slugs throuh smooth barrel?
- Thread starter J270
- Start date
Being an Ohio deer hunter for over 50 years and restricted pretty much to
the s.g. & slugs some of us'ns who strived to make the smoothbore & rifled slugs shoot with better accuracy came up with some solutions to the lack of accuracy.
I'm going back a lot of decades for this.
Keys:
Sights. Not just a bead front.
No double barrel s.g. They won't regulate a slug from each barrel nearly well
enough.
Scope is a good idea, but at least rifle sights.
Cyl or I/C seems to work best but some do well with a mod choke.
Rifled choke tubes didn't do much for us & we tried a bunch of 'em.
Keep the barrel to receiver tight even if shiming must be used.
Keep the barrel clean of lead deposites from the soft rifled slugs.
(we even learned how to lube the slug inside the hull)
With the above tricks we could get at least 3" at 75 yards with almost any s.g. predominantly the 870 and Mossy 500. Some Browning A-5/s were remarkable.
Every barrel by different makers seems to prefer certain ammo.
We did best with Win. & Brenneke K.O. in 2 3/4" loads. Sometimes we could get 3" and better at 100 yards making the smoothbore with rifled slugs a viable 100 yard deer getter.
Of course, back then, our group of deer hunters went through cases of slugs in the pursuit of accuracy. There were 5 of us that had our shotguns drilled & taped for scope mounts. Now they come that way.
We've gone through the rifled barrel & expensive sabot ammo also often with little accuracy gain. All ammo & barrel specific of course.
Ohio is going to proper rifles this fall in certain calibers so I'm done getting beat to death with 12 bore slugs.
Now I can get beat to death with my 45-70.
the s.g. & slugs some of us'ns who strived to make the smoothbore & rifled slugs shoot with better accuracy came up with some solutions to the lack of accuracy.
I'm going back a lot of decades for this.
Keys:
Sights. Not just a bead front.
No double barrel s.g. They won't regulate a slug from each barrel nearly well
enough.
Scope is a good idea, but at least rifle sights.
Cyl or I/C seems to work best but some do well with a mod choke.
Rifled choke tubes didn't do much for us & we tried a bunch of 'em.
Keep the barrel to receiver tight even if shiming must be used.
Keep the barrel clean of lead deposites from the soft rifled slugs.
(we even learned how to lube the slug inside the hull)
With the above tricks we could get at least 3" at 75 yards with almost any s.g. predominantly the 870 and Mossy 500. Some Browning A-5/s were remarkable.
Every barrel by different makers seems to prefer certain ammo.
We did best with Win. & Brenneke K.O. in 2 3/4" loads. Sometimes we could get 3" and better at 100 yards making the smoothbore with rifled slugs a viable 100 yard deer getter.
Of course, back then, our group of deer hunters went through cases of slugs in the pursuit of accuracy. There were 5 of us that had our shotguns drilled & taped for scope mounts. Now they come that way.
We've gone through the rifled barrel & expensive sabot ammo also often with little accuracy gain. All ammo & barrel specific of course.
Ohio is going to proper rifles this fall in certain calibers so I'm done getting beat to death with 12 bore slugs.
Now I can get beat to death with my 45-70.
bamaranger
New member
+1 to Jeager
Yeah, sights and ammo preference.
The simple bead comes up very short in delivering consistent slug hits.
Yeah, sights and ammo preference.
The simple bead comes up very short in delivering consistent slug hits.
smooth bore
Another option that works well - handloader's proposition only - is to load lead round balls (LRBs) into standard hulls. with proper wads, these shoot nicely out to at least 50 yards (as far as I have tested them). 12 gauge .715 LRBs atop a BPI Light brush wad and gas seals.
I have an old Savage 430 O/U with barrels at 22".....a poor man's double rifle.
Another option that works well - handloader's proposition only - is to load lead round balls (LRBs) into standard hulls. with proper wads, these shoot nicely out to at least 50 yards (as far as I have tested them). 12 gauge .715 LRBs atop a BPI Light brush wad and gas seals.
I have an old Savage 430 O/U with barrels at 22".....a poor man's double rifle.
BlackWorksInc
New member
I have been running mainly rifled slugs (Fiocchi 7/8 Ounce Exacta Aero Slugs as my go-to range round) through my UTAS UTS-15's smooth bore for a couple years, probably going on a couple thousand now. Its been fairly accurate at about 50yds and I even plinked some plates at 100yds (but that's probably more out of sheer luck than anything on my part.) I'm running their "Tactical Choke" (its just a vented choke set to cylinder bore) and haven't run into any significant issues.
I used the factory iron sights and am now using some MagPul MBUS GenII flip-up sights that I dialed in (yes yes, I can hear some of you grumbling about that "tacti-cool stuff" I left the bead sight on my Beretta AL2-12 alone
)
I used the factory iron sights and am now using some MagPul MBUS GenII flip-up sights that I dialed in (yes yes, I can hear some of you grumbling about that "tacti-cool stuff" I left the bead sight on my Beretta AL2-12 alone
)Chief Brody
New member
I've got Ameriglo rifle sights on my 870 Police Magnum, 18" IC-choke a barrel. At 50 yards, shooting mostly Federal Tru-Ball slugs, I am allll over the target. I've used a Cabela's shooting bag when I'm adjusting the sights. Next step will be to try different brands of slugs but I'm fairly certain, more than anything, the problem is me. It's frustrating hearing other shooters say they'll get consistent 8" paper plate-accuracy or better and I've got hits all over an 11x18 shoot-n-c. Practice, practice, practice.
Chief, occasionally you will find a barrel (or barrel/receiver combination) that just will not shoot any kind of a slug with accuracy. You may have just have a gun that will never work for this. It's the luck of the draw (but remind me not to stand next to you in a lightning storm if that is the case )
)Chief Brody
New member
There's always that chance - I sure hope I can coax this thing into delivering good slug groups, though. It's my HD gun, and I just like stretching it out from time to time.
Time to start saving up for a rifle.
Time to start saving up for a rifle.
"...don't expect great accuracy with a smooth bore..." Three inches at 100 yards not accurate enough? A Plain Jane, rifled sighted or a bead, Mossberg 500 will do that all day with ammo it likes. A rifled shotgun isn't a target rifle. And sabotted slugs aren't match ammo.
IC or Cylinder choke for a slug barrel. Any choke will do though. A slug will not blow the muzzle off.
IC or Cylinder choke for a slug barrel. Any choke will do though. A slug will not blow the muzzle off.
Brian Pfleuger
Moderator Emeritus
I've never seen any smooth bore gun with any rifled slugs getting 3" groups at 100 yards. You might get one that's a fluke but it's not going to do it again.
I've never seen even a rifled shotgun with sabot slugs do that well with any consistency.
I've seen quite a few of both types too, from the cheapest Mossburgs and Rem to $1000+ Brownings and more than a dozen different brands/styles of slugs.
I've never seen even a rifled shotgun with sabot slugs do that well with any consistency.
I've seen quite a few of both types too, from the cheapest Mossburgs and Rem to $1000+ Brownings and more than a dozen different brands/styles of slugs.
Dreaming100Straight
New member
Chief B, Have you tried different brands of slugs?
Chief Brody
New member
I've shot some Winchesters (the 15 round boxes from WalMart) with similar results. And a few Herter's from Cabela's. I'll definitely be making a real effort with a good supply of other brand's slugs before I decide my shotgun just doesn't like shooting them.
Dreaming100Straight
New member
Has it been checked by a good gun smith who really knows the 870? I have a cheap 870 Express and the barrel has a little rotational slop in it where it attaches to the receiver.