Jfan

Is it safe to shoot buckshot through a rifled deer barrel?

Bud White

yes is the short answer someone will come by with the long one

hsuCowboy98

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.

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Bud White

See i told ya someone would be along with the long answer and also someone who had done it ..

HotGuns

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.

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Fragman

I don't think slugs and shot are shot with a plastic sleeve, only the sabot rounds.

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.

SIGguy229

Conversely, how about shooting slug/sabot through a smooth-bore shotgun?

Fragman

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.

hsuCowboy98

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.

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