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Rifled chokes or rifled barrel

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9 comments

  • rchawk
    Hi, my 870 came with an 18" slug barrel with rifle sights. I was under the impression that "rifles" slugs were the answer. If not, maybe I need a new barrel as well.

    Hawk


    I would rather be tried by 12 than carried by 6!
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  • headzilla97
    I got a used one at a gun show for about a hundred bucks, cabelas has um new from 140 to 250 and theres some made by mossberg for the 870.

    rchawk you can shoot sabots or rifled slugs from a rifled barrel. sobots from a cyl. choke are inaccurate and im not sure if your supposed to shoot them from anything other than a rifled barrel. stick to the cheap rifled shells anyway they are 3 dollars a box and shoot just as well in my opinion.
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  • bambihunter
    I guess you can probably answer your own question... It depends on the range you want it to be accurate to. If your smoothbore was doing fine but you wanted slightly better accuracy, then the choke would be fine. However, if you want to extend your range significantly then get a rifled barrel.
    Remember that even the best rifled slug barrel won't group with an average sporting rifle.
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  • gskyhawk
    you will get a lot better accuracy from a fully rifled slug barrel shooting sabot slug , groups should run around 2 inches at a 100 yards with this set up , rifled choke tubes can help but having tried 2 of them in my 870 I have not been impressed with the results,
    the older rifle slug should be shot out of a smooth bore barrel as the rifling on the slug grips the barrel to impart spin , if you shoot a rifled slug in a rifled barrel chance are you will just lead your barrel as the riflings in the barrel will tend to strip the rifling part off of the rifled slug , hope this makes sense[:D]
    bottom line if you want to improve your groups and not spend a lot of money try the rifled choke tube, its only going to cost about 35 bucks if on the other hand you really want to get good groups them go with the fully rifled barrel
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  • He Dog
    We shoot an 870 with a rifled barrel and sabot slugs, and a smooth bore chocked "cylinder" with rifled slugs. we see very little difference in accuracy out to 150 yards. Rifled slugs are much cheaper than sabots.
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  • idsman75
    Many people also forget that, like rifles, slug guns can also be very picky about the ammo that they like. I used to own a Mossberg 835 with a rifled slug barrel. It was quite accurate with Winchester Supremes but it absolutely HATED the more expensive Brenneke Super Sabots. He Dog's experience may be typical or it may be unique. The general consesus that I have gathered in a state where modern rifles are not allowed for whitetail hunting is that a fully rifled barrel shooting saboted slugs is the most accurate way to go. Then again, matching a less-than-ideal ammunition/barrel combination may give poorer results than someone who has taken the time to try out different brands of rifled slugs with their smoothbores.
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  • KX500
    Most Accurate - 1st) Rifle Barrel with scope (iron sights if you prefer)
    2nd) Screw in rifled choke tube, 3rd) smooth bore barrel with rifle sights, 4th) smooth bore barrel with bead front sight.

    The only one I'd really avoid is # 4.

    How much more accurate from one level to the next can be measured in inches or tens of an inch, depending on which guns/loads you are comparing. Lots of guys are perfectly happy just slapping a barrel with rifle sights on the ole 870.

    Personally, I need all the help I can get so I went with the 1st option.

    And I don't subsribe to any of these hard & fast rules about slugs: Some foster slugs shoot very good out of my rifled barrel and I use them, with no real leading or accuracy problems when I switch back to sabot slugs. Another gun I have with a full choke barrel is also fairly accurate, if I do my part. Though many will tell you to never shoot a slug out of a full choek barrel.

    I imagine that a rifled choke tube and some experimentation with different loads can get you to where you want to be, assuming that you're good with rifle sights.
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  • idsman75
    Even more accurate than a rifled barrel with a scope (theoretically inherently more accurate) would be a rifled barrel with an integral cantilever scope base unless you plan to mount a scope on a shotgun where the barrel is a permanant part of the gun itself (like an Ithaca Deerslayer)

    For example:

    eastcountyguns_1039584717_1187spstccl.jpg
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  • KX500
    idsman75 - Now how did you know what kind of gun I use (excpept mine isn't camo)?
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