Top Slug Guns

posted on October 28, 2011
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
2011102882452-slug-gun-deer-hunter_f.jpg

Growing up in the coastal South, where dogs and shotguns were the norm during deer season, I was almost 20 years old before the opportunity arose to hunt whitetails with a rifle. Sure, I had hunted squirrels with a .22 as a teen and punched my share of holes in soda cans and water-filled milk jugs in my youth, but the opportunity to take down a big-game animal with a single, well-placed hard-hitting projectile didn’t become a regular part of my sporting life until I was out of college and living away from the coast. And I loved it.

I still frequently returned home to hunt where, today, with a few family members and friends, I now own a 470-acre farm. That farm is where I enjoy doing most of my hunting, and while I still find a lot of romance in the sound of baying of hounds on the chase and the deep boom of shotguns echoing through the swamp or across a cut corn field, my style of hunting has definitely migrated from the way I hunted as a kid. By law, in the county where I hunt, I’m still required to tote a shotgun, but where buckshot used to be the first and only option, straight-flying slugs loaded in a rifled slug gun are now my preferred choice. Indeed, in many states where center-fire rifles are not permitted, slug guns are the preferred method of taking down a heavy-bodied buck.

Today’s slug guns and load options have come a long way from the poorly flying “punkin balls” of my youth, providing hunters with zeroed accuracy at 100 yards, with enough reliable flight and knockdown power as to still be ethically effective at 150. And where an inexact hit with a .243, .308 or even .30-06 can force the hunter into a bit of a tracking chore, the size and energy transfer of a 12-gauge or even 20-gauge slug can lead to devastating blood loss and a quick, humane kill in nearly every situation. Following are five varied options to meet every hunter’s expectations.

 

Latest

Trijicon MRO SD
Trijicon MRO SD

Editor’s Choice: Trijicon MRO SD

As can be sussed out from its name, the Miniature Rifle Optic (MRO) is a sealed reflex sight developed by Trijicon for use aboard carbines and rifles to facilitate lightning-quick target acquisition and smooth transitions between multiple targets.

Preview: MAC 9 DS Duty

Military Armament Corp. (MAC) introduced an affordable 2011-style pistol in 2024 with its MAC 9 DS.

The Chiappa 86 Wildlands: A Modern Take On The Winchester 1886 Lever-Action

Chiappa has updated the nearly 150-year-old Winchester Model 1886 lever-action design with the 86 Wildlands Angle Ejection Takedown, giving it added versatility in the way of accessory-attachment points and optics-mounting.

Preview: White River Knife & Tool Ursus 45

The White River Knife & Tool Ursus 45 offers plenty of hand-filling area that is made all the more comfortable by way of well-shaped, replaceable burlap Micarta scales.

Gun Of The Week: Tisas PX-57 FO Raptor

Chambered for the unique 5.7x28 mm FN cartridge, the Tisas PX-57 FO Raptor is a polymer-frame handgun that provides a lot of capability in an affordable package.

The Armed Citizen® Oct. 10, 2025

Read today's "The Armed Citizen" entry for real stories of law-abiding citizens, past and present, who used their firearms to save lives.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.