Slugs in a smooth bore 12 ga?

[rthillusa]

This is no doubt a DA question (and that DA is not Double Action). I may have a chance to hunt feral hogs. I would have to shoot slugs. All I have at the moment is an 870 with a modified choke barrel (barrel is stamped 2 3/4" Mod).

Can you shoot slugs with a smooth bore? I'm thinking a modified choke would "choke" on a slug. (Pardon the pun). But would it? I assume it would not be as accurate as a rifled 'slug' barrel, but is there safety issue too? How bad would accuracy suffer?

How about the opposite, buck shot or bird shot from a slug barrel? That seems like it would be OK. Not ideal, but maybe OK in a pinch. Any reason why not?

Any input appreciated. All my old timey 'go-to' guys have gone on.

Thanks,
Robert

[MoJo]

Foster or Brennike style slugs work best in a smooth bore gun. Your modified choke should be fine the slugs are make slightly undersized and from soft lead to allow for chokes. The absolute best performance in slugs is in a cylinder or improved cylinder barrel.

A 1oz slug out of a 12 gauge is an awesome stopper you'll need to practice some with them to determine where they hit and keep your shots under 50 yards.

Buckshot or birdshot out of a rifled barrel will shoot "doughnut" shaped patterns. Spin will cause the shot to spread quickly leaving a hole in the center of the pattern. Rifled barrels and choke tubes are for sabot type slugs even the traditional slugs won't work as well in a rifled barrel than in a smooth bore. YMMV.

[74novaman]

Though this won't matter to the OP, in case anyone else reads this, I've been warned NOT to shoot any kind of slugs out of my Mossberg 835 barrel because it is supposedly "overbored" and the slug may rattle around the barrel on its way out...

[7075-T7]

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot46.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sounds like you can, but it's a waste of money.

[Mike1951]

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot46.htm

Sounds like you can, but it's a waste of money.

This report addresses only sabot type slugs, which were designed only for use in rifled barrels.

The Foster and Brenneke type slugs, as already stated, work quite well in the smoothbore barrels that they were designed for.