Slugs in a cylinder bore...

[imp]

So, I have a friend that wants to go deer hunting with me. Cool. I haven't hunted in a few years, and I'm ready to hit the woods again. Problem is, I sold my Tikka a year or so back because I hadn't been hunting, leaving my long gun options 12ga or .223. Great excuse to buy a rifle, but with christmas around the corner and all the travel that entails, I'm not going to convince my better half to let me pick up a new rifle and scope. Since my shots will be pretty short anyway, and I don't want to use the .223 on deer, I feel the shotgun is the way to go.

Now, since my shotgun has a 20" cylinder bore barrel, what kind of accuracy can I expect using rifled slugs? I'm going to add either a red dot or low power scope to it and hit the range sometime this week to see what I can get out of the old girl, but figured I would pose the question first.

While buying a new rifle is out of the question, I can probably swing buying another barrel for the shotgun. What type/length barrel should I be looking for, and why?

 

[zippy13]

I think you have the questions is reverse. What sort of accuracy are you looking for and at what range? Dave McC, or fearless moderator and shotgun guru, opined the other day that most of his slug shots are in the neighborhood of 30-35 yards. Since you mentioned your shooting will be pretty short range, too, you should be okay with your shotgun for deer.

Standard slugs will work fine in your 20" cyl barrel. Every time the question of slug accuracy comes up, the answer seems to be "it depends." You need to spend some range time and see how your particular barrel performs with a variety of slugs. Much of it will depend on the sights/mount you select.

With sabot type slugs and a new rifled barrel you'll get better accuracy, but don't expect miracles from the expensive sabots. It will probably unnecessary for the close-in shooting you anticipate. But, a new rifled barrel with sights on a cantilevered mount and sabot-type slugs will do wonders for your confidence.

 

[Old Grump]

Zippy is right, same old advice from us dinosaurs. 2.5X scope man myself but whatever sighting system trips your trigger and gets you on target will beat most bead sights for aiming at deer. Grab a few different kinds, you are going to the range anyway and find out which one your gun likes the best. Most shotguns are pretty forgiving and shoot most brands and styles close to the same point of impact. but still its good to know if your gun likes one better or can't stand one for some particular reason. Besides shooting is fun.

Expect any deer inside 60 yards to go down quick, 40 yards is better with your 20" barrels. Enjoy the shooting and good hunting.

 

[myshoulderissore]

You should be fine. I actually just came back from the range with my 18" 870, also no choke. I only got 1 choice of slug, it has great ballistics and great reviews, figured I would be fine with it. Had a red dot sight I was going to use, but ended up using the bead, it worked fine. At 50 yards, I took one shot, was about 8" high, so adjusted my sight picture, and made 3 groups, 3 shots each, 3" center to center for all of them. Then I went to 100 yards with a paper plate, got 5 shots on it. I never even took the red dot out of the box.

On a side note, these are the slugs I am using.
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=721187
Holy jeebus! Each shot is a friggin roller coaster thrillride all on it's own! They have monster kick, but it is a slower push, rather than a sharp punch, so it's not that bad. Only downside I found was that if I didn't cycle the shotgun at full speed, they wouldn't eject, but that was more due to me being in awe at the awesomeness of the rounds.

Have fun with yours, post back how it goes!

 

[Jack O'Conner]

I own a Mossberg 500 with several barrels.

1) original 28 inch barrel was sawed off by local smith to 18.5 inches with bead reset. Shooting plain Foster types slugs, it will shoot 3 shots into a 6 inch circle at 35 yards. Not impressive but okay. Beyond this distance the so-called group becomes random.

2) 28 inch vent rib barrel with replaceable choke tubes. The improved cylinder tube shoots 3 shots into a 6 inch circle at 50 yards. Not impressive but better than the sawed off barrel.


Jack

 

[Nnobby45]

My Scattergun Tech cylilnder bore, with rifle sights, put Fed TAC LE slugs into about 6" at 50yd.

Federal TruBall cut that in half, and can be ordered OL from Cabelas, for one. They come in reduced recoil and standard.