Amazed at slug barrel . . .

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Prof Young

New member
My Winchester 1300 came with a vent rib and a slug barrel. The slug barrel is smooth bore. This is my second deer season to use the slug barrel and I continue to be amazed at the accuracy. I have a really good "slug gun" scope and am shooting 2 and 3/4 inch one ounce sluggers. The thing just drills it in almost in the same hole off a sandbag at 75 yards. Amazing.
 
agreed

Yes, I think that at the ranges you mention, a slug gun can be plenty accurate. At least some of the bad reputation that rifles slugs have regards accuracy has to do with shooting them through barrels with a single bead. Equipped with good sights, or in your case, a scope, improves matters greatly.

I once hushed up an opinionated Supv, by hammering a B-27 target with good hits, five times at 100 yds with a rifle sighted 870, firing supported off a tree limb. The other fellows gun had a single bead sight, and he did not think that such performance was possible w/ slugs from a short barrel. But the issue was the superior sights.
 
I get one large hole accuracy out of my 11/87 slugger barrel with a 2X optic at 100 yards. Everything falls apart around 125 yards and by 175 or so it is mostly hitting random patches of dirt.

Shotguns get short shrift these days due to the inefficiencies in them (weight and bulk of ammo, range limitations, high recoil) but accuracy of slugs was never a failing.
 
Here in Texas we get to use rifles for our deer/turkey hunting. I recently bought a really nice 35+ yr old Wingmaster from a good friend, beautiful gun but I don't bird hunt. Sooo.......I got to researching and ended up with a very nice 20" Remington open sighted rifled slug barrel. Just some quick range work revealed some awesome accuracy from the 12ga Hornady American Hunter sabot slugs! Them ferral hogs I have need to be careful!!! Very impressive.
 
Most accurate smoothbore I ever saw was a mid 60's vintage Wingmaster with a pain modified choked barrel. 4-1/2" groups at 150 yards with a single bead sight. That was the owner shooting; best I could do was around 6-7". Have never seen another one come close to that. Most slug guns are good out to 100 yards at least.
 
I agree that the sights matter a lot! I think the general reputation for slugs not being very accurate comes from their use in regular field guns and fowling pieces with bead sights.

It has long been known and recognized that slug guns (with rifle sights) were more accurate than bird guns with slugs. One often heard that this was because the slugs didn't have to squeeze through a choke in a slug gun. While this might have a little to do with it, I think the sights have much greater effect.

I also think the gun makers knew this, which was the point of putting rifle sights on the slug gun in the first place.
 
I also have a smooth bore "Slugger" barrel for a Mossberg 500 20ga and with Foster type slugs 2" @ 50 yds is no problem. This was done knelling, not off a bench. It's sights aren't as nice as my Remington but are much better than just a front bead.
 
Lots of people automatically assume that smoothbore means musket accuracy, because muskets were smoothbore.

They forget (or never knew) that musket balls are a loose fit in the bore (and intentionally so) and muskets generally don't have any sights worthy of the name.

A tight fitting slug makes it much more accurate mechanically, and good sights means that accuracy can be effectively used!
 
Back in the late70's...

sighted in my Win97 with a 21" open bore barrel, I had fashioned a scope mount, mounted on the side and topped with a Weaver 336 scope base with a Weaver K1.5X scope, sighted it in at my old rod & gunclub @ 100yds.

A group of hunters came to sight -in and said I was stretching the shot @ 100, the slug was only good for 80 yds., maximum.

I cover-leafed three slugs off-hand and could have covered some bets.

I have used Brenneke ever since for hunting.
 
A tight fitting slug makes it much more accurate mechanically, and good sights means that accuracy can be effectively used!
Click to expand...

Three additional improvements have produced superb accuracy for shotgun deer hunting at extended ranges: the cantilever scope mount, the rifled barrel and sabot slugs. This combination enabled me to take a 10-point Iowa buck running and quartering away at roughly 125 yards with my Remington 870. This is the second largest Iowa buck I have ever taken - its on the wall now.
 
I don't hunt with slugs. But I do have a 20" rifle sighted barrel for my 870. I usually use it with buckshot but have shot it a at up to 100 yards with slugs. If I had to use it I'd feel confident of making a hit on deer size game at that range. I'd imagine optics, a fully rifled barrel and better slugs would make it a 200 yard gun.
 
I've got a Hastings rifled slug barrel that I use on an older wingmaster from time to time, It'll keep groups under 2" at 100 yards. The recoil isn't too pleasant thought.
 
I cut open some slugs once and measured them. Not very tight fitting. I think that the hollow backed slugs probably expand to the inner tube size when fired. The really bad reputation started with "punkin balls", and was well deserved.
 
I fired through a box of Federal rifled slugs today through my 20 gauge Maverick 88 field model. I was surprised to see I shot those slugs more accurately off hand than off a bench. I don't have rifle sights, but have a vent ribbed barrel with a front and rear bead. I'm wondering if the accuracy had anything to do with the fact that I'm almost exclusively standing when I shoot my shotgun making bench shooting awkward.
 
My guess is that you nailed it. Bench rest shooting a shotgun is probably a learned skill, particularly because of the recoil. Aiming and shooting a shotgun with a slug is different than aiming and shooting shotgun pellets at a flying target. While both require learning and practice, I suspect shooting slugs accurately requires more practice simply because you have only one projectile.
 
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My 20g 870 Express with both the cantilevered/rifled barrel, and smooth bore/rifle sighted barrels shoots MOA at 100yrds.

Which absolutely amazes me to be honest.

Those Sabot slugs are costly for that rifled barrel though. I need to find out how to reload them myself.

IMG_20160612_124334360.jpg
 
I have fired hundreds of regular Foster slugs down rifled barrels with no ill effects over the years. Accuracy is the same as a smooth bore. The sabot will go farther, more accurately though. So if range is not an issue....
 
Question....Is a smoothbore Slug Barrel the same as a barrel with a Cylinder Bore choke (.730")? Or is it a tighter choke like Skeet (.725") or Improved Cylinder (.720") ?
 
If a barrel is smoothbore, how does one conclude that it is a slug barrel? I thought slug barrels were rifled and that is what made them a slug barrel. What happens if one shoots say...birdshot through a (rifled) slug barrel?
 
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