Stupid Question - Shooting Slugs

[MaHoTex]

Really a shotgun noob question here... No laughing...
Can you shoot slugs out of any shotgun, or does it take a special barrel?

[bohoki]

any shotgun capable of firing smokeless shells should be able fire slugs

as the slugs are designed to fit through any choke

[Bulleh]

To expand on what bohoki said,

Rifled barrels and rifled slugs can improve accuracy and the effective distance of slugs

[aippi]

You can shoot slugs out of any smooth bore barrel. It is better not to shoot them out of barrels with a full choke. For smooth bore you shoot rifled slugs. Any chokes less then full are fine, however Modified works great with Improved Cyl being next. Cyl Bore is Ok but not best. You can find the choke indicated on you barrel. If not, then take the barrel to any gun shop and he wil use a choke gauge and tell you what choke you have.

If you want more accuracy at greater distances you get a fully rifled barrel and shoot sabot slugs.

[BigDogatPlay]

To expand on what bohoki said,

Rifled barrels and rifled slugs can improve accuracy and the effective distance of slugs

Rifled barrel + sabot slugs = best results.

Smooth bore + rifled slugs = best results.

Left to right below : rifled slug, 1/2 of a sabot, sabot slug.

[MaHoTex]

Thanks guys... I knew there were rifled barrels, just was not sure if it was required to send slugs. Now I know!

[bohoki]

here is a unique strange story that is probably unreplicatable but take it however you want

i was shooting loads of skeet with a think mod choke
must have shot 2 cases of just game load and about a box of skeet

then someone had one of those sabot slugs and i loaded it up and shot a jug of water i didnt even notice till i put it down as we were about all misted by the milkjug but the muzzle bulged

i think it may have been my fault as the i think i remember seeing some of the stainless gleam of the choke tube extending from the muzzle (or it may just be me rationalizing) my theory is that either there was some plastic wad buildup at the interface between the barrel and the choke tube or maybe the sabot caught the lip and then like an expanding concrete anchor the slug hammered its way through the sabot and blew the muzzle apart

i'm not a metalurgist so it may have just been metal fatigue cause the section of inner threaded barrel is really thin




i ended up chopping the barrel down to 20" and by god its safe to shoot slugs now i keep it as a lesson to make sure the tube is in tight


needless to say an old grandpa wisdom rule of thumb if a dime fits so will a 12 ga slug


ps i'm not that upset cause now with the barrel shortened and a little +2 tube it seems more fun than swinging around a broomhandle length barrel

[IPSICK]

any shotgun capable of firing smokeless shells should be able fire slugs

as the slugs are designed to fit through any choke

I'd recommend against shooting slugs through anything tighter than improved modified which may already be too tight (Modified should be the upper limit). I do shoot slugs through a Briley Light Modified with no issues and plenty of accuracy.

[3of9]

how long range will you get from a slg 12 or 20 g?

[kai]

I have a Remington 1100 and a smooth bore barrel. 27 inches. I shot a rifled slugs by accident with a full choke when I was patterning bird shot and other stuff.

1 or 2 shots look like it didn't hurt anything. Although long term, I would not suggest it.

I have found out that my shotgun shoots slugs best with a Open Cylinder. Every shotgun is different on how it patterns. On mine, Improved Cylinder did not work as well.

Yours may be the same, but probably different. Whatever you do, shoots slugs with settings less than man improved modified. Improved cylinder, and Cylinder is where I would start.

Not sure about the distance. Combat Accuracy I would say is ok to about 25 yards.

[sanjosebmx]

how long range will you get from a slg 12 or 20 g?

just took a SG class, and the instructor said he's shot target at 200 yrd with a 12g / slug.

said 100yrd should be quite accurate..

We were shooting at 35yrds and it was dead accurate (and devastating I'm sure)

(this was short barrel / HD or LEO type shotguns)

[call-in]

@sanjosebmx: Was that class the one in Morgan Hill?

[sanjosebmx]

yes... I thought it was worth the $.. everyone had fun, about 12 students and 3 instructors...

[aippi]

Bohoki - you just found out why none of the Remingotn Police barrels are threaded for Rem Chokes. An exception are some of the SBS barrels and the LE guys made it quite clear that the decision to do that did not come from them. A review of the parts list will show no threaded barrels in 18.5" for the Remington Police Model. The parts list does not state Police on it. Any of the Parkerized barrels are for the Police model and there are none threaded in that length. We were told that these weapon see mainly buck shot and slugs and choke tubes are mostly for shot. We were also told that limited use of slugs will not stress a tube, however, The tube needs to be tight and properly maintained. Like P models are maintained??? Most any Sport shooter takes far better care of his weapon then LEO's do Departmental weapons.

They offer one for the Express Tactical Models and it comes with a Modified tube. I would not be comfortable shooting a lot of slugs through that. And for squirts and giggles they even offer a rifled choke tube. These products go against what we were instructed on so it confuses me.

Do you think the fact it was a sabot through a smooth bore barrel and not a standard rifle slug had any part? Just curious and want to learn about any issue such as this.

[call-in]

yes... I thought it was worth the $.. everyone had fun, about 12 students and 3 instructors...

I was the one with the Stevens (Ithaca clone). I loved the story they told about this crazy dude who was already shot 3 times with a 9mm and still kept coming, an officer finally shot him with a slug and his intestines shot out 3ft out of one of the holes the 9mm made.