I know… it’s a little late for this post… but I just didn’t get a chance to write it up sooner.
I’m a believer in the terminal performance of solid copper sabot slugs and this post is to offer some evidence to support my beliefs. I did some obligatory shooting the day after thanksgiving to make sure my gun was still dialed in. Shooting into a heavy clay backstop allowed me to recover several of the slugs. It also allowed me to compare them to a Remington Accutip, which I am not a big fan of at all. In the first pics below, you can see the very obvious difference in expansion and retention. Accutip on top, Federal Trophy Copper on the bottom.
Here’s the undisturbed impact of one of the Trophy Coppers. I didn’t touch this at all before taking this picture. The way it blew that clay open was pretty impressive. In the same pic, although completely unnoticeable, are two impacts of the Remington Accutips just below and slightly to the left of the Federal. The difference in energy transfer appears to be significant. And it confirms what I always suspected… that the knockdown power (rather, a lack thereof) of the Accutips left a lot to be desired. Granted, I am slightly comparing apples to oranges here… a 3” Federal round versus a 2.75”, and slightly lighter, Remington round. But hey, this ain’t Mythbusters here.
Anecdotal is my middle name.
Here’s a 3-shot group of the Federals from 100 yards. My gun of choice was a Savage 220I believe it could have been better, but my rest was less than perfect and my trigger discipline was even worse. I tend to get a little flinchy when shooting slugs.
Take that for what it is and do with it what you like, or don’t. But if you haven’t tried an all copper, expander-type sabot or bullet, I think it is worth your time and money to do so.
I’m a believer in the terminal performance of solid copper sabot slugs and this post is to offer some evidence to support my beliefs. I did some obligatory shooting the day after thanksgiving to make sure my gun was still dialed in. Shooting into a heavy clay backstop allowed me to recover several of the slugs. It also allowed me to compare them to a Remington Accutip, which I am not a big fan of at all. In the first pics below, you can see the very obvious difference in expansion and retention. Accutip on top, Federal Trophy Copper on the bottom.
Here’s the undisturbed impact of one of the Trophy Coppers. I didn’t touch this at all before taking this picture. The way it blew that clay open was pretty impressive. In the same pic, although completely unnoticeable, are two impacts of the Remington Accutips just below and slightly to the left of the Federal. The difference in energy transfer appears to be significant. And it confirms what I always suspected… that the knockdown power (rather, a lack thereof) of the Accutips left a lot to be desired. Granted, I am slightly comparing apples to oranges here… a 3” Federal round versus a 2.75”, and slightly lighter, Remington round. But hey, this ain’t Mythbusters here.
Anecdotal is my middle name.
Here’s a 3-shot group of the Federals from 100 yards. My gun of choice was a Savage 220I believe it could have been better, but my rest was less than perfect and my trigger discipline was even worse. I tend to get a little flinchy when shooting slugs.
Take that for what it is and do with it what you like, or don’t. But if you haven’t tried an all copper, expander-type sabot or bullet, I think it is worth your time and money to do so.
At least you put the time in and did some research to find out what works for your setup. 
.