Slug loads

[Marty]

Does anyone know if it is ok to fire rifles slug loads through a full choke 12 guage shotgun? I have a single barrel fixed full choke 12g and unsure if it is safe or not.

[pball942]

You'll waste the choke. Most chokes are removeable with a choke wrench, and then insert a different choke or an open coller. Also do not attempt to shoot steel shot through a full choke (such as a turkey load), as the steel will not compress like lead would.

[Marty]

So do you mean that it would destroy the choke?

[pball942]

Yes it would destroy the choke. And I don't want to say for sure as I am not an expert but your slug could become lodged in the choke, as it is a full choke. I could be wrong about that bit, but I would rather err on the side of caution. Either way the choke would be destroyed. what kind of shotgun is it? And if you whant to shot slugs have you considered buying a rifled barrle for it?

[jerry]

It is positively ok to fire lead rifled slugs in any choke.
The lead is soft enought to be swaged through the constriction. Millions of slugs have been fired through all kinds of shotguns. Before people (and manufactures) started looking at slug technology as viable hunting tools, uncle bob grabbed the family bird gun stared unwittingly down the ole bead and planted one in the breadbasket of what would soon be venison steaks.

Accuracy is another story. It is said that less constriction will produce better accuracy. Sights help too. I have seen several full choke guns shoot consistent vital zone hits at 50~75 yards. Some of these guns were 40+ years old.

Steel. True, the shot strig dosen't flow like lead. Full choke can be used here too. Typically not with good results with larger pellet sizes BB, BBB, T, F etc. Steel became federally mandated for waterfowl around 1985. Manufactures geard production for guns to handle non toxic shot at this time. This date line is just a general rule of thumb. Most guns made past this era are fine with steel. Steel will pattern tighter than lead in most cases because the shot deforms less, producing less flyers. Most times, for example, a person can pattern full choke results with a modified choke. results may vary.

I'm not going to say I'm an expert. But this is what I know from a lifetime of real world hunting experience, not an occasional range visit or banging away on the idiot box.

[Uncle Red]

I have a buddy who has an old goose gun 36” full choke single shot. His Dad had it for about 20 years and then gave it to my buddy who has had it for about 15 years. Every year he hunts squirrel, rabbit, turkey and deer (slugs). About 4 years ago he found the old test target his dad used to pattern the shotgun when he first got it. So he and I took it out and duplicated the test. The test pattern we shot was just as tight and dense 4 years ago as it was 35 (or so) years ago!

So if your shotgun is in good working order … don’t worry about shooting slugs in it. Go out next year and bag a big buck. Make sure to post the pics.

-UR

[Marty]

It is just a cheap russian Baikal that was given to me a few years back, the gun has done almost no work.

Thanks all that have replied

[dave375hh]

Marty,
Using the standard forester style slugs will not harm your gun in any way. Forester slugs were made to shoot thru choked barrels. The hollow base and the fins on their sides are there to allow the slug to swage down when passing thru the choke. No the fins DO NOT! impart spin to the slug. Rifled barrels are a fairly new option. For years everybody just used their regular bird gun to hunt deer with slugs, and if what Pball said were true there wouldn't be any slugs for sale because the companys couldn't afford the lawsuits from gun damage.

[pball942]

What you Gentlemen have stated I will not dispute. I am only going by what information I have, and I would like to quote my sources. As far as stating that the choke would be destroyed that was information I received from my cousins which he stated that he ruined a “Modified” choke with a slug. I have no information stating that a slug could get stuck with a “Full” choke. That was only speculation on my part.
But according to Winchester’s site You can shoot a rifled slug through a “Modified” choke. But “Full” is not recommended. Winchester does not state that it will ruin your choke only that it is not recommended.

http://www.winchester.com/contactus/...y=0&category=2

Question: What slug design should I be using in my shotgun?
Answer: Winchester Ammunition offers two slug designs, the sabot slug or the rifled slug. Sabot slugs are designed to be used in rifled barrels or in smooth barrels with a rifled choke tube. Rifled slugs are designed to be used in smooth barrels. We have found the best accuracy when using rifled slugs in a cylinder or modified choke. We do not suggest shooting rifled slugs through a full choke.

Reguarding the issue of Steel shot this is what Winchester has stated.

http://www.winchester.com/contactus/...y=0&category=3

Question: Can I shoot steel shot out of my gun?
Answer: Winchester steel loads can be fired in shotguns of modern manufacture. It is recommended that steel be fired only in shotguns with no more restriction than an improved modified choke.

[jerry]

Each mfg will have a different "recommendation"
If some one asked me how to cross the street, I'd tell them to use a light at an itersection instead of look both ways.
You know, I don't know a dam thing. Dave, you aint very bright either.

[dave375hh]

pball,
Winchester doesn't recommend shooting slugs out of full chokes due to the fact that very few full chokes will shoot them accuratly, not because it'll damage the choke. Most mfg. warn against shooting reloads in "their " guns also, but everybody knows thats BS.

You got bad information from one source, and misunderstood another source, but you still want to defend this bad info????????

Yup I'm a Dummy alright (you wern't supposed to tell Jerry)

[jerry]

sorry

[Marty]

BTW the slugs I have are PMC 2 3/4 MAX SLUG 1oz
SN. SL12B1

[Mooseman684]

As a Gunsmith and builder for over 30 years I'd like to add to this...
IF your barrel is choked by swaging the tube, then you can safely shoot regular slugs through it. BUT, if your barrel has Removable Threaded chokes that screw in, I Say DON"T Do IT. I've had to repair several Shotguns that
had a punkinball put through it and the choke and barrel were damaged, One even split wide open and lost 3 inches of barrel. I also tell my customers that use the Select chokes like on Mossbergs to refrain from Slugs...Use a rifle!
( or buy a Slug Gun !):smash:

[jerry]

I tend to agree that a mishap can happen with just about any firearm. I also agree a fixed choke could be slightly mor fool proof than a removeable. I have had removeable chokes back out a time or two, even when I thought they were tight enough. Hard telling whata slug might to in theis case. If I had removeable chokes, I'd certainly not use the full as there is no benifit to it.

If it were an up front issue theree would be big red letters stamped on everything. This being said, people do fine with screw in rifled tubes for slugs.

Also I personally would shy from the saboted rounds in any smoothbore as they are more rigid and tend to "swage" less.

I'm not trying to be a smart azz or prove anyone wrong. When you hunt in a slug state you have to know how to apply the equipment and do it safely.

[Marty]

So mooseman, you think it is totally safe to use the PMC rifled slugs in my Fixed choke gun? I have this fear that when I do the barrel is going to rupture, this probably sounds stupid. I have had to many different ideas about this that I just cant make up my mind to use them or not. I am going up to the range next week and thinking about trying a couple of shots.

[Mooseman684]

I personally have put 7/8 ounce and 1 ounce slugs through a full choked model 12 Winchester without a problem. I never have tried the Brenneke slugs which are a different design than the round nose regular slugs. Different manufacturers have slightly different tolerances on barrels as well as slugs.
Suggest you cut a shell carefully, remove a slug, measure it with a micrometer, and measure the end of the barrel.Compare the readings to see what amount the slug will have to compress. A full choke barrel is .689 where a Cyl.choked barrel measures .709....020 thousandths difference, is a bit.You might want to make sure that the slugs are pure lead and not a harder alloy.
Sabot rounds shouldn't be a problem in most cases as plastic is pretty soft when heated as it screams down the tube, The BRI penetrators I use are hard
lead .50 cal. dome faced slug encased in a white plastic sabot and they work.

[Bull Barrel]

When I got my 870 last week the first thing I did was shoot a rifled 1 oz Winchester slug through it--holy cow that 28" barrel with Rem Choke produced massive recoil--after cutting it down to 18.75 the recoil was considerably less--I have sights on the gun and it shoots as accurately as a rifle with the snipped barrel--I didn't really test it with the full barrel (I was hot to cut it off that night ) but I don'tthink I would have been running a lot of slugs through that choked barrel--it was pretty intense...after all was said and done I prolly shoulda taken the choke out...

[Sigp2301]

The manual that came with my Mossberg 835 says specifically NOT to shoot slugs through the bird barrel. They recommended buying a slug barrel for the gun, and I did. I now have both barrels for it, and after reading Mooseman's post, I'm glad I did.

jen

[jerry]

With the Mossberg, it's more about the back bored barrel than choke. Stil a good move to buy the slug barrel. Moose does know his stuff.