rifled barrel. I bought one a few years back for my 870 from rem with a rem scope already on it for $250 I think from Cabellas.. I am 4'' group at 150yds, or was when I first got it. I havn't shot it since. Don't try and be cute and shoot 3'' slugs out of it either unless you have a couple hundred lbs of extra fat...it hurts I did it twice.

For that price I would go with the muzzle loader.

I did that once too, bought a box of 3" Winchester Partition Gold slugs to try, and see if they had a little more oomf at 150+ yards - still have 2 shells left out of a box of 5.

My wifes slug gun has a rifled choke tube and shoots 1.5-2 inch 3 shot groups at 100 yards ( browning bps) and I have an 870 with a rifled choke tube that shoots about as well. And we both shoot federal premium 3 inch sabots.

Call me crazy but i shoot a Remington 12 ga. 870 express smooth bore, and dont get me wrong, I dont take i it to the range to test accuracy on a monthly basis, but i do take it out once a year and fire 3 shots at 50yrds, and 3 at 100yrds, to make sure i didnt bumb anything and have no problem hitting inside a 5in or so circle. Remington Slugger Rifled Slugs, 12 Ga., 3", 1 oz. killed every deer i have ever shot with it. My Rem. 1100 12 ga. now that i cant seem to find the right bullet for yet.

and also the 870 I own can shoot 2 3/4 or 3in but it only shoots good with 3 in shells.

Me and a few other guys I hunt with put the Mossberg cantilever and scoped barrel combos on a few Mossy 500s and Rem 870s and have had fantastic results. I'm not a big fan of the 3-9X BVushnell scopes that come on them but most of the guys have kept them and they work. Myself I went with a straight 4X scope cause that's how I roll with my slug guns.

We have had them for several years and I don't think anyonme paid more than $200. If I recall my Mossy 500 barrel cost me $169 and tax and the Rem 870 was like $10 more.

My Mossberg 500 with smoothbore slug barrel (rifle sights) and rifled slugs will easily take deer to 75 yards.

Check out TRI-BUCK loads. Basically they are 12 gauge shells loaded with 3 .60 caliber balls. The guy that makes them claims that they will put all 3 balls in a 6 inch circle @ 50 yards.

I've done quite a bit of deer hunting with a shotgun since many areas in VA require them. I've taken deer with buckshot, regular slugs, rifled slugs and sabot slugs. If you are serious about it, get a designated slug gun. I've got an H&R Ultra Slug Hunter and it is deadly. If you're not serious enough to get a new gun, get a selection of slugs and see which one your gun likes best and have at it. if the shots won't be more than 40 yards you might want to consider OO Buck.

I'd be surprised. While it's been a LONG time since I've shot smoothbore slugs, but I remember when I did, any further than where our shooting bench was, the slugs would start to tumble and impact the paper at odd angles.