Dumb question on Rifled barrels

[powdergun]

I have no experience with rifled slug barrels so please bear with me.

Can you fire regular lead bird shot from a rifles slug barrels ? If so how does it perform as compared to a regular smooth bore choked barrel ?

My idea was if it is possible it would be a nice combination for a grouse gun in deer season. If a deer pops up slip in a slug, if a grouse use the bird shot.

If it is a dumb or dangerous idea its nice to find out the easy way and not the hard way

 

[Scar270]

My understanding is that shot shells fired from a rifled barrel tend to have a hole in the middle. The spin imparted on the wad and shot by the rifling causes a centrifugal motion which cause the shot to spread towards the outside of the pattern leaving a big hole in the middle. I have never patterned a rifled barrel to prove this, perhaps someone else has and can back me up, or tell me I'm full of it as the case may be.

 

[ben hunchak]

The combination of no choke and rifled barrel will cause poor patterning but, could be okay for close range birds. Try it beforehand on some paper and learn your max. range for birds. It would make it tough to just take headshots and not damage the meat.

 

[toxic]

I don't think it would do a rifled barrel any good to fire shot through it. I've always avoided that with my rifled barrels. I would assume that steel shot would be worse than lead. I think there was a thread on this previously...

 

[Covey Ridge]

A small sized shot charge through a rifled barrel might produce a good pattern for those very close flushers. I have noticed that Browning Invector Plus SPREADER tubes designed for sporting clays are designed similar to the rifled tubes designed for sabot slugs. I would shoot a test pattern at your expected bird shot range. And please report back!

 

[avanwest]

I was thinking along the same lines, but a slug for the first shot then some buckshot as follow up on deer. Has anyone ever tried this combo with a rifled barrell?

 

[Covey Ridge]

I was thinking along the same lines, but a slug for the first shot then some buckshot as follow up on deer. Has anyone ever tried this combo with a rifled barrell?

I have never tried it.

A rifled barrel with sabot slugs is quite an improvement over a smooth bore with rifled slugs. Actually it is a 12 gauge rifle! I am not sure of what deer hunting situation one would want to follow up a rifle shot with a poor buckshot pattern?