Rifled Shotgun -- The Basics

[predecessor]

Did some basic searching and came up empty. I'm looking for some advice and information on rifled shotguns. Real basic stuff.

I have a shotgun for Cowboy Action and one for Trap. I'm just trying to learn more about some of the other uses and types of shotguns and I have seen rifled shotguns and am curious...

Can I shoot slugs out of my smooth bore shotgun? Why would I want to? What kind of ammo should I use for this? What are the pros and cons.

What performance increases can I get by using a rifled barrel? What are the primary uses and are there better alternatives? What are the pros and cons? What kind of ammo is best? Can I shoot traditional shot out of the rifled barrel?

Teach me oh Sage Shotgunners!

 

[rantingredneck]

Can I shoot slugs out of my smooth bore shotgun?

Yes, you can. Foster style and Brenneke KO slugs perform fairly well out of a smoothbore to 75-100 yds with sights. Back that up to 50-75 yds with a bead (for most folks). Typically slugs do better through an open choke (Cyl or Imp Cyl).

Why would I want to?

Depends on your intended purpose. For hunting in wooded country with a shotgun your shots may not exceed the range of a smoothbore shotgun and foster or brenneke slugs. If that is the case you will be well served by them. Rifled barrels and sabot slugs are much more expensive.

What kind of ammo should I use for this?

Any "Rifled" slug will do. These range from the classic foster style soft lead slugs (Remington Sluggers, Federal Classics and the like) to the Brenneke KO which is harder lead and has an attached wad for forward weight distribution and more stable flight. Each shotgun barrel has it's own preferences. Buy a few boxes of different brands and hit the range.

What are the pros and cons.

Pros:

Cheaper than saboted slugs
Devastating within their effective range
full caliber

Cons:
Range limited

What performance increases can I get by using a rifled barrel?

With a good barrel, good optics/sights and good ammo 200yds becomes a possibility.

What are the primary uses and are there better alternatives?

Rifled barrels are really big game slug-hunting barrels, not much use otherwise.

What are the pros and cons?

Pros:
increased range
good for shotgun only zones
devastating performance

Cons:
expensive barrels
expensive ammo if you use sabots (can still use fosters and brennekes though) (15-20 bucks for 5 rounds of sabot slugs is not uncommon)

What kind of ammo is best?

can't help you there, I only use smoothbore for slug hunting. If I use a rifled barrel here it will either be 6mm or 7.62mm .

Can I shoot traditional shot out of the rifled barrel?

You can without worrying about damage to the barrel if that is your question. Performance will not be good though. The shot column spins due to the rifling and you end up with donut shaped patterns with big holes in the middle.

Teach me oh Sage Shotgunners!

Never personally claimed to be all that Sage. I just like to play with scatterguns .

 

[bswiv]

Everything RANTINGREDNECK said is correct.

We use shotguns here in NE Fl. to hunt hogs after the deer season closes. We do so because we have to not out of choice. That said a 20ga sabot has about the same balistic performance, depending on what type you chose, as a standard 45-70 load. They are plenty accurate and work well on pigs.

As RANT...... says the big negative is the cost. Still as we shoot maybe 15-20 rounds a season inclusive of checking our sights the cost is not a big concern. If we were going to blast away at the range with them then reloading would be imparitive.