Newbie question

afriqueart

Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2009
Messages
739
Reaction score
4
Location
east o' the Mississippi
I've had a shotgun for years. I've always just shot shot, no slugs.

Can any shotgun shoot a slug? I have a Winchester 1300 20 gauge. Can I shoot any slug?

Thanks
 
Register to hide this ad
The traditional soft-lead 20 ga slug can be fired in your gun, and usually works better with a more open choke.
The sabot slugs are designed to be used in a "paradox" or rifled barrel, and are a waste of money in a smoothbore.
Neither is dangerous to a Win 1300.

Some old double guns have very soft barrels and are not well suited for slugs and certainly not for steel shot.
 
Any shotgun that is in a safe and operational condition CAN fire a slug. But, and this is a BIG BUT, you need to know what the choke/constriction of the barrel or choke tube is. I primarly use my shotguns for upland game and waterfowl. I have one dedicated turkey hunting shotgun. The turkey gun is a browning BPS 10 ga 3-1/2" chamber with Invector choke tubes. The tube that stays in that BPS is an Extra Full Turkey extended and ported, lead shot only tube. Could I shoot a slug through that tube? Yes. Would I shoot a slug through that tube? No. The constriction on that tube is so tight that accuracy with a slug would be non-existant. The few times that I have hunted deer in a shotgun only zone I have used the gun with the most open choke I could find, a Mossberg 500 with a 20" straight cylinder barrel, aka no choke at all. As far as what type of slug to shoot goes, if your barrel is rifled you need to shoot a sabot slug. If the barrel is non rifled you need to shoot anything BUT a sabot slug, AKA a foster type slug. Hope this helps.

Class III
 
Dont know any thing about your model gun but as long as the choke is not modified or tighter (full,xtra full) a rifled or foster style 20 gauge slug will be fine.

Take it easy.
 
Back
Top