Firing Slugs through a choke

3

300magman

New member
What is the conventional wisdom when it comes to modern slugs and modern barrels with choke tubes?
Can I just pop in any rifled slug and blast away with my Rem 870 waterfowl and its "over decoys" choke or would I want to get another type of choke.

I've heard that using no choke is not an option as it could ruin the barrel.


Might as well ask, while I am at it how would that choke do with a 3.5" load of federal premium or winchester supreme 00 copper plated buckshot?
And just how sick would the recoil be? (similar to BB black cloud 3.5" ??)
 
You can safely shoot rifled slugs through any choke up to Full.
You shouldn't shoot slugs or buck shot through specialty extra-Full or tighter chokes.

Most people get best results with slugs with the Improved Cylinder choke, but some gun/choke and slug combinations may shoot differently so you may want to experiment with Cylinder Bore or something tighter then Improved Cylinder.

Shooting anything through a barrel with the choke out will badly lead the exposed threads, and will usually ruin them in very short order.

As with all shotgun loads, the size or type of shot isn't what matters, its the WEIGHT.
A 1 ounce heavy load of bird shot recoils just as much as a 1 ounce load of 00 buck, which recoils just as much as a 1 ounce slug.
 
"...heard that using no choke is not an option..." Nope. A cylinder bore choke is no choke. You can buy a tube for that. However, like Dfariswheel says, not using some kind of choke tube will damage the threads.
Forget buckshot altogether. It's not reliable past 30 yards. Has nothing to do with the firearm.
"...my Rem 870 waterfowl..." Your 870 a 'Super Magnum'? If not, it won't chamber 3.5" ammo anyway.
"...how sick would the recoil be?..." Felt recoil is simple physics. A heavy shot load will have more felt recoil. 3.5" loads use more shot.
Oh, it's 'through' a choke. Not 'threw' a choke. Threw is the past tense of throw. Go here. http://dictionary.reference.com/
 
Quote: "...3.5" load of federal premium or winchester supreme 00 copper plated buckshot?
And just how sick would the recoil be?"


I've shot both the standard 18 pellet and the 15 pellet high velocity Supreme 00 buckshot loads, and yes, the recoil is pretty nasty with both. Hold on tight. :D


EDIT: Quote: "You threw a choke when firing slugs THROUGH it??!!"

This is what I thought he meant when I clicked on it (Firing slugs [,] threw a choke).
 
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You threw a choke when firing slugs THROUGH it??!! Sorry.

I have found good accuracy with F choke. But, use a shotgun w/o choke tubes.

Me, too Jimbo! Can't resist.
 
Use Big Buckshot!

Yes, you can fire the soft lead thimbles called "rifled slugs" throught a full choke - and then scrape the leading out of your barrel.

Yes, you can fire little soft lead pellets like 00B or 000B through a full choke.

Or - you can fire Big Buckshot! Check out the Tri-Ball 3" or 3.5" Buckshot (three hard cast .60 caliber pellets) manufactured by Dixie Slugs Co.

These pattern tight 4-6" at 40 yards from a full choke and shoot to the same center as heavy shot loads.
 
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Geesh, one improperly used word in a late night, 2 am post, and you guys are all over me with the english lesson...I'm getting flashbacks to grade 7 grammar class :p

Yes, the 870 waterfowl is a supermag and will fire the 3.5" shells. Good point about 1oz of birdshot having the same recoil as 1oz of buckshot...physics does make that sensible to assume, but it would only be equal if velocity of the loads was the same as they left the barrel...so I guess that is a way to compare.
 
First, you really shouldn't be using a full choke on waterfowl. Steel shot (what is now required for all waterfoul in the US) doesn't work well with full chokes. That being said, your modified or improved modified that you are using for waterfowl will shoot a slug OK but you'll probably get better accuracy with either a cylinder or improved cylinder choke. Don't waste your money on a so-called rifled choke. I've never seen one actually increase accuracy.
 
^^^^

I'm not that serious of a slug hunter, I really was just interested in knowing if a slug would harm these new style adjustable choke tube barrels, in the event that I did fire one.
 
In the event you chose to fire a ton of slugs... yer still "fine as frog's hair" doing so. One thing to keep aware of is the choke torque... If it walks out just a little bit, it could roll the edge and spit it out damaging the barrel possibly...
And no I ain't a stickler for spellin' and grammar... Lord knows I make my share of mistakes about 20 beers into a late night online... Some of these that mention your mistake prolly wouldn't want their posts scrutinized either...
Brent
 
Brent brings up a really good point that many (maybe most) shotgun shooters forget about. If you are going to be putting lots of rounds through a shotgun during the course of a day, carry a choke wrench with you and check the threads every so often.
 
Quote Doyle:
"If you are going to be putting lots of rounds through a shotgun during the course of a day, carry a choke wrench with you and check the threads every so often."


Absolutely. They do work loose.
 
Okay, I'm a little fuzzy. Is everyone agreeing that it's safe to shoot slugs THROUGH a full choke, or safe to use chokes UP TO full, but not including full?
 
Okay, I'm a little fuzzy. Is everyone agreeing that it's safe to shoot slugs THROUGH a full choke, or safe to use chokes UP TO full, but not including full?
Click to expand...

Ok, one more time. It is perfectly SAFE to shoot using a full choke. What may suffer is accuracy. Some full choked barrels will give you reasonable accuracy while others will give you unacceptable accuracy. The only way to know is to shoot (and do it using a couple of different brands of slugs).
 
Safe is one thing, accurate is another....try a few and see how they do in YOUR gun - realizing that your gun and my gun and Brent's gun - even if the same - may like different things
 
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