Sabot slugs

[beagleman23]

Xplorer-
I've done a significant amount of shooting with rifled barrels and sabots slugs.  I have a Browning Abolt 12 ga which is a dedicated slug gun, a custom Remington 1100 20ga, and a Benelli Blackhawk.  They all shoot different but there are several guidelines to follow to obtain maximum accuracy.  First, keep in mind that  we are asking a lot out of a little piece of plastic(sabot) traveling down a rifled large bore slug barrel at anywhere from 1450 to 2100 fps.  Not only does it have to grab the lands and groves to create the spin necessary for accuracy upon leaving the barrel, it also has to hold the projectile and then cleanly(most cases) disengage 10-35 feet from the end of your barrel.  Some sabots are permanently attached to the bullet but you referenced Hornady SST's which are not.  Secondly you must keep that barrel clean which in my experience means every 4 shots.  At the range a bore snake and solvent will do until returning home for bronze/brass brush with JP bore cleaner or super blue wonder, solvent and patches, dry patches then finally a very light coat of Kroil.  At which point the firearm is stored barrel down in my safe(oil/solvent runs out instead of into action or stock).  You have to keep the barrel from heating up while firing at the range.  I wait 5 to 15 minutes between shots depending on the temperature at the time.  This step is just as important as cleaning every couple shots.  You need an absolute solid rest.  I use sand bags made from empty lead shot bags.  I use good quality scopes boresighted by by gunsmith.  You cannot adequately sight in at 100 yards without magnification.  Lastly, you have to find a brand that your gun will shoot.  My Browning shoots Federal Barnes Expanders very accurately, 1 1/2" at 100 on my best days.  My custom Remington 20ga is currently shooting Federal Barnes also but is far more finicky due to the lighter weight barrel and that the barrel is removable(even though it's pinned) as opposed to the Browning Abolt(bolt action shotgun designed only to shoot slugs) but still shoots about 2 1/2" at 100.  The Remington also shoots Hornady SST's well but I like the terminal performance of the Barnes bullet.  I will be 'tweeking' this gun this summer into fall possibly going to the Wichester line.  My Benelli which is used by my son is the most finicky, it will not shoot Winchester or Remington sabots(Gold line, Copper solid and Buckhammers).  It does shoot Lightfield's the best but I don't like their performance on deer.  They do not exit even at 25 yards and in my experience(7-8 kills with them) leave less than desirable blood trails.  We settled on the Hornady SST's for the Benelli which give acceptable accuracy and good terminal performance.

As far as shooting foster type slugs through your rifled barrel, you will not harm it according to my gunsmith.  It will just clog up your barrels' rifling turning it into a smoothbore.  Yes good hard scrubbing with bronze/brass brushes and solvent will clean most of it but micro-specs will remain and can only be seen by a bore sight.  Also remember that foster type slugs are made very slightly undersize in case they're shot through a full choke.  Rifled barrels on the other hand are full bore. This leads to the question of how much spin(where accuracy comes from) is placed on a rifled slug in a rifled barrel?  I can't answer that.  My gunsmith will tell you that the most accurate action/barrel/slug combo custom made by him that he sells is a Remington 870 with a pinned screw in choke barrel, rifled choke tube and a brand of foster type slugs which I do not remember at this time.  He qualifies this set up by stating it's a 100 yard gun ONLY. After 100 yards the accuracy for some unexplainable(by him, I have no clue) reason goes all to hell.  I hope this helps some and good luck.

[reKor11]

Before I was any wiser, I shot some rifled slugs through my rifled barrel.  While I do not think it did any permanent damage (i still can get solid groups out to 100 yds), it sure left more lead residue than was worth the while.  After just a few shots I had to scrub and scrub with a brass brush to gen my patches to come out clean.  Go with the sabots if your a rifled barrel.
 

[mag30079]

beagleman23,
 
Which Federal Barnes Expanders are you using? I looked them up and it looks like there's 2 kinds???
I want to try these out as well as the Hornadys and the winchester.

[beagleman23]

Mag--
 
Federal makes several lines of sabot slugs and the boxes look almost identical.  You have to look for 'Barnes expanders' on the front of the box which is a projectile made by Barnes bullets that Federal loads in one of their sabot lines.  It's total copper(no lead core) and performs great on deer.  I shoot the hollow point 3" in both my 12 ga and 20 ga as opposed to the plastic tipped.   They do not shoot out of my Benelli.  They do come in 2 3/4" but all my chambers are 3" and that's what my gunsmith recommended.  The newer 20 ga sabots are 5/8 oz as opposed to the original 3/4oz which I have.  They shoot better out of my gun.  The plastic tipped expanders are very expensive but a number of people report good accuracy with them.  I haven't tried them as I have a stock pile of the originals.  Good luck.

[mag30079]

Beagleman,
 
I saw the hollow points and the plastic tipped and wasn't sure. All the custoner reviews online say the hollow points out perform the plastic tips. I'll give the hollow points a try in the spring.
 
I went back and read your posts several times and didn't even think of bringing cleaning supplies to the range with me or letting my barrel cool between shots, I got to focused on the shot it self.
 
Thanks for the wealth of knowledge