shotgun barrel diameter safe to shoot slugs?

[H&HMarine]

I recently had a guy give me an old Winchester 370 single shot that was in rough shape and in pieces. After a few hours stripping it all and reblueing it looks almost like New now, I thin.k the barrel has been cut down. It's a 20" barrel and I think they only came in 28". It says its a full choke so my question is do they taper a barrel down at the end or is the whole barrel tighter. I was just thinking if the end is all that is choked down and its been cut off then maybe it would be ok. I have a few other shotguns but all have removable choke tubes so I was wondering if anybody knew what was the minimum diameter u can shoot slugs from.

 

[PGRChaplain]

The Choke is at the end of the barrel. Shortening it would render it to Cylinder Bore. An old timers 12 Ga. Choke Check, see if a Dime fits in the muzzle. If it is a no go it's Full Choke. Slugs wil fire in a full choke barrel, no problem.

 

[bstewrat3]

The standard lead rifled slugs for 12 gauge are around .69" so you will best best served with something at that diameter or slightly larger. Most likely the barrel on your gun is going to be larger because a full choke is typically around .694" and true bore diameter is usually .729".

 

[maverick18]

Ok so I have been told some wrong info at some point in time. I was always told you can only shoot slugs out of cylinder bore barrels. Wrong?

 

[threedhuntr]

If you stick with Foster type slugs you will be fine whatever the choke.

 

[cedarthicket]

H & H, I think you will be safe enough shooting traditional rifled slugs (2 3/4 inch shells if your barrel is so marked) out of your shortened barrel. However, I do not have a crystal ball regarding predicting how accurate the slugs will be. Lots of factors involved, including how cylindrical the bore is, its straightness, its smoothness (polished?), and its diameter. Plus, how good your sighting equipment is and how consistently you can hold. And, some brands of slugs will likely be more accurate than others. Generally speaking, I have found Brenneke slugs to perform somewhat better than the Forster type slugs. Of course, forget about using sabot slugs in a smooth bore barrel. Good luck.

 

[92ThoStro]

mine was shortened to 18.5, since the choke is only at the tip, if it is chopped, you have no choke. You can shoot slugs out of CB/full/MOD as long as the manufacturer of the ammo says it's safe. I know Brenneke says on their "Crush" slugs that you CANNOT shoot them in anything other than Cylinder Bore. Pretty much everything else is safe.