I have a rifled barrel,I just bought a different barrel to shoot buck shot Nacho and bird shot. Sabots ain't cheap and I am.My biggest concern was damaging the tighter choke in the barrel.It has a rem choke so I think I can interchange them. Thanks,I'll try a few this weekend.
The Improved choke is the recomended choke to use for slugs. Improved choke is a bigger diameter than the MOD.
The rifled barrel slugs CANNOT be used with a smooth bored shotgun. Usually a shotgun that has a rifled barrel will not have the option to change the choke cause the barrel is specifically made for rifled slugs.
D.I.T. are you saying a sabot slug will not go thru a smoothbore, and possibly do bbl damage, or it's just not very accurate, I never tried it ,why would you want to spend that kind of money on a sabot and use it in a smoothbore anyway. skunkape, let me know how it goes at the range I'm kinda in the same boat, not cheap, but broke right now, I have a real nice rifled slug gun , but keep a mossberg 500 smoothbore with me all the time if I wanna use buckshot/slug combo, plus I can afford ammo for that.
Please let me add a couple of things I know, however not an expert. I live in a state that is shotgun slug only for deer hunting and have tried all sorts of configurations. Talking with gunsmiths I was told use the rifled slugs such as Winchester, Remingtons etc for a smooth bore shotgun such as the 870 Remingtons and 500 Mossburgs. The improved cylinder does seem to work best and offer the best groups coming out of a 28" barrel, more so over the 24 and 26" barrels.
Do not shoot slugs out of a Mossburg 835 Ulti-mag, this is the 3 1/2" shell capability shotgun. The gun is not made for a slug and the barrel diameter is not designed for the slug. Dangerous combination! Do not use a turkey or duck choke specially made for a shot gun to hold a tighter pattern with a slug.
I have 3 slug only shotguns with rifled barrels. I have 2 .20 gauge single shot slug guns, 1 is an H&R the other is a Rossi with ported bull barrel. These two guns are deadly accurate and one shot is all you need up to 100 yards, even though we shoot typically less than 50 yards. These rifled barrels are designed to shoot slugs only and the Sabot slugs are what is recommended to keep the rifling intact within the barrel. Shooting rifled slug will wear on the rifling and reduce your accuracy over time. Both slug guns shoot a 3" chambered slug.
The thirds slug gun I have is a Marlin 500 bolt action 12 gauge that will shoot 2 3/4 and 3" slugs. I shoot Sabots out of them in 2 3/4", range sat 100 yards with about 2" groups off a rest. I have shot rifled slugs in this gun because at first I did not know not to, I shot maybe 20 through it but was lucky that I discovered the Sabot theory, as I surely would not have this firearm now if I had continued. I found that the 2 3/4" shells shoot every bit as good as the 3" and offer the knockdown power every bit as good also. I am not a power monger having to shoot the larger shell just becuase it packs more powder.
I have shot many deer with slugs over the years and found that with a smooth bore barrel my shots were not as accurately placed. Shooting off a rest at targets, I have tested load after load after load. I found the absolute best slug for the money is the Brenneke Sabot slug, yes these are expensive by other standards and I do not want to spend that much on slugs when I can get them cheaper but I think of what I want to shoot and does it deserve quality or for a few bucks should I hope that I do not damage a barrel and save a few bucks, possibly wounding a deer instead of taking home the meat. I am heading out today for the Illinois shotgun season and have a fresh pack of Sabots with me in the trusty old 12 gauge in hopes of putting down one of the Illinois monsters. I will if successful take some pictures of the damage a Brenneke will deliver.
P'Duck, good info, thanks. good luck on your hunt. I haven't seen brenekes on a store shelf in ages, guess you mail away for them? I hunted alot of counties in N.Y. and L.I. that were shotgun only, and my rifled bbl slug gun ( benelli sbe with leupold 1x4 ) was zeroed with fed prem barnes expanders, but haven't used it for about 6 yrs, and can't find any on store shelfs. I was able to get 10 of the hornady 300 gr sst sabots, have you ever used these? I don't feel 10 rnds are enough for me to re-zero the gun and have any for hunting, unless VERY lucky. what do you think?
