Gentlemen,
Many of you know that Brenneke (Germany) had an issue with getting components to their US assembly facility in time to introduce the new slugs to the market prior to our many fall and winter hunting seasons. Given their late arrival few have had an opportunity to use them and many still have not been able to acquire them from their dealers. Things have gone a little different for me in that Brenneke USA had sent a number of boxes to me as a gift for helping them with their effort. With that and feeling somewhat obligated to show that these slugs would perform in the field as Wilhelm Brenneke had intended back in 1898, when he first developed the slug, I booked a hunt for a Russian boar starting on March 6th. The plan was to park a slug in the left shot tube of a conventional drilling and harvest a boar should one pass within 50 yards. The following pictures show how the slugs performed in accuracy on a target and the outcome of my hunt. I want to note some details as you’re viewing the pictures: First, my outfitter’s practice target was closer to 40 yards than 50. Second, both the target and boar were shot with the drilling having its Leupold VX-II 4X scope in mount. Third, I had a second slug parked in the right tube as well just in case things got out of hand and a “point blank” was necessary. I wasn’t all that concerned but my guide smiled at the possibility. The weather was perfect (for me) with a sunny sky and mid-day temperature of around 20 deg/F, though the wind was gusting 15 to 20 mph. The snow cover was a good two feet on average. The boar shown was the fourth in a group of four that we came upon walking parallel to us and coming towards us roughly fifty yards out. We spotted them at what appeared to be the same time that they had spotted us. At that moment they took off running from left to right. The first three managed to dart into thick cover in the short time it took me to shoulder the gun. The unlucky forth boar decided to stop short, likely to see what all the fuss was about. Though he was in relatively thick cover I was able to crouch down a bit and find an opening for the shot. The shot was a pass through thus I was not able to recover the slug.
Gun: Richard Knopf 16 ga / 8X57JRS drilling – March, 1944
Ammunition: Brenneke 65mm 16ga “Classic” Slug and Sellier & Bellot 8X57JRS SPCE 196gr
Target Details: The three groups of two were shot with the rifle (front trigger) first then the left shot tube (rear trigger). We (my guide and I) at first didn't see that the second rifle shot had gone through the first hole which is why the two targets. The distance from the center of the target to the center of the furthest slug hole is just under 1 3/4".
Summary: The new slugs work just fine.
Mark
