I just don't get this slug thing

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I'm in the process of just starting to get into shooting slugs. I ordered some .25cal FX Hybrids and 3 different weights of NSA slugs to test (which should be here next week). With these I hope to get a base line of how my MKII (700mm regular Superior liner) shoots slugs prior to my GMI swaging dies arriving. I'm getting into slugs due to the rising ammo cost and spotty availability of pellets. The dies weren't cheap, but they always have residual value so I don't consider it to be a big cost (other than putting out the money initially). Making my own slugs should be cheaper than JSB pellets and I will not be at he mercy of whether or not they are available.
 
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Waaaay on out there, well past the distance a pellet falters, the difference between slugs and pellets is HUGE. If you use a well made and designed slug in the proper barrel, so it fly's stable and true, it's pretty amazing the difference.

I have to admit it's pretty darn fun hitting stuff hundreds of yards away with slugs, that's what mostly floats my boat.


 
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I do understand the frustration. I have two Hatsan AT-44s, one in 177 and one in 22. I had no problem finding a slug to work in the 177. I have been able to accurately get all the way out to 300 meters with it. The 22 has been far more problematic. I have easily tried a dozen different slugs and weights in it, and in all but one case, I was only able to get out to about 50 yards and then the groups would open up big time. The only slug that I got to somewhat work well in the 22 was good to 100 meters and was fair at 150 meters, at 200 meters it completely fell apart. At this point I have pretty much given up on slugs in the 22 since I can shoot Crosman Premiere Domes really well out to 100 meters, so slugs don't give me an advantage in that gun.

Basically I have a slug gun and a pellet gun, with each one tuned specifically for a particular type of ammo, and fortunately for me, the ammo for either one of them is readily available.
 
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I get your frustration with slugs, I've had more than my share of frustration too. I've messed around with a bunch of NSA slugs as well as the FX Hybrids. My experience is that to get them to fly right, you need to go after them full on with your tune, and they like to go fast. I have a tune or two that I can bounce back and forth between the FX hybrids and pellets, but the hybrids aren't cheap, so I only use those for hunting. I shoot to hunt, primarily. Or, to practice for hunting: even if I am target shooting, it's with hunting in mind. For a lot of my hunting situations, I have about 125 yards, and beyond that backstop and neighboring properties are factors. A slug going 950+ fps still has a lot of energy at that range and might just blow through your quarry and beyond. I run .25 and up cals. I have a bulldog that I built out to shoot the NSA 142s and it does so with amazing accuracy. It was a lot of work tuning and modifying the gun, and that's it...that's what it shoots. In .25 cal compact and .30 cal compact, I haven't had much luck, even with the Superior Heavy liner. Those guns are used for 100 yards and less, and the Hades in those calibers is wicked. So, I have resigned myself to those pellets in those compact guns. I have a .25 cal Maverick sniper that shoots slugs well, but I only have one or two permissions where I can let a 33.5 grain or more slug rip at more than 125 yards, so I keep the gun set up to shoot 33.95's at 930 fps, hole in hole at moderate winds at 100 yards. Beyond that or in 10+ mph winds, you have to know your dope. I do, and it drops pigeons quite well.

I appreciate the science and ballistics behind slugs. I like to shoot long range, but don't get the opportunity very often with air guns. I can shoot out to 90 yards safely in my backyard. That satisfies a lot of my shooting itch, as I get swirling winds everyday, and shooting in mercurial winds is always a fun challenge. I reload and shoot powder burners too, and if I want to play long, that's how I do it. Inside of 125 yards, I try to use an air gun whenever legal and possible. I have spent a lot of money and time to on slugs to come to this conclusion. Slugs have their place, as do pellets. The key is to use whichever will work best in your situation. I wanted slugs to be the answer for everything, but it turns out pellets are the right choice for a lot of my hunting (and shooting) situations.
 
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I get your frustration with slugs, I've had more than my share of frustration too. I've messed around with a bunch of NSA slugs as well as the FX Hybrids. My experience is that to get them to fly right, you need to go after them full on with your tune, and they like to go fast. I have a tune or two that I can bounce back and forth between the FX hybrids and pellets, but the hybrids aren't cheap, so I only use those for hunting. I shoot to hunt, primarily. Or, to practice for hunting: even if I am target shooting, it's with hunting in mind. For a lot of my hunting situations, I have about 125 yards, and beyond that backstop and neighboring properties are factors. A slug going 950+ fps still has a lot of energy at that range and might just blow through your quarry and beyond. I run .25 and up cals. I have a bulldog that I built out to shoot the NSA 142s and it does so with amazing accuracy. It was a lot of work tuning and modifying the gun, and that's it...that's what it shoots. In .25 cal compact and .30 cal compact, I haven't had much luck, even with the Superior Heavy liner. Those guns are used for 100 yards and less, and the Hades in those calibers is wicked. So, I have resigned myself to those pellets in those compact guns. I have a .25 cal Maverick sniper that shoots slugs well, but I only have one or two permissions where I can let a 33.5 grain or more slug rip at more than 125 yards, so I keep the gun set up to shoot 33.95's at 930 fps, hole in hole at moderate winds at 100 yards. Beyond that or in 10+ mph winds, you have to know your dope. I do, and it drops pigeons quite well.

I appreciate the science and ballistics behind slugs. I like to shoot long range, but don't get the opportunity very often with air guns. I can shoot out to 90 yards safely in my backyard. That satisfies a lot of my shooting itch, as I get swirling winds everyday, and shooting in mercurial winds is always a fun challenge. I reload and shoot powder burners too, and if I want to play long, that's how I do it. Inside of 125 yards, I try to use an air gun whenever legal and possible. I have spent a lot of money and time to on slugs to come to this conclusion. Slugs have their place, as do pellets. The key is to use whichever will work best in your situation. I wanted slugs to be the answer for everything, but it turns out pellets are the right choice for a lot of my hunting (and shooting) situations.
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Impressive.Perhaps you should post some video of these one hole 100 yard groups.
 
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I made a trip to western south Dakota 2 years ago with an impact tuned for 34 grain pellets at 910 fps. Shot 1" groups at 100 with ease. 

Tried hitting prairie dogs at 120 yards in breezy conditions. Totally hopeless!

I just came back from another trip yesterday. 

With an mk2 impact tuned with 38 grain NSA slugs at 920 fps. 

I made at least 3 kill shots at over 200 yards. My farthest at 220. 

It was total devastation! Poor things didn't know what hit em! 

Call shooting slugs what you like, but dont call it a fad. It's an absolute must for shooting critters long range. 

20210717_111731.1626723044.jpg
20210717_111552.1626723045.jpg

 
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@Moehofer: Holy smokes! That’s some really fat PDogs!!! Fantastic shooting! 


@jps2486: slugs are really meant for 70 yards and beyond. It certainly can be quite frustrating to get it right and many of us have spend a ton of time and money tinkering around it but the technology has matured to a point where good slug accuracy is very achievable. 


Here is a good example why we love slugs:

NSA .25 34.9g slugs shooting at 900fps out to 100 meters or 110 yards with 10 MPH wind at 90 degrees will only have wind drift of 1 Mil or 3.5 MOA or 3.9 inches and still has energy of 48FPE.



JSB 34 grain king heavy pellet shooting at 900fps out to 100 meters or 110 yards with 10 MPH wind at 90 degrees will have wind drift of 2.8 Mil or 9.6 MOA or 10.6 inches with remaining energy of 33 FPE.



As you can see the down range performance advantage of slugs is undeniably huge especially if wind is involved. Then again if you don’t shoot pass 70 yards then I agree that slugs doesn’t really have tremendous advantage of not a little too dangerous. 
 
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That's all I read about these days-slugs, slugs, slugs. I've experimented with slugs on all of my rifles: RAWs and FXs with various liners and all calibers. I've still yet to get a slug to shoot as well as pellets at up to 100 yards. Sure, I understand they have a better BC and are less affected by wind and all that, but so what. I've tried NSA slugs, FX, JSB, and Ratsnipers. None of them shoots as good as pellets and cost more. I think this is just a fad.
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I don't understand the benefit of making posts like these. No one is forcing you to use slugs. It is obvious that in certain situations the slug will out perform and be more suited to using pellets. I use both depending on the need. Many people here use slugs and have been able to shoot them accurately. Calling them a fad is a way to diminish their use and the people who use them. Making post like this just does an us against them and tends to divide us as an airgun community. Bill
 
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Many people feel this way. There are many pros vs cons for using either pellets or slugs for a given situation. Many applications can be accomplished with either. Slugs are starting to fill a niche somewhere between airguns shooting pellets and rimfires

Most airgun target competitions limit ammo to using only pellets. For the most part, pellets are able to consistently outperform most slugs in accuracy at closer benchrest and field target distances and speeds. With the advent of slug popularity, more manufacturers are designing airguns and barrels with slug shooting in mind and slug design/manufacturing is improving and becoming more popular
 
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One of the problems w slugs is getting info on the speeds each slug likes most. People seem to hold these cards close to their vests and most videos don’t mention tuning But you need this info as a starting point or you’ll chase your tail

I was having trouble w my Impact and sent it into FXUSA. They repaired and tuned it using a slug I might never have tried. The new 38.9 dish base slug from NSA. They knew the velocity to tune for

They are shooting extremely well around 900 to 915 FPS in my 700 mm Superior Heavy, .25 mm setup. 
Other guys are having good success with standard X-barrels and standard Superior barrels using other heavy slugs; you don’t necessarily need a certain specific liner I think that with these particular slugs, people are having great success w the standard Superior liner albeit at slightly higher velocities than me w my Sup Heavy.

I do think these guns like heavier pellets like 34-43.5 gr in .25 Just an observation of mine

Having said all of that, I have a 7-year-old Cricket w a 600 mm LW barrel shooting 34 gr Varmint Knockers at 830 FPS. Putting 12 slugs into one hole at 50 yards. So there you are. Doesn’t have to be new. 
Try to find velocities for slugs you are interested in. Easier said than done, I know. 
Call FX and Utah Airguns. Their techs are especially helpful. 
Good luck

 
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One of the problems w slugs is getting info on the speeds each slug likes most. People seem to hold these cards close to their vests and most videos don’t mention tuning But you need this info as a starting point or you’ll chase your tail

I was having trouble w my Impact and sent it into FXUSA. They repaired and tuned it using a slug I might never have tried. The new 38.9 dish base slug from NSA. They knew the velocity to tune for

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The focus on speed is the biggest problem with people trying out slugs, it is the WRONG approach! It works well for pellet but it does not work for slugs/bullets. Only way to get bullets to work correctly is to ensure they have enough stabilization. How do you know if a bullet is stabilized? It happens that powder burner works solved that centuries ago, it’s call bullet stability factor. If a bullet has stability factor is 1.5 and higher then the tune is optimal, between 1 and 1.5 still can achieve great groups but might not be optimal. 

https://bergerbullets.com/twist-rate-calculator/



the reason many “hold it close to their chest” about how to tune is they don’t quite fully understand the mechanic/science/math behind it. if a bullet isn’t stabilized at 850FPS isn’t going to magically stabilize at 900 FPS. Speed is one of the smaller factors to achieve good accuracy with slugs/bullets. 

This might be new to airgunners but decades, actually centuries old discussion for PB world.


Fun historical facts:

Barrel rifling was invented in Augsburg, Germany in 1498
Sir Alfred George Greenhill developed his rifling twist rate formula in 1879, and it still works today

To the fans of the new fancy polygon barres: The principle of the polygonal barrel was proposed in 1853 by Sir Joseph Whitworth


 
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