Slug barrel VS not ?

[skinsman]

Ok, I am gonna ask this question a different way. I am no shot gun expert, so whats the difference between a slug barrel (still smooth bore) and a regular choked barrel???

[Rampant_Colt]

Slug barrels typically have rifle sights.
Choke tube barrels typically use a bead sight, and sometimes have a rib and two beads.

[skinsman]

That I understand. What about the choke? Is a slug barrel like an open choke or something. What happens if I shoot shot through it?

[Rampant_Colt]

As far as i know, only Remington uses Improved Cylinder for their smooth bore slug barrels. Most everyone else uses a cylinder bore.

You can pretty much shoot any shotshells through it. Birdshot, buckshot, slugs, flechettes, Dragon's Breath.. LoL

birdshot patterns will be wide due to no choke constriction.

[jmortimer]

The rifled slug barrel has rifling just like a rifle. It imparts spin on the projectile. The smooth bore typically has a number of chokes that are threaded into the smoothbore barrel. They range from extra full to cylinder bore which is wide open and matches the bore - typically around .742" Some smooth bores have no screw in chokes and are typically cylinder bore and short defense barrels. The tigthter/smaller the choke the tighter the pattern out in the distance. The cylinder bore will open up fastest with shot. At very close range they are all tight. You can even get rifled screw-in chokes.

[ArizonaRick]

I cast both the Lee & Lyman slugs and shoot alot of them through various smoothbores. You can expect 2-3" groups at 25 yds (6" at 50 or better) from most factory "Foster" style rilfed slugs out of a smooth bore. Rifle sights will improve your group size by 25%. If you cast or buy cast slugs, the Lyman 525 grain slug is the most accurate in smoothbores and the lee's are not bad. Universal Clays and Herco are the most accurate powders in most smoothbores slug loads. Loading light loads make shooting slugs alot of fun. Cylinder or IC choke is the best overall for slugs in a smooth bore.

[MTT TL]

Shooting shot out of a rifled barrel will cause a doughnut shaped pattern on most guns due to the swirling pattern. On my slug barrels this opens up bird shot to about a 15 foot pattern at 15 feet. It can make buck shot wildly inaccurate at longer range.

Screw in rifled chokes are for shooting solid rounds that require rifling. They are not designed for shot.

Some rounds (such as Foster slugs) do not require rifling.

[RWBlue01]

Traditional barrels usually have a bead and are smooth bore.

Slug barrels usually have rifling and rifle sights. They are made for saboted bullets.

The Remington 870 slug barrel I have came with rifle sights and a rifled choke. I have since swapped it out for a modified choke. The modified choke allows me to shoot traditional Breneke rifled slugs to around 4 inches at 100 yards. And allows me to shoot buck and bird shot decently. It makes for an all around shotgun.

If you want a dedicated sabot slug shooter, get a fully rifled barrel.
If you want a dedicated bird/turkey gun, get a longer barreled screw in choke gun.
If you want an all around gun, do like I did with my 870

[hogdogs]

Slug barrels usually have rifling and rifle sights

Since the OP very clearly stated he only wants to know the details regarding a SMOOTHBORE SLUG BARREL, why are folks now discussing rifled barrels for sabot slugs?

On the Mossberg website, their smoothbore slug barrels are all cylinder bore with the traditional "rifle sights"...

The main thing to know is a smoothbore slug barrel will have rifle sights. The mossberg smooth slug barrel is also ported.

Brent

[zippy13]

Slug Barrels 101:

In the simplest term, a shotgun barrel is a smooth tube with a constriction, or choke, at the opening. It's purpose is to control the expansion of the shot string. The more the restriction, the tighter the string's pattern will remain. The use of chokes started a long time age.

The forum's grey-beards, like me, recall two major developments in shotgun technology: The plastic wad/shot cup, and the screw-in choke. When I was young, it was common for car's transmission to have only 3-speeds, these days my old car has a 6-speed. It's similar with shotguns, new ammo and screw-in chokes have added tremendously to the shotgun's flexibility.

Those shooting slugs don't care much about controlling the expansion of the shot pattern. After all, they are using their shotgun as a musket. Typically, slugs are used where rifles are prohibited for safety reasons (they have too much range) or you want to deliver a heavier hit than conventional rifles provide. It doesn't take a lot of thought to realize that if you dedicate a shotgun to shooting only slugs, then the choke doesn't really matter and some sort of sighting device (beyond a front bead) really helps. Now we have the birth of the slug gun (or the slug barrel).

The smooth bore slug barrel is typically fitted with some sort of musket/rifle sights. Since is not used for wing shooting, it's shorter than a bird barrel -- more like a rifle barrel length.

Now we come to the OP's question, what choke, if any, in a slug barrel and why? There are technical reasons and marketing reasons. Technically, in a perfect world, slug barrels would be choke-less and all slugs would be designed for choke-less barrels. But, this is not the case, slug manufacturers realize that not everyone who shoots slugs has a choke-less slug barrel and their ammo will be used in all sorts of shotguns. The answer is to make slugs from a soft metal and in a configuration that will allow them to safely pass the tightest choke. Because of this, many slugs do not perform their best in choke-less slug barrels. Typically, slugs provide better performance with just a pinch of choke. How big a pinch of choke depends of the specific slugs you are using.

What is the gun maker to do -- how much choke does he put in his slug barrel? If you are Remington or Winchester and you sell slug barrels and slugs, it's simple: You could make your slug barrels with just enough choke to perform best with the slugs you sell. If you are Mossberg and you don't sell slugs, then you have to guess what optimum minor constriction to provide. Another solution is to just use the same screw-in system you do with your wing shooting barrels and let the end user select his slug choke.

What's the shooter to do? For the casual slugster, you can get a barrel with a fixed "slug" choke get some slugs and go zero your sights before deer season. Next year you might get some different slugs to see if they are any better. Or, you can get a slug barrel with screw-in slugs chokes, buy several popular slugs and head to the range to see what combination slug/choke works best in your barrel. Remember, these are not wing shooting chokes like mod and full, they are usually very close in size and may be cyl, slug, skeet, imp cyl. Their differences will be measured in thousandths, not hundredths of an inch.

skinsman, I hope this cleared the muddy water a little.

[Nick S.]

I have a Stevens SXS 16 ga. The right barrel is improved cylinder and the left is Modified. Can a slug be safely fired through the right (Impr. cyl.) barrel?

[zippy13]

Sure, if the Stevens is otherwise safe for shooting. I don't have a clue about the availability of 16-ga slugs.

[jmr40]

You can also fire slugs through the modified barrel, or even a full choke if you want. Most people get better accuracy with Improved Cylinder or Cylinder however.

[Nick S.]

Thanks guys. I'm having a hard time even finding 16 ga target loads at the local Sports Auth. I'm hoping my local skeet & trap range will have some but it's been closed for lead removal.

[zippy13]

Good luck finding 16-ga shells at your local gun club. Typically target shooters use only 12, 20, 28-ga and .410-bore loads. You might have better luck with your LGS or a big box store that specializes more in outdoors stuff (like Cabela's) than a sporting goods emporium with soccer shoes and tennis balls.

[BigJimP]

Locally, Cabela's is one of the few places where you will find any 16ga shotshells ( but even they won't have many "target" shells. None of the clubs in my area will let you shoot pellets bigger than 7 1/2's / and I think you'll find a lot of places, if they have 16ga shells, will have 6's or 4's ...for bird hunters.

Like Zippy said / I've never seen a Skeet or Trap club that had any inventory in 16ga shells.

If you really want to shoot a 16ga / it'll be to your advantage to either consider reloading / or to try and find a store or a gunclub that will special order you 5 or 6 cases of shells ...

[Miata Mike]

Only a minor hijack on my part, but good for general discussion. I have been shooting an older Remington 870 with about an 18" slug barrel which I have always assumed to be a smooth bore (borrowed gun for the last 10 years). I shoot only SuperX 2.75" 12 gauge slugs with fairly good accuracy (always kill the deer quickly).

I have a Mossberg 500 12 gauge that I just bought a ported 24" rifled slug barrel with a cantilever scope mount and factory bore sighted 3X9 scope. Will the SuperX slugs work safely in the new barrel for the Mossberg, or should I shoot strictly sabots?

[zippy13]

It's safe; but, the soft lead of the standard slugs will make a mess in the rifling of your sabot barrel. I'd shoot sabots except in an emergency. YMMV