Will slugs work????

[rebel wolf]

I just purchased a single shot New England 20 ga. for my son, my question is can you shoot 20 ga. slugs through the barrel or do I need to make modifications.
Thanks for any help....

[akbound]

Well, the simple answer to the question is...you can shoot slugs through it! But without more information it is hard to make more meaningful suggestions. Does the current barrel have rifle type sights...or just a bead? Is it a " rifled" barrel...or a smoothbore? Is it equipped with any type of interchangeable choke system? All of these questions, (and their answers), will have an impact of what will work best.

When my son was preparing to hunt whitetail on Aberdeen Proving Ground (late 1980' s) it was limited to shotguns with slugs, or muzzleloaders. Not only was he young (about 9 or 10) but he also had muscular dystrophy. I bought a smoothbore single shot in 20 gauge for him, with rifle sights. (Rifled barrels were not nearly as common then!) We folded over the rear " open" sight and I had a " peep" sight installed on the rear. (It was a Williams Fool Proof.) I unscrewed the smaller aperture, stored it, and then we sighted in the " larger screw hole" . Much like a " Ghost Ring" before they were manufactured and called that. We also had the stock shortened by about 1 1/2" and reinstalled the recoil pad, (to fit the gun to him). We used Brenneke slugs which were very accurate to 75 yards. (Pie plate accuracy.) The Brenneke' s were heavier and more effective than other Foster style slugs for the 20. (But with an increase in recoil....and in retrospect I should have had my son use the lighter slugs in lieu of his condition.) The military base required a " qualification" with your gun...and my son qualified...but he took a beating from the recoil of those 7/8 ounce slugs. (He was already weakening from the disease by then.)

But to make a long story short....really need more info to provide information that will be worth much to you!

[benhuntin]

In most cases foster type slugs shoot best out of a more open choke like improved cylinder . For Sabots you may need a rifled barrel to keep accuracy.

[Mark whiz]

The rifled slugs will work just fine for you. You do want to have an open choke, but other than that, no mods are needed.

If the gun will shoot 3" shells...I highly recommend the Brenneke 3" rifled slugs - they shoot well and perform very well on game. My boys have shot several hogs with them with excellent results.

[Vapodog]

Yes...it' ll shoot rifled slugs regardless of choke.

[t-roy]

they probably won' t group well with a full choke

[rebel wolf]

Thank You Everyone....

[firsttimeelkhunter]

I would respectfully disagree. The Fosters will shoot out of any gun. The diameter of a full choke is larger than the diameter of the slug. I shot 12ga out of a plain barrel full choke 870 and it was deadly accurate out to 125. Try a bunch of different brands and see which shoots better!