Hunting here in Iowa where only shotguns and pistols are allowed for deer in the firearm seasons. I have a 12ga Benelli Nova, would I benefit from one of the Ithaca rifled slug barrel vs. rifled slugs in the smooth barrel? What kind of accuracy could I expect from each? Thanks!

A rifled slug barrel will perform much better than rifled slugs in a smooth bore. Especially with some of the newer saboted rounds. Not to mention it will be cleaner since the only thing that touches your bore is teflon.

Or you could get an inline ML, that is what I use in shotgun season. I like it.

Paul

I've thought many times about buying a slug barrel for my sbe, but the $400 for the barrel along with $10-20 box for saboted slugs is ridiculous and unecessary. Good ole $3 a box winchesters work just fine.

If you live in a place slugguns only, you owe it to yourself to get ya a slug barrel. I get 2MOA accuracy with the ones I have.

Remington does just fine. And cheaper too.

With a riffled slug barrel and sabots your effective range is almost 75% farther. T roy made a good point in the barrels and sabots are more expensive but not to the extent that he believes they are. I have a Mossberg 500 12 guage. I bought a hastings rifled slug barrel for aprox. 110$. K.O. sabots are 5.99 and shoot well. Lightfields cost 8.99(most expensive, everything was purchased at Dicks Sporting Goods NY)and shoot excelent. If you strech it out to over 150 yards the Lightfields will group better. Where I hunt most of the shoots will be under 85 yards but If I do get a clear lane out to 150 yrds I'll pull the trigger.For this reason I spend a little more on the Lightfields. Realistically speaking one could shop around for a barrel and 3 boxes of shells for around 140$. Two boxes for sighting in the new barrel and one for the season.

Illinois has similar laws, so I tried it both ways.
started by using rifled slugs in a 20" smoothbore. It shot OK, but I wasn't impressed.
Then I bought a rifled barrel and used sabots. The thing shoots like a rifle with more limited range. It'll hit the same hole @ 50 yds with the right ammo.

I would recommend a rifled barrel it to anyone who hunts deer with a slug-gun.
http://www.remington.com/firearms/shotguns/870exp_slug

Yes, Schoolboy, one could get a rifled barrel and sabot slugs for around $140.....but NOT for a Benelli Nova - which is what houtsdg said that he has. Barrels for Benellis are NOT available that cheaply. So, your suggestion, though valid for a Mossberg and perhaps a Remington....is irrelevant, so far as a Benelli is concerned.

houtsdg,
If you are not yet certain that you wish to invest in a dedicated slug barrel, whether rifled or smoothbore, then why not try good "rifled" slugs in your standard Benelli barrel ? This will give you some experience with slugs....at a tiny fraction of the cost of dedicated equipment. Yes, a full-length barrel is a bit more unwieldy than a short slug barrel....but not so much to be unpleasant to shoot - especially in Iowa cornfields. A good slug to try would be the Brenneke KO slugs (NOT sabots). The work very well in smooth barrels...and are pretty accurate (3" or less at 50 yards). Ordinary "rifled" slugs are less accurate, in my experience. The Brennekes are not expensive, either. Use a cylinder bore choke tube or a skeet tube (as little choke as possible) with these slugs.
If you want better sights than the standard bead....aftermarket sights which attach to the vent rib are widely available....and cheap.

If you do absolutely want a dedicated slug "rig"....then I would suggest getting a pump shotgun already equipped with a slug barrel. This could cost less than a new rifled Benelli barrel...and be a better proposition for field use. If you decide that you want a rifled barrel, then you can often buy a Rem. or Mossberg pump gun already equipped as such....for less than buying the barrel separately.

Schoolboy...just for reference, their are many other sabots that shoot far flatter than Lightfields (and usually as a accurate if not more). Sighted in at 100yds lightfields are -10 in at 150. Most newer sabots would only be about -3 in at 150. That is a world of difference!

Rifled barrel!