I have to ask

[msbadger]

I've read MShunters post on slug barrels and sights...
This is a serious ? I and need to explain reason for it bare with me..

I've been shooting my 20ga browning for 30+ years...It's like a 26'"(or 28 ?..I'd have to look) long smooth bore modified choke..so just pick a 3'' shell..be it bird or slug and shoot...raised vent bead site...Now I can with confidence shoot a deer 100yrs and be dead on...that said

What...other than a shortened barrel ...is the advantage of a "slug" barrel for a shot gun?...I know they are rifled...ps never shot a shotgun with a rifled barrel..reason for ? I suppose..

[JPH]

Today's sabot slugs require a rifle barrel in order to fly properly.

I know you say you are dead-on at 100 yards with your smooth bore, and I don't doubt that you do a fine job. But a properly set up slug gun with a modern sabot and a rifled barrel will out-shoot a smooth bore in a side by side comparison. 

[metrx]

Today's sabots are designed to be shot from a rifled barrel and with excellent accuracy.  Couple that with a scope and you have much tighter groups and near rifle accuracy from your slug gun (just not the distance obviously).
 
Comparison...for accuracy purposes, would you rather shoot a smooth bore muzzleloader with a "ball" and open sights or a rifled barrel muzzleloader with a rifled barrel, sabot slug and a scope.

[msbadger]

Reason for the ?...I can't compare due to never having shot such...my ML is 28 rifling... mounted with a scope

I have also never shot sabots from a shotgun...no one in our family has a rifled slug barrel....we all shoot Breneke slugs and all have open sights

[SHKYBoonie]

msbadger, back just a few years ago all slugs for shotgun had the rifling built into the slug itself. If you were to take one out of the shell and look at it, it has angled grooves in the side of the slug. This helped it to spin when it was shot from a smooth bore. All bullets need that spin to keep them on plane. If they didn't spin, they would tumble through the air much like when you throw a stick. This greatly decreases their accuracy and distance. Now days they make the sabot-ed slug shells for the rifled barrel shotguns. These are smooth on the sides just like the ones you shoot from your ML. The rifling in the barrel does a much better job of spinning the projectile to keep it on plane than the rifled slugs from the past. If you shoot these sabot-ed slug shells from a smooth bore, the accuracy would not be very good at all. You may not even get it to group at distances of only fifty yards. Stick with the rifled slugs for your smooth bore and you will be good with your 100+ yard shots. If you want to be able to make 200+ yard shots with a slug, get a rifled barrel with a scope and it will seem almost too easy. ALMOST![:D]

[msbadger]

Thanks Skyboonie...I knew the difference in them ...my Brenekes have a clear plastic shell....It wasn't until today I knew you could shoot 200yrds with a shot gun..well  with out dumb luck...for years ago Mr.B. shot and dropped a buck on a 240+ yrd down hill open sights shot...with his 16ga...Any how.... now I see why ppl would want a rifled barrel if in open shotgun only areas....We are heavy wooded and hills....if I wanted long shots like that I can go to camp and use my rifle

[JPH]

I'm far from being an expert here but I think I remember reading that the grooves on a "rifle" slug are only there to help a slug exit a tight choke and that they produce little or no spin downrange.

I think I'd also be remiss if I did not strongly encourage other hunters to NOT attempt shots at 100+ yds. when using a smooth-bore shotgun. Can you kill a deer at that range? Yes. I did it myself during my early years (when I had to kill as many deer as possible) but there can be a lot of inconsistency, leading to accidental wounding.

[msbadger]

Fair enough JPH....though each hunter needs to be well aware of their skill...weapon ...amo...and environment...and the confidence comes with using all 3 for over thirty years 

[JPH]

ORIGINAL: msbadger
....though each hunter needs to be well aware of their skill...weapon ...amo...and environment...and the confidence comes with using all 3 for over thirty years 

Yes I agree. Hunting, being in it's heart and soul a individual pursuit, is highly subject to individual factors. 

[SHKYBoonie]

ORIGINAL: JPH

I'm far from being an expert here but I think I remember reading that the grooves on a "rifle" slug are only there to help a slug exit a tight choke and that they produce little or no spin downrange.

 
Let me first state that I too am no expert. I use to hunt on several clubs that were "shotgun only" in MS. The State didn't require this, it was a club based rule because they were hunting thickets. Some of the stands were as close as 50 yards and you would never even know someone else was hunting that close to you. I would like to read that article because the rifled slug didn't come out but just around 10 to 15 years ago. Before that, most all the shotgun slug shells were loaded with what looked like the "Buffalo Bullets" we use to shoot in our side lock ML. They call them rifled slugs because of this reason. They have little effect on the projectile but the thinking was, "a little is better than none". It states right on the side of the box of rifled slug shells, "do not shoot through any choke restriction greater than modified, improved chokes work best". (These may not be the exact words, but along those lines.) So, tight chokes are out of the question. It would probably be a sure way to shred the end of your barrel. If not, it would surely do away with any accuracy you may have had.
 
Then they came out with the rifled choke tubes. You couldn't shoot rifled slugs through these but you could shoot the "old style" slugs with smooth sides because these would benefit from the rifling in the choke tube. Right after that was introduced, the rifled slug replacement barrels hit the market. It was a natural progression of finding ways to make the slug guns more accurate.