Slug gun virgin needs advice.

[tbrice23]

I'm a center fire rifle fanatic. I live, breath and dream rifles. In Indiana on public land the deer hunting rules have been wierd, 358 cal 1.8" case length so I built a 358 Grant and have been very successful with Barnes TTSX.
They have been relaxing the rifle restrictions for private land ( which I don't have access to right now). Last week at the Indiana Congress they opened public land restrictions to anything under 3" COAL and minimum 6mm, in the bill they also REMOVED THE RIFLE ALOWANCE FOR PUBLIC LAND !!!! Supposedly it was a mistake in the wording of the bill.

So, here I am a month before season starts and I'm about to purchase a Savage 220 with no experience what so ever. This is the first time I am going to use factory ammo since I was a child.
Does anyone use a Savage 220 that has some recommendations or any knowledge about anything I should know about the gun?

I know it doesn't have an Accustock so is it advisable to epoxy bed this gun?

Savage told me to try Rem Accutip 3" 260gr slugs, are they a good killer?
Is a high shoulder shot advisable?
The terminal energy of a slug isn't even close to my 358 Grant and it almost doesn't seem ethical, (but im probably just over reacting. )

Is a barrel break-in even a thing with a slug gun with sabots?

Thank for any wisdom anyone can throw my way.

 

[Rick Richard]

Do exactly as Savage has recommended and it will shoot great. I hunt Illinois and have taken several deer with mine with no problems with the Accutips. Also, don't bother with bedding and etc. since it will not improve accuracy with this gun.

 

[BountyHunter]

Do not worry about killing pwer8of the saint slugs. You will not have a problem
Can easily kill at 200 yards.

 

[tbrice23]

Thanks guys.
How many rounds do you go between cleaning?

 

[tbrice23]

Thanks guys.
How many rounds do you go between cleaning?

 

[orangediablo]

Slugs put big holes in deer, even a 20ga. A high shoulder shot shouldn't cause you any worry. Be prepared for big groups though...nothing like what you may be used to...as for cleaning, like anything else, clean it when you start losing accuracy. I have a habit of cleaning my guns (like this) when I know I won't be shooting them until next hunting season

 

[tbrice23]

Update.
Got to try her out today. 20ga 260gr Accutips, chrono at 1850 fps average at 57° in a 22" barrel.

My zero 1 mil (3.6") high at 100 yards was about 2 mil low (7") at 200 yards.

3 shots at 200yards at .725 moa .

Much better accuracy than I expected. So on my way home I bought several boxes of the same lot#.

 

[tbrice23]

3 shots. 200yards.

 

[middleofnowhere]

Congrats, I love shooting the slug gun. My 220 was deadly with Federal Premium copper sabots. I never grouped it at 200, but consistently rung the 10" steel gong.

This slug was recovered from a large boar.

 

[tbrice23]

Are those loaded with Barnes slugs?

 

[middleofnowhere]

It doesn't say Barnes anywhere on box.

If you are interested, I would sell 5-boxes of slugs and a spare magazine. I loaned my 220 slug gun to a friend and the gun was stolen. The replacement I went with is the Savage 210, so I shoot 12-gauge slugs now and have no need for the 20-gauge anymore.

 

[tbrice23]

I will keep you in mind. I am interested in the magazine.

 

[tbrice23]

Did you go with the 12 guage for the horsepower?

 

[middleofnowhere]

The 20 gauge had plenty of HP IMO. I think it may shoot flatter?

I live in San Bernardino County in Southern California. We have slug only hunting areas on military bases and "shotgun" only areas in Riverside and San Bernardino Co. San Bernardino Co. defines a "shotgun" as having a projectile less than 1/2 the bore diameter. I knew I would never get a sabot slug less than 1/2 diameter of a 20-gauge. When my savage 220 was taken, I just decided to go 12 gauge bolt.

As a project, I want to reload 12-gauge sabots with the <1/2 bore diameter.

I also have another Berreta A100 rifled slug gun with a Nikon Slug Hunter scope in 12-gauge. It's accurate at 200 yards but doesn't feed all the time.