developments in the newer muzzleloaders and advanced sabot load configurations in other rifled and smoothbore white-tail harvesting systems. This new 20 gauge 31/2" slugger sends its 0.615 caliber sabot-installed lead projectile out of a 20 gauge rifled barrel (Paradox Hastings System) at 2,000 fps or more, and develops a hard-hitting 1,782 ft/lbs of energy at 100 yards. That moves this slug gun, legal in all 50 states, right into the class of the .45-70 Government buffalo rifle, and even some elements of the very powerful .458 Magnum. In other words, the modern shotgun slug has arrived, and done so with flying colors … or in my case exploding buffalo hair blowing in a strong South Dakota winter wind. The New ShoTShell
In terms of just what the 31/2" 20 gauge is all about, we
need to take a look at what Bob Rott was researching for many years prior to the new shotshell’s development. Bob has always been very interested in English express rifles that have developed a reputation as dangerous game stoppers in Africa. Because Hastings has built Paradox barrels for many years, and in fact was the first to use rifled barrels in sabot slug systems (BRI), Hastings has always been a step ahead of everyone in the industry in terms of advanced slug gun development. Now, the 20 gauge, because of its basic balance between down-the-bore ballistics and terminal (or at target) effectiveness, is so good Bob Rott decided to go with this configuration rather than the massive and unwieldy 12 bore shotgun and 12 bore shotshell. At 1,000 revolutions per second based on his 1:24" twist
barrels, this slug retains stability, and is deadly accurate to 175 through 200 yards. Yes, that’s correct. This is a 200-yard slug gun if required, and we used the gun and shotshell on buffalo and for punching paper deer targets. The Hastings “Laser Accurate” slug is made up of a
350-grain lead slug with a very large flat nose, followed by a cylinder-shaped rear section that is smaller than the nose section. This slug looks a whole lot like a ship’s rivet. When installed in its ride-along sabot (with a weight of 60 grains), the whole projectile leaves the barrel with a launch weight of 410 grains. After leaving the gun barrel this projectile and sabot
combo stay together until impacting a target. That is to say, when the lead rivet-shaped slug hits the target the sabot starts to peel away from the main core of the lead slug. In effect, everything in the projectile is working as a unit until reaching the target, or as I have found, well into the target at times. What takes place when this projectile hits an animal is as fol- lows. Based on seven white-tail buck kills and four does here in the Hills, as well as five buffalo up to 1,000 pounds each, I tend to believe that the Hastings Laser sabot acts much like a shaped charge round in an armor-penetrating projectile. When the slug makes contact with the animal the nose is pure soft lead and takes the rough shape of the target surface, such as bone, tissue, etc. After that the remaining stem or rod at the rear of the projectile continues to move forward and through the nose section. This rod is held in check shape-wise because of the heavy 60-grain sabot that contains the pure lead rod. Bring this all together and you have a deep penetrator that will produce a massive wound channel and extensive damage. Richard Knoster, the man who developed the slug sys- tem, has bailed out a number of outfits in the slug business
over the years, largely because of his engineering know-how. The Knoster design in the Hastings Laser Accurate slug is no different here. This new system is a marriage between the new slug and the new 31/2" super 20 gauge shotshell. The GuN
The prototype gun I used on buffalo in South Dakota is
a first of its kind Hastings/Hagn single-shot rifled shotgun. The gun is based on a falling block design much like the old buffalo guns, but with some very modern touches added. This gun (at a cost that would drop a buffalo) is going to be offered only on a fully handmade custom basis by next year. Then the market gun designed for this new load will be a modestly priced hinge-action H&R modified to use the Hastings “wild- cat” 20 gauge 31/2" round. With rifled barrels at 28 to 1 twist, a hunter can expect groups inside two inches at 100 yards, and big game accuracy at 200 yards when required. Currently 100 of these are being built by Hastings, and to date a large number of those have been picked up by various wholesale agencies. In terms of ammunition, like the guns, loads have been sold even prior to mass ammunition production at the new Hastings Ammunition Division located in Alum Bank, Pennsylvania. In effect, Hastings has the gun and load, as well as the manufacturing backbone, to keep this event alive and well in the world of sport shooting. I have been informed that a mid-priced Sharps-type
slug gun will be offered a bit later. To my way of thinking this would be the best of all worlds for those with some extra cash. Here you would have a fast-handling and well-balanced shotgun turned heavy caliber big game harvesting system.
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