Shotgun slugs hve been defined for generations (since the 1890s) as a full bore weight forward soft lead designs that were safe and reasonably accurate in choke bore shotguns. Along came BRI and sabot slugs, followed closely by rifled "shotgun" bores. Today there are dozens of accurate slug designs from sleek pointed bullets in sabot designs moving 1900+ fps to full bore hard lead 800+ grain slugs suitable for defense against the great bears. These are all accepted under the same regulations put in place when the only american slugs were soft lead thimbles barely accurate enough for a 65 yard shot. Today those long established slug standards are virtually forgotten.
In the same light, great strides have been made in buckshot ammunition. Nineteen sixty three saw a giant leap to tighter patterns with the introduction of granulated buffer, shot collars and a reduction in traditional buckshot pellet diameters. The early 1980s introduced shot cups and spiral pellet stacking for better buckshot pattern response to choke. These along with specialty choke tubes doubled the effective buckshot range. Just past the start of the 21st century air braking wad technology gave the cylinder and improved cylinder bore LE shotguns tight controled patterns for the first time. Heavier than lead non-toxic shot developments for waterfowl were extended to buckshot for greater penetration. The same wad technologies and powder developments that allowed ultra hard non-toxic shot use also opened a door to larger pellets and tighter patterning buckshot loads than ever before.
The acceptance of improvements in archery, muzzleloader, handgun and shotgun slug technology are not even given a second thought today.
In the same light, great strides have been made in buckshot ammunition. Nineteen sixty three saw a giant leap to tighter patterns with the introduction of granulated buffer, shot collars and a reduction in traditional buckshot pellet diameters. The early 1980s introduced shot cups and spiral pellet stacking for better buckshot pattern response to choke. These along with specialty choke tubes doubled the effective buckshot range. Just past the start of the 21st century air braking wad technology gave the cylinder and improved cylinder bore LE shotguns tight controled patterns for the first time. Heavier than lead non-toxic shot developments for waterfowl were extended to buckshot for greater penetration. The same wad technologies and powder developments that allowed ultra hard non-toxic shot use also opened a door to larger pellets and tighter patterning buckshot loads than ever before.
The acceptance of improvements in archery, muzzleloader, handgun and shotgun slug technology are not even given a second thought today.
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