You can load a shotgun with just about anything. There are shells made for hunting small birds, huge geese, big game like deer, and even self defense. All of these jobs require a very different load. One type of projectile that we like to use for larger targets are shotgun slugs. While they sound simple enough, you can shape a hunk of lead in a lot of different ways. There are plenty of slugs to choose from, and the differences between them can be a bit confusing at times.
Today, I am going to clear up the differences between a couple of popular types of slugs, sabots and rifled slugs. These slugs share some use cases, but they still solve unique problems. There are plenty of different designs, and even rifled slugs can be split into more distinct groups; the important part is that you get a good idea of which slug will work for you. You just don’t want to get stuck in the weeds of always using the most optimal gear all the time; at the end of the day, whatever you slug hits is going to feel it.
What Are Sabot Slugs?
A sabot slug (pronounced say-bo) consists of a smaller-diameter projectile encased in a plastic “sabot” (a French word meaning “shoe” or “carrier”). The sabot acts as a carrier that keeps the projectile in the middle of the barrel. Like a typical wad in a duck load, the sabot is (usually) left behind shortly after leaving the muzzle. Some sabot designs keep the wad throughout flight, but that is a bit rare.
These slugs are designed to reach out to long ranges for a shotgun, and to do that they need to be used in rifled shotgun barrels. Just like a regular rifled barrel, the rifled barrel of the shotgun is going to give the sabot a bit of a spin. Now, it isn’t as dramatic as a regular rifled barrel which may have a twist rate of somewhere around 1:9 (1 turn in 9 inches of barrel length). Typical rifled shotgun barrels have a twist rate of 1:35, which is longer than your typical barrel length of 26 or 28 inches. As you can imagine, the amount of rotation is small, but it has a significant impact on the external ballistics.
Sabots are designed to be fired from rifled barrels, but you can still fire them from smoothbore barrels, but your accuracy will be significantly diminished. Unless you just need a shotgun shell to fire right now at a close target, shooting a sabot from a smoothbore barrel is not going to be very effective past a few dozen yards. With a sabot from a rifled barrel, you can easily hit a target at over 100 yards. The Brenneke USA Super Sabots pictured above only have 1.3 inches of drop at that distance! Some shooters can hit targets at nearly 200 yards with a sabot out of a rifled shotgun.
My first thought after looking further into sabots was, “100 plus yard shots with rifled barrels? We are getting pretty close to a regular centerfire rifle”. Sure, shotguns set up to shoot these slugs are totally different than what you would duck hunt with, but shotguns are the most malleable firearms out there in my opinion. Short range or long range, it’s possible with a Remington 870. Still, the range is impressive when compared to typical shotgun shells, but it is nothing compared to actual rifle cartridges like a .308 Winchester or .300 Win Mag.
The Best Time To Use a Sabot Slug
As you could imagine, a shotgun that can reach out over 100 yards is stellar for big game hunting. These slugs are especially popular among whitetail deer hunters in states that either don’t allow rifle hunting, or have very short seasons. For example, you will not be allowed to use a centerfire rifle to hunt whitetail in Illinois, but you can use a shotgun for a grand total of 7 days.
Really, when you need a slug that is going to perform accurately at a distance, you will want a sabot. If your shots are always within 50 yards, you can get by with a rifled slug. Also, if you want to use a slug for self defense or some other close range purpose, it is going to be expensive overkill. Rifled or non-rifled slugs would do that job just fine. Long story short, if you need to reach out over 100 yards and you cannot use a centerfile rifle, try out a rifled shotgun loaded with sabots.
One of our favorite sabot loads is the Brenneke 2-3/4″ Super Sabot 1-1/8 oz Slug. Personally, this load is extremely interesting. If you look closely, you can see that the projectile, as it comes in the shell, has a plunger or piston that compresses as it exits the barrel. If you haven’t seen it before, it’s a signature Brenneke design that helps with energy transfer. This also ensures the slug does not deform or pitch in the barrel since it needs to rely on the plastic sabot around it to keep it aligned.
Why Some Shotgun Slugs Are Rifled
Rifled slugs (also called Foster slugs) are likely the most misunderstood projectiles on the market. Their design seems backwards to us; they use a smoothbore barrel and a rifled projectile. We do the complete opposite (quite effectively) with centerfire cartridges. That would make you think they serve similar purposes, but then you would be wrong.
As much as every fiber in your being wants the rifling to induce spin on the slug, that’s not what it is for. Slugs are rifled so they can play nicely with shotgun chokes; it gives them room to compress as they exit the barrel without sacrificing impact ballistics. This would be beneficial if you wanted to use slugs in a shotgun that you also used other loads in, like buckshot. Most Foster slugs can fit through full chokes, but you will want to double check your specific combination before trying it out; you are nearly always safe with a modified choke though.
The rifling does give the slug some slight stabilization as it flies through the air though. You are not going to get much spin, but the ridges of the rifling give the air drag something to hold on to. Most of your weight in a Foster slug is at the front; the rear of it is hollow. Drag on the rifling helps keep it level as it flies, but you would get a comparable but slightly diminished effect without the rifling, so this isn’t a huge reason to choose Foster slugs.
One last note on rifling, these rifled shotgun slugs are designed to be used in smoothbore shotguns. Using a rifled slug in a rifled barrel is not going to give you any benefits. All you are going to accomplish is leaving a lot of lead in the barrel and diminished accuracy on your slug in the air. They are technically safe to fire, but it is not recommended for regular use.
The Best Time to Use Rifled Slugs
Rifled shotgun slugs, also known as Foster slugs, are great for situations where you want to dump a lot of energy into a target at relatively short range. You can reach out to 75 yards with a rifled slug, but your ideal distance is going to be within 50 yards. These projectiles are heavy and blunt, so they lose energy quickly flying through the air; although when they hit, they hit hard.
Foster slugs are most often used by whitetail deer hunters in states that don’t allow centerfire rifles as freely as other states. They can also be very effective for the single gun hunter who uses the same shotgun to deer hunt with as they do duck or turkey hunt; a different shell nearly makes it a different tool.
Foster slugs are also very popular for home defense. Most people that choose a shotgun for home defense go with a buck shot load, but slugs are highly effective. At the close ranges you would find yourself in during a defense situation (within 10 yards), it is going to be hard to miss, and a slug will be absolutely detrimental to the intruder’s health.
Long story short, if you want a single projectile that hits hard and you do not plan on shooting much farther than 50 yards, rifled slugs are a real option. Some of the most popular ones on the market, the Federal Power-Shok Magnum HP Rifled Slugs are cost effective and our customers love them!
| Metric | Rifled Slug | Sabot Slug |
|---|---|---|
| Barrel Type | Smoothbore | Rifled |
| Effective Range | Up to ~75–100 yards | Up to ~150–200 yards |
| Accuracy | Moderate | High |
| Expansion | Rapid/wide | Controlled/deep |
| Cost (per round) | ~$1–2 | ~$2–4+ |
| Best Use | Short-range hunting, defense | Longer-range hunting |
The Best of Both Worlds?
While you can separate most of the slugs we care about into the rifled slug or sabot slug category, there are some hybrids out there thanks to Brenneke that have a bit of a following. Their “Classic Magnum” has been around for decades and is a mix of the two designs but leans closer to sabot.
Notably, the Classic Magnum is not a sabot because it does not use a sabot sleeve, but the projectile keeps the common sabot projectile shape. The projectile is also rifled, but the overall load can be effectively shot from either rifled or smoothbore shotguns. The Classic Magnum also has the same interesting plunger design (made of plastic this time) as the Super Sabot I mentioned earlier, but between the main part of the projectile and the plunger is a felt plug that expands when the plunger compresses. This pad helps manage gas pressure which stabilizes the sabot in flight, and it even cleans your barrel.
You do not have to go far to find oddball shotgun loads. Some kind of hybrid between rifled slug and sabot may be ideal for you if you want to make sure you can reach 100 yards reliably, but do not want to buy a shotgun with a rifled barrel. Hybrid loads can be great, but when you try to do two jobs at once, you often don’t do either properly.
Sabot Vs Rifled, Which Slug is Best For You
Shotgun slugs are a great option for any situation where you need to hit a target hard. The typical slug is 1 ounce, that is 437.5 grains! Your standard 9mm is 115 grains and a 308 Winchester is often 165 grains. Plenty of arguments could be made about the differences in energy, but the important factor is that these slugs are still super sonic; they are not slow softball pitches. The Federal Power-Shok load I listed earlier has a 1,610 feet-per-second exit velocity, and the sabots I mentioned go 1,407 with a 1 ⅛ ounce slug!
The result is a large projectile that is going to do a ton of damage to whatever it hits.
Rifled slugs and Sabot slugs alike are powerful, but they have their differences. Firstly, the rifled slugs are not the most aerodynamic, they are going to lose energy faster than a rifle round would. Although according to Federal themselves, the Power-Shok Magnum HP Rifle Slugs stay supersonic out to 100 yards; this marks the absolute maximum range that most shooters would want to use this load at. Rifled slugs truly excel at ranges within 50 yards, and if you have a smooth bore shotgun, this is likely the load for you.
Sabot slugs on the other hand were engineered to go long distances. There are plenty of different sabot designs on the market; some of them are pretty straightforward, others take some studying to figure out how they work. Either way, they can be effective at distances over 100 yards with a rifled shotgun. These loads are usually reserved for hunters that need to reach out with rifled shotgun barrels. Sabot loads are also fairly expensive, so using them for fun or self defense (where you should often rotate your ammo) can be a bit pricey.
Long story short, if you want to use a slug for self defense or hunting within 50 yards and you have a smooth bore shotgun, go with a rifled slug. If you need to use a shotgun for hunting, but you want to be able to reach out over 100 yards reliably, get a shotgun with a rifled barrel, and load it with your favorite sabot design. If you aren’t sure which one is exactly right for you, try out a hybrid design. Although, no matter which one you decide on, we have it in stock.
