How well do rifled slugs work in a smooth barrel??

[mnvikingsfreak]

I was just wondering this my friend doesnt have a rifle and he is using my shotgun its a 12 gauge 28" barrel how accurate are rifled slugs compared to just regular slugs?I also have an adjustable choke on the gun I have heard to use improved cylinder choke with slugs any info would be great thanks for everyones time

p.s. the barrel is not rifled

[picksbigwagon]

depends on how much you like your smooth bore? I have always been told that you shouldn't shoot rifled slugs through a smooth bore and vice versa. I ahve a friend who has shot rifled slugs through his smooth bore but he put a rifled slug choke tube in. He had better accuracy with his$3.98 box of smooth bore slugs, in fact he was hitting the target at 100 yards with it

[Bogsucker]

Rifled slugs are designed for use in smooth bore barrels. I shot my first deer with a winchester rifled slug out of a 28" smooth bore barrel. Actually, all the deer I've shot with a shotgun have been with rifled slugs from a smoothbore barrel. The only hinderance will be a lack of a sight though you can get clip on sights that fit on the rib and they work fairly well. With an adjustable choke, open it it up to cylinder bore. With removable chokes it doesn't matter a whole lot though I wouldn't use a full choke.

[irvingdog]

What BOGSUCKER said, accept use Improved Cylinder.

[SartellMN]

Use Rifled slugs in a smooth barrel.

Use non-rifled slugs in a rifled barrel.

use non-rifled slugs in a smooth barrel with a rifled choke tube.

The idea is to have the slug spinning for stability. But you can over-do it if there is more than one set of rifling. Then there is not enough contact with the rifling, and the slug is actually more unstable.

If you can choose, go with a rifled barrel or choke tube and sabot slugs. They are very accurate.

FYI, I use a smooth barrel and rifled slugs. Works fine. I don't get to shoot deer from more than 100 yards anyway, so improved accuracy from sabots does not help (and they are $2 per shell).

[Mr Special]

Rifled slugs are made for smooth bore. I personally used IC chokes in my BPS, but my buds Remi 870 seems to like Cylinder chokes. I've even shot a couple deer with my Steioger U/O, Skeet 1st barrel and IC 2nd. You kinda have to shoot them and see what slug and choke combo does best for your gun. But with my BPS 28" IC choke 3"Remi sluggers 1oz, I don't have a problem putting 5 on a plate at 100yrds and 5 into a softball at 50ydrs. My buds 870 seems to like Brenneke Blitz. Most slug manufactures recommend IC chokes. Also like to add that we have scopes. Open sights I wouldn't shoot pass 50ydrs.

[TV BOY]

"rifled slugs" do not cause the slug to spin as one would think. The term referes to the groves in the side of the foster style slug. There grooves are there to help the slug compress through the choke of a shotgun. They are called rifled because of the grooves--not because they behave as if they came out of a rifled barrell.

My experience hunting in shotgun zones for 20 years is that the "rifled slugs" work ok at short distances and best in as open choked as possible.

The next best are the Brenikie (sp?) slugs. They have worked will for me with a smooth bore with IC choke.

Then you have the rifled barrells or rifled choke tubes. With these you want to use sabots. These are bullets encased in a plastic sabot which gets spin from the rifleing in the barrell or choke tube (and yes even though a tube is short it will spin these). By far this is the most accurate set up out there. You wouldnt want to shoot foster (rifled slugs) through a rifled barrell though !! They would work but would not engage the rifleing as well as the sabots.

Yes the sabots are more expensive than the rifled slugs. However if economy is what you want, blaze away with em in your hunting shotgun. Don't blow your money on sabots if you don't have a rifled barrell. No spin will affect the flight of the sabot/bullet.

[abens1078]

I decided to go sluggin again last year and found the groups were consistent but no where near the center of the target and, as stated above, smooth bores are hard to adjust. As far as damaging the gun, I've heard it go both ways, i.e. lead is softer than steel but the slug can 'scuff' the sides of the barrel. If your gun shoots straight and consistent I don't think one season will cause any problems. It will be a good way to get your friend interested in deer hunting.

BTW, I got a slug barrel for Christmas and it's sweet. No more adjusting once it is sighted in. Compensating for a smooth bore's inacuracy is a good way to wound an animal.

[mechanictim]

I wouldn't use slugs in an adjustable choke at all. the shock of a solid slug could damage the bands, they are meant to squeeze a string of shot. go with rifled slugs (the cheap ones ) in a smooth bore. accuracy will depend on the gun and to a large extent the sights used. a shotgun bead isn't going to be as accurate as scope.

[Perch Jerker]

Be sure to get 3-4 different boxes of slugs. Your gun will like 1 brand/make better than the rest. Then buy 4-5 boxes from the same store (should be a batch from the same mfg run; same lot #'s) and you're good for a few years with ammo tuned to the gun.

PJ

[bigbucks]

I've used a smooth bore slug barrel on my 870's (3 different ones, same barrel) for 20 years, with the cheapest 2 3/4" Federal Slugs I can get, the 1 ouncers. I don't use a scope, just rifle sights, & have little problem putting my slugs in a paper plate at 100 yards with a rest & limited crosswind.

I've tried 3" slugs out of my 26" barrel using IC choke, but they don't shoot well, regardless of brand. My gun also shoots Winchester slugs fine, it hates Remington slugs, who knows why. My brother in law has an 870 as well. He uses his regular 28" bird barrel, I'm not sure what choke, & has had great luck using 3" Remington sluggers. Every shotgun seems to be different, buy a couple of boxes of each kind until you find one that shoots well out of your gun & then make sure you have 6-8 boxes before season starts, if you party hunt. You likely won't use more than one box, but I've had years I've shot 4 boxes. It's not like you want the last 5 slugs in your gun.

We use all rifle slugs out of the smooth bores, not the expensive sabots. We did have a guy in our party use those out of his smooth bore 1100 one year & they didn't perform well. My buddies who have rifled barrels are very deadly with them however, just as deadly as me I should say.

[gspman]

If you use a sabot in a smoothbore barrel the bullet will usually start tumbling. You can see this by shooting at some target paper. You will see hourglass shaped holes in the paper. I also had a sabot slug go by me once. It buzzed like a bee when it went by because it was tumbling. It scared the he11 out of me.

For best accuracy with foster slugs use an open choke. Buy several different brands of slugs and test them out. It's surprising what the difference in accuracy can be with the different brands. Gun A may work best with Brand B. Gun B may work best with Brand C. Test with different choke tubes too.

When buying slugs within a brand, check the boxes and grab the ones with the same lot # stamped on them. This will ensure you are testing apples to apples as much as possible. The same brand with different lot #'s will even show different results.

At 100 yds you should be able to hit a pie plate most of the time. At 50yds you should be able to do this for sure.

If you use a scope. If you zero it at 75yds, it should shoot a little high at 50yds and a little low at 100yds. That should cover most of the range rather well. After 100yds it's gets to be a bit dicey with the amount of drop.

If you can afford a rifled barrel get it and get sabots. Your range will increase some and your accuracy also should increase. The price per shell shouldn't be a factor unless you shot at a ton of deer. If you shoot 20 times that's still only $40. Compared to all the other costs for hunting, thats nothing.

[Jackpine Rob]

I shot quite a few deer with Federal Hi-Power slugs in 2 3/4 out of my smoothbore Model 1100 with a 28" modified barrel. Then, for no good reason, the accuracy simply went to heck on me. Normally, I was able to keep them well within the pie plate at 100 yards, and then after quite a few years I found myself unable to consistently hit at even 50 yards. Bummer.

Purchased a Hastings rifled barrel, after testing settled on Federal Premium sabots, and can now drill consistently out to 125 yards. Nearly rifle-like accuracy out to the 125 yard mark. I topped the barrel with a Burris 1.75-5 scope, and the thing plunks the slug right in the zone year after year. My "sighting in" each year now consists of 3 shots - one each at 50, 100 and 125 yards. After sighting in the first time, I went out and bought 75 rounds, and am still using that lot.

[Benny]

A "Rifled slug" is designed to spin in side the smooth bore barrel as it goes through.The rifling is there to creat the spin due to the air presure passing over the rifling."

The rifling does not spin because it is in contact with the barrel, it spins because of the air passing through the rifling.The rifling also isn't there to help the slug compress through a choke tube either, but one should use modified cylinder or larger when shooting slugs due to the lack of compression on the slugs part.

I know of at least one bad barrel that was used with full choke and rifled slugs, it pealed open the end like a banana.

I got this information right from Federal, they were more than happy to explain the cause,effect, and implemantation of the rifling on thier slugs.

A Sabat slug can be shot through any barrel , but with out rifling in the barrel or tube it will tumble like a poorly thrown foot ball.Don't belive me, try one through a smooth bore at a clean piece of white paper, the hole will look oblong or have the exact pattern of the side ways Sabat.

Rifled slugs can be shot out of a rifled barrel, but they loose accuracy in most cases.Federal does not recamend this practic as it again can cause problems with some of the tighter toleanced barrels.They have seen some bulg in the middle where the presure starts to force the slug through the tighter restriction of the rifling.

I suggest calling Federal,Winchester, and or Bernike if you want to here it from them. They will be happy to help you as a safe hunter comes back for more, an unsafe hunter may never come back.

Benny

[TV BOY]

This is from a Q/A on another web site dedicated to guns and balistics:

Q: Do the lands cast into rifled slugs help spin stabilize them?

A: Not appreciably. "Rifled" slugs are not stabilized by spinning, they are stable because the weight of the slug is concentrated in the front, like a badminton bird.

Not to discount what Benny said, (the more info we gather the better off we all are, That why I love this site!) I have read a number of hunting magazine articles on slugs. I once read one about the fact that the rifleing helps the slug squeze through the constriction of a tight choke. (I'm trying to find the article)

[Mr Special]

This is from the Brenneke HSOforum

www.brennekeusa.com

Question: Why do your slugs work with choked barrels? What do the ribs do?

Answer: In 1898 Wilhelm Brenneke invented the modern shotgun slug. The most revolutionary aspect of his invention were the ribs. They make it possible to shoot any of our lead slugs from any choked barrel, regardless of choke size. The ribs are compressed when they pass through the choke, and excess lead is squeezed into the gaps between the ribs. There is no danger to the shooter, to the gun or to bystanders, and no wear and tear on the gun. Excellent accuracy is retained. In 1992, we added minor improvements which resulted in even higher accuracy: five-shot groups of under 2" at 50 yards are possible. Depending upon the case length (2¾" or 3") you can effectively use our slugs up to 100 yard ranges. Note that our SuperSabot and our Super Magnum are designed only for use cylindrical full-rifled barrels, and must not be fired from any type of choked barrel.

Question: What happens if I shoot your slug in a rifled barrel?

Answer: All our slugs can be shot from rifled barrels. No problem at all. Normally you will achieve even higher precision from a rifled barrel than from a smoothbore barrel. Groups of under 4" at 100 yards are no problem from a rifled barrel with our normal slugs.

However, we have two specialists, slugs designed for use in rifled barrels only: our Super Magnum (Gold), a 13/8 oz slug and our SuperSabot, a 11/8 oz expanding (up to 1") brass slug. These two products provide maximum accuracy (under 2" groups at 100 yards) from a rifled barrel, at ranges of over 100 yards.

Question: Does a rifled choke tube enhance the accuracy of your slugs?

Answer: Yes. Better accuracy is obtained by using a rifled choke tube. Almost all of our slugs can be through these types of chokes.

Please note, however, that our SuperSabot and Super Magnum are designed for use in cylindrical full-rifled barrels only, and must not be fired from any type of choked barrel, including rifled choke tubes.

Question: Why do the ribs of the Super Magnum (Gold) turn to the left, while the twist in rifled barrels is to the right?

Answer: Because almost all rifled shotgun barrels have a right-hand twist, that is exactly why we gave the ribs on the Super Magnum (Gold) a left-hand twist. The Super Magnum (Gold) is designed for rifled barrels only, and the ribs have no effect on the rotation of the slug. Their purpose is to provide superior guidance within the barrel than a slug without ribs is capable of.

The left-turning ribs also provide a better grip on the rifling within the barrel, resulting in superior rotation of the slug as it exits the barrel. This was proven during extensive research performed when we developed the Super Magnum (Gold).

We actually found that left-twisted ribs on the slug result in much better transfer of the barrel's rotation to the slug than did right-twisted ribs. It may seem strange, but consider that most automobile tires have their "ribs" (profile) also against the driving direction, in order to provide maximum grip.

Best thing is to buy a few boxes of the top brands and try it out.

[MikeYager - Suzuki]

I took a 9-point last season with my 870 improved cylinder using foster-style rifled slugs. These are standard rifled slugs you will find anywhere. I would suggest doing a little plinking to find out exactly where it hits. All the bead barrels aim differently. Practice close and out to 50 yards or so. I would say 100 max. It's really hard to aim far with a bead.

[TV BOY]

Mr. Special you beat me to it....