Dixie Slugs

Dixie Slugs has now added the Original Dixie Tusker – 12 ga. – 3” Mag. to their line of specialized ammunition. The Tusker slug/bullet is .727” diameter, which is the groove diameter of the popular Hastings rifled barrel, as well as others. The slug/bullet’s weight is 600 grs. This weight makes it one of the heaviest on the market for rifled barrels. It has a truncated cone nose with a .500” meplat. The ballistic coefficient is .145. The base is hollow with thick skirts and it is heat treated to a hardness of 30+ bhn. The alloy used in this hand cast slug/bullet is 94% lead, 3% antimony, and 3% tin. There is an Alox wash for lubrication. It is loaded in new primed 12 ga 3” Cheddite hulls. The average muzzle velocity from a 20” rifled barrel is 1550’/”. Barrels longer than 20” will have a little more velocity.

First of all, it should be understood that the Dixie Tusker is not designed to replace rifles for extended hunting distances. It is designed to give the hunter/shooter a very powerful load to use in dense cover for large and/or dangerous game. Accuracy depends on the type, and design, of the firearm it is used in. In Switch-Barrel guns with a low powered scope, 4”3 shot groups at 100 yards in the norm. When fired in solid action guns, like the NEF Ultra and bolt actions, the accuracy will equal any other big bore rifle.

Range	Velocity	Energy	Path
0	1550 '/"	3000 ft lbs	-1.50"
25	1408 '/"	2622 ft lbs	+0.80"
50	1315 '/"	2303 ft lbs	+2.00"
75	1235 '/"	2032 ft lbs	+1.90"
100	1167 '/"	1813 ft lbs	+0.50"
125	1110 '/"	1637 ft lbs	-2.60"
150	1061 '/"	1500 ft lbs	-7.40"

As with all of Dixie’s ammo, we have it stress tested to satisfy that the bullet performs. There are two tests that are used, the first being water saturated paper and the second the Bone Box. The Bone Box has a combination of saturated paper and large green beef bones and is a very severe test.

Todd Corder used a Ruger O/U in the following tests. Muzzle velocity was 1585’/” from the smoothbore barrel.

The Dixie Tusker penetrated 32” in the water-saturated paper with a recovered weight of 600 grains. In the Bone Box, it penetrated 30”, with a recovered weight of 570 grain.

The 416 Rigby, with a 400 grain soft point at 2415’/”, was tested against the Dixie Tusker. The Rigby bullet penetrated 26” of water-saturated paper. With a recovered weight of 338 grains. When fired into the Bone Box, the bullet fragmented within 12”.

You will note that Todd Corder tested the Dixie Tusker in a smoothbore barrel. The reason was to see that the nose heavy Tusker would fly straight and not tumble in the test media. It did not tumble and penetrated in a straight line. The questions arise as to the use of the Dixie Tusker in smoothbore barrels. The answer is yes, under certain conditions. The barrel must be a cylinder barrel and choke no smaller that .725”. Velocity will be a little higher due to less friction in the smoothbore barrel vs. the rifled barrel.

In rifled barrels, the best accuracy is with a .716” land and .727” groove barrel. These are the specifications of the Hastings rifled barrels and they are Dixie Slugs choice.

Remember, when comparing ballistics of the Dixie Tusker to other 1 3/8 ounce loads, that Dixie Slugs publishes the velocity from 20”barrels. Others publish their velocity from 30” pressure barrels.

As mentioned before, Dixie Slugs uses Remington 870’s and 20” Hastings rifled barrels for their test and hunting guns. We have both those with iron sights and some that are scope mounted. If the hunter wants to add a scope, we suggest those that are 3X Power or less. Fixed power scopes seem to handle the recoil better that those that have variable power setting.

There will be more published tests in the near future and some game reports next hunting season. Watch for more on Dixie Slugs forum.