Are rifled barrels worth it?

Jäger1

Jäger1

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I have a Mossberg 535 that came with 3 barrels including a rifled one. Unfortunately I have never had the opportunity to put the rifled barrel to the test, nor have I done much rifled slug shooting to compare it to.

I have a Mossberg 500 that has a regular smoothbore 18" barrel on it and I've found an attractively priced rifled barrel for it.

So without taking the time and expense to see the difference between shooting rifled slugs and sabot slugs, risking missing out on the deal in the meantime, I'm just going to ask CGN:

Do you see any improvements shooting sabot slugs that justify the cost of a new barrel and more expensive ammunition?
 
I don't use saboted slugs in my rifled barrel but there is a vast improvement in accuracy

Rio star and challenger buckmaster slugs can be used in both smooth and rifled barrels.
Brenneke gold slugs are for rifled only. Also an amazing slug. Even my reloaded lee slugs shoot better in my rifled barrel
 
why not just use the 535 you already have ? There is usually an improvement but it depends on the ranges you hunt in to warrant the extra cost of ammo. I myself have gone back to smooth bore with rifled slugs simply because of cost.
 
marlin said:
why not just use the 535 you already have ? There is usually an improvement but it depends on the ranges you hunt in to warrant the extra cost of ammo. I myself have gone back to smooth bore with rifled slugs simply because of cost.
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Primarily because I have a pistol grip on my 500 that I've really taken a liking to and so far I've been unable to find a pistol grip setup for my camo 535 that matches the finish. I would love to find one constructed of metal...might get the NEA adapter and get it painted but failing that, I pretty much leave the turkey barrel on the 535 and the other barrels sit in the safe.

So I think you've answered my question...in that you only see the benefits as you extend the ranges farther. When it comes to the slugs, I'm hunting, not competing, so there is a notion of "good enough" vs "better".
 
Winchester Rackmasters are similar to Challengers in that will work well out of both rifled and smoothbore barrels. They blow Challangers out of the water in both of our slug guns (one rifled one smoothbore) in terms of accuracy. They make my smoothbore rifle sighted 870 a 100m slug gun.
 
the accuracy will not blow your mind, for example a smoothbore and rifled slugs might get you a 3in group at 75 yards....a rifled barrel and sabots might get you a 2.5in group at 100 yards. It is worth it only if you have money burning a hole in your wallet, it's not the end all.
 
I look at it likes this.

You spend $125+ on a small game licence. You spend $45 per deer licence or big game seal etc. You spend $500+ on a gun. Spending $1.50 less per shell not practicing and or sighting in and shooting over or under or wounding a deer etc to save your self pennies in the scheme of things. PRICELESS! Lol

Spend the money. Sight it in buy 5 boxes of shells. Shoot deer for 5 years.
 
I use a smooth-bore pump-action Winchester shotgun with a rifled sabot-choke. The choke is about 5"-6" long and does magic with Winchester sabot slugs. It's accurate to 100m.
 
Does anyone shoot rifled slugs through a rifled barrel?

If so; Were the results any better or worse that through a smooth bore?
 
Winchested said:
I look at it likes this.

You spend $125+ on a small game licence. You spend $45 per deer licence or big game seal etc. You spend $500+ on a gun. Spending $1.50 less per shell not practicing and or sighting in and shooting over or under or wounding a deer etc to save your self pennies in the scheme of things. PRICELESS! Lol

Spend the money. Sight it in buy 5 boxes of shells. Shoot deer for 5 years.
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Spend some more money on a lyman sabot slug mould & a lee lead casting pot along with a MEC.
Work up a nice shooting handload & with plenty of room for pre-season practice.
Then shoot deer for much less money for the rest of your life. :)
 
Rifled barrels generally do improve accuracy.

The Mossberg rifled barrels actually seem to impede accuracy! I never wasted my time to measure but they appear to be overbored barrels and the sabots have a sloppy fit so they more or less rattle down the bore and produce poor accuracy.

I tried both the 835 rifled version and the rifled barrel they make for the Remington 870 and both gave the same poor results. Sabots (just about every manufacturer) and wads (Lee 1 oz. slug reloads) retrieved from the shooting lane showed a lack of rifling imprints on their surfaces but they were pretty badly scuffed up. When fired thru a Browning or original Remington 870 rifled barrel the had clean rifling imprints and produced groups rather than patterns.

Just one observation...others may vary!
 
I've out 4/5 holes touching and 1 2 inchs low at 100 yards with my rifled barrel and hornady sabot. Also I believe that they are supposed to expand like a rifle bullet but I have no real world proof that it happens
 
Smoothbore or rifled bbl, highly depends on the proper ammo/bbl (and in the case of smoothbore, choke) combo. Finding the right "fit" will generally require some effort. Last year, I changed the rings and re-installed the scope on my H&R USH 20ga.....bore sighted at home from a distance of 25ft.

Rem Accutips 2 3/4in sabots on a 5in bull @ 100 yds....I wasn't looking for precision just wanted quick reassurance that I was on paper....I find that the Accutips generally tend to perform well.

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Hey Dexter Morgan! I've shot sabots through my rifled barrel, sabots are not designed for smooth bore, unless you got a rifled choke. Is it better than a smooth bore? I'm my opinion, yes! I've shot the appropriate slugs out of both barrels. And of course, both barrels are "mission specific." If your average range is 50 to 75 yards, you can hit an 8 inch pie plate all day long with both barrels. So not alot of diff there. But in certain places that I hunt, we have the opportunity to shoot at deer out to 100 plus yards. Try the same 8 inch pie plate test at 100 yards! I will not use anything other than my rifled barrel, with sabots. Regardless if the deer is at 50 yards or out to 100 yards. There is that much difference at these ranges, well there is for me. I think the key to success is confidence in your point of impact.
again this is my opinion....hope this helps and doesnt muddy the waters, good luck with your decision!

Steve
 
Rifled barrel all the way. The majority of the time the groups at 100 yards are half the size or less than a smoothbore makes meaning you're odds of a clean kill are greatly increased, especially when buck fever and and hunting conditions are factored in.

The best I've seen with a smooth bore is 4-5" @ 100 yards and 2-2.5" for the rifled.

Or you can opt for a savage 220 ($500 new) or an NEF slug gun ($300 new) and make even smaller groups...

As with turkey shells, the cost of sabots isn't really a factor as you're only using a box or two a season if that.
 
I'm not going to pretend that I've done this, but I've read that if you put a 535 mag tube on your 500 then you should be able to run your 535 barrel on your 500. Can anyone confirm this? If so, a mag tube will likely be cheaper than a slug barrel.
 
Winchested said:
I look at it likes this.

You spend $125+ on a small game licence. You spend $45 per deer licence or big game seal etc. You spend $500+ on a gun. Spending $1.50 less per shell not practicing and or sighting in and shooting over or under or wounding a deer etc to save your self pennies in the scheme of things. PRICELESS! Lol

Spend the money. Sight it in buy 5 boxes of shells. Shoot deer for 5 years.
Click to expand...

Which province sells small game liscence for 125$+? Damn thats pretty crazy. I want to know so i know not to ask
For a posting there. Thats a 100$ too much if you ask me
 
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