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chucko · June 30, 1999, 03:19 PM

I have 3 barrels for my Rem 870

18.5" Smooth Bore
20" Fully Rifled Slug Barrel
26" Smooth Bore, Rem Choke ( with a few chokes )

"Rem Choke" is Remington's proprietary choke standard. There are quite a few of choke standards. The Rem Chokes seem to be readily available and inexpensive.

The "Fully Rifled" barrel is exactly that. Its just like a rifle or pistol barrel and spins the slug for better stability. Some slugs were designed to only be shot from rifled barrels. While is perfectly safe to shoot a slug designed for a rifled barrel out of a smooth barrel, it won't be as accurate. My fully rifled slug barrel shoots great, but those 3" Sabot Slugs kick like a Mule on PCP. Fully rifled barrels do not accept chokes.

If you shoot "shot" through a fully rifled barrel you will end up with a dounut shaped pattern. The rifling will actually spin the shot load, causing it to expand in a ring shape leaving a hole in the middle where almost no pellets hit.

You can buy rifled chokes for your smooth bore barrels. The reports, I have heard about these chokes have been fair, but not great. Imagine the slug being pushed down a smooth barrel at high speed, only to encounter about 1.5" of rifling on the end of the barrel. These are however your best bet if you don't want to have a collection of barrels for your 870.

The August 1998 edition of American Rifleman had a very good 4 page article about slugs and "Smooth Bore VS Rifled Bore".

Hope This Helps

Chuck

[This message has been edited by chucko (edited June 30, 1999).]

June 30, 1999, 03:19 PM	#2
chucko Senior Member Join Date: May 20, 1999 Posts: 151	I have 3 barrels for my Rem 870 18.5" Smooth Bore 20" Fully Rifled Slug Barrel 26" Smooth Bore, Rem Choke ( with a few chokes ) "Rem Choke" is Remington's proprietary choke standard. There are quite a few of choke standards. The Rem Chokes seem to be readily available and inexpensive. The "Fully Rifled" barrel is exactly that. Its just like a rifle or pistol barrel and spins the slug for better stability. Some slugs were designed to only be shot from rifled barrels. While is perfectly safe to shoot a slug designed for a rifled barrel out of a smooth barrel, it won't be as accurate. My fully rifled slug barrel shoots great, but those 3" Sabot Slugs kick like a Mule on PCP. Fully rifled barrels do not accept chokes. If you shoot "shot" through a fully rifled barrel you will end up with a dounut shaped pattern. The rifling will actually spin the shot load, causing it to expand in a ring shape leaving a hole in the middle where almost no pellets hit. You can buy rifled chokes for your smooth bore barrels. The reports, I have heard about these chokes have been fair, but not great. Imagine the slug being pushed down a smooth barrel at high speed, only to encounter about 1.5" of rifling on the end of the barrel. These are however your best bet if you don't want to have a collection of barrels for your 870. The August 1998 edition of American Rifleman had a very good 4 page article about slugs and "Smooth Bore VS Rifled Bore". Hope This Helps Chuck [This message has been edited by chucko (edited June 30, 1999).]