Are slug guns considered rifles or shotguns for hunting purposes?

FishHunt

Old Mossy Horns
@CRC Do you ever wonder what the ATF, local game wardens and Santa Claus think about hunting with old paradox muzzle loaders and breech loaders on Sundays under the light of the full moon in December? :D

<>< Fish
 

ellwoodjake

Twelve Pointer
Let me get this straight. A rifled-barrel slug gun is considered a "shotgun" for deer hunting and can be used in any shotgun zone in the state. But, during turkey season, the same gun becomes a "rifle" and will get you a ticket. NC also has no designated shotgun loads for turkey, so they can be legally killed with buckshot or slugs, but you must fire it down a smooth barrel?. And I swear guys, I don't hang around, or even know CRC :)
 

ncscrubmaster

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Let me get this straight. A rifled-barrel slug gun is considered a "shotgun" for deer hunting and can be used in any shotgun zone in the state. But, during turkey season, the same gun becomes a "rifle" and will get you a ticket. NC also has no designated shotgun loads for turkey, so they can be legally killed with buckshot or slugs, but you must fire it down a smooth barrel?. And I swear guys, I don't hang around, or even know CRC :)
Yes I wouldn't have believed it either but I ask two wardens together. They looked at each other with no discussion and said no and kinda chuckled. Make no sense to me.
 

DRS

Old Mossy Horns
Why use iron sights, why not a scope?
That will work, too. I recon I said that because my smooth bore has rifle sights. I have used a saddle mount on it. I have had trouble with cantilevers returning to zero under heavy recoiling loads on my Rem. 11-87 and a Hastings rifled barrel. I actually returned the barrel and tried another, tried multiple scopes too. Had to be the cantilever as one of the scopes was off my other slug gun, which had no problem holding zero. Now this was with 7/8 oz slugs cruising at 1950 fps out of the muzzle(measured on Chrony), same slug I shoot out of the 210F. Never seen a problem with cantilevers with slugs with MV around 1500 fps.
 

DRS

Old Mossy Horns
Wouldn't a rifled slug gun be considered a "weapon of mass destruction", if it were truly deemed a rifle?
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
That will work, too. I recon I said that because my smooth bore has rifle sights. I have used a saddle mount on it. I have had trouble with cantilevers returning to zero under heavy recoiling loads on my Rem. 11-87 and a Hastings rifled barrel. I actually returned the barrel and tried another, tried multiple scopes too. Had to be the cantilever as one of the scopes was off my other slug gun, which had no problem holding zero. Now this was with 7/8 oz slugs cruising at 1950 fps out of the muzzle(measured on Chrony), same slug I shoot out of the 210F. Never seen a problem with cantilevers with slugs with MV around 1500 fps.
They usually put set screws in the receiver and dimple the barrel so it all lines back up perfectly and that helps. I think the barrel is what isn't going back exactly in place more than the scope.
 

DRS

Old Mossy Horns
They usually put set screws in the receiver and dimple the barrel so it all lines back up perfectly and that helps. I think the barrel is what isn't going back exactly in place more than the scope.
Never had that issue with a saddle mount. I could apply pressure to the cantilever and could see movement of the scope. Turns out the 11-87 could not stand the recoil and the bolt carrier broke, so I gave up on that project. I do know "pinning" the barrel should increase the consistency from shot to shot.
 

Mr.Gadget

Old Mossy Horns
Wouldn't a rifled slug gun be considered a "weapon of mass destruction", if it were truly deemed a rifle?
Why?
Shotguns are 18" rifle is 16"

The question is, can you cut a rifled barrel back to 16" due to it being rifled?
 

JONOV

Old Mossy Horns
Everywhere I've lived or hunted, "Shotgun" meant that it shoots 12 (or 20 or whatever) gauge shells and not centerfire ammunition. So, even "rifles" like the TarHunt and the Savage 210 that digest 12 gauge slugs are legal. This includes Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, NC, Indiana,

Whether or not there is a specific regulation for turkeys and a rifled barrel might be a different story.

If I had to guess, its one of those things that's never been regulated because no game warden has ever come across it and if he has, applied the same precedent that goes to deer hunting.

Serious Question...Why would you want to hunt Turkey with a slug gun?
 

CRC

Old Mossy Horns
Nobody does.

But the question was originally about game lands that prohibit center fire rifles
 

JONOV

Old Mossy Horns
Ever had a gobbler "hang up" about 100 yds out?
I get the question of range. But would a slug ruin too much meat, and is a slug gun accurate enough in real hunting situations? The exception might be a TarHunter or Savage 210...

A Deer, you're putting the slug in an area the size of a dinner plate, maybe bigger. A Turkey though?
 

JONOV

Old Mossy Horns
Nobody does.

But the question was originally about game lands that prohibit center fire rifles
I don't think that any Warden, or Judge, or Jury, is going to rule against you on that. Its about the ammo it fires, not the barrel.

From the ATF:
2.1.1 Shotgun A shotgun is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder and designed to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed shotgun shell to fire through a smooth bore either a number of projectiles or a single projectile for each pull of the trigger.

2.1.3 Rifle. A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder and designed to use the energy of an explosive in a fixed cartridge to fire only a single projectile through a rifled barrel for each single pull of the trigger.
 

CRC

Old Mossy Horns
to fire through a smooth bore

Regardless of whether the WRC uses ATF definitions, isnt the important part having a smooth bore?

in a fixed cartridge to fire only a single projectile through a rifled barrel

Isn't a shotgun shell also a type of fixed cartridge?

I think it doesn't matter as this thread has established a slug gun is a shotgun for hunting deer and bear and a rifle for hunting turkey.
 
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