Hello,

This fall I will be going hunting for the first time. I own a Remington 870 Express 12 gauge shotgun with 26" barrel. I am wondering, can I just purchase 1 ounce slugs for this gun and use it to hunt? Would I be better off using buckshot? What size?

I don't really want to invest a lot into this and deal with barrels, chokes, etc. I bought the 870 Express because I thought it would work as is. Is that true?


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What are you hunting? You didnt mention that. What shotshell need to use depends on hunting deer vs doves

870 is one of the most popular shotguns in the world. Its a good reliable gun.


-DallanC

Shotgun is great for small fast moving game like rabbits, or for quick swing shots on hogs, but for deer it is probably not the best solution. I would visit a few gun shops to compare prices for a reasonable deer rifle.

Vince wrote:

Shotgun is great for small fast moving game like rabbits, or for quick swing shots on hogs, but for deer it is probably not the best solution. I would visit a few gun shops to compare prices for a reasonable deer rifle.

Some states in the USA only have a shotgun season for deer, this due to the projectiles being more limited in range. I know of a few guys that only use shotguns in the Western states for elk in deep thick timber where shots are up close and personal.

Sooooo... back to the OP, whatcha planning to hunt? I can tell you from experience both slugs work as does 00 buckshot. Most slugs benefit from a dedicated slug barrel though.


-DallanC

DallanC wrote:

Vince wrote: Shotgun is great for small fast moving game like rabbits, or for quick swing shots on hogs, but for deer it is probably not the best solution. I would visit a few gun shops to compare prices for a reasonable deer rifle. Some states in the USA only have a shotgun season for deer, this due to the projectiles being more limited in range. I know of a few guys that only use shotguns in the Western states for elk in deep thick timber where shots are up close and personal. Sooooo... back to the OP, whatcha planning to hunt? I can tell you from experience both slugs work as does 00 buckshot. Most slugs benefit from a dedicated slug barrel though. -DallanC

I stand corrected. A rifled slug barrel would certainly do the job as would a slug from a smooth bore, but I would imagine 50m - 75m would be maximum range with a smooth bore. The right slug from a rifled barrel would certainly extend that range significantly.

I suppose I am thinking hunting in Australia where a shotgun would be the last gun you would select for deer. I think it's time I started looking for a "rifled choke" for myolder Faustian Stefano O/U.

You will probably have to try a number of different slugs to see what your gun will shoot. The same is true of buckshot loads. Some will shoot OK, some will not shoot at all well and you might find one that shoots well/

Vince wrote:

I suppose I am thinking hunting in Australia where a shotgun would be the last gun you would select for deer. I think it's time I started looking for a "rifled choke" for myolder Faustian Stefano O/U.

A rifled choke??? Does it work? I know of some (really epensive customer-made) FN-double barrel shotguns that have the last 20 cm or so rifled, NOT for slugs, but for close-range rabbithunting as the rifling helps spreading the shot.
I cannot imagine that a slug at full speed would benefit when meeting some rifling at the end. I can imagine ruining the riffled choke and loosing a lot of lead on that choke...

Just to make you think: why doesn't a rocket tumble? Or an arrow? Or even the rifling on a Brenneke slug as you know this rifling is only there as safety device when shot in a full choke. The stabilizing comes from the attached wad!


So I would advice to try a rifled choke on your skeet-gun...



and to return to the OP: nobody can tell. First you decide what you're going to hunt and what you expect from your gun, second you shoot some paper at the distance you expect your target. And when you do the second with as many different ammo you can find, then you'll know what you want to know.

Aloysius is dead on with the rifled choke. When a soft lead slug hits rifling going at over 1000 fps it simply shreds the slug. Ideally you don't want any restriction at the muzzle when shooting slugs. I have played with slugs and round ball loads in my shotguns and found that the longer the tail is the straighter they fly. I have used a reversed wad attached to round balls is nearly as effective as a tail made of a brush of fishing line. I drilled a 1/4" hole in the ball, laid 15 12" pieces of braided line over the hole and then inserted a piece of 1/4" lead wire to hold all the pieces centered in the bottom of the ball. I usually had to do some trimming to get them all the same length. Loaded into a wad with the petals removed so the ball would fit the bore they flew very straight and made small groups. Round balls in 20 gauge had inverted wad cups fastened to the ball with glue, screw or rivets. The screws and rivets always stayed in place but the glue was intermittently successful. With these abominations I got 2 inch groups at 100 yards with open sights (front and rear). Commercial slugs never gave me smaller than 3.5" groups. The tails do slow the slugs a bit faster but they are still effective at 100 yards and with a lot better accuracy.

Certainly food for thought there (Aloys and Paul). I find the idea of a 'tail' on round balls in the 20g interesting as I have never got any sort of acceptable accuracy from round balls in either the 20g or 12g.

No word from JensenBreck on his hunting aims yet.

I was getting 3" groups in a smoothbore (cylinder) with Brenneke slugs.

slimjim wrote:

I was getting 3" groups in a smoothbore (cylinder) with Brenneke slugs.

Is that at 100 yds?

If so that's a damn fine group.

What shotgun?

PaulS, you just mentioned things that are still on my to do list. And thanks for sharing your knowledge about the use of glue. I now know that I have to go for a piece of rope with a knot in the middle and put this knot in the drilled hole, folowed by filling it up with a soldering iron. In my opinion the rope will serve as a soft pillow as long as the slug is inside the barrel and will form a stabilisation tail ones it's out.
And theoretically I was thinking about using conical instead of round balls and/or making my own moulds from this hexagonal spanner keys that come in all diameters (and I don't know the right English translation for it).


And I too was wondering when JensenBreck will come back...

sockets set sockets I think Aloys means........ fishing sinkers come in conveniant sizes and already have hole bored through centre.... know of guys who simple found the size that fitted into wad and went from there.its years back but I seem to recall they worked ok.

2nd link smells of SPAMBOT

hunterjoe21 wrote:

slimjim wrote: I was getting 3" groups in a smoothbore (cylinder) Is that at 100 yds? If so that's a damn fine group. What shotgun?

Yes, 100 Yards. I modified my Dad's old Mossberg bolt-action to be a slug gun by using a hacksaw to shorten the barrel and adding a red-dot. Brenneke makes great slugs.