Thread: Double shotgun shooting slugs

Okay, so I have this old Rossi SXS shotgun, and I have tried shooting a couple of slugs out of it, you know, obviously because I am going to shoot a deer or a pig with it, if it all works. I cant have a semi auto anymore, and two quick shots migtht be useful. Never got more than that bush hunting anyway.

With no sights just holding cheek low on the stock as it will go, and using the bead as a sighter, I put two shots from the right barrel within two inches of each other at 50 metres. I was quite surprised.

With the left barrel it shoots about a 12 inches lower than that at 50 m, but in line. I am not worried about this not regulating together closer, because it only cost me a song and because I can use the right barrel and then just aim off for the left one if I need it, (or load it with buckshot?)

All I need to do is solder a little front sight with a bead onto the rib, and then solder a little low blade of metal at the back and then file it down until the elevation is right. I dont care about a V or a notch, because I can shoot a bead front sight very accurately by just putting on top of the straight rear sight in the middle (the eye will judge it like it does with an aperture sight) I have done this on rifles before.

Or - I could leave the bead it already has and just file a little notch into the rib itself at the back...



Anyone done this before for deer? What about putting sights on one? Will doing some soldering with torch melt the solder holding the rib on?

Or is this all an interesting waste of time.


(I asked an American friend about doing this once with a shotgun, and he said why bother, you have a clutch of expensive rifles, and every person in the US who lives in a shotgun-only deer hunting state, all wish they could use a rifle. This is valid, perhaps even wise advice. But I have never been swayed by wise advice before, I am not sure I should start now, and I generally ignore advice that does not agree with my own opinion. Hence I am still doing it, because I have no interest in shooting ducks but I do have this throwaway shotgun.)

You could use an epoxy glue rather than heat/solder/etc to attach the sights. If you want to change the glued on sights later, a bit of moderate heat will be enough to remove the epoxy.

I have seen somewhere a guy who had one individual open sight on each barrel. That solved pretty cheaply the problem of barrel regulation

Originally Posted by Friwi

I have seen somewhere a guy who had one individual open sight on each barrel. That solved pretty cheaply the problem of barrel regulation

That's quite clever but does mean rocking you head way over and the rib no longer acts as a sight plane. A lot of smoothbore muskets had no rear sight just a front pin, others a simple wide half moon rear.
A tall flat with a simple v at the top for the left and a wide aperture lower for the right both using the existing bead may be the best option if you want "fancy"

try buckshot in the left barrel. might save you a ball ache of mucking around trying to get it to aim ok

Yes, thats what I thought, slug in the right and buckshot in the left. Like a 1890's Paradox gun.

I dont care so much about the barrels regulating together, I can just aim high for the left barrel.

I might try the epoxy idea. Good thinking.

You could put a section of picatinny rail on the rib and mount a low pro red dot to it. Then you could zero it wherever you like.

Yes, if I shorten the barrels that would be an option, I will could put a red dot on it that way, ive seen poeople doing that with double rifles nowadays. I am a traditionalist at heart though.

Thread 'Poor Man's Double Rifle'


Put this up yonks ago.
Have a look at what he did.
Interesting experience with buckshot on bitey things
https://www.africahunting.com/thread...e-rifle.47839/

Made this one years ago. Haven't used it for a while.
Only shot goats buckshot was useless but slugs were very good.
Surprisingly it shot both barrels about 2 in at 50 yds.

Originally Posted by John Duxbury

Okay, so I have this old Rossi SXS shotgun ...

Do you need any reloading gear? Some odds and ends floating around here.

Even with slugs you can't technically use it on any DOC land, can you?

Keep the engagement distance under 30m and buckshot is fine. But pull the trigger at targets 40-50m away and yes 90% its a waste of time.

Slugs out to 50m can be lethal if you put in the practise.

I used 12ga coach gun with great sucess on pigs and bufalo. Both barrels 4" at 50yds with russian steel slugs.

Originally Posted by Oscar

Do you need any reloading gear? Some odds and ends floating around here.

Even with slugs you can't technically use it on any DOC land, can you?

I have got a press and some plastic wads, I havnt figured it all out though, got given it a while back.

I have heard of people getting permission to use slugs on DOC land on individual basis if your just carrying slugs. But I do have a spot that has pigs and deer that is not conservaiton land though.

Originally Posted by XR500

Keep the engagement distance under 30m and buckshot is fine. But pull the trigger at targets 40-50m away and yes 90% its a waste of time.

Slugs out to 50m can be lethal if you put in the practise.

I patterned this one at 25 M with buckshot and that would be its practical limit I reckon. But the slugs were quite accurate at 50M, I will test them further out once I get some sights figured out, but even at 50M it would be perfectly usable