Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Truth about rifled shotguns

Fellas wondered if someone could enlighten me on the use of a rifled shotgun. I know the theory but what are the realities. was thinking of getting one for medium or large game to 125 yards, bit better accuracy, scopability and better or similar impact than my 44 mag lever gun. Am I barking up the right tree here?

Other questions were

1. Will they stabilise rifled slugs at all, or no better than a smoothbore?
2. With sabots do you get the advertised accuracy or are they very finicky and particular to your gun?
3. Is there a stand-out brand of model of bolt action shotgun? Were the browning A-bolts any good?
4. Will they be less blasty and noisy than a 30-06 or 35 whelen level cartridge? I prefer something that wont kill my dogs ears for these tasks( why I usually run a 357 or 44 lever)

Here is my opinion with what I have done. When I lived in PA the state mandated special regulation areas mandating shotgun zones. I was located just across the Delaware River from NJ which is a shotgun state. I had a gunsmith business at the time. I had a lot of opportunity to sight in a bunch of shotguns that I drilled for scopes. Most guys were happy to pay for this as they didn't have to take the beating. I then started installing choke tubes and created a "deer " package, mount scope and rifled choke tube.
1.With all else being equal, a smooth bore can be accurate with full size slugs not so much with the sabot style. Rifled tubes work well with the sabot style slugs but fully rifled barrels seem to work best with sabot slugs.
2. Like all guns, shotguns are particular as to ammo at times. The downside is the cost of ammo, slugs in particular and the recoil that you take testing each type.
3. The fixed barrel guns like the Savage and Browning seem to be more accurate and consistent than the guns with interchangeable barrels, pump guns or autoloaders. The Encore being the exception.
4. Barrel length has some effect on blast as does the load, 3 inch magnum vs. 2.75 inch reduced recoil load. To me the shotgun is more of a "boom" than a "crack".
I do not know what you consider medium to large game, but you might consider a 20 gauge as the recoil is a bit less but not enough to really argue with, but most of them I shot just seemed to be a little more accurate at the longer ranges, I really don't know if they just stabilize better. I do know that every deer I killed with a slug would be just as dead with either gauge.

1. Will they stabilise rifled slugs at all, or no better than a smoothbore?
You can fire rifled slugs in a rifled barrel without damage. But the rifling quickly fouls and cleaning the lead fouling out is a pain. And the accuracy isn't really any better out of a rifled bore than a smooth bore. Rifled slugs are really best suited out of smooth bores.


2. With sabots do you get the advertised accuracy or are they very finicky and particular to your gun?
Finding the best sabot slug for your rifled gun is an exercise in "try it and see." However, I have found that the same principals apply with rifled shotguns as they do with rifles. If you find a rifled shotgun you want, find out what its rate of twist is. I have found that slow rates of twist (1:30s) stabilize lighter, shorter sabot slugs (like Hornady SST 300 grain) better than heavy, longer slugs (like Remington AccuTip 385 grain). I get MOA accuracy out of my Savage 212 and Hornday SST slugs. The Savage has a 1:35 twist. Whereas my Ithaca M37 with a rifled Deerslayer barrel at 1:24 shoots 8 inch groups with the same slugs. On the contrary, the Savage 212 groups open up to 4 inches with Remington AccuTips, and the Ithacas closes down to 2-3 inches with Remingtons. I have a scope on my Savage, and shoot open sights on my Ithaca.


3. Is there a stand-out brand of model of bolt action shotgun? Were the browning A-bolts any good?
A-Bolts were very good, but they are scarce now and decent ones command high prices. The Savage bolt shotguns are not as refined as the Brownings, but are well made and very accurate with the right slug. They are all steel. My issues with my Savage 212 is that the magazine juts out right where I would want to carry the gun. And I get occassional jams when cyclying. Not many, but some. I usually shoot Hornady SSTs out of my Savage and have noticed some Hornady rounds aren't quite round and can hang up. Federal and Remingon rounds cycle fine.


4. Will they be less blasty and noisy than a 30-06 or 35 whelen level cartridge? I prefer something that wont kill my dogs ears for these tasks( why I usually run a 357 or 44 lever)
No, they are very blasty. And recoil in a light gun can be very brisk. Recoil in my Ithaca M37 Deerslayer is downright uncomfortable.

I have a little bit of knowledge.

I have a rifled 20ga break open, the NEF, I got the 20ga full rifled barrel added to my 243 win. It works well with full bore slugs and thats about it.

The rifled barrels are best when using sabots. Standard "rifled" slugs will leave a mess of lead in the grooves which is a pain to get out. The worst part is, each individual gun can have its own preference in regards to slugs and it may not be the same as another gun of the same make.

I don't know if you will see any advantage over you pistol cartridge carbines compared to a slug other than possibly attaching a scope but I do see disadvantages in recoil, weight, ammo cost, and changing or unpredictable supply. If it were me, unless I had to use a shotgun, I would look for more modern lever gun that would accept scope mounts. With slugs going upwards of $5 each, it wouldn't take a whole lot of shooting for the cost to get into a new carbine range. I would even look at peep sights for your current guns before a slug gun.

Overall, I have had the best luck with Remington Accutips in both 12 and 20 ga giving acceptable accuracy in the most guns. It figures as they were the most expensive sabot slug back when they could be found. Now, they are mostly unobtainable and the few I've seem were well over $6 each. From there, Lightfield Hybrids in 12 ga were the next best choice but I think they may be out of production too, at least I haven't seen any in quite a while. One of my 12 ga guns really liked Federal sabots with the Barnes Expander but Federal dropped them in favor of a projectile of their own design. Naturally, that gun hates them.

In 20 ga, the three Savage 220s, H&R Handirifle, and an 870 with rifled barrel have all had their own preferences. The 220s shot the 2 3/4" Accutips very well but did not like the 3" shells to varying degrees. These were the "recommended" shells to use until Savage was bought out by Vista. Then it was whatever sabot Federal had in the catalog. I tried the Hornady SST in one of the 220s and the 870 which worked OK in the Savage but were failures in the 870. The latter gun hates everything I've tried, it has a Hastings aftermarket barrel and I suspect it has to do with the barrel rather than the shells as nothing works - even Hastings' own sabots. The H&R shoots everything well, just not to the same relative point of impact for everything.

The Savage bolt guns are pretty good, I like the 20 ga over the 12 as the former has a little less recoil. Beyond that it's a horse apiece. The A-Bolt is a very nice gun but expensive. At one time you could buy two Savages for the price of the Browning. Other than getting a blued gun with wood stock, I didn't see a difference in results between the Savage and the Browning. My A-Bolt was given to a nephew as he liked it more than me. I've shot a Marlin bolt slug gun but it left me cold as it had weird balance and it's accuracy was unpredictable with the couple brands of slugs I shot through it. As I had reliable slug guns, that gun went down the road rather than mess with it.

Having lived in a shotgun only state for 24 years I've owned and used a lot of slug guns over the years. H&R heavy barrel single shot and Savage 220's were by far the most accurate dedicated sabot slug shooters.

Mine would embarrass a Marlin 1894 44 Mag when it came to accuracy.

My Savage 220 was freakishly accurate with the slugs it liked

I have a Rem 1100. In 1990 my wife gave me a smooth bore slug barrel for it. I tried a bunch of ammo and couldn't really land on any one that worked well. I sold the barrel to a co-worker and I think that he still uses it. Not sure what he uses though.

Then I bought a Hasting rifled barrel for it. It shoots the Beneke 3" Magnum Crush really well. The Beneke Magnum Crush has the rifling going in the opposite direction as your standard rifled slug so it meshes with the rifling in the barrel and isn't trying to spin the wrong way. When shot at paper, it cuts a hole the exact shape as the slug. I tried Lightfield sabots and they were all over the map and I stuck with the Beneke's. Another guy I know swears by Lightfields. The 1100
doesn't kick that bad because it's an automatic. My son uses that gun to this day.

Back in the 2000's, I bought an Encore and have a rifled 12ga barrel for it. I've only used the Beneke in it and it is very accurate out to 150 yards. The problem is that that round kicks like a mule. I've been scope bit plenty of times. As I get older, it's increasingly harder to take the recoil. Yes. it's loud.

A couple of years ago they changed the laws here and made it legal to use straight wall rifle cartages. I just ordered a 350 Legend barrel for it. I've pretty much had enough of the 12ga recoil.

Just curious, do you take your dogs with you when you're deer hunting?

i have a 220 Savage 20 gauge and with Remington sabots this slug gun is very accurate but the recoil is nasty too.

My Dad had a Hastings rifled barrel on a 20ga 870 and it wouldn't shoot anything worth a plug nickel, either. I actually bought it off him a few years ago and put on a factory Remington rifled barrel, and it was night and day improvement. Still not a tack driver, but decent enough. It'll shoot about a 3" group at 100yds with either the now discontinued Remington Premier 3 inchers, or the Winchester Deer season XP coppers now. With the Hastings barrel you were lucky to keep 3 shots all on the paper at 50yds with anything you put through it.

I used an Remington 1100 with a smooth 22" slug barrel with rifle sights (choked IC). I took a lot of deer with that gun out to 100 yds, using 2 3/4" foster slugs. The gun liked the Rem Slugger the best, but shot others fairly accurate as well.
My brother bought the same gun, but chambered for 3". The 3" slugs keyhole something awful. Made me think that maybe a foster style slug can only go so fast, otherwise it destabilized (??).

My partner and I have 80 acres mostly fields in Salem County NJ.
We've been using Savage 220 rifled shotguns since they came out.
Very accurate " WITH THE PROPER SABOT SLUG". we regularly shoot deer in the 80-to-125-yard range.
They both have Leupold scopes, and we hunt from elevated boxes over crops .
Soup

My Browning A-Bolt will put Lightfield Sabots in a 2 inch group all day long at 100 yards off the bench and a little tighter if I use a shooting sled. These were the best slugs for that gun when I bought it many years ago.

I shoot it once each year to make sure it is still on target before the season and it has not had to be adjusted in 15 years. It's not a lot of fun to shoot in a T-shirt because the recoil is stout but I've never felt it in a hunting situation. The biggest downside is that Lightfield is out of business and their slugs are going for crazy prices on the internet if you can find them at all. I've seen them go for over $40 a box, which is insane. I'm glad I'm a hoarder, I had the chance to buy a case (20 boxes of 5) when they were going for $15 a box so I did even though I hated doing it. Best $300 I ever spent.

A also have a Benelli SBE dedicated slug gun. that gun shot Winchester Partition Gold Sabots best and really kicks. No fun to shoot at the range at all, but again, never felt recoil in a hunting situation. Plenty accurate enough for hunting but maybe a more honest 3 inch gun at 100 yards

I use these guns in thick hardwoods in eastern PA in shotgun zones where 100 yards is the farthest you will ever shoot so they are plenty accurate. I've had more bang flops with the Lightfields than with the Winchesters. Both gun/slug combination get it done and I can't remember having to follow up a blood trail with either except for one doe that got hit too far back in the guts and she laid down and died after running 40 yards. They make big holes and if the deer doesn't drop like a bag of rocks it usually plows into the ground within 10 yards of being hit.

I like slug guns, grew up with buckshot only then rifled slugs(New Jersey). Price of ammo is a no contest with the straight wall ammo, that and addt'l recoil is
a no go.

This is a 3 shot group at 100 yards out of my Savage 212 anbd Hornady SST 300 grains. A hair over 1 inch.

Stick with your lever gun. Scope if need be. Slugs are great, but the price and availabilty are onerous to me, with favorites apparently disappearing from the market willy-nilly, based on comments I’ve seen here by panicked hunters. You can spend a fortune looking for the best one only to have it vanish after you decide it’s just what you want.

The only reason I’d go back to slugs would be for an area where they’re required, and the trend is strongly towards straight-wall rifle cartridges in those places. If you want more power than your .44, get a .450 Bushmaster, a .45/70 or a .444, all of which can be had in break-action rifles very reasonably, and can be handloaded for easily.

If you still want a slug gun, look at the Henry Single Shot model. Ready to scope, and nice to look at, for about $600. My cousin has the ABolt, and loves it, but prices on them are pretty steep.

That's for sure, they tend to be very finicky on ammo. The best shooting slug gun I ever owned was an H&R Ultra, but ONLY with the Remington Solid Coppers. It was a near MOA gun with those, but wasn't even close with anything else, so after big green discontinued those, I parted with the gun.

It also kicked like a coked up mule 😐

My 20 ga. H&R ultra was the same way, it shot the 2.75 in.Remingtons into 1.5 in. 3 shot groups @ 100 yds.Any other slugs were terrible. When PA legalized the 350 legend last year I got rid of the slug gun.Much prefer the straight wall rifle cartridges.