless of caliber or design, will be affected, and it is impossible to predict reliably what that affect will be. While one caliber might do "better" than another, they all had the potential for extreme flyers. If that flyer happens to be the shot you fired at an animal, the results could be disastrous. Nothing's worse than making a poor hit on a magnificent game animal.
Understanding Trajectory... Rifles
The law of gravity dictates that a bullet will begin to drop toward the earth from the moment it leaves the rifle barrel. The reason that some rifles shoot flatter than others is simply because their bullets travel faster and are able to cover more distance in a given amount of time. The bullets still drop to the earth at a rate of acceleration of 32 fps, but they simply cover more ground than slower bullets before dropping a given distance. It is necessary to elevate the rifles bore slightly above the line of sight so that, when firing, the bullets path rises on a curve that has it crossing the line of sight twice. Because the bullet begins dropping as soon as it is free from the constraints of the rifle, if it were simply fired with the bore of the rifle pointed at the target, it would hit below the target every time. The line of sight is a straight line from the sights to the target. Vision is not subject to gravity, so your eye and the bullet take different paths to the target. While your eyes path is as straight as a laser, the bullets path will be an arch to compensate for the effects of gravity.
The Bullets Path
The first time the bullet crosses your line of sight will be close to the rifle. The exact distance will depend on several factors, such as the height of the sights or scope above the bore, the distance to your zeroed point of impact and the relative flatness of the bullets trajectory. However, this distance is usually somewhere around 25 to 50 yards. The next time the bullet crosses your line of sight will be at the distance you have selected to zero your rifle for. At any point in the bullets path other than these two, the bullet will be above or below your line of sight. Because a slower bullet takes longer to get to a given distant point, it must arch higher above the line of sight than a bullet that is traveling much faster. Lets take an extreme example and compare the .45-70 Gov. and the .300 Rem. Ultra Mag., both sighted for 200-yard zero (see graphs).
The mid-range trajectory is the apex of the bullets arch, or the highest point that the bullet will be above the line of sight during its flight. With the .300 Rem. Ultra Mag. and a 200-yard zero, the mid-range trajectory of the bullet occurs at about 120 yards and is only 1.17 inches. The mid-range trajectory for the .45-70 Gov. with a 400-grain bullet and a 200-yard zero is 13.37 inches and occurs at 110 yards. Total bullet drop at 200 yards for the .300 Rem. Ultra Mag. is 6.99 inches. That is, if the bullet were fired perfectly level, it would have dropped 6.99 inches by the time it reached the 200-yard mark.
Total 200-yard drop for the .45-70 Gov. is 51.23 inches. The difference is that the .300 Rem. Ultra Mag. has a muzzle velocity of 3,300 fps and uses a streamlined bullet. It takes the bullet only .19467 seconds in flight to reach 200 yards and the bullet is still traveling at 2,881 fps at that distance. The .45-70 Gov. uses a bullet that is much less streamlined, so it loses velocity much quicker and starts out at a much slower 1,300 fps. The .45-70 Gov. bullet crosses the 200-yard mark with a time in flight of .53846 seconds and with 991 fps of velocity remaining.
Simply put, any bullet must arch in its path to the target relative to the line of sight. The faster the bullet gets to the target, the flatter that arch or trajectory will be.
Types Of Ballistics
The three common types of ballistics often referred to by shooters can be a little confusing. But its really very simple.
Internal Ballistics. This is what happens inside the gun. It refers to the powder burning, pressure, the bullets path down the barrel, etc.
External Ballistics. This is what happens during the bullets flight through the air. It deals with trajectory, velocity, energy, etc.
Terminal Ballistics. This is what happens after the bullet has hit the target. Its the study of things such as expansion, weight retention, penetration, etc.
Look Out Below
Remember that your line of sight is different from the bullets path. The bullet is traveling along a line thats somewhat lower than what you are seeing for the first several yards. The higher the scope is above the bore, the more pronounced this difference between the line of sight and bullet path becomes. Make sure you have plenty of clearance for the bullet. Its easy to overlook a close obstacle, because you are concentrating on the distant target and not whats up close. Also, things that are close are usually blurry in the scope, or not even in the field of view.
The best illustration of this was when I was hunting groundhogs in Dayton Ohio with some buddies who I suppose should remain nameless. I was sitting in a Jeep, spotting with binoculars for a shooter who had a sandbag on the hood of another vehicle. He shot five times, but I never saw a bullet strike. I do remember remarking to a friend sitting in the drivers seat of my Jeep that the rifle sounded funny. The ricochet sound was coming too soon after the shot.
The shooter finally gave up and in frustration said, Bring your rifle over here and see if you can hit anything.
Match The Bullet To The Cartridge
Even though different cartridges may take the same bullets, not all the cartridges will extract the same bullet performance. You simply cant expect a bullet to act the same way from a .308 Win. as it does from a .30-378 Wthby. Mag. It may be traveling nearly 1,000 fps faster from the big gun, and that changes things radically.
A good example of this is the old Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets. For a long time, many hunters thought they were too "soft" and didnt like them for big game hunting because they tended to come apart and not exit the animal. However, when used at the lower velocities of single-shot handguns, they performed much differently, acting like a good expansion-controlled big game bullet and penetrating very well. (Nosler has since changed the Ballistic Tip design to "toughen" it up a little, and now many of the rifle shooters who didnt like it before are embracing the Ballistic Tip as a great, but still relatively soft big game bullet.) Generally speaking and with all else being equal, the larger the capacity of the case, the heavier the bullet you should use. For example, when hunting deer, a 140-grain bullet is a good choice for the 7mm-08 Rem., but a 160-grain may be far better for the 7mm Rem. Mag. Usually, the heavier the bullet within a given diameter, the tougher it is because the manufacturers expect that the heavier bullets will be used for bigger game and from bigger cases. At magnum impact velocities, the 160-grain may perform similarly to the 140-grain at the lower 7mm-08 impact velocity.
Smaller cases simply dont have the powder capacity to utilize heavy bullets well. For example, the 200-grain is an excellent weight for the .300 magnums, but trying to use it in a .308 will result in disappointment. You simply cannot push it fast enough for good performance. On the other hand, the 150-grain is a great bullet in the .308 Win. for deer-sized game, but many 150-grain bullets will come apart on impact from a .300 Wthby. Mag., thus wasting meat and failing to penetrate.
It is always best to match the cartridge to both the game being hunted and the expected shooting distances, and then match the bullet to all three. This, of course, applies to bullet design as well as weight.
Oh yeah... Slug Guns too, sorry I forgot
Each of these shotguns was tested at either my departments range or hunting with it. Some will have a different opinion but and the end result is choose the slug gun that you can afford and are comfortable with, heck it may end up being a darn Flintlock like mine:D
I happen to like slug guns, probably because I carried one for many years as an avid deer hunter before I went to flintlocks. That old Remington Model 870 pump accompanied me on some hair-raising experiences, usually at night, and I can recall a couple of times when that gun saved my skin.
Back in those days, slug guns had short barrels, rifle-like open sights and no choke constriction. My hunting partners and I shot whatever slugs we could find, and accuracy was measured in "minute of deer" at 25-50 yards. Part of my hunting the private farm entailed shooting a significant number of cattle-killing coyotes, and my Model 870 did the job well. It shot Browning Legia brand Brenneke slugs very accurately out to 65 yards, so they became my standard work load.
Nowadays the term "slug gun" is likely to signify a shotgun that's specifically designed for deer hunting. These guns have rifled barrels, superb open sights and/or cantilever scope mounts and special stocks designed for shooting with a scope. The most preferred slugs are now saboted projectiles that shoot consistent groups out to 150 yards or even slightly farther. In fact, ammunition manufacturers have concentrated their efforts on extending the capabilities of slugs with great success.
An Array Of Choices
Benelli's top-of-the-line slug gun is the Super Black Eagle II, a 12 gauge semiauto in Advantage Timber HD camo, black synthetic or satin walnut stock. It features a 24-inch rifled barrel and will handle 3-inch shells. The M2 Field 12 gauge semiauto is available in black synthetic or camo and features the standard 3-inch chamber and 24-inch heavy-walled barrel. All of these slug guns have adjustable sights and receivers that are ready for a scope, as well as recoil-reducing ComforTech stocks that absorb almost 50 percent of the kick from magnum loads.
If you prefer a pump, check out Benelli's Nova. It's available in 12 or 20 gauge with a rifled barrel and adjustable sights, or as a combo rig complete with a field and slug barrel. The latter features a cantilever, rifled barrel.
Beretta offers its A391 Xtrema2 KO synthetic rifled slug model for deer hunters. This gun has a 24-inch rifled barrel and is available with a cantilever base for scope mounting. The action handles up to 31⁄2-inch shells and recoil is greatly reduced thanks to Beretta's Kick-Off recoil reducing stock.
The Browning Gold gas-operated semiauto shotgun is offered in three slug models, the Rifled Deer Hunter (12 and 20 gauge), Rifled Deer Stalker (12 gauge) and Rifled Deer (12 gauge). All models have 3-inch chambers, and rifled slug barrels are 22 inches long with a 1-in-28-inch twist rate. The barrels are thick-walled and have cantilever scope mounts attached, and none of the barrels has open sights.
The Rifled Deer Hunter has a satin-finished walnut stock/blued barrel, the Rifled Deer Stalker a black composite stock/blued barrel and the Rifled Deer has a Mossy Oak camo composite stock/ camo barrel.
Harrington & Richardson offers three single-shot break-open-design slug guns. The top of the line is the Ultra Slug Hunter Deluxe in both 12 and 20 gauge. The heavy 24-inch barrel is fully rifled, and the gun has a checkered, laminated Monte Carlo stock, recoil pad and factory installed scope bases and nylon sling.
The Ultra Slug Hunter is similar to the Deluxe except the stock is made of walnut finished American hardwood. This slug gun is available with a shortened stock for small-framed shooters that drops the length of pull from 141⁄4 inches to 131⁄8 inches.
Mossberg offers a pair of slug guns called the 500 Slugster and 535 ATS Slugster. The 535 ATS is a pump action in Mossy Oak camo or black synthetic stock featuring a 24-inch rifled barrel and adjustable sights. The receiver is drilled and tapped for a scope. The 535 ATS will handle 31⁄2-inch shells, and the 500 is similarly equipped but chambered for 3-inch shells. Mossberg's pump shotguns are reliable, rugged and feature easily accessible top-mounted safeties and twin action bars.
Remington's Model 870 pump shotgun is available in three slug models, the Express Deer, Express Synthetic Deer and Express Slug, all with 20-inch rifled barrels. The Express Deer has a Monte Carlo style wooden stock and choice of the standard 12 gauge 20-inch rifled barrel or a 20-inch Improved Cylinder barrel that will handle both slugs and buckshot. The Express Synthetic Deer has a 12 gauge rifled barrel and Monte Carlo style black synthetic stock.
The Express Slug is available in both 12 and 20 gauges, with heavy contoured rifled barrel that increases gun weight slightly, thus reducing recoil. The barrel doesn't have open sights, instead a cantilever scope mount is factory mounted.
All Remington Model 870 slug guns feature twin-action bars and receivers milled from a solid billet of steel. From experience I can say with confidence that there are few shotgun designs that are as reliable as the Model 870.
Remington also offers the Model 11-87 gas-operated semiauto slug gun in two 12 gauge 3-inch magnum models. The Premier Cantilever Deer has a Monte Carlo style satin walnut stock and 21-inch rifled barrel complete with a factory mounted cantilever base. The Sportsman Deer has similar specs but comes with a black synthetic stock.
Savage offers a unique bolt-action slug gun that looks more like a heavy-barreled rifle than a shotgun. The Model 210F Slug Warrior is one of the nicest-handling slug guns on the market and features a 24-inch rifled barrel chambered for 3-inch shells. The composite stock is available in black or Realtree camo. A one-piece scope mount is included with each slug gun because there are no open sights. The 210F is intended for accurate shooting, pushing the envelope for slug gun performance.
Weatherby offers deer hunters its SAS Slug Gun featuring a unique adjustable butt-stock that has a shim system for changing the cast or angle of the stock. The SAS is available in 12 gauge 3-inch with a 22-inch rifled barrel and comes with a cantilever mount installed, as well as sling swivel studs.
Winchester offers its Super X3 Cantilever Deer gun in 12 gauge, 3-inch magnum with 22-inch rifled barrel. Winchester's cantilever is unique because it incorporates a Truglo front sight and folding rear sight in its design, which enables a hunter to easily install a scope. The Cantilever base even has a full-length groove that can be used for open-sight aiming if the rear sight is folded down. The Super X3 has weather-proof coatings on the metal and stock. I've shot the Super X3 and was impressed with the accuracy I achieved with Winchester's saboted slug. Although I've listed these gun manufacturers in alphabetical order thus far, I had to break that rule to save the most accurate and best-built slug gun for last. Tar Hunt Custom Rifles offers two slug guns, a worked-over version of the Remington Model 870, and a bolt-action model that's essentially a custom rifle that shoots rifled slugs. The 870 modification in 12, 16 and 20 gauge sizes involves installing a threaded sleeve and barrel. This means the barrel is more or less permanently installed rather than having the original take-down design. The permanent installation makes for far superior accuracy.
The Tar Hunt is truly a custom built slug-shooter. It utilizes a proprietary action, McMillan stock, E.R. Shaw 12 gauge rifled barrel and all the tricks used in building custom rifles. This is a minute-of-angle slug gun, right from the first group fired. This is particularly true if you use specially developed Lightfield slugs, which have a unique post wad that wedges forward. This ensures a perfect fit of the slug within the plastic sabot and optimal accuracy.
As I stated earlier, modern shotguns fitted with scopes, rifled barrels and loaded with saboted slugs are deadly on deer at ranges up to 150 yards. Yes, most deer hunters will tote a centerfire rifle where it's legal to do so, but they shouldn't feel like they've drawn the short end of the stick when regulations mandate the use of a slug gun.
As for me, I still like my 870 pump if I gotta use a shotgun, but i prefer my old Flintlock over even these.
Beo,
