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PT7's challenge -- shooting 12-ga 1-oz slugs at 230+ yards

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PT7's challenge -- shooting 12-ga 1-oz slugs at 230+ yards

Post by PT7 » Sat Mar 24, 2018 9:17 pm

RR -- I'll really look forward to following your summer plan to do "200 yds from a one-knee position. Old time cowboy shot." I guarantee you that it will be very much fun working toward that goal, and then accomplishing it! I didn't want to derail JEBar's "Buckhorn Sights" thread, so I moved your comment from there into this new thread under shotguns. It's just to tell a story of a challenge I made back in 2013.
RanchRoper wrote:So far, I really like the challenge of the 1860 factory sights. My rifle is pretty accurate with the ladder down out to 50 yards, and it's fun to play with the ladder out to 100+ yds. I shoot lots of 8" splash targets which I can spot up to 50 yds, but I need to get some larger paper splash ones for the longer shots. Or a set of binoculars. My plan this summer is to get on some sort of a target at 200 yds from a one-knee position. Old time cowboy shot. We'll see.
I don't think I posted this long-distance challenge on this Henry Forum; couldn't find it. Rather, I must have written about it on the non-defunct first Henry Forum. Here is my story of the great time I had doing long-distance shooting with my first shotgun.
Hope this will encourage you, RR, as you challenge yourself with your 1860 factory sights this year. The story begins.....


SGF post on September 14, 2014 by PT7
I’ve spent range time this past summer challenging myself to extend the distance I could put a 1-oz rifle slug on target. I use my Benelli 12-guage Nova Tactical Pump with a smooth bore 18 ½” barrel; ammo was Remington 2 ¾” Slugger 1-oz rifled slugs. These slugs are rated at 1560 fps (muzzle), and with a trajectory of -4.8” at 100 yards. There were a couple of things which motivated me to try this.

First, I saw a 1/23/11 youtube video by Hickok45. On his range, he stood up a scrap kitchen countertop on end – size approximately 2’ wide by 5’ high (my guess). He shot, offhand, a Benelli 12ga smooth bore auto using 1-oz rifle slugs. The distance is what surprised me. He hit (I counted) 15 out of 20 shots at 230 yards. Here is the video link for anyone interested:

Hickok45 – “Shotgun slugs at 230 yards” – 1/23/11
Shotgun Slugs at 230 Yards - YouTube
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=hi ... &FORM=VIRE

That type of shooting – offhand and rifle slugs – is what I enjoy, and also how I deer hunt. I’ve read that a smooth bore is rated less accurate than a shotgun with good chokes, but that’s the shotgun I own. So the second motivation was to challenge myself to extend my range with the goal of hitting a target beyond Hickok’s 230 yards.

As I continued shooting over the summer, I moved from a starting point of 40 yards to 55 yards to 62 yards. I can fairly consistently, at 50-55 yards, place at least 9 out of 10 on a 12” by 12” steel target. Then one day at my son’s-in-law outdoor range we shot at 70-yard range (paper bulls-eye). I did fairly well for a rookie shotgunner, I thought. My 5-shot groups were all in target about 6 inches, while his were 4 inches and less. He is a former Marine sniper, and is an excellent, experienced marksman. We weren’t in competition, but he always challenges me to go further and do more than I think I can.

He had watched the Hickok video also. So he challenged us. He pulled out one of his 12” by 12” steel targets mounted on a 4X4 post, and set it downrange for us. When he got back to our firing line, he said it was placed at the 200-yard mark! I could barely see that black 12” steel target against the grass/dirt!! I was shooting with ghost-ring sights on my Benelli, as he was…..no optics. For a group of 5 rounds each, he said we should try it off his shooting table with a long gun rest, and trust to Kentucky windage. So he shot first, and we saw the slugs make pretty deep cuts in the ground very near the target, but no “clang” came back our way. I took my first two rounds and also missed them and furrowed the ground. Let the third round go, and when the “clang” sounded, we looked at each other with much surprise! After I finished my 5-round group, I ended with that one hit out of five --- almost hard to believe, and it was a lot of fun. Planning to be back at his range this fall before deer season starts. Some of that target practice is a must-do again!

Wonderful sound when the steel clanged!
200-yard POI.jpg
My 12-ga Benelli with the name of BOOM
Boom_DSCN0402e.JPG




As I continue to shoot and learn more, I read a lot, too. Recently read an article in Outdoor Life magazine titled “Shooting Off-Hand,” and the writer was Jim Carmichel. First time I’ve read of an achievement level or standard for testing oneself when shooting off-hand:

“The gold standard of unsupported, off-hand shooting with a hunting rifle is hitting a target the size of a dinner plate (roughly comparable to a whitetail's vitals) three times in a row in less than a minute from 100 yards.”

I wonder what the standard is for a 12-gauge smooth bore shotgun? Does anyone know that? Also, does anyone else shoot long-range slugs? I’d be interested in hearing what’s happening on your range.

Well, that’s my summer range story. I’m not at +230 yards yet, but close, and will surpass the 230-yard mark someday. BTW, did anyone notice that my target at 200 yards was much smaller than Hickok’s at 230 yards? Maybe I have the edge already!

Hope others have had as much fun on the range as I did this year.
That was the summer of 2014. So here I was, a green rookie with my first shotgun...and I challenged Hickok45! Of course, he never knew I did. I continued my long-distance shooting through 2015 summer. and then went after the challenge.

I was finally ready. On 9/20/15 with the help of my son-in-law setting up a similar target on his shooting range, I sent 25 slugs downrange. Shot the stock Benelli standing, off hand, with the same ammo Hickok45 shot. There was only one difference. Instead of at 230 yards that Hickok45 shot, I set my target at 236 yards! Of course, Hickok45 won the challenge. But I was proud as a peacock with my results. At 236 yards, I had 12/25 slugs in the target, using the stock Benelli iron ghost-ring rear sight!! That was probably my happiest range shooting day ever.

You can do it, too. Again, have a lot of fun....I know you will.
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Re: PT7's challenge -- shooting 12-ga 1-oz slugs at 230+ yards

Post by RanchRoper » Sat Mar 24, 2018 10:00 pm

Our range goes out to 250 yds....but I will work my way up. A 45 Colt slug will have a trajectory like a rainbow at 250 I imagine. Cool story. Tks.
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Re: PT7's challenge -- shooting 12-ga 1-oz slugs at 230+ yards

Post by JEBar » Sat Mar 24, 2018 10:05 pm

a few weeks ago I thoroughly enjoyed going to a range with Shaky Jake and firing our 44 Mag at 200 yards .... so much so that I plan to visit that range again next year when we go back to Texas for the winter .... my bet is RR will quickly walk his 45 slugs right into the target
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Re: PT7's challenge -- shooting 12-ga 1-oz slugs at 230+ yards

Post by PT7 » Sat Mar 24, 2018 10:59 pm

Not certain, but you might be right on the rainbow trajectory at 250.
I did some searches, but wasn't able to locate ballistic info for rifles, primarily for handguns.

From the S&B web site. http://www.sellierbellot.us/index.php/p ... uct?id=157 Your Sellier & Bellot - 45 Long Colt - LFN - 250 gr ammo, out of a 4" barrel, has a trajectory that projects like this:

Trajectory (Inches):

MUZZLE
25 YARDS: 0
50 YARDS: -3
75 YARDS: -11
100 YARDS: -24 ---> This 24" drop at 100 looks "rainbow-ish," doesn't it? ;)

RanchRoper wrote:Our range goes out to 250 yds....but I will work my way up. A 45 Colt slug will have a trajectory like a rainbow at 250 I imagine. Cool story. Tks.
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Re: PT7's challenge -- shooting 12-ga 1-oz slugs at 230+ yards

Post by JEBar » Sun Mar 25, 2018 8:24 am

with access to a chrony to determine muzzle velocity, I really like JBM's Ballistics Calculator ===> http://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmtraj-5.1.cgi <=== after messing with it for a few minutes, I've found it to be easy and quick to use
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Re: PT7's challenge -- shooting 12-ga 1-oz slugs at 230+ yards

Post by RanchRoper » Sun Mar 25, 2018 9:05 am

PT7 wrote:Not certain, but you might be right on the rainbow trajectory at 250.
I did some searches, but wasn't able to locate ballistic info for rifles, primarily for handguns.

From the S&B web site. http://www.sellierbellot.us/index.php/p ... uct?id=157 Your Sellier & Bellot - 45 Long Colt - LFN - 250 gr ammo, out of a 4" barrel, has a trajectory that projects like this:

Trajectory (Inches):

MUZZLE
25 YARDS: 0
50 YARDS: -3
75 YARDS: -11
100 YARDS: -24 ---> This 24" drop at 100 looks "rainbow-ish," doesn't it? ;)

RanchRoper wrote:Our range goes out to 250 yds....but I will work my way up. A 45 Colt slug will have a trajectory like a rainbow at 250 I imagine. Cool story. Tks.
Thats likely close. Iraqvet888 has an 1860 video where he is shooting similar variations in inches out to 300 yds.
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Re: PT7's challenge -- shooting 12-ga 1-oz slugs at 230+ yards

Post by JEBar » Sun Mar 25, 2018 9:42 am

in my world, my firearms are universally capable of making far more difficult shots than I'm capable of making them perform .... ;)
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Re: PT7's challenge -- shooting 12-ga 1-oz slugs at 230+ yards

Post by North Country Gal » Sun Mar 25, 2018 11:37 am

What a hoot! Love it. I say go for it.
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