Shotguns with rifled barrels

[Tony Williams]

I know very little about shotguns, so please bear with me as I ask some basic questions:

I know that saboted slug rounds are designed to be used only with rifled barrels (as are some other types of slug; Remington's BuckHammer, for instance). However, I also understand that firing shot loads from rifled barrels can mess up the shot pattern quite considerably. So are shotguns with rifled barrels intended for use with shot loads at all, or just for use with slugs?

Secondly, do shotguns with rifled barrels have any actual use in military or law enforcement, or are they just for hunting?

Thanks for any help.

 

[SDC]

Tony, I have seen European shotguns offered with "rifled" (very shallow) barrels, as a means of opening up the pattern for woodcock/"becassier" hunters, who need as large a pattern as possible, because their targets are small, fast, and close-in. As for the other option, I believe there are manufacturers who offer "urban sniper" versions of repeating shotguns for use with slugs, for use in situations where a centre-fire rifle would have too large of a "shoot-through" danger.

Edit to add: you can see an example of the type of "woodcock rifling" I'm talking about if you go to Verney-Carron's homepage ( http://www.verney-carron.com/ ); at the top left, they show an over/under with a rifled barrel on the bottom (first shot), and an interchangeable choke on the top (follow-up shot, where you'd want a tighter pattern).

 

[Dave McCracken]

Slugs only. Shot patterns are terrible.

And for every Becasse hunter out there with a rifled barrel there's 20 without. More use spreader loads and keep some versatility in their shotguns.

IDF uses scoped rifled shotguns, but I'm not sure of the details.