About Shotgun Slugs
To some, shotguns are nothing more than bird guns or fowling pieces; to others they are a big game firearm. Indeed shotguns are very effective big game firearms, when used within their range limitations. As our population increases, and people move out into the country to “get away from it all”, and civilization spreads into undeveloped areas, the places where it was once safe to hunt with centerfire rifles is decreasing and more and more areas are becoming shotgun only. A handful of states are shotgun only states due to their population densities.
In response to these growing shotgun only areas, modern technology has been filtering into the shotshell market since the 1980s, giving the shotgun hunter a much broader spectrum of ammunition and shotgun products to choose from. Most notable are the fully rifled slug barrels and the specialized discarding sabot projectiles fired through them. These barrels are capable of amazing long-range accuracy with certain projectiles. Even the old Foster slug has been revamped with new technology too, making it even more usable on a broader spectrum of big game.
Stars and Stripes Ammunition loads a variety of slugs, giving the hunter all the choices possible for any hunting that a person wants to pursue. We offer standard lead slugs in all gauges and discarding sabot slugs in 20ga and 12ga. Some of the slug types available are the solid lead round balls and a fin stabilized version, lead Foster type slugs and the improved variants, and the discarding sabot slugs. All of our slug loadings are available in standard length shells as well as the 3-inch magnum. They are also available in the 12ga 3-1/2 inch shell!
Due to the harsh recoil associated with high velocity slugs, Stars and Stripes’ slugs use a special cushion under our slugs and special super clean burning propellants to reduce felt recoil to levels lower than most other slugs on the market, making these slugs very pleasant to shoot while sighting in or practicing.
Long before the discarding sabot rounds and the lead rifled slugs most of us are all too familiar with, there was the solid lead round ball, which dated back to the days of smoothbore muskets. These balls were common in shotgun ammo, but commonly played havoc in shotguns with choked barrels. These older bore sized balls could easily damage the then thin and soft shotgun barrels. Balls that were undersized to fit through the tightest chokes were often very inaccurate, thus the demise of the round ball.
Stars and Stripes Ammunition does use and promotes the use of the solid ball type slugs, as they are affordable, very effective, and offer deeper penetration on heavier game than Foster types, and are perfectly suitable for smoothbore barrels. These balls will pass through any choke without damaging it, so you can fire them in any modern shotgun, even with full choke with no worries. Our round ball slugs work best with little or no choke in a smoothbore. We have two versions of the round ball; one is a plain round ball, and the other is fin stabilized for improved long range accuracy. Our plain round ball is suitable for any barrel type, including rifled barrels or rifled chokes for improved accuracy.
To overcome the choke problem, we use an undersized ball that rides in a plastic discarding cup or on a finned after body, both of which keep the ball centered in the bore, and allows the choke to squeeze in without ever touching the ball. The other benefits of using the plastic cup are improved accuracy since the ball will not be deformed during its flight through the barrel and choke, and it will not be rolling or tumbling when it exits the barrel, and there is no barrel leading since the ball never touches the barrel. In a rifled barrel or rifled choke insert, the plastic cup will engage the rifling adding spin stability and accuracy to the roundball.
The fin stabilized round ball is also undersized and is wrapped to protect it from the bore. It is affixed to a finned after body which imparts a much more positive spin on the ball than any of the rifled foster slugs ever achieve, giving this slug accuracy on par with any of the more accurate improved Foster types, and will deliver superior penetration due to the solid design. This slug should only be used in smoothbores.
The round ball is ideal for hunting any big game up to non-dangerous heavy game and some of the smaller bears and lighter dangerous game at close range. This slug type is ideal for close cover brush use where long shots are seldom encountered. Due to the solid design this slug offers very deep penetrating qualities with little deformation. If you are planning on hunting very heavy or dangerous game, we do manufacture slugs specifically designed for heavy and dangerous game, listed elsewhere in this writing.
Foster type slugs get their name from their inventor, and came on the commercial market in 1936. These slugs eliminated the choke problem and accuracy problems common with the round ball by using a design that uses the principals that make a spear fly straight and a design similar to the Minie ball design for rifled muskets.
Foster types are more accurate since most of their weight is situated at the nose of the slug. The frontal section weighs more and wants to loose velocity at a lower rate than the tail section, thus making it fly straight although it is a conical shape. A spear flies straight due to the same physics.
The other feature of the Foster that made it a widespread success is its ability to pass through any choke without damaging the choke and retain its accuracy. Making the slug hollow and casting it from soft pure lead accomplished this. Later on the slug gained the familiar angular grooves on the skirt that give some rotational stability due to atmospheric interaction during flight. These new ‘Rifled Slugs’ were a little more accurate than their predecessors. All Foster type slugs can be fired in rifled barrels for improved accuracy. Stars and Stripes Ammunition manufactures both regular and improved Foster slug ammunition.
The improved Foster types have a wadcutter type shoulder and are designed for use in rifled barrels. While they can be used in smoothbores, they are at their best in rifled barrels or rifled chokes. The wadcutter shoulder step also cuts a full caliber hole in the target resulting in much more trauma and bleed out, and faster incapacitation. They ride down the bore in a discarding plastic sleeve, which eliminates barrel leading. In fact, all Stars and Stripes’ Foster slugs, regular and improved, ride in a plastic sleeve to eliminate barrel leading.
Foster slugs can be used on most non-dangerous big game and the smaller bears. Due to their soft and hollow construction, these slugs can break up if used on heavier game animals, and we do not recommend them for these animals. We have a specially designed slug for heavy and dangerous game.
As mentioned above, shotgun hunting is on the rise, and it is on the rise for all types of big game hunting. There are people going to hunt Africa and Asia with their shotguns, and people are hunting large heavy game here in America more frequently with their shotguns. Due to the size and sometimes the disposition of heavy and dangerous game, one must use a very specialized slug to be successful and keep their life.
We manufacture a Dangerous Game Slug especially for those going after the biggest and baddest in the field. This slug is an improved Foster type, but is more heavily constructed and made from alloyed lead making it harder and more resistant to deformation and breakup. These slugs are available in 12ga., 16ga., 20ga., 28ga., and 410 bore. This slug in the larger gauge calibers is suitable for virtually all game with the exception of some of the largest African varieties. The 28ga. and 410 bore DGS slugs should only be used for pests or smaller game. Dangerous Game Slugs are available in all shell lengths.
The last slug type is the modern and innovative discarding sabot type. These are truly modern projectiles and must be fired in a rifled barrel for best results. Rifled chokes can also be used, but a fully rifled barrel is best. Although the sabot slug existed as far back as 1898, it was just a front heavy chunk of lead of smaller diameter than the bore with a special shape to resist flipping in flight that required no rifling to stabilize it. These slugs rode down the barrel in the familiar discarding sabot.
Enter the modern discarding sabot shotgun slug. This projectile is a jacketed conical rifle like projectile for improved ballistic performance. These shotgun projectiles must be spun to be accurate, and fully rifled barrels and improved slug designs followed. The early sabot slugs weren’t dependant on rifling as the current designs are, but new sabot slug designs must only be fired in rifled barrels, or in the very least a rifled choke insert.
Saboted slugs offer rifle like accuracy and flatter trajectories making shots never before imagined by shot gunners possible. Most of the sabot slugs are nothing more than heavy pistol or jacketed muzzleloader sabot bullets riding in a correct gauge size sabot. These slugs are suitable for most non-dangerous big game out to 100 yards or so, but don’t really have the energy and weight to reliably kill game beyond that, and their trajectories become quite curved beyond 100 yards making distant shots unlikely. Using these slugs for hunting very heavy or dangerous game is not recommended. Anything that can be cleanly taken with a 45 or 50 caliber handgun bullet can be taken with these types of slugs as they have little more velocity than handgun cartridges.
A recent and outstanding entry into the sabot slug market is the Barnes Expander “X” slug. This slug uses the same “X” bullet technology as used in Barnes’ rifle and pistol “X” bullets. The “X” slug was designed as a shotgun slug from the beginning. It uses a hollow point design and is made of a homogenous copper material, making it a lead free projectile. This slug also has sufficient weight to make it effective at lower shotgun velocities. This slug delivers better accuracy than all other sabot slugs and superior terminal performance due to its larger cross section, nearly 100% weight retention, and quicker controlled expansion, even at lower velocities. Barnes Expander Slugs are available in 20ga and 12ga. These slugs can be used on virtually all game.
As new developments enter the shotgun market, our customers can be certain we will be at the forefront of these improved technologies and designs. If you are unsure as to the application that best suits our slugs, contact us. We will be more than happy to get you set up correctly!
All Stars & Stripes’ slug ammunition is fully waterproofed and uses only world-class premium components.