RD's Slug Gun

[Ranch Dog]

Needed a 12 Gauge slug gun for some hunts that are planned. Of course, I turned to Rossi for the gun. I can upon a Rossi Slug gun/Muzzleloader combo (S12-50M) for 200 bucks so I thought I would give it a go to see how it shot. I also want to cast and reload my own slugs rather than purchase store bought ammo. Just like any Rossi, I had to clean the packing grease off the rifle which was new, old stock. Next step I took while waiting for components to arrive was to applied a Tru-Oil finish to the stock.


The rifle is what I would call a "Legacy" Single Shot. From my research into the subject, this and the Turkey Gun are actually the only Single Shots cataloged with wood stocks similar to those built by Amadeo Rossi, S.A. It is a Braztech product but the Owner's Manual is Amadeo. All this stirred my interest in the Single Shots and I will add more later about the wood stocked Single Shots that I've come to call "Legacy" rifles as they have never been cataloged. Since the Braztech's acquisition of Amadeo in 2008, all Single Shots have been produced with synthetic stocks save this group that has never been cataloged.


The Slug Gun has a very nice matt finish and coupled with the Tru-Oil stock, is quite attractive. The 23" barrel has a 3" chamber, is ported, and came with the both the fiber optic sights & a scope base. The barrel now sports a Bushnell Banner 1.5-4.5X32 scope so that I can investigate the accuracy potential of the Lee Keyed Slugs that I'm casting.


These are the 7/8 oz Lee Slugs cast from pure lead as suggested by the instructions. My 1 oz mold is enroute and it will be next week before the recommended wads ship from MidwayUSA. I haven't found any issue in locating load data for the slugs and various components. I've dusted off my Lee Load-All and will start with Hodgdon's HS-6.

[Tuco Ramirez]

Looks real good RD...... Looking forward to your reports when you get to send some lead down range.

[pricedo]

When RD gussies up a gun stock it's too darn purty to take out hunting.
If I had a gun that purty I'd probably carry an umbrella & buffing cloth on the hunt to protect the gun and wind up spooking all the game.
I don't have that problem with my "slopped-on" finish gun stocks.
Those finished stocks of his are show case quality.

[pricedo]

Did those muzzle brake ports come with the gun or was the brake installed post purchase?

[Ranch Dog]

When RD gussies up a gun stock it's too darn purty to take out hunting.
If I had a gun that purty I'd probably carry an umbrella & buffing cloth on the hunt to protect the gun and wind up spooking all the game.
I don't have that problem with my "slopped-on" finish gun stocks.
Those finished stocks of his are show case quality.

Haah! The "Jungle Wood" is actually pretty tough. My rifles, since the Tru-Oil finishes, still get banged around but the combo of the finish and wood is living up to this life.

Did those muzzle brake ports come with the gun or was the brake installed post purchase?

Both this Slug Gun and Turkey Gun are ported by Rossi. The ports are further aft than I would have expected.

[pricedo]

Now if you're going to use that shotgun as a slug gun for deer & hogs you need to grab a hack saw and whittle that culvert pipe of a barrel down to 16 1/4 " or whatever minimum BATFE allows.
My Canadian 12.5 " barrel 870 (shown in another thread on this board) with the shrouded aperture sights is the fastest swinging, handiest mixed game gun I ever held in my hands.
With the limited shotgun slug range the extra barrel length and the scope are needless weight.

At the very least 6" should come off that barrel leaving 17" to satisfy BATFE which is also plenty long enough to accelerate the slug to maximum velocity as shotgun powders like handgun powders are much faster than rifle powders. No need for a 23" barrel on a slug gun.

I'd make the cut right below the muzzle brake. The 12 gauge recoil is "kids stuff" compared to some of the 45-70 loads I shoot and I know from experience that muzzle brakes on shotguns make for a very loud, deafening muzzle blast. That recoil pad looks like it should soak up any excess recoil & if in doubt fit a Pachmayr (fantastic recoil pads) onto the butt stock.

[Ranch Dog]

Now if you're going to use that shotgun as a slug gun for deer & hogs you need to grab a hack saw and whittle that culvert pipe of a barrel down to 16 1/4 " or whatever minimum BATFE allows.

No thanks, I like it just the way it is.

[ironhead7544]

18 inches for a shotgun.

[pricedo]

18 inches for a shotgun.

Typical moose scrub brush where I'm hunting this year. Guns with Pinocchio barrels can literally hold you back. It's like walking through coils of face scratching, clothes ripping wood tipped barbed wire piled one on top of the other. It's a waste of time trying to stalk anything in this stuff. Hunting is typically done by calling from ground blinds during the rutting season or hunting from tree stands 25 to 30 feet in the air well above the entanglement with guys moving through the underbrush to push the moose toward the stands. A "pusher" usually carries a short barreled firearm. Anything with a 23" barrel would hand up in the underbrush constantly. The guy in the stands usually has a rifle with the capability of shooting long range.....typically a scoped 7mm Rem Mag or a 300 Win Mag. A shot from a tree stand in a timber cut could be at a moose standing at the edge of the cut 400 or 600 yards away. You shoot where and when the animal presents itself. If you haven't got the equipment &/or the skill to make the shot you helplessly watch as your trophy bull ambles away once it scents you. There's no such thing as stalking to get closer to anything with the radar hearing of a moose in that razor wire scrub brush.

There are no right or wrong answers...........we as experienced hunters choose a firearm appropriate to the quarry we are hunting and the environment we are hunting in. RDs shotgun is no doubt suitable to where he hunts. In the scrub brush of northern Ontario he'd be working really hard to drag that long barreled shotgun through the thick razor-wire underbrush. All guns are carried on shoulder slings because you need both hands free to keep the tangled switches and sharp balsam branches from gouging your eyes out.

***In the USA is RDs gun indeed legally a shotgun since I believe that model has a RIFLED barrel
Just askin ...

[ironhead7544]

18 inches is the minimum legal length under federal law. Less than that requires a transfer tax. Some states may have their own laws on length.