Slug accuracy thoughts

[rangur1]

My friend Steve and I are slug testing an Epic 2 in 25 cal. Comparing both the LW poly and CZ barrels. We finally bit the bullet literally and started shooting at a firearm range. Problem is wind. Yeah I know, “it’s part of the game”. Problem is this facility has very high berms and what little wind is magnified and swirling by the targets. We’re attempting accuracy testing for slug diameter and weight. We get consistent 1/2 MOA at 50 yards with the best projectiles. And a widening with others. At 100. If wind is calm, 1 MOA at 100 yards, but with wind upwards of 3” groups. I confirmed it with my taipan vet with a proven slug and drilled a 7/8” group of 5 at 100, when calm, but opened up to 2 1/2” with 5 mph winds swirling. Question is, do we just go with the 50 yard groups?

 

[iAMzehTOASTY1]

Depends on: your zero,are you holding over or clicking over or clicking turrets, seated, prone, kneeling?, slug weight, speed,
..

 

[rangur1]

Depends on: your zero,are you holding over or clicking over or clicking turrets, seated, prone, kneeling?, slug weight, speed,
..

Bench rest , seated.

 

[Vetmx]

I have shot so many slugs through so many barrels, factory and built by me, that I see slugs in my sleep. I personally have seen all slugs cutting the same hole at 50 shoot like crap at 100. I never test with even a breeze. So I do all initial testing at night. If you go with 50 yard groups and declare the gun a slug gun, there’s a giant chance that it’s just a 50 yard slug gun. Hats off to you guys that go try to dial in already finicky slug airguns in the wind because you have to. I couldn’t do it. My personality wouldn’t let me do it because I could never be absolutely sure just what the gun is truly capable of.

 

[iAMzehTOASTY1]

Bench rest , seated.

What kind of rest are you using? I use sand bags for 100yrd+ slinging.
Bench type?so many factors honestly

 

[sonnysan]

Have you ever thought of summoning God and asking him to stop the wind at this particular range? The worst that can happen is he says no.

 

[Ranchibi]

Wind is definitely an airguns projectiles WORST ENEMY besides my own inconsistencies, not the guns! I would say also shoot pellets along with the slugs during windy and windless shooting sessions and check POI discrepancies between them.

 

[bowopt]

I have shot so many slugs through so many barrels, factory and built by me, that I see slugs in my sleep. I personally have seen all slugs cutting the same hole at 50 shoot like crap at 100. I never test with even a breeze. So I do all initial testing at night. If you go with 50 yard groups and declare the gun a slug gun, there’s a giant chance that it’s just a 50 yard slug gun. Hats off to you guys that go try to dial in already finicky slug airguns in the wind because you have to. I couldn’t do it. My personality wouldn’t let me do it because I could never be absolutely sure just what the gun is truly capable of.

@Vetmx I'm with you. I play with slugs, too, but no matter what, I feel it's still an airgun. I stick to 50 metres, the farthest, for target shooting because that's about my max range to shoot an animal confidently. The FPE drops too much after a certain distance. I don't want to leave an animal injured and suffering a prolonged death.

I read and watch on YouTube people shooting at long ranges, hitting sub-Moa, or doing headshots, and it's fun to watch. But I don't think I have those guys' skills.

Shooting airgun is fun, and 50 metres is plenty fun for me.

 

[rangur1]

I have shot so many slugs through so many barrels, factory and built by me, that I see slugs in my sleep. I personally have seen all slugs cutting the same hole at 50 shoot like crap at 100. I never test with even a breeze. So I do all initial testing at night. If you go with 50 yard groups and declare the gun a slug gun, there’s a giant chance that it’s just a 50 yard slug gun. Hats off to you guys that go try to dial in already finicky slug airguns in the wind because you have to. I couldn’t do it. My personality wouldn’t let me do it because I could never be absolutely sure just what the gun is truly capable of.

Exactly! This is where not having an indoor facility or option of 75 yard targets to lessen the wind effect hurts us. I also feel that 50 yard trials can weed out several of the slugs because there will be 1 or 2 sizes/weights that perform that ever so much better. just a bit tighter spread . then proceed to go longer with those few particular options.
Set up is basic wood bench, fixed, shooting with bipod and rear bag. Area is east end of Long Island, NY. Plenty of breeze often from the ocean. But , occasionally get 3-5 mph.

 

[mtnGhost]

My friend Steve and I are slug testing an Epic 2 in 25 cal. Comparing both the LW poly and CZ barrels. We finally bit the bullet literally and started shooting at a firearm range. Problem is wind. Yeah I know, “it’s part of the game”. Problem is this facility has very high berms and what little wind is magnified and swirling by the targets. We’re attempting accuracy testing for slug diameter and weight. We get consistent 1/2 MOA at 50 yards with the best projectiles. And a widening with others. At 100. If wind is calm, 1 MOA at 100 yards, but with wind upwards of 3” groups. I confirmed it with my taipan vet with a proven slug and drilled a 7/8” group of 5 at 100, when calm, but opened up to 2 1/2” with 5 mph winds swirling. Question is, do we just go with the 50 yard groups?

Stability factor (SF) is probably way off. Are you using short, stubby slugs?

 

[Vetmx]

@Vetmx I'm with you. I play with slugs, too, but no matter what, I feel it's still an airgun. I stick to 50 metres, the farthest, for target shooting because that's about my max range to shoot an animal confidently. The FPE drops too much after a certain distance. I don't want to leave an animal injured and suffering a prolonged death.

I read and watch on YouTube people shooting at long ranges, hitting sub-Moa, or doing headshots, and it's fun to watch. But I don't think I have those guys' skills.

Shooting airgun is fun, and 50 metres is plenty fun for me.

I wouldn’t put the things you watch too high up on a pedestal. You are watching the minutes or seconds of hits, not the hours of misses that don’t make the final video.

 

[Ta-Ta Toothie]

If your getting 1moa @ 100y in the wind, that's not bad at all.

 

[Ta-Ta Toothie]

I wouldn’t put the things you watch too high up on a pedestal. You are watching the minutes or seconds of hits, not the hours of misses that don’t make the final video.

And not to mention their guns are cherry picked etc.

 

[Vetmx]

Exactly! This is where not having an indoor facility or option of 75 yard targets to lessen the wind effect hurts us. I also feel that 50 yard trials can weed out several of the slugs because there will be 1 or 2 sizes/weights that perform that ever so much better. just a bit tighter spread . then proceed to go longer with those few particular options.
Set up is basic wood bench, fixed, shooting with bipod and rear bag. Area is east end of Long Island, NY. Plenty of breeze often from the ocean. But , occasionally get 3-5 mph.

You can definitely use the 50 yard line to weed out the junk. I recently had a 50 yard hero 100 yard zero scenario. The gun was at 905fps. I decided to keep pressing on and got it sorted out at 930fps with the same slug. Now the gun is solid out to the distances I plan to use it for. Oh, the 50 yard hero combo definitely started going off the tracks at 75. But if there was even a breeze, I might not have been able to blame my tune. I would have wondered, was it just the wind? That’s why I need calm conditions.

 

[rangur1]

Stability factor (SF) is probably way off. Are you using short, stubby slugs?

40 and 42g. Steve likes to go long as possible for that precise reason.

 

[wooferocau]

I have shot so many slugs through so many barrels, factory and built by me, that I see slugs in my sleep. I personally have seen all slugs cutting the same hole at 50 shoot like crap at 100. I never test with even a breeze. So I do all initial testing at night. If you go with 50 yard groups and declare the gun a slug gun, there’s a giant chance that it’s just a 50 yard slug gun. Hats off to you guys that go try to dial in already finicky slug airguns in the wind because you have to. I couldn’t do it. My personality wouldn’t let me do it because I could never be absolutely sure just what the gun is truly capable of.

Couldn't agree more...
Shooting groups at 50 yds or less most times is meaningless..... 100yds is the minimum i judge an airguns accuracy. obviously the environmental conditions have to be near perfect ...which is usually late in the evenings.

Just last week we had an individual with his new M3 30 cal. he had been shooting groups at 35yds and was very proud of his "One Hole" groups. Said his M3 shot sub moa "All day long" ..
We setup on my range and on his first attempt at 100yds his enthusiasm plummeted as he was struggling to hit the 4" plates consistently in good conditions. I ask him what groupings he usually achieves at 100yds......his reply..... never shot at 100yds !!!
It turned out his " sub moa - Tune " was good for 3-4 moa at best at 100yds!!

 

[Justaguy]

I read and watch on YouTube people shooting at long ranges, hitting sub-Moa, or doing headshots, and it's fun to watch. But I don't think I have those guys' skills.

Very selective video editing.

 

[ChuckHunter]

Slugs are serious rabbit hole and there's no magic pill.
.25 seems to be the most finicky too in my experience! Takes hours and hours of testing speeds and matching slugs to your twist rate of the barrel. Another factor is the choked airgun barrel designed for pellets! There's a small window of good accuracy before they need a good cleaning especially if it's not polished to a mirror finish in the bore! So many factors that I'm back to shooting almost all pellets again. After all these are pellet guns! Lol
As a side note I had the best results in my experiments with 32 to 36 grain in .25 cal but your mileage may vary!

 

[bowopt]

Slugs are serious rabbit hole and there's no magic pill.
.25 seems to be the most finicky too in my experience! Takes hours and hours of testing speeds and matching slugs to your twist rate of the barrel. Another factor is the choked airgun barrel designed for pellets! There's a small window of good accuracy before they need a good cleaning especially if it's not polished to a mirror finish in the bore! So many factors that I'm back to shooting almost all pellets again. After all these are pellet guns! Lol
As a side note I had the best results in my experiments with 32 to 36 grain in .25 cal but your mileage may vary!

In my experience, sometimes I thought that I had found the magic tune where the slugs were shooting one MOA. And the group changed the next day. I don't know why that was. But I do like slugs because it is finicky and I like tuning. It feels good to find a tune that works, even if it's only for a day.

 

[Vetmx]

In my experience, sometimes I thought that I had found the magic tune where the slugs were shooting one MOA. And the group changed the next day. I don't know why that was. But I do like slugs because it is finicky and I like tuning. It feels good to find a tune that works, even if it's only for a day.

What you just described is very very common. I doubt anyone is making videos about day one high fives and fist bumps. Then day two profanity and bewilderment. Everyone wants to look like they walk on water in their little videos. Looking dumb just doesn’t sell guns and slugs. But unfortunately the temperamental side of slugs videos would be far more helpful. Just no money in it.