Smyth Busters: Do Rifled Shotgun Slugs Require a Rifled Barrel?

Slugs are a great way to get more rifle-like performance from your shotgun, and in fact, if your shotgun has an interchangeable barrel system, you might even be able to put a rifled barrel on it. Brownells Gun Techs Caleb Savant and Steve Ostrem answer a common question: Do you have to shoot RIFLED slugs in a RIFLED shotgun barrel? The answer is.... that's completely wrong! Rifled slugs have been around for a gazillion years and are for use in traditional smoothbore shotgun barrels. The "rifling" on the slug is really a set of helical fins that impart spin to the bullet (slug) after it exits the barrel and moves through the air. Shooting a rifled slug in a rifled barrel will just mess up the slug, and it will not perform well at all. You want to shoot sabot slugs through a rifled shotgun barrel. The sabot is a little plastic sleeve that engages with the rifling and gets that slug spinning so it stabilizes on the way to bagging your next venison dinner. So that myth is BUSTED. Remember: RIFLED slugs go in SMOOTH barrels and SABOT slugs go in RIFLED barrels.

[@andygrew4832]

I've gone blue in the face trying to explain this to people

[@HiVoltish]

Funny how people are when they get something in their head.

[@josephreisinger33]

Don't go too blue... People will talk. LoL 😆

[@andygrew4832]

@@josephreisinger33 lol

[@bradprather6749]

@@josephreisinger33 👏👏👏😁😁

[@jeremydehart7466]

I’ve got a 12 gauge pump smooth barrel and I have had people tell me that you can not shoot a slug out of a smooth barrel. And I’ve also had people tell me that you can, but there is a chance of messing the barrel up. So long story short, I didn’t know what to believe, now I know that you can shoot rifled slugs out of a smooth barrel shotgun.👍 But can you shoot a non rifled slug out of a smooth barrel?

[@thomasarmbruster1743]

I'm not particularly a shotgun guy and have long wondered about this. Thanks for setting me straight.

[@nuclearjanitors]

Literally the point of rifled slugs is to use them in smoothbored shotties

[@gunfisher4661]

That`s the way it was advertised.

[@skibooski6884]

Yeah I don’t understand this video at all kinda pointless.

[@WardenWolf]

They DO benefit from it, though. There have been countless tests and these things actually do shoot more accurately when you combine a rifled slug and a rifled barrel.

[@skibooski6884]

@@WardenWolf yeah that’s true but rifled slugs were designed for smoothe bore barrels so it just seems silly to make a video for it, suppose its good material for new gun owners.

[@TheCdubwilly]

Ya 20 years ago not anymore

[@Ferrari_M5]

In a “twist” of coincidence I happened to sip my coffee at the same time as Steve and Caleb...I feel like part of the team now!!!!

[@AndyCigars]

I am a simple man...when I see Steve's astronaut cat coffee mug...I upvote.

[@EquipaPatriot]

I wasn't aware of this until a co-worker offered to take me hunting with a shotgun using rifled slugs. I have a smooth bore shotgun, so I told him that I am not able to unless I change the barrel to a rifled barrel. In summary, he schooled me on the purpose of a rifled slug is and the barrel it's meant to be paired with.

[@jaronmendez7433]

I was wondering the same thing now what about chokes. No choke cause of the size or rifled choke?

[@TeiwazTV]

You just saved me about $250 in 2 1/2 minutes! Thanks for the information! I don't have to get that new barrel after all

[@BLUELEADER78]

Rifled slugs? That must be one rough garden.

[@jesuspadilla3681]

😂

[@isaiahcampbell488]

My mother once salted a mating pair of slugs, now they are out for revenge.

[@dylwiththedeviledeggs]

I LOLed for real

[@csciscio1]

LMAO!

[@3Scalpel]

Keep publishing these little gems. Excellent work fellas!

[@MrRobreg]

I love this series. So much great info in a simple straight forward package

[@Gottaculat]

Foster slugs like that one shown are very accurate for what they are. Using Foster slugs, I can shoot steel at 200 yards using my 12ga Mossberg 500 with a 28" barrel and improved cylinder choke. I have no idea how hard it's hitting at that range, probably not hard enough to be ethical, but definitely hard enough to be dangerous. Also, just using the bead and half-bead sight, not ghost ring sights or any kind of optic to hit that 200 yard plate. Most game within 100 yards would be dead meat, for sure.

[@trcorbin]

I always use rifled slugs in my smoothbore 1100. I have a Nikon scope mounted in a B Square mount and the accuracy is very good. If I remember correctly, foster type slugs work like a badminton shuttlecock. The weight forward design is what keeps them flying without tumbling and helps to improve accuracy.

[@failure2flinch876]

Talk about rifled barrels and shot pattern expansion

[@lostpyper6973]

Haha..... Just my personal experience with this, it's like throwing pancake batter on a high-powered fan... I've even had some loads leave the point of aim completely void of shot, like the eye of a hurricane

[@firewavey]

There's an older demo ranch video that shows this fairly well.

[@jeramyw]

@@lostpyper6973 Donut of death

[@johncrauswell1781]

i think Paul Harrel does a pretty good demonstration video of that

[@lostpyper6973]

@@jeramyw haha...with my luck the damn turkey would hitch up it's skirt and superman through the middle opening..... After seeing this pattern when I was younger, I went right out and bought a smooth bore turkey/waterfowl gun....

[@brandenochoa4250]

Thank you because I’m hunting this weekend and I have a smooth bore shotgun and I have slugs I wanted to use but didn’t know if I could but I do now im going to use them thank you

[@josephreisinger33]

Yes rifle slug in a smooth bore shotgun. My own private howitzer. Keep up the good work gentlemen.

[@haroldhenderson2824]

Actually, a musket. 12ga. = .70 caliber, 20 Ga. = .58 caliber.

[@joeneu]

If the slug is super sonic those "vanes" wouldn't do anything because of the shockwave disrupting the air, so the rifling of the slug spins it when fired through the barrel.

[@MrBDUB450]

Agree, I always had the understanding that the "vanes" weren't to impart spin, but to provide room for material to go when it hits the choke tube. You have two opposing forces at that point, the pressure from the powder burning expanding the hollow skirt and the pressure created by the barrel choking down. The 'vanes" provide relief and a place for the lead to go while making that transition.

[@mmikerryan]

Brian thats what i understood as well, to give it the ability to compress if need be.

[@john-paulsilke893]

For sure the vanes don’t impart spin until trans sonic so probably 80-100 yards out at least.

[@mechticulous8202]

Great Explanation, thanks guys for keeping it concise yet detailed.

[@soopermikey2767]

I love how concise the video is. Thx!

[@AlienHazard]

Always a great day when a new Smyth Busters episode gets released

[@keithlincoln1309]

The more videos I watch from you guys, the better I like this channel

[@JonathanOyervides]

My favorite series of this channel! Straight to the point...Nailed it!

[@brownells]

Thank you!

[@raystanley151]

Sabot slugs were made to be used with improved cylinder chokes. They came out before there was rifled barrels

[@bnet-nn7bu]

I love your channel you guys answer simple questions with good information and reasoning.

[@brownells]

Thank you so much for watching...

[@daveodo4315]

I have a rifled NEF slug gun. I bought a large supply of sabot slugs and they shoot very well. I also shoot with my friend who shoots a savage 212. We both tried a number of foster and brenneke type slugs and they both shot with similar accuracy to the sabots. I now shoot the less expensive slugs for fun and save the more expensive sabots for hunting.

[@oldgoat1890]

I know plenty of guys that sight in scope with lead slugs before final sight with sabots. Your shoulder will wear out before the barrel.

[@artvandelay9374]

Awesome segments. Brownells is awesome. Definitely always be a customer 🤘🏼🇺🇸🤘🏼

[@TheOutdoorLivng]

Thanks for keeping it straight and simple with logic 👍.

[@tylerzmistowski5867]

Taoflaedermaus showed high speed of a rifled slug spinning as it left the muzzle. So not friction with the air but actually the barrel imparts a tiny bit of spin on these but theyre stabalized by drag.

[@cameronnorton5898]

The Foster slug sure is a cool piece of tech.

[@TylerJames-gf8ms]

These videos are amazing! Thanks guys

[@haroldhenderson2824]

Ore history: A modern shotgun with slugs is a slightly improved musket from 1750. The hollow base puts weight forward and the drag in back (a "good" thing). The ridges (grooves) in the slug are to prevent the slug from plugging your barrel. A rifled slug often has a regular shot cup between it and the barrel (an uncoupled sabot). The rifling will spin the cup, but NOT the slug. A rifled barrel should use a slug attached to the sabot that transfers spin (coupled sabot). Otherwise, it is still a musket.

[@oldgoat1890]

The slugs I checked are way under the bore diameter. The only "Plugging" I ever got was plastic welded in the bore from "Power pistons". Judging by some of the posts here, this video is not a learning experience.

[@bc30cal99]

Thanks for another fine video gentlemen. Up here across the medicine line shotguns with slugs are the "go to" for bear protection because of silly handgun restrictions. All that to say we shoot lots in testing what we'll carry. That aside, it's good to see the coffee cups back where they should be! Take care.

[@scottgordin9709]

I never knew this till now, a buddy of mine just explained it to me so I looked it up on the old interweb, glad I know what kind of slugs I should buy now before I went out and got a bunch that are more expensive and I don’t need.

[@ranger1721]

Thanks for all the informative videos guys.

[@misfitsportsman8171]

I have a Marlin bolt action slug gun with a smooth bore that would consistently shoot one hole groups at 100yds until the barrel leaded up. Once it was thoroughly cleaned it returned to a one hole shooter. Thanks for the great content!

[@badmoon7549]

One shot one hole groups?

[@raystroud8342]

I had a Marlin 12 gauge slugmaster with a fully rifled barrel. I was told it was a 10 gauge blank. It had a 4x scope and I shot Remington copper solid sabot's. The first time I shot it after a friend sighted it in was at a squirrel 137yds away(with a tape measure) down a logging road. It was sitting up facing me on a little sandy hump. I held it across my truck door aiming for the head. Hit him in the throat to my surprise. He landed 9 yards from there. Killed a couple of deer with also. They don't run after getting shot either. Wish I still had it today

[@misfitsportsman8171]

@@badmoon7549 it had a ragged hole, but a three shot group would be about an inch and a quarter round. A slug sized clover leaf.

[@misfitsportsman8171]

@@raystroud8342 I got mine in the late 70's. It had a Weaver side saddle scope mount and I put a cheap bushnell 4 power scope on it. My Dad bought it used and gave it to me. It was leaded up when I got it. Gave it a good cleaning and went to the range.

[@vacheron2346]

Thanks for making this easy to understand!

[@squirlboy250]

LOL I thought this was just common sense, but then again there isn't much of that anymore.

[@JLNYardBird]

Eight people don't get it.

[@williamhall7349]

Especially when you vote democrat

[@takeahike2993]

Some people (like myself) never grew up with someone teaching them about these things, so it's nice to have a place to get answers before you go ruin something (or have fear of ruining it).

[@SailfishSoundSystem]

Common sense isn't common.

[@rymic72]

There never was much common sense in this world of ours

[@JG-jg9zz]

Thx. Always wondered about that!

[@infamousdrunk]

thank for this video i thought i made a mistake buying rifled slugs for my smooth bore this video put me at ease. so it was worth paying the extra for rifled. i bought 200rounds for after tax and shipping came to 270$

[@chrischiampo7647]

Ahhhhh The Sequential Timed Coffee Sip Love It Steve n Caleb 😀😎👍🏼

[@guidogt9878]

Thanks for this busters series. I like it. And for this episode in particular. I didn't know that about slugs. Thanks.

[@brownells]

You got it! Thanks for the support!

[@DSjockey]

Thanks for explaining that, I always wondered

[@efreutel]

Superb present. Many thanks!

[@ramseycattn5941]

Rifled slugs are inherently stable, like he said, not because of the ‘rifled’ flutes on the sides. A Brenneke style slug doesn’t have rifled flutes and they shoot just as well.

[@oldgoat1890]

I have a box in the cabinet that are.

[@diyguy2383]

I have a Remington 870 with a scope on it that I shoot rifled slugs out of and I have a 3"grouping at 100 yards. So I would say they are pretty accurate for what they are

[@ImaYam]

When the episode starts, and there’s two cups on the table, I know why I’m on the edge of my seat!

[@skeeterskoville9226]

Thank y’all for this. I have shot sabot slugs through my smooth bore, but I don’t do it often. During the pandemic that’s all I could find. They shot well. Hit a 6 point white tail, and a hog. But like I said don’t do it often 😅

[@basslinejunkie2776]

this video saved me a lot of googling. thx

[@clemboy6936]

Been looking for that answer for a long, long time....Thanks a Million!

[@tedhart7708]

Just the explanation that I was looking for. Thanks!

[@terrybailey9621]

I'd like to see you guys talk about the bri sabot slugs because those are a sabot that was originally designed for black powder Fowlers in the late 60s.

[@istvanromai9603]

Nicely synchronized sipping from the mugs (Y)

[@gunfisher4661]

Should have come out with this one in time for deer season. I`ve been around a lot of shotgun deer hunters over the years and never seen one that did`nt use rifled slugs in their rifled barrel. But to come to think of it sabot slugs have always been very scarce. Most likely the gun shops did`nt know of this either or the whole gun community in my end of the state would have known that already. And I thought I read every hunting magazine there was and still did`nt read about it.

[@georgeroper9210]

Thanks for that information.I've wondered about this for a long time...

[@brownells]

Thank you for wtching!

[@nakoawarrior3186]

My experience is different guns shoot different and some will not shoot any slugs accurately but do great with bird shot. But Lightfield and Winchester rifled slugs usually shoot great in smooth bores. Switching to a rifled barrel and many slugs shoot better rifled slugs and sabots,.... in a Mossberg 500. You need to clean rifled barrels more than smooth bore's.

[@DanielERodriguezMusic]

Cool. I’m thinking about hunting hog with my mossberg field gun. You answered my question. Mine has a smooth bore and modified choke (part of the barrel).

[@asintonic]

Good stuff thanks guys.

[@jesuschavez8417]

Thank you for this! Couldn't be clearer.

[@chogardjr.]

I've questioned the rifles barrel for rifled slugs FOREVER. it never made since to use two different rifles together. Thanks for the clarification. Now to locate those hard to find rifled slugs 😂

[@herbderbler1585]

Walmart used to have 20 round boxes of slugs for a reasonable price. Of course nowadays no one has anything unless you hit the lottery of timing, and Walmart is dead to me for several reasons.

[@paulnelson4425]

It’s the sabot slugs that are hard to find

[@coldnorwegian4716]

I have also read that part of the reason for the grooves on a rifled slug, is for it to have space to squish when shot through a choke. Some say even more so rather than to create spin, because the hollow and front heavy nature of a rifled slug make it inherently stable in flight.

[@ditchdigger93]

I've seen videos where they filled the hollow cavity with lead and they shot every bit as accurately and the hollow type. It seems the shape has as much to do with it as the ''Shuttlecock'' effect does. I've seen many videos of slugs that were very front heavy that shot like crap too.

[@JamieMG]

Yes. They allow the slug to swage through all chokes. I’ve fired them out of my grandads Winchester 37 12g w/full choke. A retrieved slug I found had no “fins” or rifling left. Just bare smooth surface from squeezing thru.

[@saxon6]

Fins reduce the friction of the slug as it travels down the barrel. I have seen slow motion of the slugs and they are not really spinning

[@Mrbankfisherman]

Great knowledge for my next project.

[@pentastarveesyx8506]

Thanks fellers, good info.

[@chrisolszewski8690]

Thank you for the information.

[@brownells]

Thanks for watching!

[@Gallasek1]

This was good info thank you 🙏

[@comanchejoearmory1279]

Man I love Smyth Busters. I was under the impression the “rifling” on a rifled slug also gives it room to compress when going through a choke.

[@Darkness-ln9by]

It funny to hear the way SABOT is pronounced. It's not SAH-BOT, its actually pronounced; SA-BO.

[@TheOnlyJuanPonce]

You are correct on the pronunciation of SOBOT. It is a French origin word.

[@aarongeisler]

Or "say bow"

[@zerpblerd5966]

say bow

[@BLUELEADER78]

Bow

[@stevenweede7184]

All of you realize that saying bow can be confusing right? Bow: bōh As in crossbow Bow: baʊ/ As in the forward part of hull of a ship

[@michaelkullas2031]

Forgot my sabots at the cabin during a morning deer hunt.( duh ) My brother gave me three rifled slugs so I didnt have to walk back. I shot a doe at 30 yds and it hit pretty much where I aimed, but you would not believe how it turned the wad into " Wad Slaw!" Haven't forgot my sabots since! LOL

[@irafowlerjr.7492]

big help, thanks

[@hansgrueber8169]

The more widespread confusion I think is with using sabot slugs in a smooth bore, common thinking being they don't mix. However BRI slugs, for example are designed specifically for smooth bores.

[@anthonyperotti151]

As is the cannon of the Abrams tank. However...most smooth shotgun bores aren’t designed for the vastly different sabot slugs

[@bdlit7165]

Rifled slugs don't spin out of a smooth bore. The ribs or vents are to allow a full bore projectile to squeeze down through a choke tube.

[@JB-pb9xv]

Idk why anyone would think that "rifled slugs" would need a rifled barrel, the whole point of the rifling on the slug is to help it in a smooth bore barrel. The question is how well do NON rifled slugs and sabot slugs, shoot out of a smooth bore barrel..

[@jimwetzel1635]

Just my experience ... I have a rifled-barrel shotgun that I bought for deer hunting. Where I live, at least, rifled slugs are much more available and much cheaper than sabot slugs. When I sighted-in the weapon, I used both kinds. I sighted in at 50 yards (a longer shot than I'm going to get in the dense woods where I hunt). At that distance, both kinds of slug went the same place. Being superstitious, I always load the sabots when actually hunting, and I took my buck this last fall with one. But it seems to me that, for most shooters' practical purposes, use either one.

[@christiansmith9414]

Thank you for the info. Just what I was looking for

[@WillieMakeit]

Great explanation

[@CompletePandemonium]

Just had this exact conversation with a new shooter over the weekend. Hopefully this video can go viral.

[@chriserickson4417]

Thanks guys, I didn't know that about rifled slugs. I don't do a lot of Shot-gunning, but am into firearms, safety and shooting. Thanks again!

[@2wheeleddemon999]

I think that sip of coffee at the end was because they read our comments. I've seen it mentioned a few time 🤣

[@johndoe-rw8in]

Thank you! Very good information!

[@brownells]

Thank you!

[@geozeckful]

Thanks, you just saved me a ton of money.

[@redlink.wasnotavailable]

Mossberg 930 tactical with Hornady SST slugs shot just fine. People kept asking me if the specs were fine… I was worried it would break my gun. I’d understand if I went hunting but I was just trying to shoot slugs for the first time.

[@lorenzovalenzuela8078]

I appreciate it! I thought i wasted money when I was told at first that I couldn’t use my rifled slug for home defense in my bore chamber

[@troybingham6426]

Good video. I always wondered about that and now I know. Thanks. (FYI.. The word is "misconception". "Misnomer" means to call something by the wrong name.)

[@gusloader123]

Good, factual video from Brownell's. Sad that you had to make it. So many people never read the owner's manual of the firearm that they bought.

[@joesmoe8983]

Thanks for the info🙂

[@MapSyncSync]

Lots of helpful detail, thank you. In what direction do rifled slugs twist when shot from a smooth bore rifle? If you are looking down a rifled slug like the one in the video, from behind, its groves twist clockwise. That means that the gas from the blast will push against the left hand walls of the groves to give the slug a counter clockwise moment or push. The friction of lands of the rifle as they rub against the bore walls might(?) provide a push in the opposite (clockwise) direction. I'm figuring that those forces would net out to a counter clockwise spin.

[@tomnelson9545]

Good job.

[@cudan2941]

You do on my Mossberg 835, but that's because of the over-bored barrel.

[@stevep959]

Thanks for the clear explanations. Can you shoots rifled slugs with Improved Cylinder and Modified chokes? I have a 20:" barrel coach gun.

[@uncletom-e4461]

I use a 20ga. But I use a .54 black powder Mini-Ball in a standard shot cup. They shoot "minute of deer" out to 125yds...

[@kevloo6078]

Thanks guys.

[@funkla65]

I'd only use the rifled/rifled combo in order to save a couple of proper sabots when getting a newly mounted sight on paper. They are NOT the ammo your rifled barrel was made for. Re the 'rifled' slugs - I regard the fins to be sales gimmicks. Fosters and Brennekes are both stabilized by being front heavy.

[@wadeanglin7429]

Good video

[@adventuresofdoug1501]

So I just purchased a Mossberg 500. Camo package, with bird barrel and deer barrel+better trigger 😁 Has the ACCU-Set Fully Rifled+fluted Bore. And ammo has been hard to get around here...so I ended up buying 4 boxes of super x rifled slug hollow point.. So, watching this means I bought ammo I can't use...

[@hummerzdca]

Hey great post and answer to my question. Have a Benelli Su[per Nova smooth bore, and got Winchester Defender fragmenting rifled slugs. Haven’t tried them yet. Also, as I also have some smooth’ slugs, I would think those will work fine in my smooth bore as well. Thanks

[@adamperre4852]

I've tried the Winchester slugs my shot gun loves them I havnt tried them hunting but on paper at 30 meters 5 shots inside a baseball size target im in Australia that's why we use meters not yards not much difference though gonna stock up on them

[@bugman687]

Does it make any difference what choke you run with a slug

[@lostpyper6973]

Cheap rifled slugs out of a smooth bore Ithaca are fantastically accurate.... That's my experience anyway

[@NoNo_IStay]

My 870 will produce just one giant hole at 100 with good quality slugs. I was blown away by how accurate they are

[@NoNo_IStay]

My 870 will produce just one giant hole at 100 with good quality slugs. I was blown away by how accurate they are

[@pat2430]

My mossberg 88 shoots slugs just fine.

[@donovanmurray7697]

My Maverick 88 will cloverleaf hand cast slugs at 50 yards!

[@fightforfreedom5193]

Thanks again guys. You two are my goto guys when it comes to firearms info.

[@wvmountaineer69]

Thanks fellers!

[@AlexLee-dc2vb]

is it true that there aren't extra-full chokes that work with birdshot and buckshot?

[@kuigglugmiu9339]

I shot them before with smooth. Barrel and rifled slugs. I then bought a rifled barrel and rifles slugs. I didn’t know anything about them at the time. I was sighting in my shotgun and the recoil was much more than the ones I had that were already set up. Looking back at it and learning a lot from reloading, was the pressure way too high? Seems a bit dangerous if some shot guns can’t hold that pressure

[@bradprather6749]

Thank you. You've given another great answer to a controversial question. How about shooting shot in a pistol? Could be a good topic.

[@bradprather6749]

@vettelover2009 Thanks for answering, I didn't want to just try it without knowing if there's a chance of causing any damage.

[@oldgoat1890]

I may still have some of the CCI .44 magnum shot shells. We were shooting apples one day and the donut thing never happened. A smooth bore will do the donut thing depending at which range you stand. I showed this to my EX when she still squirrel hunted. I always thought it was the wad affecting it.

[@bradprather6749]

@vettelover2009 thanks, my reasoning too. oh, what year's your car?

[@bradprather6749]

@@oldgoat1890 thank you.