Category Archives: General Questions

Dear Randy, What makes lightfield ammo, specifically the 3″ commander IDS and the Commander IDS Plus 3.5″ cartridges with so much more velocity than other major magnum brand slugs? How is the extreme velocity accomplished? Please specify. Thank You, Robert Santini robertsantini@att.net

Because slugs are all we make. We have had our own powders formulated for the weight slug we use and how fast we want it to go.

The same holds true with the TarHunt slug guns. “It cost less to buy the best”. We are serious about sabot slugs and slug guns. Not just loading slugs and making guns as one of 1000 different types of products.

I have a remington 1187 with cantilever scope mount with red dot scope that i use only for shooting hornady sst…i see you do conversions for the 870…do you guys do your barrell conversions for that gun?

TarHunt only converts the 870 Rem. pump guns. I cannot convert any of the auto loaders because the owner must be able to remove the barrel to service the gas ports from time to time.

We are now pinning the barrels on these gas guns.
7/28/10

Aside from any obvious things, how can one tell when a scope has gone bad?

If you shoot a number of rounds without changing the adjusters or the point of aim, a bad scope will start to show two or three separate groups, sometimes in a triangular shape. Each impact point will form a group, if enough rounds are fired. But the slug impact will move from one to the other group in between shots. Shots that continually go against the wind is another good indication…

Hi Randy! I have read about the effect cross winds have on slugs, specifically when they are travelling less than supersonic, for example at 100 yards. My questions is what is the effect of direct head-on wind and direct tail wind on a slug? I would assume it will move point of impact up or down but which way? Thanks, Dan

Dan, A direct head wind, wind pushing on the nose of the slug, will push the slug impact lower. A tail wind tends to hold the slug up, making it seem as if it dosen’t drop a much. ANY ANGLE other than directly on the nose or tail, off of the center line pushing on a slug, and all bets are off as to how much it will move and in what direction it will go. It then becomes a differential pressure issue.

I am considering ordering your RSG-12 gun. I am a right-handed shooter that is left eye dominant. Does that have any effect on how a gun would be assembled for me? Thx!
If you are right handed and have a left dominate eye we can build you a right hand operating bolt gun and fit it into a left hand stock to match your left eye dominance.

What is the ideal length barrel for a slug gun? Is there any real advantage of longer over a shorter barrel? Thank you.

Most all powders used in 2 3/4″ shells will achieve full velocity in a 20″ barrel.
Some 3″ slugs may need up to a 24″ barrel to achieve max. Velocity.
If they are fired in the shorter 20″barrel they could lose about 90 ft/sec.

Cold temperatures (10 degrees or below) will have a much greater velocity loss, in any length barrel, than the difference between a 20″ and a 24″ barrel gives you at 35 degrees and above.
Muzzle blast/flash is always more in shorter barrels.
20″ barrels are much nicer to hunt with.
I hunt with a 22″ barrel.
Randy

Randy I have rem. 1100 3″ 20″ barrel which slug commander or elite.

Dominick,
I would use the “Hybred Elite” on deer size game and under, and the “Commander IDS PLUS” on game weighting over 300 pounds.
The 20″ barrel will work with either sabot slug. You may lose 50ft/sec.  Because of that barrel being 3 inches shorter that normal and it is an auto loader.

The “Commander IDS PLUS” is Lightfields “Heavy Game” sabot. A 600 grain
(1 3/8oz) @ 1700ft/sec.  That’s a real Heavy weight sabot to use on deer size game!
Randy

In the past 5 years I have shot Lightfield high brass slug. These slug are sighted in using a lead sled at 50yards. All shot touching each other. When they went to low brass the shots are sometime at least 2inch off. Lightfield sent 3 boxes of there old high brass plus 3 boxes of their TKO 67 low brass. The high brass did great. But the TKO 67 shell when check before firing there were 2 shell that felt loose in there hull. These shell were mark in the other member of are team did not know this. These are the 2 shots that are out at least 2 inches. Please note I buy all my ammo with the same lot number. Are they having a problem with the way they are ship. Thank you.

Donald,

First of all shotgun shells come with brass coated steel heads in various heights and some are all plastic.
There are 8mm, 12mm, 16mm, 20mm and 25mm in heights, just to name a few. These heads are on the shell primarily to improve extraction. Max. Allowable pressure for a 12ga. round is 11,500 psi. All of the different heights of can withstand about 13,000psi. before deforming.
So that means any height of head will do. All of these different heights are made for smoke and mirrors for the end customer. After all who would believe a 8mm length head (just over a ¼”) could be a real 3” mag.
Lightfield has used different head lengths over the years, including an all plastic hull with no head. I mention this just to make my point.

I would need to know the lot numbers of these different shell to make sense out of what you’re asking. I can tell you that any slug we make will have all the same lot of powder in it in any given year’s production. Each year means a different lot of powder and usually means a slightly different point of impact. You’re 2 inch deviation sounds about right.
I can say that any type of sabot slug that is lose in the hull may cause accuracy issues regardless of manufacture.

Because Lightfield sabots are designed to expand (upset) to the bore size of your barrel upon firing, poor accuracy is less of an issue with Lightfields due to a lose slug…

Randy

Randy,

I recently bought a used 870 tarhunt with the black synthetic stock. Will the new style Remington super cell recoil pads work on this stock? This gun will shoot one ragged hole at 100 yds with the Lightfields. I am a believer now that shotguns are as good as many of my rifles to 150 yds. Thanks for your time…

Ted,
DSG-12 slug guns are as accurate as production rifles, lose barrel slug guns are STILL SHOT GUNS!!  Glad you like the DSG Conversion from TarHunt.

There are at least two different version of the Super Cell pad from Rem. and possible three generation of black syn. stocks. Not all of the different generation work together. With seeing the stock I can not say for sure which to use with what?
Randy

I have been using Lightfields since they first came on the market in my Ithaca Model 87 12 gauge featherweight. It is chambered for 3 inch, however, the recoil is devastating even on the 2 3/4 hybrids. I caught scope eye, twice in the same day, (actually caught the bridge of my nose), the second one really hurt but more importantly, I dropped both deer. Any recommendations to take some of the recoil out of that gun? My son uses the H&R single shot with the Hybrid Elites with devastating results, the H&R of course is a 10guage bored out to 12 and is super heavy.

Robert,

Because of its light weight the Ithaca 87 has a reputation of being a Hard Kicker with any high performance slug. I have heard that from countless hunters over the last 20 years. Have you tried the 2 3/4″ Hybred Lites?

The only thing I can assume is that you are not holding on hard enough to the forend of the Ithaca 87 while you are shooting and having a Pachmayr Triple-Mag recoil installed would help.

I also would suggest going to the <tarhunt.com> web site, click on the “Shooting Resources” tab on the top navigational bar.

A tab will drop down from there called “Shooting Guide Pages”.
Read each of the short articles. Maybe they can help you correct your problem.

WHAT IS THE CALIBER EQUIVALENT OF THE HYBRYD 3″ ELITE 12 GAUGE SLUGS? ARE THEY MORE POWERFUL THAN THE FULL BORE .710 CALIBER FOSTER SLUGS such as (THE 3″ REMINGTON, WINCHESTER OR THE FEDERAL FOSTER RIFLED SLUGS) ? THE FEDERAL SLUGS ARE 1 AND 1/4 ONCE COMPARED TO THE OTHERS THAT ARE 1 ONCE.

Robert,
All the Hybred 12 gauge series uses the same  62 cal. 1 1/4 oz. slug except they are loader at three different velocity’s. That’s HOW we can offer the “SameSite Accuracy” system.

Same great slug at three different velocity, but shooting to the same point of aim!

Hybred Lites @1300 ft/sec, Hybred Exp @1450 ft/sec, and the
3″ Hybred Elite @ 1730 ft/sec…

“No one else in the industry can offer this unique capability”..

When velocities and weights are equal, the shape or caliber has little to do with altering the energy available.
Randy

Hello there, Mr. Randy

I have shoot federal 3 inch mags loaded with hydra-shocks for 15 years out of my rem.1187″ with a 1 1n 35 inch twist. Keeping the holes touching at 50 yards off a bench. Federal quit making them and I can’t find them anymore. I tried the Horandy SST and got a 5-6 inch group at 50 yards.I tried federal 3 inch with barns Expanders got about 4 inch groups. Would the Lightfield loads be a good choice for a 1 in 35 inch twist barrel?

Thank you

Mark,
That poor performance from the other manufactures of sabot does not surprise me. They are trying to grip a smooth copper coated/jacketed bullet with a slippery plastic sabot. Spinning the bullet up to 50,000 RPMS, required for stabilization, when you cannot grip the bullet, is tough to do.

Lightfield has the patent that locks the bullet and the sabot together to assure the proper amount of spin to stabilize the bullet.

Because of the patent that keys the slug and sabot together, Lightfield Ammo will stabilize in any twist rate from 1-44 thru 1-22 inches. I would try the Hybred-Elite 3″ mag.

HI RANDY, I HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS 1. WHAT STORES AROUND MY AREA CARRY LIGHTFIELD AMMO? 2. IS THE LIGHTFIELD AMMO LOADED IN THE USA NOW? 3. CAN I SHOOT THE 3.5 INCH COMMANDER SLUG IN MY CONVERTED OR RECHAMBERED 3 INCH 12 GAUGE SHOTGUN THAT HAS BEEN RECHAMBERED TO 3.5 INCHES? 4.*** CAN YOU PLEASE MAIL ME TWO COPIES OF YOUR MOST UP TO DATE LIGHTFIELD AMMO CATALOG AND YOUR TARHUNT SHOTGUNS. THAT’S 2 COPIES.*** MY ADRESS IS BELOW THANK YOU SO MUCH RANDY ROBERT SANTINI 110 MORGAN CIRCLE WETHERSFIELD,CT 06109

Robert,
1) Have you tried the store located on the web site. We only have stores listed that have directly given us there name and addresses. I don’t know what dealers are selling Lightfield because the distributors will not give a manufacture a list of whom he is selling his product to.

2) Because Lightfield sell to distributors they cannot Sell direct. TarHunt is the online distributor for Lightfield and can ship ammo directly to you home.

3) Better than 50% is now loaded in the US and plans are to make it 100% shortly.

4) I would have to know more about the make & model gun you had rechambered for the 3 1/2″ before I could answer that question.

Randy

HI RANDY, WILL YOU OR HAVE YOU WRITTEN A BOOK OR SOMETHING ON SLUG SHOOTING? YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY PHENOMINAL KNOWLEDGE ON THE SUBJECT OF SLUG SHOOTING, SLUG GUNS AND BALLISTICS, AND I’M SURE MANY OTHER THINGS. I WOULD BUY IT IN A HEARTBEAT! THANKS ROBERT SANTINI

All We have written so far is two years of newsletters, for the Slug Group years ago.

Randy I just submitted a question about which slug to use for a mid west deer hunt using a Remington 1100 cambered for 2 3/4 inch rifled barrel but I forgot to tell you it is 12 gauge and a 4 power scope. Thank you Bob

Bob,
My choice would be the Lightfield Hybred Exp 2 3/4″ sabot round.
It is a full 1 1/4oz. slug @1450ft/sec and has 2549ft/lbs of muzzle energy.

Has 1121ft/lbs of energy @ 150 yards. That’s well over the 1000ft/lbs required to cleanly take a white tail deer at 150 yards.

Sight this slug in at 2 3/4″ high, dead center, above the bullseye at 50yard. and you will be 1″ high at 100yds, 4″ low at 125 and 9″ low at 150yds.
That means you can hold dead on thru 125yds and RIGHT on the back bone at 150 yards. No Muss No Fuss.

Good hunting and straight shooting,
Randy