LinkBack URL
About LinkBacksIs it safe to shoot buckshot through a rifled deer barrel?
This is a discussion on Dumb shotgun question within the Defensive Rifles & Shotgun Discussion forums, part of the Related Topics category; Is it safe to shoot buckshot through a rifled deer barrel?...
Array
Is it safe to shoot buckshot through a rifled deer barrel?
Array
yes is the short answer someone will come by with the long one
Array
Safe? Yes, I suppose it is safe, it wont destroy you or the shotgun, BUT:
The barrel will lead up badly.
The shot is "swirled" around as it moves down the barrel, and when it exits, it tends to spread out in a circular pattern with a large hole in the middle.
Rifled shotgun barrels are specifically intended for shooting sabot slugs and nothing else.
If you shoot standard slugs or shot in it, it isn't going to blow up, but it isn't intended for standard shotgun projectiles, won't work very well with them, and will lead up BADLY, trust me.
Fear No Evil.
Array
See i told ya someone would be along with the long answer and also someone who had done it ..
How is it going to lead up since they are shot with a plastic sleeve ?
We do it all the time with double ought buck and slugs in training. I've seen plastic residue in the barrels from the sleeves, but never any leading.
It is better to live one day as a lion, than a thousand years as a lamb...
AR. CHL Instr. 07/02 FFL
Maker of cool things to shoot
Array
I don't think slugs and shot are shot with a plastic sleeve, only the sabot rounds.Originally Posted by HotGuns
There may be a plastic wad with the shot, but that only surrounds the bottom of the shot to ensure all the energy of the gas doesn't escape past the shot. The sides of the shot column have no plastic.
Array
Conversely, how about shooting slug/sabot through a smooth-bore shotgun?
Array
Not a shotgun person, but I think slugs are fine, though I think some oversized bores are unsuitable for slugs, as well as maybe some shotguns with really tight chokes. I believe slugs are best through a 'cylinder bore' choke.
Sabots would be pointless in a smooth bore shotgun as they would get no spin. That would mean that the round would be pretty unstable leaving the barrel, so probably a bad idea.
Array
It wouldnt be a good thing for your health or for the condition of the shotgun to shoot a sabot down a tight choked shotgun....it might not go wrong the first time..but at some point it isnt going to work, and why do it when theyre designed for use with rifling.
The reason it leads up badly is because the plastic wad used in shotshells is desgned to move down a smooth tube, "cupping" the shot.
In a rifled barrel, this "sleeve" is slowed down further by the rifling, and expells the shot from the sleeve early, forcing the shot into contact with the sharp grooves of the rifling. Combine soft lead balls with sharp rifling..and you get a good deal of leading, just ask a blackpowder shooter.
Fear No Evil.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote