imported post
Ok, so you got the handgun caliber ballistics laid out, I think it is time to straighten out the confusion behind peoples belief that shot cannot be fired through a rifled barrel thinking it will damage the gun, and slugs through tight chokes.
A rifled barrel will not be damaged by shooting shot through it! The shot remains in the plastic cup until it exits. Even if it didn't stay in the shot-cup, it will not damage a rifled barrel. Shot is lead, barrels are steel. you are not going to deform steel with lead no matter how hard you try
The reason you do not want to shoot shot through a rifled barrel is because the rifling spins the shot cup, which causes funky patterns downrange and very bad accuracy and patterning.
Chokes & slugs!!
Slugs can be shot from any size choke on a shotgun, the slug has ridges on its edgethat resemble rifling, these are there so the slug can compress properly if fired through a tight choke. Many people feel the rifling ridges that are cast into slugs is only there to impose a stabilising spin to the projectile, well it has another purpose too, and that is so it can fit through a tight choke.
And for you smoothbore shotgun people that waste your money to shoot Sabot-slugs, those are made for rifled barrels, if you do not have a rifled slug barrel for your shotgun, do not use them! Stick with the regular slugs you'll get better ballistics. A sabot-slug fired through a smooth barrel will tumble downrange and usually keyhole the target.
So avoid shot through a rifled barrel because of the crappy ballistics, not because you think it is going to damage the barrel.