Ask Difference

Bullet vs. Slug — What's the Difference?

By Maham Liaqat & Fiza Rafique — Updated on March 28, 2024
A bullet is a metal projectile for firearms, optimized for speed and precision, while a slug is a solid projectile for shotguns, designed for power and impact.
Bullet vs. Slug — What's the Difference?

Difference Between Bullet and Slug

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Key Differences

Bullets are typically used in rifles and handguns and are designed for high accuracy and velocity. They come in various shapes and sizes, tailored for specific purposes like penetration or expansion. Whereas slugs are used in shotguns and are essentially large, heavy projectiles meant for short to medium range. They deliver massive stopping power and are often used in hunting large game.
Bullets are made to be aerodynamic, promoting stability in flight to achieve greater accuracy over long distances. On the other hand, slugs, being larger and heavier, have a more limited range but cause significant damage due to their mass and the force at which they are propelled.
Bullets are often jacketed with a harder metal to improve penetration and prevent barrel wear. Slugs, meanwhile, may be bare lead or coated with a material to reduce barrel fouling, and they can also be rifled to induce spin for improved accuracy.
Bullets are part of a cartridge, which includes the case, powder, and primer. When fired, the bullet is the component that is propelled towards the target. Conversely, a slug is a type of shotgun ammunition that replaces the traditional pellets found in shotgun shells, offering a single, large projectile instead.
In terms of applications, bullets are preferred for precision tasks, such as target shooting and hunting at longer ranges. Slugs, however, are chosen for their stopping power and are effective for hunting in dense brush or for home defense scenarios where longer-range precision is less critical.
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Comparison Chart

Type of firearm

Rifles and handguns
Shotguns

Design Purpose

Precision and velocity
Power and impact

Aerodynamics

Highly aerodynamic for stability and accuracy
Less aerodynamic, heavier

Composition

Often jacketed with harder metal
Can be bare lead or coated

Usage in firearms

Part of a cartridge (with case, powder, and primer)
Replaces traditional pellets in shotgun shells

Compare with Definitions

Bullet

A small metal projectile part of a cartridge used in rifles and handguns.
The sniper loaded a bullet into his rifle, aiming carefully at the distant target.

Slug

A large, heavy projectile fired from a shotgun, used for hunting and home defense.
He loaded a slug into his shotgun, preparing for the possibility of a bear encounter.

Bullet

Designed to travel at high speeds for maximum distance and accuracy.
The bullet whizzed through the air, striking the bullseye with incredible precision.

Slug

Some slugs are designed with grooves to spin and improve accuracy.
The rifled slug spun through the air, hitting the target accurately despite the shotgun's short barrel.

Bullet

The projectile component of a cartridge, which also includes the primer, powder, and case.
He carefully loaded the cartridges, each containing a bullet, into his handgun.

Slug

Effective at closer distances due to its size and weight.
For the thick brush hunting, he chose a slug for its effectiveness at short range.

Bullet

Comes in various shapes and sizes for different purposes, including hollow points and full metal jackets.
For self-defense, he preferred hollow point bullets for their stopping power.

Slug

Designed to deliver significant impact at short to medium range.
The slug hit the target with such force that it knocked it off its stand.

Bullet

Shaped for stability in flight, enhancing long-range accuracy.
The aerodynamic design of the bullet ensured it flew straight to its intended target.

Slug

Used in shotguns to provide a single, solid projectile instead of multiple pellets.
Opting for greater stopping power, he switched from traditional pellets to a slug in his shotgun.

Bullet

A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. The term is from Middle French, originating as the diminutive of the word boulle (boullet), which means "small ball".

Slug

Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word slug is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced shell, or only a small internal shell, particularly sea slugs and semislugs (this is in contrast to the common name snail, which applies to gastropods that have a coiled shell large enough that they can fully retract its soft parts into the shell).

Bullet

A metal projectile for firing from a rifle, revolver, or other small firearm, typically cylindrical and pointed, and sometimes containing an explosive.

Slug

A round bullet larger than buckshot.

Bullet

A small symbol used to introduce each item in a list, for emphasis.

Slug

A shot of liquor.

Bullet

A stick of lipstick (considered separately from the tube in which it is encased)
You can apply your lipstick straight from the bullet but I like to use a brush

Slug

An amount of liquid, especially liquor, that is swallowed in one gulp; a swig.

Bullet

A usually metal projectile in the shape of a pointed cylinder or a ball that is expelled from a firearm, especially a rifle or handgun.

Slug

A small metal disk for use in a vending or gambling machine, especially one used illegally.

Bullet

Such a projectile in a metal casing; a cartridge.

Slug

A lump of metal or glass prepared for further processing.

Bullet

An object resembling a projectile in shape, action, or effect.

Slug

A strip of type metal, less than type-high and thicker than a lead, used for spacing.

Bullet

(Printing) A heavy dot (·) used to highlight a particular passage.

Slug

A line of cast type in a single strip of metal.

Bullet

A projectile, usually of metal, shot from a gun at high speed.

Slug

A compositor's type line of identifying marks or instructions, inserted temporarily in copy.

Bullet

(informal) An entire round of unfired ammunition for a firearm, including the projectile, the cartridge casing, the propellant charge, etc.

Slug

(Physics) The British unit of mass that accelerates at the rate of one foot per second per second when acted on by a force of one pound on the surface of the Earth.

Bullet

Ammunition for a sling or slingshot which has been manufactured for such use.

Slug

Any of various terrestrial gastropod mollusks having a slow-moving slimy elongated body with no shell or with a flat rudimentary shell on or under the skin, usually found in moist habitats.

Bullet

(typography) A printed symbol in the form of a solid circle, “•”, often used to mark items in a list.

Slug

A sea slug.

Bullet

A large scheduled repayment of the principal of a loan; a balloon payment.

Slug

The smooth soft larva of certain insects, such as the sawfly.

Bullet

A rejection letter, as for employment, admission to a school or a competition.
John's not going to any of his top schools; he got a bullet from the last of them yesterday.

Slug

A slimy mass of aggregated amoeboid cells that develops into the spore-bearing fruiting body of a cellular slime mold.

Bullet

(slang) One year of prison time.

Slug

(Informal) A sluggard.

Bullet

(slang) An ace (the playing card).

Slug

A hard heavy blow, as with the fist or a baseball bat.

Bullet

(figuratively) Anything that is projected extremely fast.

Slug

A commuter who slugs.

Bullet

(in attributive use) Very fast speedy.
Bullet train; bullet chess

Slug

(Printing) To add slugs to.

Bullet

Chess played at an extremely fast time control, with one minute given to each player. (bullet chess)

Slug

(Informal) To drink rapidly or in large gulps
Slugged down a can of pop.

Bullet

(fishing) A plumb or sinker.

Slug

To strike heavily, especially with the fist or a bat.

Bullet

The heavy projectile thrown in a game of road bowling.

Slug

To wait for or obtain a ride to work by standing at a roadside hoping to be picked up by a driver who needs another passenger to use the HOV lanes of a highway.

Bullet

(Australia) A roughly bullet-shaped sweet consisting of a cylinder of liquorice covered in chocolate.

Slug

Any of many terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks, having no (or only a rudimentary) shell.

Bullet

(obsolete) A small ball.

Slug

(obsolete) A slow, lazy person; a sluggard.

Bullet

(obsolete) A cannonball.

Slug

A bullet or other projectile fired from a firearm; in modern usage, generally refers to a shotgun slug.

Bullet

(obsolete) The fetlock of a horse.

Slug

A solid block or piece of roughly shaped metal.

Bullet

A notation used on pop music charts to indicate that a song is climbing in the rankings.

Slug

A counterfeit coin, especially one used to steal from vending machines.

Bullet

A young or little bull; a male calf.

Slug

A shot of a drink, usually alcoholic.

Bullet

To draw attention to (text) by, or as if by, placing a graphic bullet in front of it.

Slug

(journalism) A title, name or header, a catchline, a short phrase or title to indicate the content of a newspaper or magazine story for editing use.

Bullet

To speed, like a bullet.
Their debut started slow, but bulleted to number six in its fourth week.

Slug

The imperial (English) unit of mass that accelerates by 1 foot per second squared (1 ft/s²) when a force of one pound-force (lbf) is exerted on it.

Bullet

To make a shot, especially with great speed.
He bulleted a header for his first score of the season.

Slug

A discrete mass of a material that moves as a unit, usually through another material.

Bullet

A small ball.

Slug

A motile pseudoplasmodium formed by amoebae working together.

Bullet

A missile, usually of lead, and round or elongated in form, to be discharged from a rifle, musket, pistol, or other small firearm.

Slug

(railroading) An accessory to a diesel-electric locomotive, used to increase adhesive weight and allow full power to be applied at a lower speed. It has trucks with traction motors, but lacks a prime mover, being powered by electricity from the mother locomotive, and may or may not have a control cab.

Bullet

A cannon ball.
A ship before Greenwich . . . shot off her ordnance, one piece being charged with a bullet of stone.

Slug

(television editing) A black screen.

Bullet

The fetlock of a horse.

Slug

(metal typesetting) A piece of type metal imprinted by a linotype machine; also a black mark placed in the margin to indicate an error; also said in application to typewriters; type slug.

Bullet

A projectile that is fired from a gun

Slug

(regional) A stranger picked up as a passenger to enable legal use of high occupancy vehicle lanes.

Bullet

A high-speed passenger train

Slug

A hitchhiking commuter.

Bullet

(baseball) a pitch thrown with maximum velocity;
He swung late on the fastball
He showed batters nothing but smoke

Slug

(web design) The last part of a clean URL, the displayed resource name, similar to a filename.

Slug

(obsolete) A hindrance, an obstruction.

Slug

A ship that sails slowly.

Slug

To hit A hard blow, usually with the fist.

Slug

To drink quickly; to gulp; to down.

Slug

To take part in casual carpooling; to form ad hoc, informal carpools for commuting, essentially a variation of ride-share commuting and hitchhiking.

Slug

To become reduced in diameter, or changed in shape, by passing from a larger to a smaller part of the bore of the barrel.

Slug

To move slowly or sluggishly; to lie idle.

Slug

(transitive) To load with a slug or slugs.
To slug a gun

Slug

To make sluggish.

Slug

(transitive) To hit very hard, usually with the fist.
He insulted my mother, so I slugged him.
The fighter slugged his opponent into unconsciousness.

Slug

A drone; a slow, lazy fellow; a sluggard.

Slug

A hindrance; an obstruction.

Slug

Any one of numerous species of terrestrial pulmonate mollusks belonging to Limax and several related genera, in which the shell is either small and concealed in the mantle, or altogether wanting. They are closely allied to the land snails.

Slug

Any smooth, soft larva of a sawfly or moth which creeps like a mollusk; as, the pear slug; rose slug.

Slug

A ship that sails slowly.
His rendezvous for his fleet, and for all slugs to come to, should be between Calais and Dover.

Slug

An irregularly shaped piece of metal, used as a missile for a gun.

Slug

A thick strip of metal less than type high, and as long as the width of a column or a page, - used in spacing out pages and to separate display lines, etc.

Slug

To move slowly; to lie idle.
To slug in sloth and sensual delight.

Slug

To make sluggish.

Slug

To load with a slug or slugs; as, to slug a gun.

Slug

To strike heavily.

Slug

To become reduced in diameter, or changed in shape, by passing from a larger to a smaller part of the bore of the barrel; - said of a bullet when fired from a gun, pistol, or other firearm.

Slug

A projectile that is fired from a gun

Slug

An idle slothful person

Slug

Any of various terrestrial gastropods having an elongated slimy body and no external shell

Slug

Strike heavily, especially with the fist or a bat;
He slugged me so hard that I passed out

Slug

Be idle; exist in a changeless situation;
The old man sat and stagnated on his porch
He slugged in bed all morning

Common Curiosities

What types of firearms use bullets?

Bullets are used in rifles and handguns for precision shooting.

What is a slug?

A slug is a solid, heavy projectile for shotguns, intended for power and impact at closer ranges.

Can slugs be used for long-range shooting?

Slugs are generally used for short to medium range due to their weight and design, not for long-range shooting.

Why would someone choose a bullet over a slug?

Someone might choose a bullet for tasks requiring high precision and range, such as target shooting or hunting at distance.

Why would someone choose a slug over bullets?

A slug might be chosen for its stopping power and effectiveness in dense environments or for home defense.

What is a bullet?

A bullet is a metal projectile for firearms like rifles and handguns, designed for precision and velocity.

How do bullets and slugs differ in terms of aerodynamics?

Bullets are highly aerodynamic for stability and long-range accuracy, while slugs are less so due to their larger, heavier design.

Are there different types of slugs?

Yes, there are several types, including rifled slugs for improved accuracy and sabot slugs for use in rifled shotgun barrels.

Are slugs more powerful than bullets?

Slugs deliver more impact at close range due to their size and weight, but "powerful" can depend on the context of use.

Do slugs damage the barrel of a shotgun?

Slugs can be used safely in shotguns, especially when designed for such use, though using appropriate types minimizes barrel wear.

What types of firearms use slugs?

Slugs are used in shotguns, replacing traditional pellets for situations requiring greater impact.

How do bullets and slugs compare in terms of speed?

Bullets travel at higher speeds due to their design and the firearms they're used with, enhancing their range and precision.

What is the main consideration when choosing between a bullet and a slug?

The main considerations include the desired range, target type, and the specific situation or environment in which the firearm will be used.

Can both bullets and slugs be used for hunting?

Yes, both can be used for hunting, but bullets are preferred for long-range targets, while slugs are better for larger game at closer distances.

Can bullets have different shapes?

Absolutely, bullets come in various shapes for different purposes, including aerodynamics and impact behavior.

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Author Spotlight

Written by
Maham Liaqat
Co-written by
Fiza Rafique
Fiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.

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