Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Range report: Benelli with slugs

Said to hell with everything this morning and went to the range. I wanted to 1: better sight-in the Benelli with slugs and try out the Aguila mini-shells, and 2: practice for Og's postal match for .22's for May.

Benelli first. With Speer Lawman rifled slugs, I didn't have to touch the sights. At 30 yards they were about 2" above point of aim with the holes about touching(note: whatever kind of wad they use with these, some of them hit the target too!). Distribution was horizontal, which makes me think the error was mine. In the near future I should be able to set up at 50 yards with a solid bench and eliminate any such error. Realistically, this is very good accuracy for a cylinder-bore shotgun, and I'm quite happy with it, and with these slugs(which, by the way, cost less than every other brand I've seen).

If you've not seen the Aguila mini-shells, they're 1.5" long, which means the Benelli with the magazine extension can hold 12 of them in the mag! According to the Aguila website, the idea was to provide law enforcement shells with less recoil and weight, so could both load more and carry more for the same weight. I also found this, this and this at the Shotgun World website. They come in boxes of 20, and are available in slug, buckshot and #7.5 birdshot. My impression of the slugs, 1: definately less recoil, and I believe less power, 2: accuracy seemed a bit uneven at 25 yards, with most hitting a little lower than the Speer. I want to get some of the buckshot and another box of slugs to test them further. So far, I wouldn't choose the slugs for hunting myself, but if you need/want a slug for short-range use, might work well, even at lower velocity that's a big projectile hitting. Again, I was getting tired by the time I shot them so some of the accuracy problem may have been me and I'll try them from a solid rest when I get a chance.

Ref postal match practice, I'll be able to give the 10-yard .22 pistol a try, but unless outdoor light makes a big difference, I'm out of the 25-yard .22 rifle with iron sights: I couldn't see the damn bullseye on those targets well enough to shoot them! I flat hate having to wear glasses in the first place, and needing new ones sucks even more. I'm hoping outside light and some more sleep will help(getting older sucks, too).

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