Using shot in rifled barrels

[woof]

Sorry if this is an old question but I'm basically wondering whether a Remington 870 20 ga slug gun with 22 in rifled barrel is suitable for HD with shot shells? Will they harm the rifling? If not, I assume there would be no choke so the pattern would be terrible. But then I'm talking about ranges of 30-40 feet max.

 

[foghornl]

Rifled barrel for shot loads? In one word...No.

If you have a 'shot cup' load, such as the way most modern shotgun ammo is made, the rifling will "spin" the shot cup, and you get the doughnut pattern...sort of a circular pattern, with a HUGE gaping hole right in the middle of the pattern.

If you have 'no shot cup' loads, then the rifling tends to highly distort the pellets, again resulting in poor patterns...and very quickly builds up a lot of lead on the rifling, aggravating the problem.

I have verified those things for myself...I did have a rifled barrel loaned to my by a shooting budd a couple of years back...sabot slugs were great, shot shells were not worth a hoot-in-Hades through the rifled barrel.

For the rifled barrel, the only thing that works well in it is the 'sabot slug'.

 

[rcmodel]

You can safely shoot shot in a rifled barrel, but the pattern will be miserable.
Not because there is no choke, but because the rifling spin will throw the shot charge away from the center of the pattern as soon as it clears the muzzle.

You may also get severe barrel leading with buckshot that will be very hard to clean out.


rcmodel

 

[Striker]

Shot won't harm the rifling, but patterns likely will not be good. You'd do good to try and see what, if any, ammo brands will meet your requirements.

Better bet I think, is to stick with slugs, until you can get a smooth bore barrel.

 

[rcmodel]

is to stick with slugs

Sabot slugs, not rifled slugs.
Rifled slugs won't work either without massive barrel leading.

And sabot slugs bring with it a very high risk of over-penetration if you ever do have to use it inside the house.


rcmodel

 

[Striker]

Yep,

rcmodel is correct, sabot slugs since it is a rifled barrel. My bad.

 

[Owen Sparks]

Across the bedroom, it really won't make any difference.