SMOOTH BORE OR RIFLED?

[BASIC]

I'm trying to decide weather to get a smooth bore or a rifled bbl shotgun.I've read and heard good things about Brennekes in smooth bores and Lightfields in rifled bbls.I've again read and heard mixed results about the newer hi-tec sabots.If i went smooth bore,I would buy an 870 Express or an old Ithaca 37 Deerslayer in 12 GA.,if rifled I'd go with the H&R Ultra in 20 or 12,any suggestions please?

[Savage .250]

I'm trying to decide weather to get a smooth bore or a rifled bbl shotgun.I've read and heard good things about Brennekes in smooth bores and Lightfields in rifled bbls.I've again read and heard mixed results about the newer hi-tec sabots.If i went smooth bore,I would buy an 870 Express or an old Ithaca 37 Deerslayer in 12 GA.,if rifled I'd go with the H&R Ultra in 20 or 12,any suggestions please?

 
 If your talking shot gun solely for deer......rifled.   IMO.

 " The best part of the hunt is not the harvest but in the experience."

[Ramrod]

Most smoothbores run out of accuraccy at 50-60 yards, but some few, like my old Deerslayer, can be stretched to 75. I also have an 1100 with a rifled barrel that I have made 125 yard kills with. If you will be doing any amount of shooting beyond 50 yards, do yourself and the deer a favor, and get the rifled gun.

[mountainview]

Basic,

If you are still hunting, the HR Ultra weighs a lot and that might be a consideration. The Remy (what I usually carry) is more trim and lighter for me to tote and after-market barrels are available in rifle or smooth form. One other consideration is that if you are shooting a lot at the range, the smooth slugs are quite a bit cheaper though as noted above 50-60 yards is max limit. The sabot reloading kits look intriguing though and once I have my new SX-2 slug gun project completed I hope to try the kits out.

[Ron T.]

Basic...

I'd look at two different pump shotguns... the Remington 870 and the Mossberg 500... BOTH with TWO (2) barrels each.  

The first barrel... a standard 28" shotgun barrel with a ventilated rib and inter-changable choke tubes.

The second barrel... a short, rifled (slug) barrel with iron (rifle) sights and the barrel set up for mounting a low powered scope.

Both are good shotguns... the Remington is supposedly better quality, but I've never heard anything "bad" about the Mossberg's quality... and I believe the Mossberg may be a better "value"... depending on the price difference between the two shotguns.

I've heard Mossberg's Customer Service is excellent.  By the same token, I've heard that Remington's Customer Service leaves something to be desired. But I've not had any personal experience with either one.

I like the location of the safety on the Mossberg (on the tang right where it should be, in my opinion)... but that may not be too important to you.

Mount a 1x-4x or a 1.5x to 5x variable scope on the rifled barrel and sight it "in" 2 inches high at 100 yards... this should give you a point-blank-range of about 125 yards.

Here's 2 Mossberg models that you might like:
#54243  12 ga. Trophy Slugster COMBO, includes all the features of our Dual-Comb® Trophy Slugster #54232 shown above, plus an additional  
28" ported VR barrel w/ Improved Cylinder, Modified and Full Accu-Choke tubes.                                                      MSRP $379

#52264 12 ga. COMBO  Mossy Oak New Break-Up camo finish, synthetic stock, ported 24" Rifled barrel w/ rifle sights and a 12 ga. 28" VR field Accu-Choke field barrel w/ 3 choke tubes.                          ...MSRP $404

See these two guns (and others) at:  http://www.mossberg.com/

A sabot hollow point slug fired through a rifled shotgun barrel using a scope set on it's highest magnification (4x or 5x) should be reasonably accurate out to about 125 yards.

If you're stalking (aka "still hunting") slowly through the woods, keep the scope set on it's lowest power setting (1x-1.5x) in case you "jump" a big buck.

You might check out the local pawn shops for either of these two fine shotguns... you could save $100 or more over buying a new gun.  Even if the pawn shop shotgun doesn't have the extra rifled barrel, I believe you can order JUST the rifled barrel for either gun at your local gunshop.


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

[260rem]

If I lived in a shotgun only state or at least something similar then I would use a rifled barrel for sure. But for me personally a shotgun must have a smooth bore, as if you cant shoot shot out of it then it cesses to be a shot gun and becomes a 12ga rifle instead.

[Ranger J]

My first deer shotgun was a Mossberg 500 with smoothbore and iron sights. I soon learned that this short barrel was a killer on both ends.  While I never felt any recoil while shooting at a deer it was a bear when punching paper.  I never could shoot iron sights well and soon had the gun drilled for a scope.  With iron sights I have a tendency to ‘covey shoot’ deer and even a 4X scope made me pick a spot on the deer to shoot.  It was still a bear to sight in but once it was it was good out to 50 or 60 yards which was plenty for the thick woods where I used it.  I toned down the kick some by filling the stock bold hole with #2 shot.  One thing I liked about this barrel, as it was cylinder bore was it made a great quail gun.  I later got a cantilevered fully rifled barrel for the gun and the extra length and weight also helped with the recoil.  If I was restricted to only one gun and one barrel I guess I would have to go back to that gun with the short smooth barrel.  Probably not the best barrel for each job but will work well enough to get by.

[T.R.]

One of my best friends lives in eastern Pennsylvania.  A region of rolling hardwood covered hills but the human population is building homes nearly everywhere.  His 20 acres is loaded with whitetails but this is a "shotgun only" zone.

I bought a 12 gauge rifled slug barrel with a cantilevered scope mount from Cabela's recently for this Fall's planned hunt.  This barrel fits nicely to Mossberg 500.  It shoots el-cheapo WOLF slugs into a 5.5 inch circle at 75 yards. But Brenneke slugs shoot into a 4 inch circle at 100 yards!  I'm certain some of the high dollar slug ammo will perform even more accurately but my firend says a 75 yard shot is pretty far on his place.

Smooth bore slug barrels have killed many deer over the years.  But it is "yesterday's news" as far as slug shooting technology is concerned.  If I already owned a smooth bore barrel I'd keep it.  But as in my case, to buy a smooth bore barrel when slug barrels are about the same cost is going backward in time.
TR

[josie wales]

For close range a smoothbore is great if and only if you go out and see how it shoots. I had a Browning that would shoot old punkin balls great but with Foster slugs I could put them in a 36" circle at thirty yards. I had a Model 51 Ithaca with a mod.choke 28" barrel and at fifty yards 3"groups with Federal 1oz. Foster slugs were common. Active slugs were even better but would lay down enough plastic in the bore after three shots to affect the performance. I was so amazed at the Ithaca's shooting ability I used a Burris scope and to this day have not missed with it. So try your gun with different brands, find the one that shoots the best and shoot a bunch of that brand. I fould the best was Federal for all around performance. The Active slugs were the most accurate. Winchester a close third and Remington slugger I could not hit the broad side of a barn. This year I will be using a Remington 1100, 20 gauge synthetic stock with a fully rifled barrel. The Ithaca was getting to heavy to lug through the wood. I have not shot it yet because I have to SAVE money to buy all the new wonder slugs to see what one it shoots the best.I figure it will cost three dollars a shot to sight it in. You can weigh your options on smooth bore or rifled.

[Oldtimer]

I agree with the people who suggest that you get a gun that allows you to easily exchange barrels.  I have hunted with both rifled and smooth barrels and would decide on which gun to use based on where I was hunting.  In back of my house, a 40 yard shot would be a really long one, so a smooth bore is fine, plus the full-bore slugs have tremendous energy transfer, so they either lay the deer down right away or make huge holes to leave a blood trail. My Mossberg 500 loves Brenneke slugs and I don't have to pay more than I would for .458 Magnum cartridges to shoot it.   I also hunt in a shotgun-only county on a farm where it would not be unusual to get a 150 yard shot.  Needless to say, my scoped, bolt action Mossberg is my gun of choice.  Watch the gun sales and see if you don't find a deal on either a Remington or a Mossberg, so you can afford both barrels.

[K.K]

For hunting, I agree with the guys above.  Cantilever barrels on my remington 870s are accurate and relatively inexpensive, as compared to , say rifle barrels for my Encore.  One of mine came with the smoothbore, and I use it for home defense with buckshot.  It will shoot OK with slugs, but today's slug tecnology has advanced so much that you really need  a rifled bore to get the most out of the shotgun. 

[Redhawk1]

For hunting, I agree with the guys above.  Cantilever barrels on my remington 870s are accurate and relatively inexpensive, as compared to , say rifle barrels for my Encore.  One of mine came with the smoothbore, and I use it for home defense with buckshot.  It will shoot OK with slugs, but today's slug tecnology has advanced so much that you really need  a rifled bore to get the most out of the shotgun. 

Sorry to disagree with your last statement but, I have never achieved the accuracy in a smooth bore shotgun that I have with a rifled slug barrel. 1 1/2 to 2 inch groups from a rifled slug barrel at 100 yards is very doable. You will never see anything close to that with a smooth bore shotgun no matter the technology of the slugs. I have tried and the rifled slug barrel is the way to go if accuracy is what you are after.