Slug Barrel

[Buzzard]

I want to get a slug barrel for my Mossy 500, wich is better, smooth bore or rifled, ported or not ????
sorry if it sounds dumb, I am kinda new to shotguns.

[Ruger4570]

I prefer the fully rifled barrels for the improved accuracy, The downside is that the sabot slugs cost more. I would also ask at what ranges do you intend to be shooting at. The smooth bore do pretty well out to 75 yards and a few shoot well beyond so the standard Foster types can be used which are considerablt cheaper. Good luck

[BigV]

Smooth bore slug barrels are old technology. The rifled slug barrels are far more accurate at 50 yards and beyond. Effective shooting ranges increases as well and in some cases well beyond 100 yards with the right combination of rifled barrel, scope and sabot slugs. As stated earlier expect to pay more for Sabots, between $7 and $10 for a box of 5 shells.

[andyrnokc]

Buzz,

I would go for the rifled barrel, I have one on my 1100 and love it. I would also recommend Remington Core-lokt Ultra's. Their accuracy is outstanding.

[globemaster3]

Buzzard, I just bought Mossberg's Trophy Slugster Barrel for my model 500 for a limited slug shotgun/muzzleloader hog hunt. It comes with a cantilever scope mount and porting. The scope mount is long enough to use standard eye-relief scopes. I topped it off with a set of rings and a Simmons 3-9X40. You can find the barrel online from either Cabelas or Bass Pro Shops (as other places I am sure) for around $150, but my local shop was able to order it for $30 less. The only downside is all the local gun shops are out of sabot slugs at this time and my only option are rifled slugs. I do not have any experience shooting slugs either, but everything I have heard and read suggest sabot's are the way to go, especially with rifled bores. As soon as I sight in, I'll let you know the results.

BTW, I also ordered a new limbsaver recoil pad and sling stud mounts. Local folks I talked to reported that the limbsaver didn't make a night/day difference in recoil, but did take the sting out it. Also, this combo is not light. After hoisting it around a while in the garage, it was readily apparent a sling is needed if you are going to do any significant walking/stalking.

Hope this helps a little. I'll let you know the shooting results.

[famine]

You don't have to use the sabot slugs with a rifled barrel, you can use the rifled slugs that are only about $2.50 for a box of five. The rifled barrel will stabalise the slug far better than a normal open choked barrel, but not quite as well as a sabot slug. The downside is that this will dirty the barrel much faster and more frequent cleaning will be needed. I'm in school right now and this is a far cheaper alternative over $7 a box for sabot slugs.

Famine
Remington 870 express combo

[andyrnokc]

Globemaster,

Nice recommendation on the limbsaver. As I said above, I use an 1100 but the stock recoil pad was a real punisher. I sighted in with 15 of those Core-Lokt Ultras and my shoulder was just about hamburger.

I went to Bass Pro and got the R3 pad which I think is virtually the same as the Limbsaver and was thankful I spent the 20 bucks. It took away almost all of the recoil and it makes shooting that much more enjoyable.

Whether I am using the black powder conversion barrel or the slug barrel, recoil is manageable.