dougdelite: rifled slugs in a rifled barrel?

[DouglasR]

Thinking I'm gonna pick up some shotgun tags for this fall and dust off the rifled barrel for my old mossberg 500.
Kinda having a hard time finding sabots online right now and I was wondering if anyones ever noticed much of a difference in accuracy or if there's anything wrong with shooting a rifled slug through the rifled barrel.
I'm almost positive I did this as a kid with no negative results.
Anybody got any first hand experience?
Thanks!

 

[MThuntr]

I've never done it but read it can cause unstable flight since the slug isn't designed for rifling. I think it would "lead" up the barrel since they are so soft but it's probably negligible. I'd give it a try with a box to see how they shoot.

Your other option is load your own from Ballistic Products. Both lead and non-lead. Take a look at their data (much of it is either in their Load of the week or in a slug loadbook). Order the hulls, sabots, powder, and roll crimp tool. Their data is on the hot end so if they offer a range of powder charges I'd used the low end. The LBC shoots great out of my Mossberg

You can load Lee Key or Lyman 525 slugs if you want to cast your own. Lots of data there too.

 

[Gut Shot]

Rifled slugs will fowl the barrel pretty badly.

All kinds of sabots available out there. Here is just the list of slugs by Federal available on ammoseek.

Federal 12 Gauge Ammo shotgun slug

In-stock best prices for Federal 12 Gauge Ammo shotgun slug | Bulk Federal 12 Gauge Ammunition shotgun slug - AmmoSeek.com

ammoseek.com

 

[Mallardsx2]

All kinds of sabots available out there.

Ya but those prices are borderline criminal. lol

 

[DouglasR]

is there gonna be much difference in accuracy at 50 yards between shooting a rifled slug through the rifled barrel or just shooting it through the smooth bore?
the rifled barrel just has the actual sights on it as opposed to the bead.
can you shoot a slug through a barrel with choke tubes?
just put the modified in I assume?

 

[MThuntr]

I doubt you'd notice a difference at 50 yards.

In theory, shooting with a sight will be more accurate than a bead. You can adjust the sight to where the slug hits while the bead is more of a swag especially if it sends the slug away from the bead location.

You want improved cylinder for slugs. You can get rifled choke tubes but I believe that's for sabots out of smoothbore.

 

[Mallardsx2]

If you own a reloader, or even if you dont, I would get a lee drive key block mold and cast my own slugs and shoot them in that rifled barrel. You can play around with the load and get things shooting correctly and it isn't going to run you broke getting things dialed in.

I fought my FIL's 870 slug gun for a week and spend $200 in slugs and still wasn't happy with the results...then I got a drivekey mold and got it shooting 3" groups at 100 yards (acceptable by my standards).

If you don't have a reloader just get a roll crimper and use that.

Watch these guys videos. Hes awesome.

 

[Gut Shot]

Ya but those prices are borderline criminal. lol

Welcome to the world of sabot slug hunting.

 

[Nick87]

Get some sabots and try them. Every slug gun likes something different, unfortunately. I'd start with hornady or rem accutips. 12 gauge?

 

[pilsner]

Ya but those prices are borderline criminal. lol

In reality how many are you gonna shoot each year?
Years ago in the Ag heavy portions of Indiana we got 8 doe tags per person, per county. We were basically culling deer out of fields.
Slug only state at the time.
Used Remington copper sabot slugs out of a Mossy 500 fully rifled barrel with peep rear and fiber optic front sight.
Longest shot was 194y measured out.
Got about 2.5" 3 round groups at 100y with the combo which I thought was spectacular without a magnifying optic! Now in my mid-40's my vision is still 20/10 but it was even better back then.
Rifled barrel = sabot slug.
Zero it and go hunt.

 

[DouglasR]

Yeah, this isn't a high dollar western hunt.
I'm prob gonna shoot like 10 at a pizza box and if its hitting a pie pan, I'm calling it dialed.

 

[DouglasR]

In reality how many are you gonna shoot each year?
Years ago in the Ag heavy portions of Indiana we got 8 doe tags per person, per county. We were basically culling deer out of fields.
Slug only state at the time.
Used Remington copper sabot slugs out of a Mossy 500 fully rifled barrel with peep rear and fiber optic front sight.
Longest shot was 194y measured out.
Got about 2.5" 3 round groups at 100y with the combo which I thought was spectacular without a magnifying optic! Now in my mid-40's my vision is still 20/10 but it was even better back then.
Rifled barrel = sabot slug.
Zero it and go hunt.

If I could shoot 194 with a moss berg 500 I'd do a grouse/black bear combo hunt/camping trip where I'd hike around with the field barrel on all day looking for grouse then switch to the rifled in the evenings and find a place to set up and glass.

 

[Gellar]

Use rifled slugs in a smooth barrel, sabots in a rifled barrel.

 

[Addicting]

My brother tried it and made a mess out his season chasing his tail on why he could then couldn’t hit anything.

I got tired of chasing down here he wounded and bought him sabots for the next season.

 

[Steiny77]

Rifled barrels are made for sabots.
Why ask if you're already set on using the stuff you know is wrong?

 

[DouglasR]

Rifled barrels are made for sabots.
Why ask if you're already set on using the stuff you know is wrong?

I'm not set on anything.
That's why I asked.

 

[EastCoast94]

Check gunbroker for slugs I have won a few auctions and got some good deals on sabot slugs. Depending on where your from I might have some I can sell

 

[Laelkhunter]

Rifled slugs (Foster type) work best out of an open choke (the more open the better), but I have fired many through full choke barrels with no ill effect. Modified will work better than full. From what I understand, the rifled slug doesn't actually start spinning until it leaves the barrel, and the rifling on the slug catches the air, causing it to spin. If you shoot them through a tighter choke (full), this smashes the rifling on the slug which prevents it from grabbing the air and spinning. I suppose same thing happens if you shoot the slug through a rifled barrel, which probably damages the rifling on the slug. If you try it, let us know how they shoot.

 

[JDH]

In reality how many are you gonna shoot each year?
Years ago in the Ag heavy portions of Indiana we got 8 doe tags per person, per county. We were basically culling deer out of fields.
Slug only state at the time.
Used Remington copper sabot slugs out of a Mossy 500 fully rifled barrel with peep rear and fiber optic front sight.
Longest shot was 194y measured out.
Got about 2.5" 3 round groups at 100y with the combo which I thought was spectacular without a magnifying optic! Now in my mid-40's my vision is still 20/10 but it was even better back then.
Rifled barrel = sabot slug.
Zero it and go hunt.

I've hunted in Indiana for 15 years and only shot one deer with a slug. I started using my MZ in shotgun season and never looked back.

 

[Dave N]

6 rounds of 3" and 7 of the 2 3/4" if you're interested.