Purpose of a rifled barrel?

Rattlehead · April 9, 2010, 12:25 PM

I'm kinda loosely eyeballing shotguns a "down the road" purchase. I'm not necessarily looking for a "pick my shotgun" thread, but in the process of checking these things out, I've seen a Mossberg 500 for $270, and a combo for $350ish which has the same specs as the $250 model, but has with it a 24" rifled barrel.

My natural assumption is that one would fire slugs through the barrel, but with rifled slugs, isn't the rifled barrel kinda pointless/obsolete? I'm sorta drawn to the versatility of having two different barrels, but if I can just change ammo and get the same effect...

Just kinda curious, and when I ran a quick forum search, I didn't find a thread that directly addressed the question.

Thanks in advance.

stargazer65 · April 9, 2010, 12:32 PM

Rifled barrel shotguns are not for rifled slugs. They are for shooting very expensive Sabot Slugs. Whereas Rifled slugs are for smooth bore shotguns.

If you want to shoot slugs as accurately as possible and don't care about cost of slugs the rifle barrel would be a good choice.

That's the way I think it works anyway (in a nutshell).

famine · April 9, 2010, 12:33 PM

Rifled barrels are primarally used for sabot rounds that can extend the effective range of a shotgun. They will also stabalize any other slugs that you shoot through them to give you better accuracy than that of a smooth barrel. 2 things to note about rifled barrels, using non-sabot rounds will foul the barrel quickly, not a big deal for deer hunting but not good if you are putting a lot of rounds through. Also regular bird shot can be shot in these barrels but the rifling will spin the shot so that the pattern becomes a big donut very soon after leaving the barrel. Hope this helps

Famine

ps, I've shot lots of deer out to 100yrds with rifled slugs out of rifled barrel

Rattlehead · April 9, 2010, 01:20 PM

Right, I understand the use of sabots through a rifled barrel... I should have clarified that. I'm just trying to understand why someone would choose to pay more for sabots through a rifled barrel vs rifled slugs through smoothbore. Is it significantly more accurate?

mete · April 9, 2010, 01:32 PM

Accuracy - rifled barrel and sabot slug , best .rifled choke and sabot slug, less accurate, smoothbore with 'rifled 'slug least accurate .
Note that I wrote it as 'rifled' because the rifling does not spin the slug !! It was made to make it safe to use the slug with various bore and choke dimensions without damaging the gun.

famine · April 9, 2010, 02:29 PM

Some sabot manufacturers claim 250yrds with sabots, realistically your looking at a range around 150yrds, riflled barrel with rifled slugs will get you 100-110yrds, smooth bore with rifled slugs generally get you in the 80yrd range. These numbers are from my experiences and may not reflect other peoples shooting ability.

jmr40 · April 9, 2010, 07:48 PM

Yes, the rifled barrels and sabot's are considerably more accurate. Plus the sabot slugs increase effective range considerably as well. A 4-5" 100 yard group with rifled slugs and a smoothbore is considered exceptional. With a scope, sabot's and a rifled barrel you could probably do better than that at 200 yards.

jbaham · April 10, 2010, 12:04 PM

I have a few shotguns with rifled barrels one being a bolt action slug gun this gun can effectively kill a deer at 250 yards with lightfield 3" sabot slugs in it I know it can do this because I have shot deer that far with this gun It also has a scope on it. I also have some mossberg 500 12 ga guns with rifled barrels that will shoot out to 100 with open sights. The best thing to do is get one and put a good optic on it and try several different sabots through it. The sabots I use run about 20 dollars for 5 of them but all I ever need is one shot to get the deer with them. My brother has a remington 870 this was dads gun it has a rifled barrel as well and it shoots as well as the mossberg 500 will.

April 9, 2010, 12:25 PM	#1
Rattlehead Senior Member Join Date: September 22, 2009 Location: NC Posts: 244	Purpose of a rifled barrel? I'm kinda loosely eyeballing shotguns a "down the road" purchase. I'm not necessarily looking for a "pick my shotgun" thread, but in the process of checking these things out, I've seen a Mossberg 500 for $270, and a combo for $350ish which has the same specs as the $250 model, but has with it a 24" rifled barrel. My natural assumption is that one would fire slugs through the barrel, but with rifled slugs, isn't the rifled barrel kinda pointless/obsolete? I'm sorta drawn to the versatility of having two different barrels, but if I can just change ammo and get the same effect... Just kinda curious, and when I ran a quick forum search, I didn't find a thread that directly addressed the question. Thanks in advance.

April 9, 2010, 12:32 PM	#2
stargazer65 Senior Member Join Date: April 6, 2009 Location: Connecticut Posts: 761	Rifled barrel shotguns are not for rifled slugs. They are for shooting very expensive Sabot Slugs. Whereas Rifled slugs are for smooth bore shotguns. If you want to shoot slugs as accurately as possible and don't care about cost of slugs the rifle barrel would be a good choice. That's the way I think it works anyway (in a nutshell). __________________ "I assert that nothing ever comes to pass without a cause." Jonathan Edwards

April 9, 2010, 12:33 PM	#3
famine Senior Member Join Date: April 20, 2005 Location: Buffalo MN Posts: 113	Rifled barrels are primarally used for sabot rounds that can extend the effective range of a shotgun. They will also stabalize any other slugs that you shoot through them to give you better accuracy than that of a smooth barrel. 2 things to note about rifled barrels, using non-sabot rounds will foul the barrel quickly, not a big deal for deer hunting but not good if you are putting a lot of rounds through. Also regular bird shot can be shot in these barrels but the rifling will spin the shot so that the pattern becomes a big donut very soon after leaving the barrel. Hope this helps Famine ps, I've shot lots of deer out to 100yrds with rifled slugs out of rifled barrel

April 9, 2010, 01:20 PM	#4
Rattlehead Senior Member Join Date: September 22, 2009 Location: NC Posts: 244	Right, I understand the use of sabots through a rifled barrel... I should have clarified that. I'm just trying to understand why someone would choose to pay more for sabots through a rifled barrel vs rifled slugs through smoothbore. Is it significantly more accurate?

April 9, 2010, 01:32 PM	#5
mete Senior Member Join Date: June 14, 2004 Location: NY State Posts: 6,575	Accuracy - rifled barrel and sabot slug , best .rifled choke and sabot slug, less accurate, smoothbore with 'rifled 'slug least accurate . Note that I wrote it as 'rifled' because the rifling does not spin the slug !! It was made to make it safe to use the slug with various bore and choke dimensions without damaging the gun.

April 9, 2010, 02:29 PM	#6
famine Senior Member Join Date: April 20, 2005 Location: Buffalo MN Posts: 113	Some sabot manufacturers claim 250yrds with sabots, realistically your looking at a range around 150yrds, riflled barrel with rifled slugs will get you 100-110yrds, smooth bore with rifled slugs generally get you in the 80yrd range. These numbers are from my experiences and may not reflect other peoples shooting ability.

April 9, 2010, 07:48 PM	#7
jmr40 Senior Member Join Date: June 15, 2008 Location: Georgia Posts: 10,806	Yes, the rifled barrels and sabot's are considerably more accurate. Plus the sabot slugs increase effective range considerably as well. A 4-5" 100 yard group with rifled slugs and a smoothbore is considered exceptional. With a scope, sabot's and a rifled barrel you could probably do better than that at 200 yards.

April 10, 2010, 12:04 PM	#8
jbaham Junior member Join Date: March 13, 2010 Posts: 34	I have a few shotguns with rifled barrels one being a bolt action slug gun this gun can effectively kill a deer at 250 yards with lightfield 3" sabot slugs in it I know it can do this because I have shot deer that far with this gun It also has a scope on it. I also have some mossberg 500 12 ga guns with rifled barrels that will shoot out to 100 with open sights. The best thing to do is get one and put a good optic on it and try several different sabots through it. The sabots I use run about 20 dollars for 5 of them but all I ever need is one shot to get the deer with them. My brother has a remington 870 this was dads gun it has a rifled barrel as well and it shoots as well as the mossberg 500 will.