[rbernie]

Took one of the 870s to the range today; yesterday, I put an ex-Plano PD 18.5" barrel on it and wanted to pattern it with some different buck loads.

I tried a bunch of Winchester and Remington and Fiocci loads (none very satisfying) to verify that they still suck compared to the Federal buck loads. Of the lot I brought, the singularly most gawdawful stuff was the Winchester 3" 00. I don't recall when, but I clearly bought this stuff somewhere in my past in some fit of rank insanity.

DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT.

This crap is evil.

It didn't pattern worth a darn, but it did hurt my ears, hurt my eyeballs, hurt my teeth, hurt my shoulder, and make me wish that I'd never seen the stuff.

OUCH.

[Dave McCracken]

Lesson learned.

I've not yet seen a 12-18 pellet 00 load that patterns as tightly as most 8 or 9 pellet 00 loads. All they do is create pain at the wrong end of the shotgun.

[jordan1948]

lol you think that hurt try 3 1/2" 00 18 pellets that'll make this stuff feel like a slice of heaven, but clearly buckshot hurts no matter what and you learned a lesson on which type/brand of ammo you should NOT buy lol

[rbernie]

When I shot it, people would line up to gawk and elbow each other.

"Whoa, dude! Did you hear THAT!"

A crowd would gather, and you could see in the eyes of the younger men that they all wanted to Ride The 870 and see how much of a manly man they were. I probably could have sold tickets to shoot the stuff, like some kind of sadistic carny ride.

Sadly for my entrepenurial alter ego, I was in the middle of helping out some new shooters (who brought their new Mossberg 500 PGO for its maiden voyage and who also quickly discovered how much a PGO shotgun sux) and didn't think that these tender yound lads would react well to the DemonSpawnBuckLoads.

So I settled for entertaining the onlookers with the BOOM! and flash and my grimaces of pain.

[mauiglide]

Send the rest of the Winchester buckshot to me. I love to rock and roll and hear the sound and fury:D.

[9x19sig]

I wouldn't worry so much about group tightness like many would like you to believe. Yes, the low recoil loads are going to have tighter groups at 15 and 25 yards, but can you honestly say that you will ever shoot anyone at that range inside your home?

I like the most power available to me, and since I know the maximum range of a possible shooting inside my home is only going to be 3 to 5 yards, I choose 3" 000 buckshot.

To me, shooting low recoil loads out of a 12 gauge is like using 38 special in a 357 magnum for defense. Yes, they may be more fun for target practice, but wouldn't you like to know that you gave yourself the best odds in a gunfight by using a more powerful payload?

[rbernie]

wouldn't you like to know that you gave yourself the best odds in a gunfight by using a more powerful payload?Based on my experiences yesterday, I would not be well served by 00 3" buckshot shells for HD. There was simply too much recoil and blast for it to be useful in multiple-shot situations, and I am not convinced that the extra velocity provides any terminal gains.

My HD plans include shot distances and shooting lanes of up to ten (10) yards, with a likely engagement distance of seven (7) yards.

[monkyboy1975]

I feel your pain! I just did this 2 months ago with my 870 (The first time I have shot it in 8 years) with the remy 15 pellet 00 buck. OUCH!!