Rifled choke tube

[eastriver]

I have a 20 Ga 870 that I decided to buy a Carlson Rifled Choke Tube for. I bought some Remington AccuTip 260 Gr Bonded Sabot Slugs. Finally got to try it out the other day. Started at 25 yards and didn't get any further. All 5 of the shots I took where "keyholing" . Needless to say I was very disappointed. So I guess I will have to try a different brand as I don't really want to ignore the somewhat expensive Carlson tube. Do I dare try another Saboted Slug or should I just stay with ordinary slugs? Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. And what kind of accuracy should I expect (I have mounted an adjustable rear sight as well)?

[Synchronizor]

As I understand it, you really ought to have a fully-rifled barrel to properly shoot spin-stabilized slugs (commonly referred to as sabot slugs, but I shy away from that term since many slugs intended for use in smoothbore barrels also use sabots). It seems pretty clear that just an inch or two of rifling at the end of your barrel isn't enough to stabilize your slugs. You might manage to stabilize a different slug load with just a rifled choke tube, but the only way to know is to experiment, and that could get expensive quick.

If you want to shoot advanced spin-stabilized slugs, I would recommend a fully-rifled slug barrel with some quality open sights or an optic. If you don't have the money for another barrel, stick with smoothbore slugs. At reasonable ranges, smoothbore slugs can be pretty darn accurate with some practice and experimentation (to find a good slug load & choke combo), and the lower cost of those slugs lets you get the range time you need to be effective.

[rmc]

One of the few Sabot Slugs on the market that has a reputation for working with rifled choke tubes is the old BRI design from the 1980's. The BRI was designed before rifled barrels for shotguns were offered. These slugs work with rifled chokes due to a lower working velocity and a very long plastic sabot. Winchester still offers these, however, their popularity is waning with users of fully rifled barrels.

http://www.americanrifleman.org/article ... bot-slugs/

Remember that rifled choke tubes must be removed often to prevent slug torque from causing a locked in tube. Full bore hard cast slugs will lock such a "choke" tube in place and require a lathe to remove.