Solids...how tight a choke?

[Limey]

What's the general thinking about choke restrictions and shooting solid slugs?

I took the solid slug out of a factory fresh, 12 gauge Brenneke cartridge last night and offered it up to a range of screw in chokes.....

On a cylinder choke the lead part of the slug JUST slipped through but the plastic washers and the attached felt wadding were a good, tight, push fit........I'd feel confident of firing that combination....

I then tried a threequarter choke and not even the lead part of the slug would fit through that amount of restriction!......

How much interference fit of slug versus choke will a barrel take before you split a barrel, tear out the screw in choke or maybe even blow the gun up and maybe even worse!

Safe shooting


Limey

[tommygirlMT]

This is exactly why most commercially produced slugs have rifling grooves in the metal head of the slug. Those grooves arn't there to make it spin in flight [They won't if the slugs velocity is super-sonic (V > 1,100 fps) because the super-sonic shock-wave from the nose makes dead-air pockets form around the sides of the slug thus shielding the swagged in rifling grooves from the air flow.] and they arn't there for cosmetic purposes. They are there so that if some-one shoots the slug through a choked barrel the lead slug can more easily squeeze down in the choke and is less likely to cause all the nasty stuff you suggested it could cause.

Not saying it can't cause that kind of nasty stuff to happen, it's just less likely because the lead is softer then the steel barrel and it's got those rifling grooves that reduce the amount of surface that has to squeeze down and gives the lead somewhere to go when it gets squeezed down.

With home-cast slugs. Well the Lyman and Lee slugs that go inside a plastic wad --- the plastic wad is the safety valve so to speak the plastic will squeeze down a lot easier then metal even a soft metal like lead. However, some people including myself are using custom cut slug molds that cast slugs full bore diameter with no considerations taken for what might happen if they were fired out of a full-choke gun. Obviously we arn't stupid enough to do so, but if we were, and especially if we are talking WW alloy or harder things could definently go south in a hurry.

[Limey]

tommygirlMT,

....thanks for the clear explanation about the ribs job on commercial slugs.

For now at least....I'll be sticking to cylinder chokes!.....the slugs are slide fit in the ckokes and our hunting ranges over here in France do not go much past 70 or 80 yards.......so hoping accuracy will be effective enough for the job in hand.

Normaly I take my Marlin Cowboy in 45/70 but just having bought an exposed hammer coach gun for some CAS events I thought I'd take it out hunting as well occassionaly for wild boar and deer.

Safe shooting,

Limey