Rifled Choke vs. Rifled Barrel
- Thread starter Zangetsu
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Savage3006
Member
I would think a rifled barrel will give you more accuracy just because the slug will have more time to acquire a good rate of spin. I have never tried the rifled choke.
Fred Fuller
Moderator Emeritus
Both can work well, both will require some bench testing with a variety of ammunition to find out which brand of slug they like best. If you already have a smoothbore barrel set up for choke tubes, a rifled choke tube costs less than a whole new rifled barrel...
lpl/nc
lpl/nc
I am in the same boat. I have been trying to decide whether to buy a rifled choke for the barrel I have or buy a rifled barrel and shoot the higher priced slugs. I want something that do out to 100 yards. From what I understand, that is on the higher end of the rifled choke option but should be easliy doable with the rifled barrel. I just hate the idea of spending $3 per sabot.
okiewita40
Member
I would think that the fully rifled barrel would be more accurate and maybe give you a bit more range. Since I have never shot any shotgun with with any type of rifling be it a barrel or choke tube. I do know that at 50 yds I am dead on with a 1 oz slug out of a Rem 870P with rifle sights
Fred Fuller
Moderator Emeritus
It depends.
If you want to push your effective range out beyond 100 yards, it might be worth exploring rifled barrels and sabot slugs, or rifled choke tubes for that matter.
If 100 yards or less will do, chances are you can manage sufficiently with a smoothbore barrel and rifled slugs. I've run up to MOD chokes, even with choke tubes, tighter than that might not be good though. Again, you can't take anything much for granted with shotguns- each barrel is pretty much a law unto itself.
Try Brenneke KOs for rifled slugs in your smoothbore barrel (the full velocity kind, not the reduced recoil ones). I've had good luck with them out of every barrel I've tried them in.
lpl/nc
If you want to push your effective range out beyond 100 yards, it might be worth exploring rifled barrels and sabot slugs, or rifled choke tubes for that matter.
If 100 yards or less will do, chances are you can manage sufficiently with a smoothbore barrel and rifled slugs. I've run up to MOD chokes, even with choke tubes, tighter than that might not be good though. Again, you can't take anything much for granted with shotguns- each barrel is pretty much a law unto itself.
Try Brenneke KOs for rifled slugs in your smoothbore barrel (the full velocity kind, not the reduced recoil ones). I've had good luck with them out of every barrel I've tried them in.
lpl/nc
BBroadside
Member
Dave McCracken makes it sound like different combinations of slug and barrel will yield different results. Howard Brant raves about fully rifled Paradox barrels and sabot slugs ... although I can't quite make out what the expected accuracy is (article gets kind of vague toward the end). One gent at Shooters' Forum says rifled tube groups at 125 yards compare to fully-rifled-barrel groups at 175.
On the whole, I'd say the rifled tube idea is more attractive to most shooters, since it gives you more options without buying and changing barrels. You could be enviably versatile in the field with a rifled tube, and IC tube, and a full choke, and a variety of ammo. The latter link above discusses on problem with rifled tubes - firing slugs through them causes them to tighten over time; you actually should keep loosening them as you shoot. I believe all of the above applies to sabot slugs. Combining rifled slugs with a rifled barrel is something I know little about.
On the pro-fully-rifled side, changing from slugs to shot often invites a change of sights. Some people like the rifled barrel idea since it gives you the option of mounting a scope on a cantilever; keep it sighted in and put it on for deer season, and switch to a vent-rib smoothbore barrel for duck season. So a question to keep in mind is, what sort of sights do I intend to use with slugs? A lot of slug accuracy is probably limited more by the unsuitability of the bead sight than by the weapon itself (someone who knows more can tell us what ranges the bead sight works for). A very interesting sight option, I think, is Marble's barrel mounted sights - aperture or open sights.
okiewita40, what kind of slugs are you using? I gather that the Brenneke slugs can be very accurate ... not sure about Fosters. My guess is that the rifle sights were key to that kind of accuracy.
P.S. Here's a good book for terminology, whether or not you're hunting whitetails.
On the whole, I'd say the rifled tube idea is more attractive to most shooters, since it gives you more options without buying and changing barrels. You could be enviably versatile in the field with a rifled tube, and IC tube, and a full choke, and a variety of ammo. The latter link above discusses on problem with rifled tubes - firing slugs through them causes them to tighten over time; you actually should keep loosening them as you shoot. I believe all of the above applies to sabot slugs. Combining rifled slugs with a rifled barrel is something I know little about.
On the pro-fully-rifled side, changing from slugs to shot often invites a change of sights. Some people like the rifled barrel idea since it gives you the option of mounting a scope on a cantilever; keep it sighted in and put it on for deer season, and switch to a vent-rib smoothbore barrel for duck season. So a question to keep in mind is, what sort of sights do I intend to use with slugs? A lot of slug accuracy is probably limited more by the unsuitability of the bead sight than by the weapon itself (someone who knows more can tell us what ranges the bead sight works for). A very interesting sight option, I think, is Marble's barrel mounted sights - aperture or open sights.
okiewita40, what kind of slugs are you using? I gather that the Brenneke slugs can be very accurate ... not sure about Fosters. My guess is that the rifle sights were key to that kind of accuracy.
P.S. Here's a good book for terminology, whether or not you're hunting whitetails.
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MAX100
Member
I believe there is no doubt that rifled barrel and the right sabot combo is more accurate. I would get a rifled barrel and a scope because I like well placed shots.
GC
GC
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Savage3006
Member
I have a Remington 1100G3 (it is like a 11-87) with a smooth barrel and a rifle barrel with cantilever mount scope. I think it is a good combo for the price.
Dave McCracken
Moderator In Memoriam
Dakota, most repeaters have a flat on the top of the receiver.
Perch the bead so that it looks something like a baseball sitting on a 2X4.
Perch the bead so that it looks something like a baseball sitting on a 2X4.
BlackJackal
Member
I can place winchester 1oz rifled slugs from my BPS 30" barrel, threw the same hole, at 45-50 yards
Jeff F
Member
My 870's are set up for HD with 21 inch rifle sighted rem choke barrels mostly has a modified tube in it because I keep it loaded with buckshot. It does well with foster slugs out to 75 or so yards with the modified tube. When I want to get serious with slugs I use an extended rifled tube and accuracy is greatly improved and range is extended out past 100 yards. I've only experimented with sabot slugs a little bit, 20 or 25 rounds of a few different brands out to 125 yards. At 100 the best I could do was a 3 inch group the worst was 8 inch off the bench with the sabots.
If your gun has choke tubes try a rifled tube.
If your gun has choke tubes try a rifled tube.
ZMOPARDUDE
Member
- Joined
- May 10, 2010
- Messages
- 3
Rifled chokes vs Rifled Barrels.
I have both a Mossberg withe a 24 inch rifled cantiliver barrel and a Winchester 120 with a Buck and Tom barrel. The rifled barrel is the way to go for shots of 100 yards and further. And inside of a 100 yards the rifled slug tube can perform well also. With a CYL choke inside my Winchester 22 inch rifle sighted barrel I can hit well within 3 to 4 inches of a target at 50 yards using Rotweil 2 3/4 slugs. Any other brand is just all over the place with my smooth bore. Install my Winchester Sabot tube which is 2 3/4 inches in length and Sabots are good to about 60 to 70 yards. With a Hastings rifled choke tube you can get much better results. The Hastings Chokes are a full 5 inches in length and have a much better twist rate. However Hastings closed their doors for good last year in 2009 in December. If anyone wants a Hastings Rifled Choke tube I have a brand new spare one I picked up email me and we can work a deal on it. The one I have fits any shotgun barrel with the invector choke tubes such as Winchester, Mossberg and Browning as well as some Savage models. Here is a link to what Hastings says about them. http://www.hastingsbarrels.com/choke.html With one of these choke tubes it is easy to get yourself into a 5 inch pie plate at 100 yards with the right ammo. Every gun shoots slug different you need to pick up several boxes in different brands and try them. No two shotguns will fire the same kind of ammo the same.
I have both a Mossberg withe a 24 inch rifled cantiliver barrel and a Winchester 120 with a Buck and Tom barrel. The rifled barrel is the way to go for shots of 100 yards and further. And inside of a 100 yards the rifled slug tube can perform well also. With a CYL choke inside my Winchester 22 inch rifle sighted barrel I can hit well within 3 to 4 inches of a target at 50 yards using Rotweil 2 3/4 slugs. Any other brand is just all over the place with my smooth bore. Install my Winchester Sabot tube which is 2 3/4 inches in length and Sabots are good to about 60 to 70 yards. With a Hastings rifled choke tube you can get much better results. The Hastings Chokes are a full 5 inches in length and have a much better twist rate. However Hastings closed their doors for good last year in 2009 in December. If anyone wants a Hastings Rifled Choke tube I have a brand new spare one I picked up email me and we can work a deal on it. The one I have fits any shotgun barrel with the invector choke tubes such as Winchester, Mossberg and Browning as well as some Savage models. Here is a link to what Hastings says about them. http://www.hastingsbarrels.com/choke.html With one of these choke tubes it is easy to get yourself into a 5 inch pie plate at 100 yards with the right ammo. Every gun shoots slug different you need to pick up several boxes in different brands and try them. No two shotguns will fire the same kind of ammo the same.
ZMOPARDUDE
Member
- Joined
- May 10, 2010
- Messages
- 3
Rifled Chokes vs Rifled Barrels.
I have both a Mossberg withe a 24 inch rifled cantiliver barrel and a Winchester 120 with a Buck and Tom barrel. The rifled barrel is the way to go for shots of 100 yards and further. And inside of a 100 yards the rifled slug tube can perform well also. With a CYL choke inside my Winchester 22 inch rifle sighted barrel I can hit well within 3 to 4 inches of a target at 50 yards using Rotweil 2 3/4 slugs. Any other brand is just all over the place with my smooth bore. Install my Winchester Sabot tube which is 2 3/4 inches in length and Sabots are good to about 60 to 70 yards. With a Hastings rifled choke tube you can get much better results. The Hastings Chokes are a full 5 inches in length and have a much better twist rate. However Hastings closed their doors for good last year in 2009 in December. If anyone wants a Hastings Rifled Choke tube I have a brand new spare one I picked up email me and we can work a deal on it. The one I have fits any shotgun barrel with the invector choke tubes such as Winchester, Mossberg and Browning as well as some Savage models. Here is a link to what Hastings says about them. http://www.hastingsbarrels.com/choke.html With one of these choke tubes it is easy to get yourself into a 5 inch pie plate at 100 yards with the right ammo. Every gun shoots slug different you need to pick up several boxes in different brands and try them. No two shotguns will fire the same kind of ammo the same.
I have both a Mossberg withe a 24 inch rifled cantiliver barrel and a Winchester 120 with a Buck and Tom barrel. The rifled barrel is the way to go for shots of 100 yards and further. And inside of a 100 yards the rifled slug tube can perform well also. With a CYL choke inside my Winchester 22 inch rifle sighted barrel I can hit well within 3 to 4 inches of a target at 50 yards using Rotweil 2 3/4 slugs. Any other brand is just all over the place with my smooth bore. Install my Winchester Sabot tube which is 2 3/4 inches in length and Sabots are good to about 60 to 70 yards. With a Hastings rifled choke tube you can get much better results. The Hastings Chokes are a full 5 inches in length and have a much better twist rate. However Hastings closed their doors for good last year in 2009 in December. If anyone wants a Hastings Rifled Choke tube I have a brand new spare one I picked up email me and we can work a deal on it. The one I have fits any shotgun barrel with the invector choke tubes such as Winchester, Mossberg and Browning as well as some Savage models. Here is a link to what Hastings says about them. http://www.hastingsbarrels.com/choke.html With one of these choke tubes it is easy to get yourself into a 5 inch pie plate at 100 yards with the right ammo. Every gun shoots slug different you need to pick up several boxes in different brands and try them. No two shotguns will fire the same kind of ammo the same.
Just remember:
With sabot, Breneke type and rifled slugs, a rifled choke tube will have have to be loosened every several rounds to prevent over tightening. The rifling twist will tighten the tube with each shot.
Full bore hard cast slugs will lock a rifled choke tube in place with the first shot. A barrel smith will have to chuck it in a lathe to break the tube loose.
With sabot, Breneke type and rifled slugs, a rifled choke tube will have have to be loosened every several rounds to prevent over tightening. The rifling twist will tighten the tube with each shot.
Full bore hard cast slugs will lock a rifled choke tube in place with the first shot. A barrel smith will have to chuck it in a lathe to break the tube loose.
JNewell
Member
It would be worth reading this thread as well.
JNewell
Member
Each gun and each load are really a law unto themselves. You did the right thing trying various combinations. Not that you needed me to tell you that...
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