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I've got a friend looking for advice on rifled choke tubes. He's in Illinois, which only allows shotguns for deer season. Rather than spend his XD fund on a rifled barrel, he'd like to know if a rifled choke tube would work well enough in his 12 gauge Remington 1100 to bring down Bambi. Any ideas? I'm out of my element when it comes to shotguns.

Thanks.

I don't know the answer on chokes. But I have taken deer with waht were called "rifled" slugs. The slugs had spiral grooves on them. They are not as good as a rifled barrel, but they are better than a smooth bore. hth..

There are many brands here's the google http://www.google.com/search?q=rifled+slugs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If your friend is using Foster type or Brenneke type rifled slugs the rifling is unnecessary. If he's using the Sabot type slugs rifling is required the rifled tubes will do OK for this. To fully utilize the sabot slugs you need some good sights on your shotgun.

Lots of deer have been taken with Foster and Brenneke rifled slugs out of smooth bores. 2/0 buckshot works real well too up to about 25-30 yards.

Thanks for the help. I'll pass on the info about the rifled slugs.

One other question -- is there any real benefit to sabots over slugs, or is that just marketing? Rifled slugs seem to make the argument moot, but thought I'd ask anyway.

ETA: It's actually his wife who wants to go hunting. He sent me her exact quote: "I like going to the range, but I'd like to actually shoot at SOMETHING. You know, big like a deer." If she shots like my wife, Bambi had better be very, very afraid...

In a rifled barrel sabots are usually more accurate at a longer range. Regular slugs with good sights are good out to around 75 yards sabots to 100+. In a smooth bore with a bead front sight I would limit my shots to 50 yards or less.