SST Sabot shotgun slugs take the proven performance of the super accurate SST bullet and transform it into your favorite rifled barrel slug gun that outperforms some centerfire rifles. With premium polymer tips and unmatched accuracy, the SST sabot slug will fly faster and farther on a flatter trajectory to initiate expansion at all velocities. Top quality, well-designed shells are very effective within their range limitations and buckshot delivers a velocity of 1,370 fps with 8 pellets of 00 buckshot.A shotgun slug is a heavy projectile (a slug) made of lead, copper, or other material and fired from a shotgun. Slugs are designed for hunting large game, and other uses, particularly in areas near the human population where their short range and slow speed help increase safety margin. The first effective modern shotgun slug was introduced by Wilhelm Brenneke in 1898, and his design remains in use today. Most shotgun slugs are designed to be fired through a cylinder bore, improved cylinder choke, rifled choke tubes, or fully rifled bores. Slugs differ from round ball lead projectiles in that they are stabilized in some manner.

In the early development of firearms, smooth-bored barrels were not differentiated to fire either single or multiple projectiles. Single projectiles were used for larger games and warfare, though shots could be loaded as needed for small games, birds, and activities such as trench clearing. As firearms became specialized and differentiated, shotguns were still able to fire round balls though rifled muskets were far more accurate and effective. Modern slugs emerged as a way of improving the accuracy of round balls. Early slugs were heavier in front than in the rear, similar to a Minié ball, to provide aerodynamic stabilization. Rifled barrels, rifled slugs, and rifled choke tubes were developed later to provide gyroscopic spin stabilization in place of or in addition to aerodynamic stabilization. Some of these slugs are saboted sub-caliber projectiles, resulting in greatly improved external ballistics performance.

A shotgun slug is typically more massive than a rifle bullet. As an example, one common .30-06 weighs 150 grains (0.34 oz; 9.7 g). The lightest common 12 gauge shotgun slug of 7⁄8 oz. weighs 383 grains (0.875 oz; 24.8 g). Slugs made of low-density material, such as rubber, are available as less lethal specialty ammunition.

Shotgun slugs are used to hunt medium to large games at short ranges by firing a single large projectile rather than a large number of smaller ones. In many populated areas, hunters are restricted to shotguns even for medium to large game, such as deer and elk, due to concerns about the range of modern rifle bullets. In such cases, a slug will provide a longer range than a load of buckshot, which traditionally was used at ranges up to approximately 25 yards (22.8 m), without approaching the range of a rifle. In Alaska, seasoned professional guides and wildlife officials use pump action 12 gauge shotguns loaded with slugs for defense against both black and brown bears as a formidable weapon under 50 yards.

Law enforcement officers are frequently equipped with shotguns. In contrast to traditional buckshot, slugs offer benefits of accuracy, range, and increased wounding potential at longer ranges while avoiding stray pellets. Further, a shotgun allows selecting a desired shell to meet the need in a variety of situations. Examples include a less-lethal cartridge in the form of a bean bag round or other less-lethal slugs. A traditional rifle would offer greater range and accuracy than slugs but without the ammunition choices and versatility.

Many hunters hunt with shotgun slugs where rifle usage is not allowed or as a way of saving the cost of a rifle by getting additional use out of their shotgun. A barrel for shooting slugs can require some special considerations. The biggest drawback of a rifled shotgun barrel is the inability to fire buckshot or birdshot accurately. While buckshot or birdshot will not rapidly damage the gun (it can wear the rifling of the barrel with long-term repeated use), the shot’s spread increases nearly four-fold compared to a smooth bore, and pellets tend to form a ring-shaped pattern due to the pellets’ tangential velocity moving them away from the bore line. In practical terms, the effective range of a rifled shotgun loaded with buckshot is limited to 10 yards or less.

Iron sights or a low magnification telescopic sight are needed for accuracy, rather than the bead sight used with a shot, and an open choke is best. Since most current production shotguns come equipped with sighting ribs and interchangeable choke tubes, converting a standard shotgun to a slug gun can be as simple as attaching clamp-on sights to the rib and switching to a skeet or cylinder choke tube. There are also rifled choke tubes of the cylinder bore.

Many repeating shotguns have barrels that can easily be removed and replaced in under a minute with no tools, so many hunters simply use an additional barrel for shooting slugs. Slug barrels will generally be somewhat shorter, have rifle-type sights or a base for a telescopic sight, and may be either rifled or smooth bore. Smooth-bore shotgun barrels are quite a bit less expensive than rifled shotgun barrels, and Foster-type slugs, as well as wad slugs, can work well up to 75 yards in a smooth-bore barrel. For achieving accuracy at 100 yards and beyond, however, a dedicated rifled slug barrel usually provides significant advantages.

Another option is to use a rifled choke in a smooth-bore barrel, at least for shotguns having a removable choke tube. Rifled chokes are considerably less expensive than a rifled shotgun barrel, and a smooth-bore barrel paired with a rifled choke is often nearly as accurate as a rifled shotgun barrel dedicated for use with slugs. There are many options in selecting shotguns for use with slugs.

Improvements in slug performance have also led to some very specialized slug guns. The H&R Ultra Slug Hunter, for example, uses a heavy rifled barrel (see Accurize) to obtain high accuracy from slugs.

Shotgun slugs are often hand-loaded, primarily to save cost but also to improve performance over that possible with commercially manufactured slug shells. In contrast, it is possible to reload slug shells with hand-cast lead slugs for less than $0.50 (c. 2013) each. The recurring cost depends heavily on which published recipe is used. Some published recipes for handloading 1 oz. 12 ga. slugs require as much as 49 grains of powder each, whereas other 12 ga. slug recipes for 7⁄8 oz. slugs require only 25 grains of powder.

Shotguns operate at much lower pressures than pistols and rifles, typically operating at pressures of 14,000 psi, or less, for 12 gauge shells, whereas rifles and pistols routinely are operated at pressures in excess of 40,000 psi, and sometimes upwards of 60,000 psi. The SAAMI maximum permitted pressure limit is only 11,500 psi for 12 gauge 2+3⁄4-inch and 3-inch shells, including shotgun slugs, so the typical operating pressures for many shotgun shells are only slightly below the maximum permitted pressures allowed for safe ammunition. This small safety margin, and the possibility of pressure varying by over 4,000 psi with small changes in components, require great care and consistency in hand-loading.