[Ech0Sierra]

from a shotgun with a modified choke, will I destroy my gun?

[Dave McCracken]

No. You may not get decent accuracy, though. All inclusive statements about shotguns should be taken with a grain of salt, But MOST shotguns shoot best with minimal choke.

Do try a few 5 packs of different brands. Retest with the best grouping, If that one stays the best, buy lots of it.

HTH....

[foghornl]

Dave McCracken has it right...

GENERALLY SPEAKING plain lead slugs give best accuracy out of cylinder bore (no choke) or Improved Cylinder choked barrels.

Your Mileage Will Vary, although YOUR particular barrel/choke/slug brand combination may work very well. You won't damage your shotgun, but your shoulder may complain a bit....particularly when 'bench testing' a whole messa slugs.

[ZeSpectre]

Related question... if you have a rifled slug barrel what's considered reasonable range for hunting with a slug?

[tinygnat219]

Personally, I wouldn't go more than 100 yards.

[Kimber1911_06238]

with a fully rifled barrel...max ethical range IMO is between 125 and 200 yards depending on the shooter. Harnady's sst slugs claim 200 yard range on whitetails, but obviously this is heavily dependant on the shooter

[Dave McCracken]

Hmm, ethics....

IMO, ethical range is the max distance one can keep them ALL on a 6" target from typical hunting positions.

Once the adrenaline cuts in, under stress, your groups will open up like dot.coms in the 90s.

[Kimber1911_06238]

I agree dave, that's why fully rifled my max range is about 125....but I'm willing to bet there are people out there capable of 150 yard shots, or even more.

[chris in va]

That's pretty funny Dave.

[Exmasonite]

is there any effective range for shooting slugs out of a cylinder bore (mossberg 500 20" barrel)? I can keep all the slugs (firing rifled slugs) on a paper plate at 50 yds but that's the best I can do. It has just the peg sight on the end of the barrel.

I've debated scoping this shotgun to go for some deer but i think i'm going to have to save some $$ to get a rifled barrel.

[Dave McCracken]

Kimber, there's equipment out there capable of 150 yards shot. Few of us are up to it without some specialized ranging gear. And, in typical shotgun areas, it's a moot point.

The 90s were a productive decades for me, venison wise. I tagged 2-5 deer most years using bows, MLs and 870s. Longest shot was 65 yards, closest about 8. Average distance was around 32 yards. The ticket is getting close and making high probability shots.

Ex, the common probs with good slug groups include....

Us. Testing slugs is hard on us due to kick. Slugs in light shotguns will tear new ones. Many folks develop flinches.

The wrong slug. Besides getting the right kind of slug in a barrel (sabots in fully rifled barrels, Forsters and Brenekkes in smoothbores), we need to find that slug that works best in THAT barrel.

And there's some minor points that oft wreck groups. Repeaters may need the mag cap cranked on hard to eliminate slop in the receiver/barrel junction. On an 870, I tighten up one click past hand tight with padded jaw pliers.

Many shotguns have triggers that need some attention. A nasty 7 lb pull is not conducive to tight groups. Neither is a technique that yanks hard using the second joint of the trigger finger.

HTH....

[Jack2427]

The above guys have it right. I feel that getting the right brand slug to go with your gun is almost the most important thing for accuracy(the MOST important thing is you). I have a few SGs, the most accurate slug gun I have is (logically) Browning A-Bolt rifled 12 gauge, with a nice 4X scope, the next most accurate with slugs is a old (1932) Winchester model 97 26" barrel modified choke 12 gauge with only a bead front and the little "U" channel on the receiver rear "sight", go figure.