A possible game changer - Slugs for sub12 rifles - short review

[robs5230]

Every one wants more bang for their buck these days me being one of them. There are some slugs out there that some of my Sub 12s like and some that they do not like naturally the heavier they are the less distance they travel which is common sense.

I shoot a mixture of Fac and Sub 12 but lean towards Sub 12:these days. I would love to see a slug that works well with Fac and Sub 12 which would be like finding the holy grail is suppose.

Good luck with the testing I truly hope it works out.

I'll report back when I get more info, but early indications with these is that all the ducks are in a row

[tinbum]

I thought the "benefit" of a waisted skirt was rapid energy loss, ie you can take elevated shots at squiggles etc safely.
Will this not change that advantage that air power currently has?

Looks great for ground game though

[robs5230]

I thought the "benefit" of a waisted skirt was rapid energy loss, ie you can take elevated shots at squiggles etc safely.
Will this not change that advantage that air power currently has?

Looks great for ground game though

Hi Nick.
Part of the design brief of these slugs, was for the slug to be able to expand on impact, when shot at sub12 velocitites.
They do, so I'd say that makes them safer, in any hunting scenario, than popular pellets like JSB heavy / Hades which don't expand and give far more pass through.
There will be further reviews of these coming shortly, which will hopefully confirm the above

Benefits of a slug design, incude a far better BC than a waisted pellet of similar weight, and an ability to be less affected by wind.
Who wouldn't want those advantages, either for comp shooting or hunting ?

[Shed tuner]

Benefits of a slug design, incude a far better BC than a waisted pellet of similar weight, and an ability to be less affected by wind.
Who wouldn't want those advantages, either for comp shooting or hunting ?

yeah, sounds good. I'll be trying some

[tinbum]

Hi Nick.
Part of the design brief of these slugs, was for the slug to be able to expand on impact, when shot at sub12 velocitites.
They do, so I'd say that makes them safer, in any hunting scenario, than popular pellets like JSB heavy / Hades which don't expand and give far more pass through.
There will be further reviews of these coming shortly, which will hopefully confirm the above

Benefits of a slug design, incude a far better BC than a waisted pellet of similar weight, and an ability to be less affected by wind.
Who wouldn't want those advantages, either for comp shooting or hunting ?

There's the difference between you and me Rob, you're worried about pass through, I'm more thinking of missing entirely!

[gsxrman]

The only test that really matters will be the accuracy at range. If they accomplish that they sound cracking and I will certainly give them a go.
I am a massive believer in learning your kit and knowing your kit inside out gives you a big advantage.
If I had to swap ammo between short range hunting and normal range hunting, I wouldn't I would just stick to the one slug that is efficient at both.
I have never really worried about pass through as I am a member of the head shots are us club, a hole in the head and your quarry is dead, whether its a hole right through or not.
Keep the testing going though, very interesting.

[RapidOwner]

very interesting read up I look forward to hearing when these come available to purchase

[SuffolkRifle]

Wonder how well they'd work through a smooth twist barrel? Tempted to get some & try.

[robs5230]

Wonder how well they'd work through a smooth twist barrel? Tempted to get some & try.

They've not been tested in FX rifles yet.

Rifles now tested and good with these
BSA Ultra
AA S400
Edgun Leshiy 1
Theoben Elan
Artemis P15

[SuffolkRifle]

They've not been tested in FX rifles yet.

Rifles now tested and good with these
BSA Ultra
AA S400
Edgun Leshiy 1
Theoben Elan
Artemis P15

Normally, I use JSB 4.53 Exacts (8.44 gr), which are within 15mm at 25 yards with both our STs (Typhoon & Vermy mk1) and 4.52 for the Walther barreled ones (Cyclone & Typhoon), but always tempted to try something new.

[angrybear]

I've just found this thread and its sparked an interest. I run an FAC BTAS FX Cyclone carbine - currently regulated to 26 ftlbs at its highest power setting - with 15 and 20 ftlb settings also available using 16 gn 5.52mm diablo's.

I've been under the impression slugs have to be used with a barrel liner but I see no reference to one in this thread?

I'm looking for it to do a few more yards at ground game, increasing effective range towards what could be expected from a .22LR - without replacing the barrel.

If your sponsor wants a volunteer for FAC .22 trials - privately or otherwise assuming the standard barrel can be used I'd be very pleased to jump the queue to acquire that capability. I use recordable night vision and would be happy to video results on rabbits.

well they shoot 40gn @ 100ftlb so I think you're dreaming

As for the OP, I shot the FX hybrid .25 through my scorpion sub 12 very accurate but ME of under 10fpe, I suspect due to friction, as diabolo pellets the same weight were giving 11.7fpe.

Expansion tests are worth squat, unless the ballistic gel is out at the range your target will be shooting gel 6" from the muzzle is as much use as tits on a fish.

[robs5230]

Just thought I'd give a little update on these.

Quite a few folk have now tried them. The ones who have and found they've suited their barrels, seem pretty impressed.

They've also been used on a variety of live quarry now with better than expected results. I've personally taken rabbits with headshots and had no pass through.
They appear to be doing exactly what they were designed to do and giving great expansion.
Birds and squirrels have been taken by some shooters and they have also confirmed NO pass through.

They've now also been ballistically modelled. Feedback on this is that an optimal barrel twist rate is 1 in 16 and that they should be ok in barrels up to 1 in 20 twist.
The barrel I'm currently using them in is a Lothar Walther choked barrel with a 1 in 17.7 twist.

BC has been calculated at around 0.0490 which is significantly better than the stated BC of a JSB heavy at 0.0310.

One of the big advantages of a higher BC, is energy retention.
When shot at a muzzle velocity of 700fps (11.4ftlb), according to Chairgun, they still retain over 9ftlb at 50 yards. Thats 1.5ftlb more than a JSB heavy would retain at that distance at the same muzzle energy (if the stated BC of 0.0310 is correct, which it may not be), and almost 3ftlb more than a JSB Exact retains at 50 yards when shot at the same muzzle energy

Another big plus, is that they should buck wind a lot better.
Hopefully I'll be finding out this weekend.

For my rabbit and squirrel shooting, I've now changed over to these. They're working well in my rigs and I'm really pleased with them.
Yes they're more expensive than pellets, but I only shoot for pest control, so the outlay for my rabbit and squirrel shooting for a season isn't an issue for me.

This 10.5 slug is marketed as the Mako slug.
The company making these has now gone live and is Precision Ballistics UK.
https://www.precision-ballistics.co.uk/
Hope I'm not breaking any rules by giving a link to the website here.

Rob

[RobF]

Not cheap are they.

£12 for 100.

https://www.precision-ballistics.co.uk/mako-series

How do they group at 50m? It's all very well having a good BC and expansion but it needs to be in addition to accuracy to be useful. But if it's all that good then people may pay for them.

[Born Again]

Not cheap are they.

£12 for 100.

https://www.precision-ballistics.co.uk/mako-series

How do they group at 50m? It's all very well having a good BC and expansion but it needs to be in addition to accuracy to be useful. But if it's all that good then people may pay for them.

You can DIY, Corbin make a whole range of slug swages.

http://www.corbins.com/pellets.htm

[MartynB]

You can DIY, Corbin make a whole range of slug swages.

http://www.corbins.com/pellets.htm

Makes quite interesting reading