Shotgun barrel question

[mxer14]

Excuse my ignorance as I am not familiar with shotguns.

I have a 870 Express with a 28" barrel and I'm interested in changing out the barrel to a shorter one for a more tactical look. Can anyone tell me what is the difference in a rifled barrel and a smooth bore? And why would you need one over the other?

[blkA4alb]

A rifled barrel is for shooting slugs, it helps to stabilize them for longer distances. There are some states where you have to hunt deer with slugs. Im going to assume that you want to shoot more than just slugs so I would say get a smoothbore.

[ivanimal]

You usually see rifle type sight on a rifled barrel as well. Most smoothbores have the bead only.

[Kestryll]

blkA4 pretty much answered your question but just in case you or someone wanted more info.

A rifled barrel on a shotgun is just like the rifled barrel of a pistol or rifle; it has spiraled channels cut into the barrel, rifling, to impart a spin to a slug. Spin stabilizing makes the large chunk o' lead fly straighter and with better accuracy.
Rifled barrels will handle shotshells but they do bad things to your range and pattern. Essentially you have a cup of shot spinning in the air, think BBs in a centrifuge. They spread out faster and lose momentum quicker.

A smoothbore is exactly that, a tube with a smooth interior. This allows a shot shell to stay relatively stable in the barrel for a tighter pattern and better range. What this means to a slug is that there is no spin stabilization so it tends to be less accurate then when fired from a rifled barrel. To some extent this has been overcome with 'rifled slugs', basically lead slugs with rifling cast into them to try to get some spin out of a smoothbore barrel.

For he most part unless you have a specific need for a rifled barrel, or just want a dedicated slug gun, an 18 to 20 inch smoothbore barrel is just fine for defensive use.

Hope this helps.

[mxer14]

That helped alot, thanks guys.

[Boomer1961]

I think for what you are looking for the best barrel is the 20" (or 18" generic offered by some) with the Remchoke and Dove tail (known by some as rifle) sites.

Very practical as it can do allot and does so nicely.

With a rifled remchoke installed I can easily do 6" grouping with one ounce slugs standing freehand about 80% of the time at 150 yards. That other 20% is my usual ".....where did that one go...." so don't ask as I am definitely no marksman. A good shooter should be able to do far better than I with this same setup.

You can then take the RC out and put a smooth bore of any choke you so desire. What is even more cool now-and I have yet too try it-are the ported remchokes-that might be even more useful as rifled since they are longer and should help with the muzzle climb.

I like it as a complement to the 30" (or your 28") vent rib that came with mine-with Remchoke of course. I also do allot better with the dove tail site than the bead/vent site for any kind of aimed shooting.

I have also heard that Mossberg made a generic 18" barrel version with RC and Dove site for the 870 and if I bought over, I might be tempted to go with the slightly shorter barrel for that tactical look you describe and for it being slightly less bulky. I have not seen that Mossberg barrel in a while so I am not certain they still make it with that type of site.

As you can see having one setup over the other is not the trick, having both is. You then can make any combination of sites (vent vs rifle-oh and the cantilever site accessory I forgot to mention for the red dot site, smooth bore with full or plain cylinder depending upon your need-and of course the rifled RC for those long distant slug shots, short barrel or long barrel, and so on in any combination).

Really though like most folks with shotguns have learned you can shoot slugs out of a smooth bore just fine, or shoot birdshot with the rifled choke installed because there was not time to change out the Remchoke (just don't do that one often as they say you can damage the rifling if you do that alot! especially with the required steel shot that Remington literature says voids your warranty and also says "DANGER"). You can do allot better though with the proper configuration because that silly rifled remchoke makes the world of difference for me in hitting the 6" gong at 150 or even 200 yards when with just cylinder even with the twisted/grooved slugs I don't do anywhere near as well.

The 870 is a good beginners shotgun and you will have a hoot with it and fantasizing about all the accessories available for it-like that LE folding stock model-but you may end up with the problem I have as now I need another 870 so I am not always changing parts to get the configuration I feel I need for that time of day feeling.

The Mossberg though seems to be supplanting the 870 as they are cheaper and for instance they sell a nice two barrel set (shorter barrel with rifle site and 28" vent, both with changeable chokes) are sold at Big 5 for less than $300 for a setup that I ended up paying over $500 for my 870 setup over 10 years ago with a piece meal purchase approach. The other thing that is hard to get over is Uncle Sam says the Mossberg is better than the 870, not just because it is cheaper.

I digress, me bad, sorry, but playing with and accessorizing your first shotgun is fun and affordable and for me memorable.

[mxer14]

Thanks boomer. I contemplated on getting another 870 shotgun as well so I don't have to swap parts and since they are(like you said) $300 or less at big5, I won't have to keep changing out parts. I'll be close to that when I finish turning my current one into a tactical.

BTW-
Does anyone know if a Remington Wingmaster barrel fit an 870 Express?

[ArmedBear]

Wingmaster barrels will fit Express shotguns.

BTW if you buy something that's not a new-in-box barrel, be careful not to get a barrel that is under 18" from the closed bolt face to the muzzle. There is at least one seller on eBay right now selling a cut-down barrel that is just a bit too short. Puitting it on a shotgun is a violation of Federal and California law.

[scorpionusa]

I just bought a semi-auto shotgun (Verona SX405) Combo with a 26" smooth bore barrel and an 18" slug rifle barrel. Would it damage the rifling in the slug barrel if I shoot shot shells (bird shots or steel shots) out of the slug barrel?

[Fjold]

I just bought a semi-auto shotgun (Verona SX405) Combo with a 26" smooth bore barrel and an 18" slug rifle barrel. Would it damage the rifling in the slug barrel if I shoot shot shells (bird shots or steel shots) out of the slug barrel?

Nope. 99% of all shot loads have the plastic wad around the shot so the soft lead shot doesn't touch anything in the barrel. All it will do is give you lousy patterns.

[anotherone]

Nope. 99% of all shot loads have the plastic wad around the shot so the soft lead shot doesn't touch anything in the barrel. All it will do is give you lousy patterns.

The lack of any chokes and the 18" length will give him crappy patterns before the rifling ever does.

[ivanimal]

Cylinder bores have a tendancy to keep the shot together longer, when rifling is involved it usually goes more in a certain direction than usual. Up or down right or left. It is wierd how it changes from shot to shot. YMMV.

[Gnote]

The lack of any chokes and the 18" length will give him crappy patterns before the rifling ever does.

I would think that the centripetal force caused by the spin due to the rifling would cause the shot to give a larger pattern too. I don't know.