16ga.com ~ View topic

Member Joined: 06 Oct 2007 Posts: 2349 Location: West MI

Pardon if too silly for you, looking for distraction/levity all things considered...

Sparked the curiosity after reading another post regarding slugs and the Gent's sweet set up (probably a tack driver) w/rifled barrel and scope.

Thinking through it, if you have a rifled barrel on the "shotgun" set up for slugs; when does a shotgun quit being a shotgun and become a rifle??

Joined: 04 Mar 2019 Posts: 1841 Location: Central ND

Never, it is always a shotgun because of the way the cartridge works.

Joined: 07 Sep 2014 Posts: 419

I would say that while a rifled barrel is on a shotgun and it is being shot with slugs, that it would qualify as a rifle. A slug cartridge is a big centerfire rifle shell.

My Thompson Contender with a .410 barrel is? At my home club, we are allowed to shoot Skeet with them. Good thing we have a number of members with them, so you can always shoot the doubles two handed.

Bob

Joined: 17 Oct 2019 Posts: 455 Location: New Jersey

Whatever gun you choose make sure you have a cantilever barrel if it’s not a bolt action. Avoid a gun where the scope and barrel are separate like a scope mounted to the receiver of a pump or auto.

Used to be a 12 gauge Deerslayer 26", with a peep.....whichever fosters worked best.
Tried a 2X scope, did not see an advantage for how and where I hunted.

Glad I missed much of the rifled barrel, sabot stuff.

Joined: 03 Sep 2014 Posts: 398 Location: Rochester, MN

A shotgun with a rifled barrel such as the Savage 220,

https://www.savagearms.com/content?p=firearms&a=product_summary&s=57377

is classified as a shotgun on the 4473 form according to the ATF.

Joined: 28 Jan 2018 Posts: 159

as long as a shotgun shell still fits in the chamber?

And the smooth bore 22 Garden Gun is still a rifle

https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/henry-announces-the-new-22-smoothbore-garden-gun/

Mike

I have two takes on this opinion...

Once you introduce a rifled barrel (not slug) to a shotgun platform, I would argue it becomes a rifled gun. Especially if using a Sabot (which is, in my mind, the only reason to have a rifled barrel on a shotgun platform). My argument in this camp, is that you have now increased effective range, and, possibly accuracy as a side benefit. You've most likely increased range of lethality as well. Hence my argument against Shotgun Only zones for "safety reasons" as we have in Michigan. I "get" the idea behind it on paper, but a projectile is just as dangerous at longer ranges no matter what rifled barrel/gun it is fired from.

On the other hand....I do not reload, so I may be way off track here, but I dont believe you could truly classify a shotgun as a rifle due to the much lower pressures associated with the shell design. I'm not sure how pressure in a shotgun barrel with a slug load compared to the pressure of a shot load...maybe it's the same. And how does it compare to say, a 45 caliber caplock muzzle loader, which is technically a rifle, but I'd think was higher pressure (maybe not, dont know).

I had considered a new .450 BushMaster bolt action for deer here in Michigan...and I was just about to go and buy one this season...then I really thought about how effective and accurate my 16ga guns with rifled Brenneke slugs and a smooth bore barrel have been. That pretty much killed the new rifle purchase. Just no nees for it. Sure, the .450 is a far more flexible cartridge, far more powerful, and has much greater range and accuracy...but I'm talking about 75yd shots max in lower Michigan...just not necessary (in my application).

Interesting stuff guys!

Member Joined: 06 Oct 2007 Posts: 2349 Location: West MI

Interesting stuff...so looks to be shell/cartridge driven classification thing.

That purpose built 220 is an impressive one trick pony tool!

Joined: 16 Jul 2015 Posts: 2126 Location: Hudson,Wy

Food for thought. Stick with a rib, the add a scope for "rifle work". Remove the scope and the gun becomes a super setup for close range woods work...as a shotgun. The rifled barrel will throw very open patterns. Use small shot for high pellet counts and you have a broad and effective pattern from 10-20 yards, and it's still a shotgun.