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What slug in what barell?

Stump Shooter

Stump Shooter

New Member
Ok..I have always heard and have thought that don't shoot a rifled slug out of a rifled barrel because it will screw up the rifling in the barrel. So shoot any non-rifled slug in it(probably mostly sabots). And then always shoot a rifled slug out of a smooth bore barrel to give you the spin you need to be more accurate down range. Anyone out there know the skinny on this and what is true or not??

Thanks!
 
I think the rifling in barrel is opposite of the rifling on a rifled slug so i can make the slug very in accurate even tumble. Sabots are made for a rifled barrel and rifled slugs are for a smooth bore to add accuracy. I think i read that somewhere but I could be wrong.
 
If you’re shooting a rifled barrel you need to shot sabots to truly gain the advantage of the rifling. I personally don’t think rifled slug add anything when shooting smooth bore guns or other wise. With smooth bore setups the best I have achieved comes from a Mossberg 20gage and the Slugger High Velocity rounds. It’s a nail driver to 100 yards and that is saying something for cheap all the way around. They are hard to find but only a few cent higher than regular Sluggers. By some stuff and shoot it. It won't take you long to understand what your gun fires well. My sons 870 won’t shoot the High Velocity Sluggers worth a Cr**
 
I don't gun hunt anymore but in the days I did I shot a Remington 1187 with a full rifled barrel w/ a 2 & 1/2 power scope I shot the winchester 2 3/4 sabot slug with great groups. I had some old rifled winchester slugs and tried them with just as good if not better groups

last year my Buddies girlfriend used this setup to take her first deer during the thanksgiving hunt She shot a mature doe @ 95 yrds using the rifled slug in the rifled barrel.
So in my experience with my setup I would say it makes no differance but you will have to try your setup and decide for yourself.
probly not much help just my 2cents worth
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With the price of sabot slugs I stick with the rifled slgs in my rifled barrel and have not seen any accuracy problems. The pressure will cause the lead to expand and conform to the rifling so you do still get accuracy benefits using a rifled barrel vs a smoothbore.

A sabot will get more spin but more importantly is lighter and more aerodynamic which gives it more accuracy. An ounce of lead however stops deer mighty quick!
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Short answer:
Rifled barrel - Sabot slug
Smooth bore barrel - Rifled slug

The reason is not an accuracy issue because a rifled barrel is generally always going to be more accurate with slugs than a smooth bore barrel. However, when a rifled slug is used in a rifled barrel it will result in the soft lead from the rifled slug eventually filling in the lands and grooves in the rifled barrel negating any positive effects the rifle barrel might have provided in the first place.

Sure you can shoot rifled slugs in a rifled barrel but sooner or later the law of diminishing returns kicks in, the rifleling fills up with lead and your back to shooting a smooth bore.
 
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Sure you can shoot rifled slugs in a rifled barrel but sooner or later the law of diminishing returns kicks in, the rifleling fills up with lead and your back to shooting a smooth bore.

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Are you talking about repeated shots between cleanings? I assume a good cleaning with a brush and solvent would remove lead residue wouldn't it?

On that same note plastic fouling from sabots can affect accuracy as well.
 
I guess what I was trying to say is that based on my personal experience; lead slugs foul a rifled barrel in a short period of time compared to that of a saboted slug. That is just my opinion, and it along with $1 will get you a cup of coffee at most places.

However, I would also point to the book "Shotgunning for Deer" written by the worlds leading slug gun expert, Dave Henderson, (www.hendersonoutdoors.com), Dave says " ...full bore lead slugs actually skid in a fully rifled barrel and will leave copious amount of lead fouling in the grooves in a very short period of time."

What that means in general terms is that the full bore lead slug isn't spinning its way down the barrel following the contour of the grooves; it is pushing its way past some grooves, shaving off the soft lead, and thus fouling your barrel much faster than saboted slugs. I've seen rifled slug barrels that look more like a smooth bore after 50 shots from the bench, using full bore lead slugs.

Can you shoot full bore lead slugs in a rifled barrel? Yes Sir.
Will the combo be accurate and provide sufficient energy to kill deer at reasonable distances? Yes Sir.
Is this combo what any recognized gun expert would recommend? Nope!
 
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Short answer:
Rifled barrel - Sabot slug
Smooth bore barrel - Rifled slug

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Well said Tom.....pretty common knowledge.
 
my advice is to shoot 1 of each at cardboard target at 30yards.usually if you shoot a rifled slug through a rifled barrel it will tumble, not spin,which will be obvious on the cardboard.which i feel will affect accuracy on windy days mostly.
 
I can understand how after 50 shots you would have a lot of fouling but I don't know too many deer hunters who shoot anywhere near that many in a season. I think you could safely say that shooting 50 sabots without cleaning would likely result in enough plastic fouling to affect accuracy as well.

I really think that if you shoot a couple of boxes of shells (10 rounds) during deer season without cleaning your gun you aren't going to see much of an accuracy decrease due to barrel fouling. If you shooot a lot more than that you either are taking poor shots and missing/wounding a lot or you are killing a whole lot of deer.

I don't disagree that sabot slugs are more accurate than rifled lead slugs but I don't think lead slugs shoot as poorly as some have been led to believe. If the price of sabot slugs weren't so much higher I think most hunters would probably opt to shoot them through their rifled barrels but at over 4 times the cost in most cases a lot of hunters are going to continue to use traditional slugs.

I personally have not noticed any "tumbling" of lead slugs in my gun. I generally shoot 15 to 20 rounds each fall at 50 to 100 yards to make sure my red dot scope is still on and have always gotten nice round holes. I have also examined a couple of slugs that I have recovered from inside deer that have clear rifling grooves which would lead me to believe they definitely weren't sliding down the barrel and had to have been imparted some spin from the rifling.

I've had very good success using rifled slugs and feel confident on shots out to 100 yards. With sabot slugs maybe that range could be increased slightly but most shots I get in the timber are well within that range.

FYI - I shoot 2 3/4" Wincheter 12 Ga. slugs through a Remington 11-87 with a fully rifled cantelever barrel and a red dot scope.
 
Monster...shoot what ever works for you and what you want to spend on slugs each year is your business. I don't think anyone is telling you that you can't shoot your pumpkin balls through a rifled barrel.

There is no argument to be made,... it comes down to what load shoots the most accurately out of your given choice of weapon. By design, a rifled slug was manufactured to be shot out of a smooth bore barrel, and by design, a sabot slug was manufactured to be shot out of a fully rifled barrel.

Noone is telling you what to shoot.

I can tell you there is good reason the high dollar sabots are more expensive!

Peace
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Ghost, I'm not trying to argue, just saying that reasonably good results can be had with either and I think they should try both and decide which suits them best on their own.

I've shot both and for the type of hunting I generally do, heavy timber, shorter ranges(less than 100yds), I think the "pumkin balls" are plenty accurate and actually pack more of a punch than the lighter sabot slugs. If I were sitting over food plots or open fields where I could expect shots out to 150 yards I would probably spend the extra money on sabots.

I think the "value" of the sabots come for those wanting the extra range.
 
Monster,
Not intending to fire a shot across the bow of your boat, but, if you already have a rifled barrel, and you're only shooting a box or two a slugs annually, why not just upgrade to sabots? The increased accuracy and extended range would be worth a few extra dollars, not to mention the real benefit is the COMBINATION of increased ACCURACY at the EXTENDED range.

I know most deer are shot at less than 75 yards during shotgun season, but you’ve already indicated a fondness for extra range and accuracy by using a rifled slug barrel and scope, why not use the sabots and put yourself into position to shoot with confidence when that monster buck steps out at 125 yards!


Wiz
 
Wiz, I generally like to shoot about 4 boxes of shells prior to hunting season to double check my zero and get back into form. I know this adds up to only say 6 boxes, if I assume 2 for hunting, which is around $60 or so? That compares to around $15 for regular slugs so yes, it's only $45 a year difference. Probably not worth worrying about, although it may make a big difference to some.

I'm not denying that sabots are superior regular rifled slugs in rifled barrels but the original poster stated that he heard a rifled slug shouldn't be shot in a rifled barrel at all because it will damage the barrel and that's simply not true.

Worth mentioning is this quote from RBDUDE "I don't gun hunt anymore but in the days I did I shot a Remington 1187 with a full rifled barrel w/ a 2 & 1/2 power scope I shot the winchester 2 3/4 sabot slug with great groups. I had some old rifled winchester slugs and tried them with just as good if not better groups "

Possibly the 1187 and Winchester slug combo, which is what I use, is one of those combinations that just work very well together. Maybe others have far less accuracy with slugs than I am getting and the accuracy difference they are seeing is huge. I've tried sabot slugs and like RBDUDE I didn't see a huge improvement. I simply recommend that somebody try a variety of loads with their gun and use what works best for them.
 
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