Rifled slugs in rifled barrel.....????

[Redcat376]

Can I shoot rifled slugs in a rifled barrel shotgun? Or, shoud I shoot only sabots? I read the Brennkel slugs can be fired in both smooth and rifled bores. Will rifled slugs hurt a rifled barrel? I want to shoot my slug gun at the range but don't want to shoot sabots all day long, to much $$$$. Thanks :?

[Cookiemann]

I seem to recall this coming up before.  If memory serves, it was pointed out that you would have a problem with leading in the barrel.  The thing I always wondered...The rifled slugs(Foster type) are designed to spin as they travel down the barrel.  Do they spin the same direction as the rifling or against it?  If they spin against it, I would think you would be shaving the fins on the slug off into your rifling.  Kind of the 'cheese grater' affect.  I'm no expert, but I am sure there are those on this forum who can answer those questions.

[BuzzKill]

Redcat-

Yes, you physically can shoot Foster slugs (rifled) out of a rifled barrel.  However you may not want to due to the leading in the grooves.  I believe others here have found out that it is not worth the time of cleaning out lead to do so.  Try it if you like and to save money, but find a good wire brush and lead solvent.  The Brennekes (sp) are advertised for both smooth bore and rifled bores.  That doesn't mean that there still won't be a greater leading problem in the rifled barrel.  I believe there Gold slug is a non sabot slug designed for rifled barrels.  Many forum members are reporting good accuracy with the Lightfields.  Good Luck.  BuzzKill

[WNY_Whitetailer]

The thing I always wondered...The rifled slugs(Foster type) are designed to spin as they travel down the barrel.  Do they spin the same direction as the rifling or against it?  If they spin against it, I would think you would be shaving the fins on the slug off into your rifling.  Kind of the 'cheese grater' affect.  I'm no expert, but I am sure there are those on this forum who can answer those questions.

The rifling does not actually impart any spin on the slug.  The fins are made to compact when travelling through a choke tube...

[Paul Mohr]

I shoot them out of mine and they work pretty well. By well I mean they are accurate. My Ultra Slug actually sort of likes them. The down side is they make a mess! Also the ballistics are pretty poor compared to some of the saboted slugs.

The biggest problem I see is that my barrel fouls out after about 3 or 4 shots. I get great 3 shot groups, like all three holes touching at 100 yards. On the fourth shot things start to open up a bit, and by the seventh shot it is not worth wasting the ammo. With my rifle once it fouls the barrel each progressive shot is higher.

You could easily hunt with them as long you cleaned your barrel every 3 shots or so while sighting in. I doubt most shoot more than 3 shots during an actual hunting season. I only shoot once most of the time.

However using them at the range for extended shooting sessions would be a bit of a pain. You would be constantly cleaning your barrel to keep it accurate. And it is messy when you clean it! Where as you could shoot sabots all day and just run a few patches down the barrel when you are done and it would be clean.

In most situations I don't feel shooting rifled slugs out of a rifled barrel will really hurt it. You just have to spend more time cleaning it and it's messy. It is no diffrent than shooting lead bullets out of a hand gun or muzzle loader. I have seriously considered using them for hunting since the winchesters I like are less than $3 a box, and the saboted bullets are closer to $12!

Paul

[dodd3]

here in australia i have been told that sabots are not legale any more so if i got a tracker or a ultra slug gun i would have to shoot foster type slugs i shoot fosters out of my side by side and don't find the clean up messy no more than std shot shells,besides cleaning your gun goes hand in hand with shooting it.  
bernie :grin:

[gino]

here in australia i have been told that sabots are not legale any more so if i got a tracker or a ultra slug gun i would have to shoot foster type slugs i shoot fosters out of my side by side and don't find the clean up messy no more than std shot shells,besides cleaning your gun goes hand in hand with shooting it.  
bernie :grin:

Just idle curiousity, but why have sabot slugs been determined to be a hazard to the realm?
gino  

[dodd3]

gino i think its the normal pollees bs lol. who nos i give up trying to understand the way they think there a strange lot they can never seem to make up there minds on any thing they seem to listen  to the anti gun lobby to much.    
bernie  :?

[Paul Mohr]

Your better off anyway. I think we get ripped on the sabots. I feel they are way more expensive than they need to be. Unless plastic is some sort of hard to come by commodity now?

In my gun the $2 slugs shoot pretty much as well, have better knockdown and are a third of the price. They just take more effort in the clean up department. And they do foul my barrel out pretty fast. With the rifled barrels the lead tends to catch in the rifling and it becomes more of a mess faster than in a smooth bore.

 Like I said though, I have an Ultra Slug Deluxe and it shoots pretty well with regular winchester rifled slugs. Like one to two inch groups for the first three shots at 100 yards. I am using brenneke gold magnums right now. They are not as accurate, maybe 4 inches at 100 yards, but great at 75 and under. I just ran out of time and money to experiment and I have two boxes of them left. And I can't question the effect the 600 grn slugs will have on a deer:wink:

I would be afraid to see what sabots cost down under, I bet they are not cheaper.

Paul

[dodd3]

paul the only ones i ever saw was back in the late 70s they were rotwell the looked like a cotton real they never appealed to me i like the foster slugs always had good performance from them a box of fosters is $5.50 a box of 5thats they are imported . i had a ww greener gp gun and it shot the winchester slugs two inch groupe at 100 meters of the bench that was good enuff for me.  
bernie

[tanoose]

everyone i have spoken to has said the same thing (Lead fouling) They also have said you can do no damage to the barrel. I used the winchester rifled slugs at 1.69 per five just to get on paper when sighting in my new barrel as i dont bore sight first , once i got on paper i went to the sabot slugs.

[myarmor]

Interesting, has anyone else used rifled slugs in your Ultra Slug Hunters or Trackers? What kind of performance did you get?

[Busta]

Everything has already been covered. I have been hunting deer with slug guns for over 30 years and have tried everything out there. Leading is a real problem after 3-4 shots and cleaning is a real chore even with a good brush and lead removing solvent. You can get good accuracy but like Paul said, it falls off quickly due to leading. If you want to shoot a full bore slug, Rottweil Brenneke makes a Gold Slug that is coated to reduce leading. I like the Rottweil Brenneke lead slugs better than the Fosters, they are a little harder and cut a nice hole. The rifling on the slugs is not to impart spin, it is there to allow the slug to swage down when going through various chokes.

A good smoothbore will shoot the fosters well at ranges out to 75 yards and some out to 100. The slug itself is the limiting factor more than the type of barrel and 100yards is about the maximum as far as accuracy in either. My take on this is if you want better performance out of a rifled bore, get a good premium saboted slug and you can stretch the maximum range out to at least 150 yards when everything else falls into place.

[myarmor]

A good smoothbore will shoot the fosters well at ranges out to 75 yards and some out to 100. The slug itself is the limiting factor more than the type of barrel and 100yards is about the maximum as far as accuracy in either. My take on this is if you want better performance out of a rifled bore, get a good premium saboted slug and you can stretch the maximum range out to at least 150 yards when everything else falls into place.

Thanks Busta. I'm looking to make a better slug gun for myself, and wouldn't mind using a smooth bore. But the mount broke on my last endevor to make a slugger out of my modified 12ga barrel.
So I keep tossing back and forth between getting an USH or Tracker. I would love to have a Tracker, but it's not D&T for a scope. And the USH seems a bit heavy to lug around. Thats why I was asking if there was anything else I needed to know on shooting the Rifled slugs.
-Aaron

[oo_buck]

What exactly is the difference between shooting lead slugs through a rifled slug barrel, and shooting lead bullets through a rifle?? Asside from the obvious ballistics....

[Critter]

Foster slugs are made out of pure lead so that they will expand to fit the bore or swage down to fit the choke.  Lead rifle bullets are generally some kind of alloy that is harder than lead.  Because the Fosters are pure soft lead they foul and lead the bore rapidly and are a pain to clean.  
Where I live in MI is all shotgun or muzzleloader for deer.  I've worked in gunshops since I was 17 and have cleaned a lot of lead out of rifled shotgun bores.  It's not worth the expense of a rifled barrel if you don't want to pony up for the correct ammo.

[dodd3]

a friend baught a tracker  and a lee shotgun mould, the one ounce one  and loads them in the std mono wads 1-1/2 groups at 100 of the bench they are cheap to shoot works out for 5 less  than a 5 pack of fosters and no leading.
bernie