Library / Big Game The Right Accessories Transform Shotguns Into Effective Slug Guns for Deer by Philip Bourjaily Years ago, in many parts of the country, successful whitetail hunters had their names and photos printed in the local paper. Shotgun slugs were not particularly accurate back then, nor were there special guns to shoot them. It didn't really matter, because no one ever saw a deer anyway. Once a year you put some slugs in your bird gun, carried it around for a few days wondering if this would be the year you actually spotted a buck, then put the slugs back on the shelf until next season. Today, there's a whitetail behind every bush. The number of deer hunters in slug-only states continues to climb, and more areas restrict the use of rifles every year. Whitetail hunting, and whitetail hunting with shotguns, is a growth industry, and the ammo makers have responded with slugs, that will shoot groups unheard of just a few years ago. Now that we have ammo capable of sub-2-inch groups and better available, all of a sudden settling for just your unadorned smooth-bored shotgun with its front bead sight doesn't seem like such a good idea for deer hunting any more. There's no need to buy a brand new gun to take advantage of the new breakthroughs in shotgun slugs; your duck gun should prove almost every bit as accurate as any dedicated slug shooter out there once you equip it with the right after-market accessories. For less than the price of a new gun you can choose from a wide array of sights, scope mounts, tubes, barrels, slings, and pads to convert your ordinary shotgun into a near state-of-the-art slug shooter for a week in the fall. What's more, almost all of the accessories you need require no gunsmithing, so you can do the job by yourself, in minutes, and undo it just as quickly once deer season ends. Iron Sights It's possible to hit deer in the vitals with no more than a front bead if you keep your shots short and know where the gun hits relative to where it's pointed. I once had an autoloader that was deadly on bucks after I learned to aim it at the kneecap of a deer in order to hit it somewhere in the ribs. We would all agree, I hope, that such a system leaves much to be desired. The simple addition of iron sights to your shotgun can make a huge improvement in your bird gun's accuracy with slugs. Fortunately, there are a couple of no-gunsmithing sights on the market that will clamp onto the ventilated rib of almost any shotgun: All's Accura-Sites and Williams Gun Sight Company's "Slugger Sights." Both front and rear Accura-sites split lengthwise into two halves that clamp onto the rib by means of screws. The rear sight is fully adjustable for elevation and windage and should stay zeroed even after being removed and replaced. There are several Accura-Site models including one made to fit plain barreled guns, although installation of the no-rib model requires the aid of a gunsmith. The front and rear Slugger sights are grooved to fit over the rib, while two small plates slide underneath. Four screws then attach the sight to the plate, locking it securely on the rib. The Slugger comes with an adjustable U-notch rear sight and an orange bead on the front. Because you have to remove the rear sight from the slide ramp to install or remove the Slugger sights, you'd have to re-adjust the elevation each time you put it on, although it's simple enough to scratch a mark on the side of the sight to show you the desired elevation. Slugger sights come in three sizes to fit most vent ribs. I've used the Slugger sight myself with good success for turkey hunting, and a friend annually clamps a pair of Accura-Sites to the rib of a 20-gauge skeet gun and kills a big deer with it. Two small cautions: don't mount a rear sight within four or five inches of the receiver of a gun with a moving barrel, like the Auto 5, to provide ample clearance for the barrel to shuffle. Also, give the rib a thorough dose of WD-40 or some other rust inhibitor underneath the sight. Scope Mounts Nowadays there's an increasing number of scopes made specifically for deer hunting shotguns and loaded with attractive features such as slightly longer eye relief, low magnification, heavy reticles for visibility in the brush, and parallax adjustment at slug shooting ranges. With one of several aftermarket mounts available, you can easily put one of these deer scopes on your bird gun without the help of a gunsmith. B-Square and Gander Mountain's Fox River mount, to name two, fit a wide variety of popular pumps and autos. Both mounts install easily to the receiver of your gun by means of two bolts that replace the pins holding the trigger group in place. A receiver-mounted scope on a takedown gun shouldn't shoot as accurately as will a barrel mounted scope, due to the inevitable play between barrel and receiver. For the same reason, you can't remove the barrel and expect the gun to return to zero when you put it back together. However, for a low price you can bring all the advantages of a scope--magnification, improved light gathering, clear view of the target--to a shotgun. The B-Square slides over both sides of the receiver and essentially clamps to itself, providing a very solid arrangement. There's also an opening underneath the scope mount that allows you to use iron sights if you wish. The one-side Fox River mount may be less stable than the B-Square but it does offer a better view of the target if you use it as a peek-through mount. B-Square mounts are available for A-5, BPS; the Ithaca 37 and 87; Mossberg 500, 712/5500, 835, and Maverick; USRAC Ranger, 1200, 1300, 1400, 1500; and Remington 870 and 1100, including left-hand and 20-gauge models. The Fox River mount fits the Savage 67; Winchester Ranger; A-5; Mossberg 500 and 600; and Remington 870, 1100, 11-87 in both 12-and 20-gauges. Remington owners may find the clever B-G Rib mount to be the ideal solution to mounting a scope on their 870, 1100, or 11-87. The B-G is an actual cantilever mount that clamps directly to the rib by means of a plate that fits under the rib, not unlike the Slugger iron sights mentioned above. Two set screws on the side of the unit serve to make the fit extra-snug and eliminate wobble. The B-G mount allows the mounting of a normal eye relief scope on a ribbed barrel with standard Weaver-style rings. Moreover, since the mount attaches to the barrel, the gun can be taken down and put back together without affecting its zero. Tubes Any shotgun tapped for a choke system can be fitted with a rifled tube to improve accuracy. While driving a slug at full speed into short section of rifling at the end of a barrel isn't the best way to stabilize it, rifled tubes can nonetheless convert a smoothbore into a much more accurate shooter. I've used Browning's rifled tube in a BPS to shoot sub-3-inch, five-shot groups at 100 yards with Winchester Sabot slugs, including one that measured a mere 1 7/8 inches. The Browning tube is 5 inches long and extends well past the end of the barrel. While it looks a little odd, the extra length helps better stabilize slugs and contributes to the tube's remarkable accuracy. The Browning tube fits Browning Invector (but not Invector Plus) guns, although the company does not recommend its use with the A-5. I've also achieved good results with another extended tube, Winchester's Sabot tube, which printed three-shot groups under 2 inches (and one as small as 3/4 of an inch) at 50 yards. Remington, who originally offered a flush-fitting rifled tube has recently added a lengthened rifled Rem-choke to their line. If one of those three tubes doesn't fit the choke system you gun uses, try Colonial Arms or Cation, both of whom make extended rifled tubes for a number of popular systems. With any rifled tube, be sure to loosen and re-seat it every few shots, or the torque of the slugs passing through the rifling will screw it on too tight to remove. If you are required by law to hunt with a smoothbore gun, stick with IC, skeet, or cylinder for best results. Generally speaking, the smooth tubes work well with traditional foster-styled slugs or tailed slugs like the Activ, while the sabot slugs from Winchester and Federal give optimum performance in rifled tubes. Barrels Probably the best way to turn your bird gun into a slug shooter is to buy a slug barrel. Although a barrel will run between $100-$250, you'll appreciate the convenience of a barrel that can be removed in seconds with sights intact, permitting you to simply swap barrels, re-check the zero (which, likely, will not have changed) and go hunting. Moreover, the full-length rifled barrels available from Remington, Mossberg, and Winchester, and from Hastings for a variety of models, will flat-out shoot. While it's true that the most accurate shotguns have their barrels fixed rigidly to the receiver plus a receiver mounted scope, the cantilevered, rifled barrels on the market will shoot extremely well. I recently tested a Mossberg 500 with a slug barrel and turned in 3-inch, five-shot 100 yard groups with Federal Premium Sabot ammunition. Performance like that, virtually unheard of 10 years ago, is normal for most rifled aftermarket barrels and a good scope. Several models are also available with iron sights if you'd rather. Hastings, the Kansas outfit that helped kick off the whole rifled slug barrel revolution with its 1 inch in 34 twist barrels imported from France, makes models to fit the BPS; Mossberg 500; Remington 870, 1100, and 11-87; Ithaca 37; Auto 5; and others. In addition, Hastings has added barrels for 870s and 1100s in 20-gauge and plans to expand their 20-gauge line if customer demand warrants. Cheek Pads Once you've fitted your bird gun with sights or a scope, you'll find the gun's comb is now too low. There are several products to choose from that will raise the comb of your shotgun for quicker aim and more comfortable shooting. One simple, low-cost, easily removable remedy is the Kickeez sorbothane pad. Sorbothane is a shock absorbing polymer material that Kick-Eez makes into some of the softest recoil pads around. Their Cheek-Eez pad is a 3/16-inch thick adhesive-backed, teardrop shaped pad that sticks on to the comb of your gun and provides, in effect, an instant Monte Carlo stock. I've used them for trapshooting with field guns, and there's one on my iron-sighted turkey gun even as I write this. Sorbothane pads will not only raise the comb of your gun, they'll soften the recoil of hard-kicking slugs. You can buy sheets of the stuff and cut strips to layer it onto the comb until you reach the desired height, then cover it with a full-sized piece to make your gun fit you perfectly. Thus far, the adhesive hasn't hurt the finish of my stocks, either. Another product worth looking at is Meadow Industries Convert-A-Stock kit. A thin sheet of naugahyde fits over the comb and attaches to Velcro strips that stick onto the stock. Interchangeable spacers provided with the kit allow you to build the comb up to whatever height you desire. Meadow makes two versions, one with enough pads to effect changes from 1/16 inch to 3/8 inch, another that allows a full 5/8 inch increase in the comb's height. Cabela's sells a nice leather lace-on Monte Carlo pad in three heights--1/4 inch, 1/2 inch and 3/4 inch--which will fit onto a gun in seconds and removes just as quickly. I've used this pad and find it to be both well-made and handsome. Finally, Speedfeed Inc., offers synthetic Monte Carlo stocks for 870, 1100, and 11-87 12-gauges, with dimensions that will raise the comb by 3/4 inch for slug shooting. The Speedfeed stocks come complete with recoil pads and come in black. Triggers Most shotguns (including, frankly, most slug specials) suffer from heavy, creepy trigger pulls. You may not feel a 10-pound pull when your swinging after a fast-disappearing grouse, but you certainly will notice it when you try to squeeze off a measured shot at a standing whitetail. My guess is, slug gun manufacturers and aftermarket accessory makers will address this problem in the next few years. For now, though, outside of a few Timney triggers designed for Hasting (but no longer made) floating around at gun shows, there's no accessory trigger to buy. A competent gunsmith, however, can smooth a trigger considerably and lighten the pull somewhat, too, an operation anyone serious about accurate slug shooting should consider. As an added benefit, you might find your wing and clay target shooting improves with a crisp trigger, too. Range Finders A range finder won't make your gun more accurate, but range estimation is critical to good slug shooting at longer ranges. The reason? Even the flattest shooting sabot slugs drop quickly, especially after they pass the 100-yard mark. You need to have a very good idea of exactly how far away your deer is standing if you hope to make shots in the 100-125 yard range. A range finder perfectly suited to the needs of slug shooters is the Ranging 200, a device calibrated to measure distances from 15 to 200 yards with +/- 1 1/2 yard accuracy at 100 yards. The R-200 is a "coincidence" range finder, using mirrors and beam splitters to produce two separate images of an object. Just twiddle the distance indicator knob until the two images come together as one, then read the range on top. It's a very quick, easy-to-use system. Rather than using the R-200 on an actual deer, I'd suggest picking out landmarks--trees, rocks, brush piles--and figuring the distance to each from your stand, then using them as range markers. In the off-season, carry the Ranging 200 with you and practice guessing at the range of far-off objects, then check your estimate with the range finder until judging distances from 50 to 150 yards becomes second nature to you. Slings Most shotgun slings--the kind that loop over the barrel and stock of a gun--aren't aids to accuracy, but merely carry straps. The right rifle-type sling, on the other hand, can make the difference between a hit or miss when you have to shoot quickly from an unsupported position. With a little practice, you can quickly slip your left arm through the sling and brace your gun securely in an instant. The best slings for shooting are the simple 1 to 1 1/4 inch strap rather than the wide slings made more for carrying than shooting. Browning's Lightning sling, which I used on a hunt last fall, is one such sling, made of black nylon and designed to be adjusted instantly with one hand. Another good nylon sling is Uncle Mike's Mountain Sling, a 1 1/4 inch wide strap that adjusts easily with a pull on a plastic buckle. Uncle Mike's sells a huge variety of other slings too, including the classic leather military style sling that many shooters prefer. Uncle Mike's and the Williams Gun Sight Company both offer sling swivels for just about any shotgun, either barrel bands or models that require a hole drilled in a magazine cap. Browning sells magazine caps for their own guns, and Hastings makes a magazine cap with sling swivel stud and built-in choke tube wrench for the ubiquitous 870 and 11-87s, plus Browning's A-5 and BPS. The sling, needless to say, also comes in handy for leaving both hands free when dragging home a deer, an occurrence you'll find, I suspect, far more frequent if you take the time and effort to track down the right accurizing accessories before next season. Copyright © 1995 Philip Bourjaily. All rights reserved.