Rifled barrel, or a separate rifle?

[john917v]

I have a Mav. 88 in 12-Ga that I plan on hunting deer and javalinas with. Foster-style slugs have fired decently through it, but I'd like to get the most accuracy out of it that I can. Also, I am pretty good at shooting it, and have the recoil situation taken care of. Here are my options:

1. Get a rifled barrel with a scope mount, and get some sabot slugs for it.
2. Buy a separate rifle, which would be an H&R, or an NEF, (probably in .243, or 30-06), due to their low prices and (normally) good accuracy.

I won't be shooting too many sabot slugs, or rifle cartridges, so more expensive sabot slugs won't be that bad.

 

[TaxPhd]

Deer and Javalinas means you are probably in the Southwest. AZ maybe? Rifled shotgun barrel will probably nut be sufficient for the ranges you will likely be shooting at. Get the centerfire rifle.

 

[john917v]

You are right, my friend, the SW, but I live in San Antonio, Tx, and I hunt mostly in brush land where there are mesquite-bush 'trees'-not quite as tall as regular mesquite trees.

 

[Jack2427]

As mentioned above range is going to be the determining factor. I happen to be in my "rifled shotgun" stage of my early senior citizen crisis. I have acquired a couple of rifled barrels for some of the guns in my miliatry/tactical collection, and acquired an H&R 12 gauge Ultra Hunter-a 12 gauge rifled barrel built out of a 10 gauge barrel, a Mossy bolt rifled gun, and what I consider the most accurate rifled SG a Browning A Bolt(also just about the most expensive SG I have ever bought). I n addition I have tried the rifled screw in "chokes" and a cheap H&R 12 rifled barrel.
I believe that if you use a rifled barrel, and find sabot ammo that it "likes", and have a decent set of sights or a low X scope or red dot, you will be good to go at anywhere up to 100 yards, or maybe a little further. Use the Browning Bolt gun, a properly bedded Mossberg Bolt gun, or the H&R Ultra and you can do minute of felon out to 200 yards, and make most anyone uncomfortable at 250-300. Not recommending the real long ranges, but I have seen some amazing stuff when the right barrel is mated to the right ammo-that seems to be more important than anything and it will require experimentation.
My A Bolt seems to have fallen in love with the new Winchester copper sabots, and I would feel quite safe in claiming the real estate out to 225 yards with it. The next best rifled gun I have is a beater 870 old police gun that I put a used rifled barrel with an extension on, it delivers Federal premium sabots just short of the Browning, and it cost a total of $285 including the 3X scope (an old Weaver I had lying around). Go figure.........
If you are going to stay under 100-125 yards some experimenting with a good rifled barrel and different ammo should do you fine. Much further out and I would be putting my 30-30 barrel on my cheap H&R.
I think that you will find that slug hunting is great fun, and most anything hit by a sabot slug(about 50 caliber remember) isn't going anywhere far away.