question about Ithaca barrel

[bluecowdawg]

i have an Ithaca m37 made i think in the mid to late 70's, it was my paw-paw's shotgun.it has 2 diff barrels one is a ribbed 28 inch and the other is a 20 inch barrel with rifle sights on it and it is marked DEERSLAYER,so i am assuming it is intinded(sp) for hunting deer ,purty darn smart aint i? ok, joking aside my question is this,If it is supposed to be used as a slug barrel then why doesnt it have any rifling inside? no it is not worn out,this barrel has never been used ,it just a smooth bore and i dont understand i do most of my hunting of furry game animals with a rifle and have never used this one other than dove hunting with the longer barrel. i just thought someone might know why this barrel has no rifling

 

[HSMITH]

A smooth cylinder barrel will kill deer all day long at shotgun slug range. That is what your barrel is, the number of deer killed with those Ithaca Deerslayers would boggle the mind..........

 

[bluecowdawg]

i preciate the reply but it still doesnt answer my question. what is the purpose of a smooth bore barrel?

 

[ftw46]

Before the days of the modern sabot for rifled shotgun barrels, the standard smooth bore shotgun barrels used a rifled slug. We use to call them pumpkin balls. They are still readily available from several manufacturers.

The deerslayer was a fancy upgrade to a deer hunting specialty shotgun. They are still very popular in regions or states that require shotgun only for deer hunting.

 

[HSMITH]

Exactly, before the sabot slug was common the smoothbore rifle sighted barrel was the cadilac of the slug barrels. Rifled slugs in a smooth bore are capable of 6" or so at 100 yards all day.

The rifled slug barrel is a relatively recent innovation...

 

[bluecowdawg]

then are you saying if i am to go hog hunting or something with this "slug gun" that i need to make sure i use rifled slugs? since the barrel is smooth?

 

[Badger Arms]

Rifled-bore slug barrels are intended for sabot slugs that have a plastic shoe that holds the slug and contacts the rifling. These are slightly more accurate than the standard slug.

There's one that's a ball with a shuttlecock extension behind it. The extension is rifled but the rifling is intended to spin the projectile by air resistance more than contact with the bore. The extension also ensures that all the weight is in the front which tends to keep the slug from yawing. I think this is called the Foster style.

There's another that's essentially a slug with cardboard or plastic glued to the base. This is called the Brenneke. The cardboard or plastic essentially keeps the front pointing forward the same way that the Foster Slug does it but with a different approach.

There are other varieties and many variations. Rifled bores are only effective with sabot slugs. Accuracy will not be that much greater and I don't think it's worth the extra expense. Another factor to consider is that you will get poor performance trying to shoot shot from a rifled barrel.

 

[bluecowdawg]

man i really preciate all the responses to my question.i didnt know anything about slugs when i posted this earlier today and i have learned a lot from yall. thanx everyone