I know very little about shotguns. I bought a Mossberg 500A off a retired cop for $100 in excellent condition. Some people tell me the 500A model cannot fire slugs. How do I tell if it can or can't? Even Mossberg was very generic with their answer and could jot give me a 100% answer based on the serial #.
will my shotgun fire slugs safely?
- Thread starter DennisRL
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Ranger30-06
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Whether a shotgun can shoot slugs or not is based on the barrel, not the receiver/serial number.
If it has a 28" barrel, you can shoot rifled or foster type slugs as long as the choke is improved cylinder.
If it has the short 18.5" barrel, you can shoot rifled or foster type slugs as well as bird/buck shot.
If it has a 24" barrel, it may or may not be rifled. Look on the side of the barrel near the receiver and see if it says "rifled." If it does, you can shoot sabot slugs. If not, you can shoot rifled or foster type slugs.
Pics would help
If it has a 28" barrel, you can shoot rifled or foster type slugs as long as the choke is improved cylinder.
If it has the short 18.5" barrel, you can shoot rifled or foster type slugs as well as bird/buck shot.
If it has a 24" barrel, it may or may not be rifled. Look on the side of the barrel near the receiver and see if it says "rifled." If it does, you can shoot sabot slugs. If not, you can shoot rifled or foster type slugs.
Pics would help
Last edited:
Chawbaccer
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You can shoot foster slugs thru a full choke, no problems.
Ranger30-06
Member
You can, but it's not smart to do so. It will eventually bore out your choke and produce really poor accuracy in the meantime.
oneounceload
member
Who are these "some people"?
They lie
ANY smoothbore can fire the rifled slugs easily and successfully
They suck, however, when it come to shooting sabot-style slugs speaking accuracy-wise unless you have a choke tube that is rifled
My plain jane Remington 870 Express Magnum with 28 inch barrel modified choke cannot shoot slugs unless i switch to an improved choke ?
http://www.remington.com/products/firearms/shotguns/model-870/model-870-express.aspx
>>>>>>>>
Whether a shotgun can shoot slugs or not is based on the barrel, not the receiver/serial number.
If it has a 28" barrel, you can shoot rifled or foster type slugs as long as the choke is improved cylinder.
If it has the short 18.5" barrel, you can shoot rifled or foster type slugs as well as bird/buck shot.
If it has a 24" barrel, it may or may not be rifled. Look on the side of the barrel near the receiver and see if it says "rifled." If it does, you can shoot sabot slugs. If not, you can shoot rifled or foster type slugs.
http://www.remington.com/products/firearms/shotguns/model-870/model-870-express.aspx
>>>>>>>>
Whether a shotgun can shoot slugs or not is based on the barrel, not the receiver/serial number.
If it has a 28" barrel, you can shoot rifled or foster type slugs as long as the choke is improved cylinder.
If it has the short 18.5" barrel, you can shoot rifled or foster type slugs as well as bird/buck shot.
If it has a 24" barrel, it may or may not be rifled. Look on the side of the barrel near the receiver and see if it says "rifled." If it does, you can shoot sabot slugs. If not, you can shoot rifled or foster type slugs.
Chawbaccer
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Never herd of that, that soft piece of lead swages right thru a full choke. At one time it was all I had, never had a problem.
oneounceload
member
Exactly, steel is harder than lead and the reason they have those "rifling grooves"
Ranger30-06
Member
Nathan: Yes you can, but it's not wise to do so.
Chawbaccer: I had never heard of it until I did it to my own gun. I was too cheap to go buy another barrel and I didn't switch the choke and put probably close to 500 normal 1oz slugs through the gun. (Not in one day though!) When I went to a trap range in the fall that featured some "longer range" trap shoots (pretty neat) I noticed that I couldn't hit a thing when they clays got out there. I made sure I had the full choke in and still couldn't hit a thing. When I got home, I took a micrometer to the choke and the constriction was only .012" (a full choke has a typical constriction of .035" while an IC choke has a constriction of .010".)
I bought a cylinder (no choke) barrel after that and it works as a HD barrel and a rifled/foster slug barrel.
Chawbaccer: I had never heard of it until I did it to my own gun. I was too cheap to go buy another barrel and I didn't switch the choke and put probably close to 500 normal 1oz slugs through the gun. (Not in one day though!) When I went to a trap range in the fall that featured some "longer range" trap shoots (pretty neat) I noticed that I couldn't hit a thing when they clays got out there. I made sure I had the full choke in and still couldn't hit a thing. When I got home, I took a micrometer to the choke and the constriction was only .012" (a full choke has a typical constriction of .035" while an IC choke has a constriction of .010".)
I bought a cylinder (no choke) barrel after that and it works as a HD barrel and a rifled/foster slug barrel.
I have a Mossberg 500ATP with an 18.5" barrel and nice rifle sights added by the previous owner. It shoots slugs very well, easy recoil when held right and very accurate. A nice HD/Slug/Birdshot Plinking/Garden-Eating-Bird shooting gun, I don't see why manufacturers don't make more of them like that. I don't shoot slugs or steel shot out of my various fixed Mod and Full choke H&R singles.
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