Slugs and head shots

[rangur1]

I have read conflicting reports that slugs work as well or better than pellets with head shots, or that they don't have the penetration ability as a pellet does. Now this may be due to caliber. Possibly a large hollow point at the nose of the slug while great for expansion, not to good for thicker skull. Body shots are undisputed. My curiosity is with limits due to caliber and hollow point size. Obviously a 177 at a large pig is not recommended , just as a 65g slug at 900 FPS is not intended for a chipmunk! LOL! Seriously though, what kind of penetration results have you attained with slugs versus pellet counterparts? I would conduct these tests myself, but I lack a private range.

 

[weevil]

I’ve taken 7 bandits with 10grain Zan 177 slugs, all DRT headshots, but since you mentioned large pigs, this might be more appropriate to check out:

Maverick .177 Porker Down

**Before anyone gives me crap about the caliber: I put in the work to make sure this gun is a laser, and to make sure I know what shots I can take with the highest percentage of success. I do my best to put myself in as close as I can to the hogs(under 50 yards), so there is less room for me...

www.airgunnation.com

 

[Scotay42]

1050 fps 13g jsb KO will drop a 200lb pig with a good domer from the side or rear within 75yds. I Never shoot a moving hog, but within 75 i have not had an issue with anything i have hit a dome shot on. They also explode walnuts. Lol

 

[iAMzehTOASTY1]

Hmm...good thought!
Most slug "tips" are usually smaller diameter than that of the head size of most pellets
Skull dimensions and angles play a crucial role in this as well. A side head shot could be deflected if the skull is canted off to one side. A front head shot could be definitely be deflected in certain animals with very thick front skull areas.
This also boils down to pest...or food...
Food gets it in the lungs/heart.
Pests- vital or head

 

[Sergey1972]

Hmm...good thought!
Most slug "tips" are usually smaller diameter than that of the head size of most pellets
Skull dimensions and angles play a crucial role in this as well. A side head shot could be deflected if the skull is canted off to one side. A front head shot could be definitely be deflected in certain animals with very thick front skull areas.
This also boils down to pest...or food...
Food gets it in the lungs/heart.
Pests- vital or head

Why: food - lungs/heart? Pest vitals or head?
Sounds like you've given it some thought. Want to know the logic. Starting to hunt for food, want to learn.

 

[JaceSpace1369]

I’ve taken 7 bandits with 10grain Zan 177 slugs, all DRT headshots, but since you mentioned large pigs, this might be more appropriate to check out:

Maverick .177 Porker Down

**Before anyone gives me crap about the caliber: I put in the work to make sure this gun is a laser, and to make sure I know what shots I can take with the highest percentage of success. I do my best to put myself in as close as I can to the hogs(under 50 yards), so there is less room for me...

www.airgunnation.com

That mans set up is definitely more of an exception rather than the rule 65fpe out of a .177 pcp is insane. But I agree, I've taken iguanas out to 117yds when I had my impact set up to shoot 16gr at 950fps

 

[iAMzehTOASTY1]

Why: food - lungs/heart? Pest vitals or head?
Sounds like you've given it some thought. Want to know the logic. Starting to hunt for food, want to learn.

Head shots are ....harder? Not to aim at but the head moves alot. The body vital are packed.together. placing a shot through both lungs and/or heart will stop anything. Might have to track blood trails. But you will have a blood trail if done right. Also of you miss a bit, other organs are around it.
A missed head shot is either a straight miss or a glancing blow to an animals head. Neither of which do you want. Bc A no food. And B cruelty.
Just what I was taught/how i do

 

[MEC17670]

1050 fps 13g jsb KO will drop a 200lb pig with a good domer from the side or rear within 75yds. I Never shoot a moving hog, but within 75 i have not had an issue with anything i have hit a dome shot on. They also explode walnuts. Lol

I think it would great depend on the placement of the shot using a .177 cal. pellet. Frontal never, I've seen .44 mag deflect off the slope of the hogs head. Side shot between ear and eye , yes every time. You got to definitely wait for your shot.
I would think a solid pellet would penetrate much better, ice pick like.

 

[JimD]

I have not shot animals with slugs but have shot them a little include penetration tests. I use both MDF and wet magazines for penetration tests. The MDF tests are kind of crude with multiple 1/4 inch thick layers spaced about half an inch apart. But in my tests expanding projectiles penetrate the same number of MDF pieces as domed pellets. I think these tests may be more applicable to penetration of skulls than the paper. But in the paper, any expanding projectile, pellet or slug, penetrates significantly less not a lot more than half as deep. That is not necessarily a bad thing, you could be concerned with what happens after pass through and less penetration would be a good thing. But in terms of penetrating the skull or far enough to get to the vital organs, you need enough penetration to get the job done. If you need to shoot animals over 50 yards away there is probably a role for slugs but if your shooting is inside 50 yards I don't think slugs have a significant advantage. But if your gun and you like them, I'm sure they can work fine.

 

[Scotay42]

I think it would great depend on the placement of the shot using a .177 cal. pellet. Frontal never, I've seen .44 mag deflect off the slope of the hogs head. Side shot between ear and eye , yes every time. You got to definitely wait for your shot.
I would think a solid pellet would penetrate much better, ice pick like.

On hogs i usually stay under 50yds and use these 21g slugs, they just work really well. Only had a chance on 3 now as they are not very prevalent in KY, but they all dropped in 1 shot. I use the 13g on coyote and down, i practice and plink with what i hunt with, you must always be confident in your shot. Pests always get closer than food, so pests get headshots. Deer are always pretty far away where i get to go, so they take heart and lung shots. 3000fps is a complete different shot than 1000fps. Hydroshock is much more effective with those speeds,whereas a pellet expanding is miniscule in the same effect. 21g piledriver on the rt, 13.4g jsb KO in the center. I like the KOs bc they are hard enough to penetrate and dump quickly, not so much on the soft stuff though. They make walnuts explode to 75yds so i stay under that range with them.

 

[N2 Shooter]

As always, it depends!

Once again, here is a video I did with Ballistics Gel, and slugs beat out the Polymags in penetration. I did not try JSB Exacts in this particular test, but I am almost certain they would get better penetration than the Polymags.

 

[Nomadic Pirate 66]

pellets are perfect for head shots

Here is a decent size young boar taken with a Disco shooting the Baracuda 10.5gr at 17 FPE

 

[YamahaR1]

Perfect shot on that pig he was lights out before he hit the ground.