Federal Deep Penetrator Slugs "choke safe"?

Are the Federal DP slugs safe for use in modern shotguns with a choke constriction of "FULL" like every other Foster/Classic Brenneke type slug out there? I know Federal tested the original TruBall slugs through a FULL choke as well as CYL choke, and found less than a 1" difference in group size at 50 yards between the two, but I can find no internal testing data from Federal. I am looking for a bit more than "I shot them and they were fine". Would be nice to have something from Federal on this, whether the side of the box, or on their YouTube channel, or simply "I worked with them and yes, it was tested through a full choke barrel" from someone like DocGKR.

I think it's reasonable to assume they're "safe" .... though that might not necessarily equate to being accurate in any particular gun. As has been the case from the get-go, slugs have always been made a bit undersized so as to fit and/or swage themselves through any industry standard barrel restriction.

You are probably already aware, but the DPRS slugs are copper plated lead. I am not sure if the lead itself is the same hardness as the plain Truball slug, or harder, the the outside surface of the plated slug is, for sure. I'd suggest caution with anything full choked, unless you can get Federal to respond to an e-mail about it.

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Originally Posted by Unobtanium

Are the Federal DP slugs safe for use in modern shotguns with a choke constriction of "FULL" like every other Foster/Classic Brenneke type slug out there?

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I'm going to call BS on this statement. Years ago, I blew the fixed "FULL" choke out of my grandfather's old 20g shotgun shooting foster slugs. It didn't take many, less than 20.

Chris

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Originally Posted by mtnbkr

I'm going to call BS on this statement. Years ago, I blew the fixed "FULL" choke out of my grandfather's old 20g shotgun shooting foster slugs. It didn't take many, less than 20.

Chris

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If it was a light birding barrel, I'd agree.

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Originally Posted by WDR

You are probably already aware, but the DPRS slugs are copper plated lead. I am not sure if the lead itself is the same hardness as the plain Truball slug, or harder, the the outside surface of the plated slug is, for sure. I'd suggest caution with anything full choked, unless you can get Federal to respond to an e-mail about it.

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I spoke with someone at Federal. The opinion was that since the lead IS harder than standard, it is not recommended for it. It will not cause immediate failure, but it will POTENTIALLY "ring" the choke area or some other unpleasantness, over time.

I have decided to stick with Remington slugs. They penetrate better than anything but Brenneke and the DP's, and are extremely accurate, in MY experience. They also still expand, come in Blue hulls and 1200 and 1560fps flavors. Good enough. I just wanted to give Federal slugs a try, but did not want the regular Truball as they over-expand and frag badly.

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Originally Posted by Unobtanium

I spoke with someone at Federal. The opinion was that since the lead IS harder than standard, it is not recommended for it. It will not cause immediate failure, but it will POTENTIALLY "ring" the choke area or some other unpleasantness, over time.

I have decided to stick with Remington slugs. They penetrate better than anything but Brenneke and the DP's, and are extremely accurate, in MY experience. They also still expand, come in Blue hulls and 1200 and 1560fps flavors. Good enough. I just wanted to give Federal slugs a try, but did not want the regular Truball as they over-expand and frag badly.

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That is about what I figured. The copper plating looks fairly heavy/thick to my eyes. My defensive shotgun is cylinder bore, and I don't sweat shooting any type of slugs out of it. My hunting shotgun has removable chokes, but I generally just leave the modified in the gun 100% of the time, and it does not shoot buck or slugs. If I was to try either in that gun, I'd screw in the improved cylinder choke before doing so. I've always been wary of shooting slugs through anything with removable chokes anyway.

It was eye opening the first time I shot a Winchester Ranger low recoil slug into water jugs (not scientific at all, shooting stuff is just fun)... turned into a large lead doughnut when the hollow point blew through the bottom. It also fragmented to some degree. I'd still not want to be hit with one, but before that, I always assumed those slugs would expand a touch, and then keep on plowing through whatever was in their way. I have not shot any of the DPRS slugs I bought into anything yet, but I know that the Brenneke slugs penetrate like hell, and don't deform or expand much at all through water jugs. I expect the DPRS will perform similarly. I bought them mostly for camping use, as we have had more problem black bears in the last few years.

Choke is restriction on bore diameter. Restriction on an old Ithaca with a .700" bore diameter is very different than a Remington .729" or an Invenctor Plus at .742". Then you get into the whole thing about what's "full" choke, is it .030", .035", .040", etc.

The i just cut a DPRS apart and the slug measures .737-.741" at the base and .719-720" across the rifling at the tip of the slug. If I was worried about it I wouldn't go much below a .720" bore diameter where the tip of the slug would have to be compressed to fit.

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Originally Posted by txdpd

Choke is restriction on bore diameter. Restriction on an old Ithaca with a .700" bore diameter is very different than a Remington .729" or an Invenctor Plus at .742". Then you get into the whole thing about what's "full" choke, is it .030", .035", .040", etc.

The i just cut a DPRS apart and the slug measures .737-.741" at the base and .719-720" across the rifling at the tip of the slug. If I was worried about it I wouldn't go much below a .720" bore diameter where the tip of the slug would have to be compressed to fit.

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Thanks.

Federal uses remington barrels to test. A full on remington is 0.700 and mod is 0.710, last I checked. I asked federal about full chokes because I presumed their answer would account for remington dimensional considerations, and a Benelli mod choke is 0.705, so if I asked about remington full, I'd be safe. I had previously spared the forum this minutia but your post makes it relevant.
I might be off a few thou, but the gist is above. I'm still half asleep and quoting those from memory.

Remington sluggers state safe up to full choke right on the box, although ic is recommended for best accuracy also on the box, I've never had issue with mod benelli and sluggers. Covers benelli mod just fine. I use benelli guns.