The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Can you shoot rifled slugs out of an o/u?

**44 AMP** · September 10, 2008, 04:59 PM

That slugs fly as straight as they do because of the forward balance of the weight. Like a dart, or as mentioned, a shuttlecock. The ribs on the outside of the slug look like they will impart a spin, and they may even do so to a small degree. but they are there for the same reason as the hollow base, which is to allow the slug to pass through a choke without serious problems.

It has always been recommended to use slugs in cylinder bores, because not having to squeeze through a choke leaves them as accurate as they can be. But the makers know that there will be slugs shot through choked guns, and so make the slugs able to do this without harm to the guns.

This is for the Foster style slugs, which have been the standard for many, many years. Today, the (Brenneke style) sabot slugs and rifled slug barrels have changed the capabilities of slug guns alot, extending the accurate range quite a lot.

If your gun is built correctly, firing slugs out of it will not harm the gun, O/U or SxS. Acceptable accuracy of the slugs on the other hand is a different issue. The only way to know if your shotgun will be accurate enough (with slugs) to do what you want done is to shoot it with slugs, and see.

September 10, 2008, 04:59 PM	#19
44 AMP Staff Join Date: March 11, 2006 Location: Upper US Posts: 28,839	Conventional wisdom for many decades has been That slugs fly as straight as they do because of the forward balance of the weight. Like a dart, or as mentioned, a shuttlecock. The ribs on the outside of the slug look like they will impart a spin, and they may even do so to a small degree. but they are there for the same reason as the hollow base, which is to allow the slug to pass through a choke without serious problems. It has always been recommended to use slugs in cylinder bores, because not having to squeeze through a choke leaves them as accurate as they can be. But the makers know that there will be slugs shot through choked guns, and so make the slugs able to do this without harm to the guns. This is for the Foster style slugs, which have been the standard for many, many years. Today, the (Brenneke style) sabot slugs and rifled slug barrels have changed the capabilities of slug guns alot, extending the accurate range quite a lot. If your gun is built correctly, firing slugs out of it will not harm the gun, O/U or SxS. Acceptable accuracy of the slugs on the other hand is a different issue. The only way to know if your shotgun will be accurate enough (with slugs) to do what you want done is to shoot it with slugs, and see. __________________ All else being equal (and it almost never is) bigger bullets tend to work better.