I have a 870 with a rifled barrel for slugs. Will it hurt the barrel to shoot OO Buck shot through it??
Thanks Marc

No, It will NOT hurt it one bit. But it will be shooting the widest pattern you have ever seen. The rifling makes the pellets spread fast.

Cheers, John

If you want to use buckshot I would look for a barrel with screw in chokes.The beauty of the 870 is there are so many out there you should be able to find a great deal on one.Good luck!

See this too: http://gunfighterforum.com/about967.html

I don't think it would hurt in an emergency but I would think that all that lead bouncing down the barrel can't be good for the rifling. At the least, I would think that it would clog it up.

The barrel may belome lead fouled if there is any lead contact with the rifled barrel. The rifled barrel was designed for sabots where no lead contacts the barrel otherwise lead will fill/foul the rifling. Some slugs without sabot are designed for rifled barrels however there are highly lubed to minimize the fouling. I made the mistake of showing DGS slugs from ballistics products without lubing them in my rifled 20 g barrel and I spent hours getting the lead out.

The rifling imparts spin to the projectile (slug) to stabilize it in flight. This spin will cause the pellets to disperse dramatically once the shot clears the muzzle.

FWIW-I was looking at what Rem offers for replacement 870 barrels and also checked their Q&A section.They recommend against it.

That's why I own a Mossberg. Have three barrels for it at a good price. BTW if your shooting BShot try #4 not 00 or 000 unless it's for defense. #4 will keep a better patern at longer range. At least that's the way it acts in my MBerg barrels. keep blastin'.

In some ways, a RIFLED CHOKE, with buckshot would make a superb "home defence" combination as it would optimise the pattern at close range.

The clever French used to make a side-by-side with the right barrel rifled and the left barrel full choke.

This wasn't for slug in the right barrel, not at all, it was for woodcock.

To give a large spread with the right barrel as the woodcock was "put up" at your feet and a concentrated spread for a shot at it at longer range.

Buckshot won't hurt you barrel BUT it may be worth shooting a pattern board just to see what effect on it that rifled choke will have.

If you want to use buckshot from a rifled bore, the only load that will hold a tight pattern is the Dixie Tri-Ball Buckshot round from Dixie Slugs company. The .60" hard cast pellets are stacked inline in a thick steel shot type wad. The rifling will impart a stabilizing spin to each pellet.

quote:

Originally posted by RMc:
If you want to use buckshot from a rifled bore, the only load that will hold a tight pattern is the Dixie Tri-Ball Buckshot round from Dixie Slugs company. The .60" hard cast pellets are stacked inline in a thick steel shot type wad. The rifling will impart a stabilizing spin to each pellet.

I just looked these up. They look pretty interesting. I hunt a bunch of the military bases in VA and they make us use buckshot. I'd rather use slugs but that isn't an option. It looks like these may be a good compromise.

Does anyone have a phone number for them? Their website doesn't show one. And, does anyone have any actual experience with them? I'd like to give them a go.

I'd actually just pattern it with the popular and available buckshot that is available in your location.

Try it at various diisances. That is probably the easy and quick option.

Holland's Paradox and Lancaster's Colindian guns were all rifled the latter with an oval bore.

Both were designed for slug and shot. Don't see why your Remingtn isn't worth just trying a pattern.

I have an 11/87 and sent it to a guy (long out of business) that I shipped the shotgun to and he patterned the different chokes in gun, it will group federal 3" 000 into about 12 inches at 45 yards. never shot deer with it, just some hogs