[Sterling]

I picked up a new 12 ga Mossy 88 recently and Id like to know for the purpose of hunting or target prac, if can shoot riffled deer slugs I understand that because the barrels not riffled I wont get the full benefit of the deer slugs accuracy / range however I really want to know if it will cause any damage to the gun or barrel. Also do they make a non rifled slug as for close quarter s.d or critter control i.e feral hogs deer.

 

[jwc007]

Does your new Mossy Shotgun have screw in chokes in the Muzzle area of the Barrel or does it have a fixed Choke Barrel? You may be able to buy a Rifled Choke Tube for it.
Note that repeated use of Slugs, even the soft Foster Slugs, through a Full Choked Barrel will stress and possibly ruin a Barrel. Pressures will be at dangerous levels.

I have read that you can shoot the soft Foster Slugs through a Modified Choked Barrel, but I've never done it, so all bets are off there. Read into that, I wouldn't do it!

In general, you need to have a Cylinder or Improved Cylinder Choke in your Barrel, in order to shoot Slug through it. The soft Foster Style Slugs won't hurt most Shotgun Barrels and open Chokes.
I've used the Foster Style Slugs through smooth bore barrels with good results out to 100 yards. My old Remington 1100 has a smooth bore Slug/Riot Barrel, an open True Cylinder Choke, and has accounted for 5 Deer, so far.
That said, I would rather use a Rifle.

 

[jeeper1]

The rifling on slugs are there so the slug can go through chokes. The choke will crush the rifling so the shotgun/choke does not get damaged.

 

[MOONDAWG]

Brand new 2015 steel barrel vs. soft rifled (read finned) slugs, muchadoaboutnuthin in my book, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[carlstaurus]

you should be fine to shot anything trough it. take a look on u/tube, lots of vids on your 88.

 

[Sterling]

I picked up a new 12 ga Mossy 88 recently and Id like to know for the purpose of hunting or target prac, if can shoot riffled deer slugs I understand that because the barrels not riffled I wont get the full benefit of the deer slugs accuracy / range however I really want to know if it will cause any damage to the gun or barrel. Also do they make a non rifled slug as for close quarter s.d or critter control i.e feral hogs deer.

Far as I can see its a plane jane barel w/ no kind of barrel choke screws at all. Honestly probably wont shoot riffled slugs but once a year at range. But I want to know beforehand jic I or the wife have to use it in a home defense scenario slugs being my last choice for that role after #4 or # 7 shot.

 

[AOCM.RET]

With your gun, you will have no problems shooting rifled slugs in it and by the way, rifled slugs is what you shoot in a smooth bore gun. If the barrel is rifled, then you use slugs that are in sabots and not rifled slugs, because the sabots will engage the rifling providing stability and correct spin of the slug as it exits the barrel and prevent tumbling. The rifling on the rifled slugs will break/wear off quickly and will tumble once it has exited the barrel if fired in a rifled barrel. ....The rifling on the slugs will provide proper spin and stability in a smooth bore gun.

 

[NativeTexan]

The so called "rifling" on a foster slug...aka by the unknowing as a "rifled slug'...really doesn't function to spin the slug or add any accuracy at all. It's there so the slug can safely make it though even a full choke without hurting the gun. It is designed for smooth bore guns and I'm not sure than firing it through a rifled bore wouldn't mess it up.

Rifled barrels for shotguns were invented with the saboted hourglass style slugs and they are necessary for that sort of slug. These slugs were intended to give the shotgun a little more range in communist totalitarian northern states that don't allow hunting with the proper tool...rifles. You cannot expect any accuracy at all out of a saboted slug with a smooth bore shotgun. But, my guns shoot quite well to 50 yards with foster slugs. The thing that makes 'em accurate isn't spin, but the weight bias of the slug and attached wad. It flies like a badminton shuttlecock with its weight forward and the drag of the wad making it fly straight. Yes, foster slugs can kill game to 100 yards with sights, but I have rifles for that. My shotguns are primarily used for bird hunting. I have been hunting with rifles and shotguns for most of my 62 years, prefer rifles for bigger game. I have killed only one deer with a shotgun and that was last season. I routinely walk my woods during deer season with a buckshot load in the left barrel, a shot load in the right for squirrel/dove/or ducks off the tank what ever is in season at the time. THIS is the nice thing about shotguns, versatility. But, they're not specifically what I choose to hunt deer with. I have a .257 Roberts, a .308 Winchester, and a 7mm Remington Magnum from which to choose for hogs and deer.

 

[NativeTexan]

Far as I can see its a plane jane barel w/ no kind of barrel choke screws at all. Honestly probably wont shoot riffled slugs but once a year at range. But I want to know beforehand jic I or the wife have to use it in a home defense scenario slugs being my last choice for that role after #4 or # 7 shot.

Your shotgun will defend you with a preferable load of buckshot. I load 3 buck in my 20 gauge coach gun for this. Smooth cylinder bore is fine at home defense ranges. Your gun won't be so suitable in the field, but you can get flight control wads to help compensate for lack of choke. Never tried one, not sure how they'd work. I'm more apt to need mine for a hen house raiding fox or coyote, though, than a human, but it's there for either. I have a I/C tube in the right barrel/front trigger and a mod tube in the left barrel/rear trigger. A slug will function through either. My 12 gauge double shoots foster slugs like a double rifle, amazingly accurate and well regulated. it's a 43 year old Spanish import I bought new my freshman year in college on sale for the grand sum of 100 dollars. I still carry it alternately with my 20 gauge Spartan on my rounds in the woods behind the house, checking the feeders, hog trap, game camera, and shooting targets of opportunity. Yesterday, I shot a gadwall off the tank in back (that's a duck for those in Rio Linda). I need to go outback now, replace the battery in the feeder I charged overnight and I'll check the tank again. Deer season is over, so I'll just load with shot loads.

 

[jwc007]

Far as I can see its a plane jane barel w/ no kind of barrel choke screws at all.

Then it should be just a fixed choke barrel. There should be some printing on the side of the barrel as to which choke is in the barrel. More than likely it will be either a Full or Modified Choke.

 

[gbusmech]

When the BG's start wearing body armor that shotgun with some big ol 1oz slugs will still cave in their chest....

 

[BigSkiff]

Shoot these ............ they work and won't harm your shotgun.

Here's a link - Products

 

[NativeTexan]

Meh, I keep Remington Sluggers, cheap and effective. If I seriously wanted to hunt deer from a smooth, though, I've read the Brenneke stuff is superior at longer ranges. I haven't tried 'em, haven't found 'em.

 

[Raptorboy69]

Yep. Rifled in a smooth bore. Saboted in a rifled bore. Birdshot, buckshot etc. smoothbore also...

 

[brotherbrian]

I do not see myself shooting deer or anything else unless the food has run out. then ill use my .303 and keep the shotgun for BGs who try to steal mah deer.

 

[YOT]

Native Texan has given you very good, verifiable information here. The rifling on the slug is so the slug can pass through the constricted diameter of a choke after engaging the length of the barrel.

Lee makes a smooth slug mold that needs to be loaded into the shell with a shot cup. They work as well as the rifled slugs.

If you are thinking of slugs for HD, you MUST consider over-penetration. They hit hard and go deep, then keep going.

 

[Deadheadfred]

Products

When you care enough to send the very best...

 

[scoutfish]

I would argue that the rifling on a slug was not originally so that it could pass through a choke, but rather, it just turns out the rifling will allow it to pass through.

There are plenty of shotguns around that do not have choked barrels weather cast in or screw in types. Just plain old smooth bores.

I have 2 shotguns that are slug guns and bother are older. Neither has a rifled barrel. The bore is straight all the way through.

The rifling on the slug keeps the slug from just tumbling end over end once it leaves the barrel.

 

[NativeTexan]

The rifling on the slug keeps the slug from just tumbling end over end once it leaves the barrel.

Wrong, it cannot stabilize the slug. The weight bias of the slug does that. Rifling has to be at a specific rate for a given weight range of bullet in rifles and if there is ANY spiral to a slug's flight, it's nil. Read up on it here. As I said, the weight bias of the slug is what stabilizes it much as with a badminton shuttlecock.

The Box O' Truth #46 - Shotgun Slugs, Sabots, and Smooth Bore Barrels The Box O' Truth

A solid, single projectile fired from a shotgun is called a “slug”. In years past, the most common type was called a “rifled slug”. This name came from the common practice of manufacturers to put “rifling” grooves on the sides of the slugs.These rifling grooves were mostly cosmetic, as they did not really impart any spin to the slug at all as it went through the barrel. The only real purpose, other than making the customer “feel like” his slugs would spin, was to allow the slugs to be swedged through any size choke. The manufacturers of the slugs could not know for sure what choke would be used by the customer, so they put these grooves on the slugs to allow them to swedge through any normal choke.
We then must ask, “If the rifling does not spin the slug, then what causes the rifled slug to fly true?” The answer is that the slugs usually had a hollow base and they were heavier in the front than in the back, and flew straight for the same reason a dart flies true.

 

[Sterling]

Who would have known......all this valuable knowledge, thanks guys despite me owning alot more non Tauri guns this was my first and is my favorite gun forum. Muchos nachos muchachos.