Rifled slugs vs non-rifled slugs.

[mrkam]

Since nobody had posted this.... http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot46.htm

Lessons learned:
1. Sabot slugs in a rifled barrel are very accurate.

2. Shooting sabot slugs through a smooth bore is a waste of money. They will "work" but accuracy suffers and there is no reason to spend the extra money for sabot slugs if you are going to shoot them through a smooth bore. Besides, if they are not flying straight and nose-first, they will not expand as designed.

3. Different shotguns "like" different loads. Just like rifles and pistols. You must try different loads to find what your gun "likes".

4. Shooting a non-sabot rifled slug through a rifled barrel can cause them to shoot into very nice groups.

5. When we got home and cleaned the rifled barrel, the five non-sabot, rifled slugs had not really deposited any lead that we could notice. The barrel cleaned-up sparkling clean very easily.

6. It's fun to shoot stuff.

Here's what sabot slugs out of a smooth bore look like at 50 yards. (Triangles are sabot out of smooth bore, circles are sabot out of rifled.)

[MAC USMC]

Thanks mrkam for putting this excellent information out there for all to read. I enjoyed the info and the detail that went into your testing.

You must have shot up about $100 worth of shotgun shells.

SIDE NOTE

Years ago (in my SWAT days) we experimented with sabot rounds versus Remingtons' standard one ounce slugs against plywood, stucco walls, telephone poles and lastly, two auto engines that were running. The sabot rounds penetrated the front fender of a Pontiac as well as the engine block stopping it totally. The standard slugs went through the fender and stopped against the engine block. They also performed very well against the other materials.

Yes, we converted to the sabot round for these reasons as well as the improved accuracy.

The shotgun is indeed an awesome weapon in knowledgeable hands.

[mrkam]

Thanks mrkam for putting this excellent information out there for all to read. I enjoyed the info and the detail that went into your testing.

I'l take credit for linking it, but I'm not connected to the Box o' Truth guys. They do put some really great info on their site.