Rifles barrel with slugs

D_w_A

D_w_A

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So i'm not much of a shotgun guy and want to clear something up.

I've got a Massberg 500 with a rifled barrel. Now I was told a while back that you should only use sabot slugs with a rifled barrel. Is this true or can I use regular slugs?

and if so, Pro's and Con's

Thanks
 
Regular slugs are rifled slugs, you fire them from a smooth bore shotgun and the grooves on the slug gives it it's spin in the air (rorrect me if I'm wrong). With a rifled shotgun barrel, the rifling in the barrel make the sabot turn, just like a rifle barrel makes a normal bullet spin, which makes the slug inside the sabot turn. Then the sabot is taken apart ehen it catches the air.
I wouldn't use someting in something that isn't meant to be used with it. So no birdshot in that rifled shotgun barrel, you (or someone/something else) will quickly see why. :D
 
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It works fine, you just get a ton of lead in the barrel you have to clean. I use the copper bore brushes and lots of solvent until it's back to a mirror finish.

Just make sure you clean it after, or the lead buildup might prevent a sabot round from engaging the rifling enough for proper rotation. Worst case scenario if you really let the lead build up and fire a hard round like the copper coated brenekke magnum, you might even get an overpressure/stuck round/blown barrel/killed. I just make sure to clean after and it's A-OK.
 
Artiz said:
Regular slugs are rifled slugs, you fire them from a smooth bore shotgun and the grooves on the slug gives it it's spin in the air (rorrect me if I'm wrong). With a rifled shotgun barrel, the rifling in the barrel make the sabot turn, just like a rifle barrel makes a normal bullet spin, which makes the slug inside the sabot turn. Then the sabot is taken apart ehen it catches the air.
I wouldn't use someting in something that isn't meant to be used with it. So no birdshot in that rifled shotgun barrel, you (or someone/something else) will quickly see why. :D
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Actually, not to be the nose in the air guy here, but a rifled slug's rifling is to allow it to compress through a choke and nothing more. It in fact does not spin through the air. it floats more like a badminton /birdie.

A sabot slug spins with the rifling of a barrel, promoting both distance and accuracy.

Both slugs preform poorly when shot through the opposite barrel
 
Just curious if anyone has tested the accuracy of rifled slugs in a rifled barrel. I realize it's not the correct ammo. I can see them leading the barrel pretty quick though, seeing as the barrel's rifling is mainly meant for spinning plastic sabots.
 
curtmg said:
Just curious if anyone has tested the accuracy of rifled slugs in a rifled barrel.
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In my 870 they shoot about the same patterns at 50 yards as the smoothbore barrel. My guess is the soft lead skids right over the grooves rather than grabbing them enough to provide any useful rotation.
 
janesy said:
Actually, not to be the nose in the air guy here, but a rifled slug's rifling is to allow it to compress through a choke and nothing more. It in fact does not spin through the air. it floats more like a badminton /birdie.

A sabot slug spins with the rifling of a barrel, promoting both distance and accuracy.

Both slugs preform poorly when shot through the opposite barrel
Click to expand...

I learn every day, every single day I tell you. :D
 
Lead shotgun slugs fly straight because they are nose heavy. The shallow veins stamped into a foster slug are unlikely to do anything at all, although I heard at one time their purpose was to ease passage through a tight choke. At this point I even doubt this as the soft slug will easily swage down through the barrel constriction due to the thin lead skirts. Consider that the 12 ga slug mold from Lyman has no veins. Neither do I think that the heavier veins on a Brenneke slug do much as the band around the base of the slug would interrupt the air flow and tend to retard any spin that might otherwise have occurred. In this case the slug is nose heavy and the long length due to the attached wad helps to stabilize the slug in the air.
 
Rifled barrels use a rifling twist intended for sabot slugs. Full-calibre slugs are nose-heavy for stabilisation in a smooth bore.
 
I've shot 3" rifled slugs through my mavrick 88 with a rifled barrel on and the accuracy was amazing, as was the pain
 
Rifled Shotgun Barrels and Slugs
Friends All....I am posting this here and leave it up to you to put it where you want it!
I am now testing various "slugs" in a Hasting 12 ga. barrel for some people in Europe. For over a hundred years the European shooters has killed game in the Hirsch class (about like our elk) with shotguns using rifled slugs. Now, there is a growing interest over there in "rifled" barrels. They, unlike the American hunter, have no use for pistol bullets in sabots!
At present the two most promising slugs are the Lyman 12 ga. 1 1/16 oz. "Hourglass" and the Lee 1 oz. "Key" slug. Both are designed to be loaded in a plastic shot cup.
Now to the nitty gritty...all of the published slug data is aimed at their use in "smoothbore" barrels (unless stated otherwise) and many of these loads will be borderline high pressure in rifled barrels and slugs running 21+/- bhn. This, of course, is due to the resistance in a rifled barrel. I would suggest reducing the load by 5% when using the hard cast slugs in rifled barrels.
These new heavy hard cast slugs are very much like rifle loads even if they are shot on shotguns. Regular soft lead rifled slugs will lead a rifled barrel quite bad. After the first tests, I have become convienced these hard cast slugs in rifled barrels open a new door in big game hunting!
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D_w_A said:
So what type of choke is best with rifles slugs?
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Try Cyl, IC, Mod, or whatever you have and see what shoots best with the brand of slugs you bought. Then post back and tell us what worked and what didn't. Half the fun is blasting away to learn what shoots best for your gun.
 
janesy said:
Actually, not to be the nose in the air guy here, but a rifled slug's rifling is to allow it to compress through a choke and nothing more. It in fact does not spin through the air. it floats more like a badminton /birdie.

A sabot slug spins with the rifling of a barrel, promoting both distance and accuracy.

Both slugs preform poorly when shot through the opposite barrel
Click to expand...

Not one hundred percent true. The Challenger slug features a rotational vane designed to stabilize the slug in flight and to improve accuracy.


Everything you ever wanted to know about slugs.........


http://www.starsandstripesammo.com/education/about_shotgun_slugs.pdf
 
Emmanuel89, your comments regarding the Lyman sabot slug and Lee Drive Key type slugs come at the right time for me, I just ordered a set of mould blocks from Lyman, eager to try it out, as the price of Commercially loaded sabot slugs is absolutely RETARDED, how else is a fella supposed to get the all important practice in @ $15.99-22.99 per box of five? Thanks for the tips with the published data there.Those slugs look like an upsized .177 wadcutter pellet!


Also, as a side note, Tallman Industries Canada is selling the Lee Drive Key style slugs online as components for not too bad a price (no I don't work for them), but given the price of Lee equipment, it's still probably cheaper to buy the moulds if you have casting gear or a buddy who does.
 
hey about accuracy of slugs
i have a mossberg 535ats wit a 28" vent rib barrel smoothbore and a 24" rifled barrel
i have shot only 1 brand of slug for the rifled barrel which is the brenneke gold 3" magnum it is amazingly accurate as i can consistently hit a watermelon at and 150 yards and keep a 4" group at a 100 yards (thats as good as i can shoot wit open irons and fiber optic front bead i had installed) the effects of the slug r hard hitting and it stays together very well even after going through 4" of press board and buryinginto sand
the smooth bore slugs ive tried many brands and brenneke rotwielder 2 3/4" was the most accurate for me altho they grouped 4" lower the point of aim at 50 yards at 100 yards i had a 7" group with jsut bead sights 3" group with optical sights but the slugs flatten right out after contact and do not penetrate worth a damn
that is shot through ic choke
i prefer a slug that penetrates deep and hits hard while expansion isnt as nessecary since the entrance hole is already very large
depending on what game or purpose u want to use them various slugs offer differnet results
i prefer brenneke for both smooth n rifled bores
 
Heres a question for you...would you use a butter knife to twist a wood screw or the proper screw driver? My point, why not use the proper equipment for the specific application? Rifled slugs were made for smooth bore shotguns, Sabot slugs were made for fully rifled shotguns. Yeah, you can shoot ether round in ether barrel, but why chance wrecking the gun or ruining the chance at a trophy if the gun ever failed. I've watched a buddy wrack a nice shotgun due to fouling in the rifled barrel, because he was too cheap to buy some Sabot slugs.
My 2 cents
 
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