Loads and barrels and a couple of questions.

[alvincullumyork]

1. How come a vast majority of slugs and buck come in 2 3/4 and few in 3 while i have not seen any in 3 1/2?

2. Do slug and buck need a specific barrel? Choke?

3. I have a bennili nova and got an extra barrel(my dad ran my first gun over and bought me another on) and i cut it down to 15 inches. is their any problem shooting buck or slugs from it?

[Don Robison]

3. I have a bennili nova and got an extra barrel(my dad ran my first gun over and bought me another on) and i cut it down to 15 inches. is their any problem shooting buck or slugs from it?

The only problem you have is that 15" barrel unless you have a stamp for it.

[usaffarmer]

3) If you install that barrel you make your shotgun and NFA item. SBS short barrel shotgun. Unless you have done so, its kinda a no-no

2) I run an 870P and use rifled slugs and just about everything else. And use only one barrel. The barrel is a vang comp system and works better than most.

1)3.5 us a cannon.

[TX Solder]

1. How come a vast majority of slugs and buck come in 2 3/4 and few in 3 while i have not seen any in 3 1/2?

2. Do slug and buck need a specific barrel? Choke?

3. I have a bennili nova and got an extra barrel(my dad ran my first gun over and bought me another on) and i cut it down to 15 inches. is their any problem shooting buck or slugs from it?

What was your wait time on getting the Form 1 back from BATFE? Any trouble getting a CLEO signature?

[alvincullumyork]

What was your wait time on getting the Form 1 back from BATFE? Any trouble getting a CLEO signature?

ya so I was told by an apparently unreliable source that 14.5 in was as short as it gets, so I have taken that barrel off and put the regular one back on.

Does it need to be destroyed?

[TX Solder]

Your sources continue to be unreliable, 18" is as short as you can go.

[alvincullumyork]

I just went to the Benelli site and found an 18.5 barrel but they don't have a price on it any one know the msrp of it?

[austinN4]

3) If you install that barrel you make your shotgun and NFA item. SBS short barrel shotgun.

Simple possession of the cut down barrel and the gun it fits on are enough to get you in trouble. It doesn't have to be installed on the gun to be a NFA violation.

[dbrowne1]

1. How come a vast majority of slugs and buck come in 2 3/4 and few in 3 while i have not seen any in 3 1/2?

2. Do slug and buck need a specific barrel? Choke?

3. I have a bennili nova and got an extra barrel(my dad ran my first gun over and bought me another on) and i cut it down to 15 inches. is their any problem shooting buck or slugs from it?

3.5" shells evolved primarily for use in hunting waterfowl, where the greater distances and less dense non-lead shot required more velocity and therefore more powerful loads. There may be other applications as well, but most of the 3.5" shells I have seen are duck loads.

When using (lead) buck and slugs, there are rapidly diminishing returns in terms of terminal and external ballistics in loading those projectiles behind increasingly larger powder charges. You get a little more velocity which may or may not actually increase wounding ability, and you have many potential drawbacks:

- Increased recoil
- Shot/slug deformation
- Decreased ammo capacity with longer shells
- Higher velocity with attendant problems of downrange responsibility

You don't see many 3.5", and relatively few 3", buck and slug loads because very few people want them or need them. The 2.75" loads perform very well already.

As far as chokes and barrels go, I would do your homework before shooting slugs through anything tighter than a modified choke.

Others have already addressed the barrel length and NFA issues.

[Dan Goodwin]

Check the ammo websites. I know WW makes a 54-pellet 4 Buck 3.5-in. 12 load because I've shot it in my Xtrema2. That is exactly the equivalent of two 2.75-in. 4 Bucks with each squeeze of the trigger.

Whether it has a niche is up to you to decide.