Rifled barrel for HD?

[dukefan70]

So I just bought a used Remington 870 12 gauge. I have to admit, when I was eyeballing it a few other times at the shop I did not know it had a rifled barrel on it. Being an 870 with a 20" barrel, pistol grip stock, and some really nice fiberoptic front & rear sights on it, I just assumed it was smoothbore. I found out after I decided on it and before I bought it but bought it anyway. I don't own a rifled barrel on my other shotgun (Mossy 20g) so I did some reading. I can't figure out why this gun has what appears to be an HD setup w/ a rifled barrel that, from what I've learned this afternoon, is best used w/ sabot slugs and is pointless for accuracy w/ shot.

I'm baffled...somebody help me make sense of this.

Or will shot be accurate enough from a rifled barrel inside HD ranges (say no more than 5-7 yds)?

P.S. Btw, it also came w/ a 26" vented ribbed smoothbore barrel and a regular shoulderstock, so it's not like I can't use it with what I've got.

 

[millertyme]

Box o' truth did something on that a while back. Even at close distances, shot through a rifled barrel gets ineffective pretty quickly.

 

[dfariswheel]

The short barrel, rifle sights, and rifled barrel is sold by Remington as a deer gun slug model.
Since almost all 870 barrels will interchange, you can put a smooth bore barrel on a deer gun, and a rifled barrel on a standard gun.
Sounds like someone wanted a "tactical" slug gun, or they wanted to keep the original barrel and installed a rifled barrel on the receiver.

Bottom line: Who knows why people do this stuff.

As for shooting shot through the rifled barrel, the barrel will lead up badly and the shot will get distorted by the rifling. The rifling will tend to "swirl" the shot and as it exits the barrel it forms a donut shaped pattern.
Since this forms a pattern with a hole in the middle, if you aim it at a target, you'll get no hits in the center and only some hits on the sides.

In an actual home defense gun used at in-the-house ranges, this probably won't be that big a problem.
As a good rule of thumb, a pattern spreads about one inch for every yard the shot moves beyond the muzzle so it should be okay for home defense.
Still, the barrel is going to lead badly, so this will be a problem with practicing.

One suggestion, trade the rifled barrel for a smooth bore, or buy a new barrel and sell the rifled barrel.
You can usually buy new short barrels for not much over about $100.

 

[batex]

I think you should be able to find good used smoothbore barrels pretty easily. I know of several shops in my town that always have a few, typically express model barrels. I for one, would love to find a good deal on a rifled barrel since those seem harder to find.

 

[dukefan70]

Thanks. Yeah I think I'll just call around for a used 18 1/2" cylinder bore and failing that I'll get a new one. Probably hold onto that rifled one though...from what I can tell that's about a $200 barrel (at least) and I plan on doing some hunting when I get the time/money.