Pellet vs slugs for hunting

[dens228]

Last night I say out waiting for some raccoons. I've always used Redesigns but last night used Knock Outs. Why? Just because.
I have the M3 tuned to where the KO's are literally one click right and one click down on the scope from the pellets.
I haven't shot a ton of raccoons, probably around 8-9 but all were head shots, all did the drop and twitch. Distance was between 35 and 50 yards.
Last night with the slugs I got my chance, quartering towards me I hit it right in the eye. It dropped, twitched, then got back up! But wobbly. Another shot to the head and it went down again but after a few seconds started dragging itself on it's side. A THIRD shot between the shoulders finally ended it.
I think I'm back to my domed pellets.

 

[iAMzehTOASTY1]

Last night I say out waiting for some raccoons. I've always used Redesigns but last night used Knock Outs. Why? Just because.
I have the M3 tuned to where the KO's are literally one click right and one click down on the scope from the pellets.
I haven't shot a ton of raccoons, probably around 8-9 but all were head shots, all did the drop and twitch. Distance was between 35 and 50 yards.
Last night with the slugs I got my chance, quartering towards me I hit it right in the eye. It dropped, twitched, then got back up! But wobbly. Another shot to the head and it went down again but after a few seconds started dragging itself on it's side. A THIRD shot between the shoulders finally ended it.
I think I'm back to my domed pellets.

I've had the best luck with domes no matter what critter. Diabolo shaped specifically wins in my experience. Always go where I want them to. Other(Hades and "unusual") shapes tend to have fliers at the worst times

 

[scubajeeper]

That’s interesting, I would think the Knock outs would have plenty of penetration to get to the gray matter.

 

[dens228]

That’s interesting, I would think the Knock outs would have plenty of penetration to get to the gray matter.

My thoughts too. Comparing the two it may be that the dome just inflicts more blunt force trauma and the shock of it hitting just knocks them down while the internal damage does the rest. I'm sure it was as good as dead with the first shot but who knows, I couldn't just let it keep standing there.
Both slug and pellet fly within 2-3 fps of each other. The slug is lighter but has more surface area with the barrel. I'm going to use the KO's for rabbits and squirrels and see how they do. Plus maybe this was just a freak occurrence. I'm not sure that I want to try and replicate this result though.

 

[Kevinbear]

Last night I say out waiting for some raccoons. I've always used Redesigns but last night used Knock Outs. Why? Just because.
I have the M3 tuned to where the KO's are literally one click right and one click down on the scope from the pellets.
I haven't shot a ton of raccoons, probably around 8-9 but all were head shots, all did the drop and twitch. Distance was between 35 and 50 yards.
Last night with the slugs I got my chance, quartering towards me I hit it right in the eye. It dropped, twitched, then got back up! But wobbly. Another shot to the head and it went down again but after a few seconds started dragging itself on it's side. A THIRD shot between the shoulders finally ended it.
I think I'm back to my domed pellets.

I shoot quite a few raccoons, my opinion is in small calibers it's all about penetration, hollow point slugs are designed to open up quickly, the opposite of what you need for raccoon

 

[Kevinbear]

For clarification I've never shot a raccoon with anything except heavy for caliber domed pellets, it would be cool to have a slug with a good bc designed for 10-15lb varmints

 

[B_y_r_o_n]

As said in the center fire world, the one thing you can count on is that not all bullets react the same!

 

[efem09]

Always used pellets for years, never even shot slugs.

.25 caliber JSB domed pellet will do the trick on most small games, varmints and even small hogs.

 

[MEC17670]

Could be your first shot quartering away went through the eye then exited through the sinus. Impacted enough to knock it over but missed the grey matter. The following shots you were dealing with an animal fueled by adrenaline hence making it harder to drop.
When taking a quarter away shots, try invisioning the exit hole. Hitting it just in front of the ear would have allowed for a 1 shot 1 kill.

 

[peaceful_ruler]

I guess it depends on what you are hunting but the reality is that slugs will maintain energy a lot more efficiently than a pellet. I've recently made the switch to .22 Hybrid slugs(22 grains) and not only do they have a much higher BC but I can also shoot them much faster accurately. They are also much better at bucking any wind...slugs were a gamechanger for me.

That said I would not choose FX Hybrids for any critter over 10 pounds...they open up on small birds like crazy.

NSA slugs are what I would choose for delivering and retaining the most energy.

 

[Nomadic Pirate 66]

If you going for brain shots on medium to big critters pellets are extremely efficient and hard to beat unless the slug is a solid.

 

[N2 Shooter]

Last night I say out waiting for some raccoons. I've always used Redesigns but last night used Knock Outs. Why? Just because.
I have the M3 tuned to where the KO's are literally one click right and one click down on the scope from the pellets.
I haven't shot a ton of raccoons, probably around 8-9 but all were head shots, all did the drop and twitch. Distance was between 35 and 50 yards.
Last night with the slugs I got my chance, quartering towards me I hit it right in the eye. It dropped, twitched, then got back up! But wobbly. Another shot to the head and it went down again but after a few seconds started dragging itself on it's side. A THIRD shot between the shoulders finally ended it.
I think I'm back to my domed pellets.

What caliber and how much power are you pushing?

I hunt with slugs almost exclusively when I had a 45fpe .25cal and now in my 95fpe .30cal and 200fpe .357cal.
Sounds like this had nothing to do with the slugs, this has everything to do with you making a head shot but not a brain shot. You would have been better off taking a heart/lung shot from the beginning when it was quartering towards you.

 

[Jnine]

For anything under 50-60 yards, pellets will most certainly get the job done in most if not all situations (given right tool for right job)

Where I am from where it’s dense with trees, I barely get any open shots over 50 yards so I only shoot pellets.

 

[dens228]

What caliber and how much power are you pushing?

I hunt with slugs almost exclusively when I had a 45fpe .25cal and now in my 95fpe .30cal and 200fpe .357cal.
Sounds like this had nothing to do with the slugs, this has everything to do with you making a head shot but not a brain shot. You would have been better off taking a heart/lung shot from the beginning when it was quartering towards you.

25 cal at 907 so a bit over 60 fpe. I'm sure it was a fluke.

 

[wimone]

The jsb knockout is a medium expanding slug. It will do the job.
Normal dome pellets will penetrate deep vs light hollowpoints. Massive slugs will also penetrate deep. Just like firearm bullets there are slugs with minimal penetration and maximal expansion and slugs with maximal penetration and no expansion. Choose what you need and what is the moost accurate.
Cheers wimone

 

[JimD]

Placement may indeed have been the issue. Projectiles can also be deflected sometimes by angles in the skull.

I test penetration in two different mediums. For skull penetration I shoot a test block of multiple layers of 1/4 MDF spaced a little over 1/4 inch apart. My small PCPs, under 20 fpe, go through one layer, not two. My 30+ fpe PCPs go through two. My one 40+ PCP will go through 3. All at 25 yards. I've only tested a few slugs but I think one was a 25 caliber knockout. Plus a couple H&N and at least one NSA. All penetrated about the same as domed pellets in the MDF. Didn't expand a lot but expanded some but still went through the MDF OK. You are shooting the knockouts faster than my guns, however, so it may have expanded significantly more. A test would tell you. More expansion = less penetration but I would have thought you would still have had plenty for a coon head.

I also test in wet magazines. I used to use newspapers but I don't have those any more. This is to simulate penetration in muscle tissue. I soak the magazines for at least a couple hours so they are saturated. Again the test is at 25 yards. My little guns go through about 10 80 page magazines. My more powerful guns may go close to twice as far. Slugs do not penetrate nearly as well as domed pellets in these tests. They expand and that really cuts down the penetration.

While I've tested a few slugs I have always used domed pellets on animals. I might use a polymag or something on an animal some day but I will test it first. My Prod is my "minimum acceptable standard" for penetration. If polymags will penetrate as far from my P35-22 as FTTs from my Prod, then they may get used. But the domed work so well there isn't much reason to switch.

 

[Max115]

I have shot 5 of 6 coyotes with the H&N slugs 23, 25 and 27gr ranging from 35-70 yards. All head shots and they were all died with minimum movements. One with an 18gr pellet at 70 yards and that was my first ever coyote and it simply dropped dead on impact. I think both projectiles will work as long as the placement shot is there. I choose to use slugs for the energy and the expansion factor.

 

[Spartan]

I like the Hades because of this exact scenario. Expands nicely and dumps energy well for the vitals shots, but also retains most of its mass to still get great penetration on the head shots. Works fantastic in either scenario, and I find myself constantly shifting between head shots and body shots when hunting or pesting, so they get a lot of time in my magazines. It can occasionally take a bit of an accuracy hit as mentioned, but 95% of the time, in my kit, it groups right there with the Exacts out to 60 yds or so, which is all I need.

 

[AmosBurton]

Of all the pellets I found after shooting squirrels, none had really expanded or deformed that much, but I found them in the squirrel.
Squirrel bones are pretty light and fragile, so that may play a part in the lack of deformation of the pellets I recovered.
That being said, I never found a single slug I killed a squirrel with, only exit wounds. Same gun with the same tune because it worked for both pellets and slugs(which were as close to the same weight as I could find).
Ultimately I figured why use slugs when pellets seemed to do the job and when a pass through could be bad, but I am shooting squirrels at less than 75yds.
If I were stretching that out, I'd definitely go slugs.

 

[Dr. Kralenstein]

In my recent raccoon experience, a 38 fpe 25 cal polymag just knocked it out of the tree unconscious from 25 yards or so. When I got to the coon, she was just waking up and I could see blood on her head, but it didn't penetrate. Point blank base of skull sent her death rolling.

Never doing that again. That gun is now dialed in with Hades, which has taken a coon out same shot placement and exact same distance. Same tree branch actually. They are very tough critters.