Rifled vs smoothbore for deer

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sgblair

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I'm hunting for a new shotgun & would appreciate some help / info from those of you with real world experience with both rifled vs smooth bores for deer hunting. What are the differences in performance between a rifled barrel (with sabots I presume) and a smoothbore with rifled slugs? I know there will be variability between guns & ammo brands, but I'm hoping to learn what the effective range is (ex. 120 yards for a rifled barrel vs 75 for smooth, etc) where you can shoot reasonable groups (< 6"?) and expect to make a clean kill.

Here's what I think I've learned from reading threads in this forum:
- smoothbore gives a better pattern if I plan on using 00 buck or other shells with multiple projectiles. You can shoot these through a rifled barrel, but the pattern quickly deteriorates.
- no consensus on usefullness of rifled choke tubes, but it sounds like accuracy is less than with a fully rifled barrel.
- lots of threads seem to imply that the accuracy of sabots in a rifled barrel is quite a bit better than with rifled slugs in a smoothbore.
- lots of people use either to kill their game, so I might be over-analyzing this!:confused:

P.S. I don't Turkey hunt now, but I hope to take it up. That makes me think buying a turkey gun might be my best bet (multipurpose; just change the tube & adjust the FO sights if req'd for slugs)!

Thanks, I appreciate the help!
 
There are so many choices that it really is a hard choice.

I have never had luck with smooth bore and rifled slugs, however I can tell you about at least 10 guys who use them with great success.

I've used 00Buck for years with no complaints, Ive never lost a deer with it.

I now shoot a rifled Mossberg barrel topped with a simple 4x Bushnell using BRI Winchesters I shoot 1.5 " groups at 100 yards. Its expensive to get to this point but I would not go back to 00 Buck except in rare instances driving in dense bush. Not thru the rifled barrrel either.

There are great combo specials you can pick up, or when you are ready to hunt turkey get the barrel.

I'd recommend a rifled barrrel with cantilever scope.
 
lots of threads seem to imply that the accuracy of sabots in a rifled barrel is quite a bit better than with rifled slugs in a smoothbore.
Click to expand...

Absolutely plus a much better selection of longer-range loads and high-performance slugs. 200 yards is quite doable with a good slug gun, high performance ammo, proper sights and a skilled shooter of course.
 
It really depends on what the conditions you are going to be using the said shotgun in. I would say, anything over 100 yards, get a rifled barrel. If you are going out to 150+ get the rifled barrel with a cantilever scope mount. If you plan to do most of your hunting in thick heavy cover, a smooth bore, with rifled slugs or Buck shot will serve you well. I would prefer a smooth bore with rifle sights though. Some guys do well with the single bead, but I think they would do better with a ghost ring and front post.

You will never go wrong getting the rifled barrel. The sabot slugs are a world apart as far as accuracy go, but it is not really needed, if your shot are going to be close range. Having said that, plopping a scope on a 25 - 50 yard deer gun, is probably a little useless.

All depends on the hunting you are going to be doing.:D
 
a combo gun with several barrels can be had for around three to four hundred u can get a rifeled barrel and a smothe bore with chokes ie mosberg or remington this is the way to go .best of both worlds sabot slugs have come a long way as far as straight shotting and good groups but it is still a shot gun and people that say 200 yards is doable is realy stratching it for the avarage guy my 2 cents DUTCH
 
With a RTC on my Win 1200 pump, At 50yds I get 3 holes touching, at 75yds it opens up slightly. These are with Win,. 1oz slugs/15 pack from Crappy Tire.
Now with an I/C choke tube outta the same gun the groups are more erratic (5``spread)but still lethal out to 50yds. I would`nt waste my money on a good sabot slug for my RTC, I would go with a fully rifled bbl. Which is what my Mossberg 500 20ga with ported cantilever bbl is for and deadly out to 125yd.
 
I think it really depends on the area you are hunting and the type of hunting you do. If you sit a stand in an open area I'd go rifled barrel and sabots. If you drive I go for smoothbore and rifled slugs. I had a rifled barrel with a scope and sold it to go back to a short vent rib barrel with a mid bead. I find that on shots in the bush and running shots this set up is the quickest and as accurate as is required. The biggest complaint I had with the sabots was they tended to blow right through a deer without "knocking it down". They did massive damage inside the deer, but often there was no indication that the deer was hit until further investigation revealed the blood trail. On the other hand I have had few deer hit with a rifled slug that didn't knock them flat. We drive woodlots and all of the shooting I do is from 25 to 75 yards max. The other complaint I had with sabots was the cost. From $3 to $5 a shot vs. about $.75 for a rifled slug. To sumarize, I think you really have to look at what kind of shots are generally presented to you and decide based on that.
 
True, like fwm says, cost is up there with some products:
1. 5 pack of 20 gauge Winchester Supreme Gold Patrition sabots, 14 bucks.

2. 10 pack of 12 gauge RWS Brenneke Rotweill Classic, 19 bucks and change.

3. 5 pack of 12 gauge Winchester Classic 1 ounce foster slug, about 7 bucks.
Depends on your needs, and terrain hunted.
And this is not the first time, deer hunters have quoted the sabot pass throughs, with a long track of a weak blood trail.
Maybe the softer lead BRI .40 calibre, 20 gauge sabots, are just the ticket for bambis?
 
I`ll be giving some Challenger slugs a try in both 12 & 20g. They`re similar to the Brenneke me thinks? Anyone ever try ``Litefield sabot slugs``?
ht tp://w w w.lightfieldslugs.com/lightfield/ecatalog/index.cfm?pageid=104&id=2&cfid=19193105&cftoken=37776437
 
the 870 turkey/deer (fully rifled cantilever and turkey bbl) combo from Remington. top with a nikon 2-7x32 scope or aimpoint sights
 
Huntsman said:
I`ll be giving some Challenger slugs a try in both 12 & 20g. They`re similar to the Brenneke me thinks? Anyone ever try ``Litefield sabot slugs``?
ht tp://w w w.lightfieldslugs.com/lightfield/ecatalog/index.cfm?pageid=104&id=2&cfid=19193105&cftoken=37776437
Click to expand...

I have no experience with Challengers, but I did hear a rumour that Lightfield sabots, the plastic cup, are prone to cracking in the cold weather.(northern US states)
And Remington caught onto this fact, and thier similar slugger(?) addresses this issue.
But I have no firsthand experience, this could be all conjecture and BS.
 
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Brutus said:
I have no experience with Challengers, but I did hear a rumour that Lightfield sabots, the plastic cup, are prone to cracking in the cold weather.(northern US states)
And Remington caught onto this fact, and thier similar slugger(?) addresses this issue.
But I have no firsthand experience, this could be all conjecture and BS.
Click to expand...

Could this be thier `Buckhammer`` slug?
 
I picked up the 870 turkey / deer combo at Gobles on Saturday (great service!). That gives me both options to play with depending on the terrain & whether I'm still hunting or pushing.

Does anyone have good / bad experiences to share re the Tru Glow Pro Series Magnum Gobble Dot sights? I like the look of them (better sight pictuce than a single bead) & am considering adding a set to the turkey barrel.

Thanks for the ongoing advice!
 
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