slug barrels
How accurate are smooth bore shotgun slug barrels? What is their maximum range?
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I have an older[1978] Remington 870 slug gun. It doesn't say full, modified, ect. on it like a regular shotgun barrel. So I was wondering if a regular smooth bore slug barrel is choked at all? 0 -
Smooth bore slug barrels with good rest and scope should shoot to 4 inches at 50 yds. Smooth bore ammo (non sabot) is not as well made IMHO as most sabots which are intended for rifled barrels but sabots cost 2 to 4 times as much. All of my rifled slug barrels (Hastings) shoot 1 to 2 inch groups at 50 yds. Smooth bores have chokes ranging from cylinder bore to Imp Cyl.. Yes you can shoot bird shot and buckshot through them without any problems. 0 -
I have personally seen Remington 870's, and Mossberg 500's with smooth bore slug barrels, which are Improved Cylinder choked, able to shoot beer cans at 100 yards, shot after shot, with the foster type slugs, they preferred. Read that as experiment until you find the brand and load they liked. Yes, they can shoot any shot thru them from 000 Buck to #8. The #4's, and 6's would make about the perfect home defense load.
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Foster slugs are a little more than just "plain lead". When they are molded/cast, they are very similar to a hollow base design , like a Minnie ball or a hollow base wadcutter. The exception is, that there is rifling flutes molded onto the outside perimeter of the slug itself. When traveling thru the smooth bore, this imparts spin to the slug itself, and for the most part does a good job to stabilize it in flight. That is as long as a significant amount of lead buildup in the barrel is not allowed to accumulate.
I will tell you this, do not buy a rifled slug barrel(as opposed to a smooth bore), and expect to shoot Foster(as opposed to sabot) type slugs in it. It will do fine for the first 5 shots or so, then the rifling in the barrel will have shaved off enough lead to fill the grooves, and your shotgun will then pattern, instead of group. It will take a lot of hard cleaning work to get it out.
Hope this enlightens the difference between foster type slugs and smooth bores, and Sabot/rifled bores.
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Back when I could see well and shot a lot with my pistol gripped 870 I cut to 20" and added a screw in choke system I could keep my Lyman cast 540 grain sabot slugs on a 3# coffee can at 90 yards. I installed a small mid bead in the rib to serve as a rear sight. Out of the 5 choke tubes I have the one marked Sheet #2 is my favorite.
For buckshot I like OO and number 4, 12 pellets vs. 41.0 -
I am new to slugs so what is the difference between foster and sabot slugs. I am pretty sure from what I read the sabots are meant for rifled barrels but can be fired in smooth bore? Are the foster slugs meant for smooth bore but can they be used in a rifled barrel? 0 -
Forster slugs are just plain lead, sabots have a plastic holder surrounding them, and don't do well in a smooth bore.
The best I ever shot out of a smooth bore was the Brenneke's with the fiber wad screwed into the rear of them..
They would stay inside a pie plate easy out to 100 yards no problem..0 -
I've always hunted deer in Northern Illinois, which means Shotgun only.
For over 30 years I shot a Browning BPS 12 ga. with a 1X4 Leupold scope and smooth bore. I killed countless deer up to 125+ yards.
It is a very accurate and deadly gun. I used Remington Slugger 1OZ slugs.
For the past 10 years I've been shooting an Ithaca deer Slayer 20 gauge Hornaday SST's with a rifled Barrel and a 2X7 Leupold scope. It's accurate well past 200 yards. However, I'm not impressed with Sabot slugs when it comes to putting a deer down. Both myself and hunting partners (both 12 and 20 gauge)have had many deer hit hard run off with very little blood to follow.
I'll probably go back to the smooth bore.0 -
Just cleaned 3 870's today.20 inch smooth bore barrel,rifle sights and leather slings,bet they were never fired more than 10 times between the 3 of them.I was wondering how well they would group and they dont sound to bad with the right slugs. 0 -
12 ga sabot slugs are 50 caliber elongated hour glass shaped 1 oz projectiles. The plastic sabot surrounds the slug and fits snugly in the rifling to make it spin. Some sabot slugs use a more normal bullet shaped projectile that weighs about 300 grains. The Foster type slug intended for smooth bores is bore diameter (about .72). It is less streamlined but makes a larger hole. 0 -
I have tried Foster slugs in an over-under smooth bore which I shot from a bench testing which barrel was printing the slugs closest to POA. The accurate barrel shot 2 - 3 inch 5 shot groups at 25 yards. Clean up after slugs meant using a really tight jag with lightly oiled patch "to push the lead out with two or three passes" then brushing with a wire brush and solvent afterwards. I hunted with the accurate barrel loaded with a Foster slug and other barrel loaded with OOO as a safety backup against charging boars. That worked fine at first then I bought a Mossberg 9200 with a cantilevered scoped rifled barrel and it shot 2 inch 5 shot groups at 75 yards and I've used it ever since. Don't waste your time with the sabot slugs in a smooth bore. Sabots were designed for a rifled bore and I've seen them missed whole targets at 25 yards when shot from a smooth bore. 0
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