.410 slug for Boar

[Tazz]

Has anybody ever considered using a .410 slugs for driven Boar.
A double over and under is nice to handle and puts slugs through two wet Screwfix catalogues with quite a mess at 50 yards I haven't tried it at longer ranges but was wondering if anybody had tried it.

If I were hunting Screwfix Catalogs it sound ideal, hunting Boar mmmm no

 

[8x57]

I am interested where you do your driven hunting?

I shoot mainly in France, but also have shot in Germany, and O/U shotguns (mainly 12 bore, but also 16 and 20 bore) are very common. (As is availabilty of slugs in Decathlon!).

Where I would personally regard a shotgun as preferable to a rifle would be where the allees (gaps between blocks of forest) are <20 metres, and the average likely shot is under 50m. Which describes 75% of one entire shoot I attend! In effect, you are shooting at similar ranges, swing and target sizes to driven pheasant (just rather lower!)

I agree with you that a rifle is a better all-rounder, but my experience is that, on a driven grand gibier shoot in wooded country, the difference in ballistics between a 12 bore slug and 9.3mm bullet has not been worth thinking about.

To get back to the OP's question, however, simple maths suggests that a .410 slug has about one quarter the kinetic energy of a similarly-sized 9.3 x 74R bullet (.410" vs .366" bores). That, even if legal, would make the .410" slug at best marginal for driven bore, IMHO. But pretty ideal for roe.

On the couple of occasions that I have shot driven boar in France I was surprised to see that nearly all the shooters in the line used rifles rather than shotguns. There was only one guy that I noted using a shotgun with slug, his was a very old and battered Browning B25. I was told that its mainly the old farmers and occasional driven shooter who now continues to use slugs in a shotgun.
On the other hand the majority of those tracquers that carried guns tended to carry short barreled shotguns rather than rifles.
As you say slugs are freely available in Decathlon.

While I'm a traditionalist and prefer a double rifle, unfortunately I have to report that there were more than a few Blaser (wash your mouth out) rifle users.

 

[Mountain Bug]

Many of the US states only allow shotgun with slugs for deer. I grew up hunting this way shooting an 870 express wearing a twenty inch rifled slug barrel with rifle sights. Many offerings are available with scope mounts also. There are rifled slugs available for smooth bore barrels as well. I would feel perfectly confident using slugs on boar up to 100 yds......just not a .410. Would go with at least 20 ga. or better. Had a gunsmith friend that built a 20 ga. slug gun out of a Ruger No. 1 with a long barrel that would group well at 200 yds.


Scott

 

[8x57]

I had a Remington 870 ringmaster with a 20" barrel it had a saddle mount and Aimpoint micro mounted on it. 2" groups at 50 mtrs. Easily as good as a rifle at 50 mtrs on a driven day. Traded it in when I bought the double rifle as the double rifle is more versatile if your shooting other species than boar and fallow plus the rifle will reach out further.

Ringmaster - was that used for taking Texan heart shots?

 

[Jagare]

Ringmaster - was that used for taking Texan heart shots?

A limited edition 870 made especially for shooting them up the arse. It gave a real sting to the ring

 

[8x57]

Was that the limited edition commemorative model to celebrate the release of the Brokeback mountain film?

 

[Bavarianbrit]

Many of the US states only allow shotgun with slugs for deer. I grew up hunting this way shooting an 870 express wearing a twenty inch rifled slug barrel with rifle sights. Many offerings are available with scope mounts also. There are rifled slugs available for smooth bore barrels as well. I would feel perfectly confident using slugs on boar up to 100 yds......just not a .410. Would go with at least 20 ga. or better. Had a gunsmith friend that built a 20 ga. slug gun out of a Ruger No. 1 with a long barrel that would group well at 200 yds.


Scott

I have a new Sabbatti O/U has a short barrel with rifle sights it was built and sold purely as a slug gun.

 

[Bavarianbrit]

Was that the limited edition commemorative model to celebrate the release of the Brokeback mountain film?

Getting near to homophobic jokes now.

 

[8x57]

I have a new Sabbatti O/U has a short barrel with rifle sights it was built and sold purely as a slug gun.

What length barrel, I've seen similar guns in France with 18" barrels.

 

[Sash]

Thanks, I know shotguns are commonly used in a variety of countries outside the UK, but had assumed -perhaps wrongly- that this choice was skewed by licensing conditions rather than being a matter of choice. Or is not opting for a rifle a matter of expense?

I have shot with several people who switch between a rifle and a shotgun throughout the day, depending on the stand they are on.
One or two of the shotguns are rather more tricked out with sights/Aimpoints than the double rifles my mate and I use - over a season in France you can see almost every possible variation of guns, rifles, drillings etc, and no one bats an eyelid.

 

[Sash]

It's worth repeating the point about his .410 having proper sights. It's likely to be a single-barrel (or perhaps a .22WMR/.410 combo), rather than the o/u suggested by the OP - the lack of sights on which, as well as the regulation might be things to ponder.
Additionally, 'driven boar' might well not offer the same opportunity for carefully-taken shots at shortish range on properly-chosen (i.e. smallish) boar.

With respect, on many driven shoots I have attended, certainly in France and Germany, you do not need sights of any sort. My friend and host shoots a Browning O/U in 9.3x74R, and lends me his Chapuis side by side in the same calibre (based on that maker’s 20-bore frame). Both are classic shotgun-type rib and bead sights, and ideal for driven game - we typically get at least our share.

 

[HunterMoore]

Smooth bore shotguns can be surprisingly accurate with slugs … Fabarm with 24” barrels folding open sights cerokoted and sling swivels

 

[Triggermortis]

Smooth bore shotguns can be surprisingly accurate with slugs … Fabarm with 24” barrels folding open sights cerokoted and sling swivels

Group shot at 70 paces, 20g Winchester X slug

 

[Dalua]

Many of the US states only allow shotgun with slugs for deer. I grew up hunting this way shooting an 870 express wearing a twenty inch rifled slug barrel with rifle sights. Many offerings are available with scope mounts also. There are rifled slugs available for smooth bore barrels as well. I would feel perfectly confident using slugs on boar up to 100 yds......just not a .410. Would go with at least 20 ga. or better. Had a gunsmith friend that built a 20 ga. slug gun out of a Ruger No. 1 with a long barrel that would group well at 200 yds.


Scott

Just to clarify, I think in the UK we'd call a long-arm with a rifled barrel a rifle rather than a shotgun, even if it were chambered for shotgun cartridges. Adequate accuracy with slugs beyond 55yds from smoothbore barrels is not something I've come across - but i can image decent accuracy to 100yds and a bit beyond is possible with rifled barrels.

 

[EMcC]

Firstly I must make a few things clear. I have been on driven Boar hunts in Germany, Hungary, Poland, Croatia and Lithuania since 2000 and my rifle of choice is a 30-06 with 180gn bullets.
In the early days I used a .308 with 150 gn bullets and was quite successful, mainly because similar weight bullets were easily obtainable at the time
On one hunt in Lithuania only shotguns were allowed on Sundays and all the ones leant to us were 12 bore with SSG shot.
Anyway that's by the by.
This dumb question was asked purely out of interest because I disposed of some .410 slugs and was amazed at the damage done to the catalogues and was quite pleased with the accuracy, at no stage did I say I was considering it, incidentally I have now got rid of the .410 anyway.

 

[jthyttin]

Where I would personally regard a shotgun as preferable to a rifle would be where the allees (gaps between blocks of forest) are <20 metres, and the average likely shot is under 50m. Which describes 75% of one entire shoot I attend! In effect, you are shooting at similar ranges, swing and target sizes to driven pheasant (just rather lower!)

With shotgun your leade would be 2-3x compared to 30cal or larger rifle, at 50y. With shooting lanes of 3-4 meters (that I find common) you probly won't get a shot at single boar and with multiple you might try for one and hit the next one...

IME just about anywhere nobody uses a shotgun if they have legal and financial basis to get a rifle. And then they go on and spoil the rifle (for driven game) by putting something like 3-12x56 scope on it.

Dog handlers are the exception, since a compact shotgun/combi is somewhat shorter than regular rifle, it's easier to carry it "proven unloaded" and sometimes shotgun shot or slug is preferred ("chasing shots", protecting dogs' ears with lower muzzle pressure and so on)

 

[Jackal8]

In coastal Croatia we use shotguns and slugs almost exclusively, as all shots are well within 50m, and the clean areas between bushes no wider than 10m. Theoretically(and practically) you want a projectile with quite some energy (rifles need to have at least 2500 joules to be legal on boar). A light 20 bore slug is quite away from those numbers, let alone. 410. I’d be much more comfortable with at least 32 grams in a 12 bore, both for my safety and the (intended ) lethality of the shot.

 

[Sanglier 857]

slugs

Many say a 20 gauge slug penetrates better than a 12gauge slug, so taking that a at the muzzle a .410 has the same or even more pressure, I think it would be fine, it’s basically the same as a .45 calibre pistol.

 

[Triggermortis]

My pistol was chambered for .410g/colt 45 long, the .410 slug makes 700+ ftlbs of energy, way more than a .357 magnum, the .410 slug in along barrelled gun is no light weight.

 

[Heym SR20]

Many say a 20 gauge slug penetrates better than a 12gauge slug, so taking that a at the muzzle a .410 has the same or even more pressure, I think it would be fine, it’s basically the same as a .45 calibre pistol.

9mm and 45 calibre pistol are used as backup on boar in Germany. They are used at very close range for dispatch purposes on the smaller pigs. Most of the dog handlers / trackers etc carry either a 12bore with slugs or short barreled rifle with sling on the muzzle in either or 308 or preferably 9.3x62. And for close quarters a long boar dagger is used.

Pistols usually have the same effect on large boar as darts on a bull in a bull fight. They just irritate them.