Good ammo and accessories for 870

Tony,

You'll find a lot of good info that's right up your alley in the first two stickied threads of this section: "Defensive Ammo 101" and "On Fighting Shotguns."

-Stan-

I agree: the shotgun stickies are a great place to start. As far as ammo goes,I haven't tried it out of my gun yet but I'm hearing some really good things about the Federal flight
control stuff.

Sent from my phone... blame any misspellings on auto correct....

Chris the" kayak man" Johnson

Cleaning 101 from the library:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=17035

1. Ammo for the range - Federal top gun, Winchester AA and Remington gun club are three popular target loads. I prefer top gun in my 870.

2. Ammo for HD - 00 Buckshot is the standard, lots of variety but any decent buckshot will do just fine. I prefer Federal Vital Shok.

3. The first accessory any new shotgunner should get is a case of ammo. Shoot through that before you add anything to your new gun. This will help smooth out your new gun, and familiarize you with it. After that you will have a much better idea about what extras if any you want to add.

4. The only tool needed for complete take down is a hand punch or similar tool (like a small piece of a wood dowel) to push out the trigger pins. You might be able to push them in slightly with your finger, then grab the end that is now sticking out and pull the pin.

5. Shooting with no choke - NOTHING should be fired through a shotgun with no choke installed. If you do, the threads will likely be marred beyond repair on the very first shot. Do not do this.

6. Foster or "Rifled" Slugs can be fired through a choke up to full. Contrary to it's name, the rifling on the outside of the slug does not stabilize it. Today, the lands simply allow for the slug to swage itself through chokes, up to about full. You will likely find however, that best accuracy will come from more open chokes like improved cylinder, or cylinder.

This a link to the Shotgun 101 library, which will tell you anything you want to know about shotguns. http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=464149

Tony_the_tiger said:

In this case the 870 is just a smooth cylinder bore with no choke threads, so it should be alright.

Click to expand...

Oh ok, I assumed since you said "without a choke" that you had screw in chokes.

Some time ago, I was given a variety of 00-buck off the shelf from the sports store. I set about to pattern each type. The results convinced me that patterning YOUR gun/barrel is essential if you are looking for "good ammo".

I'm the kind of person that trains with defensive ammo. I don't practice with birdshot in my shotguns because buckshot (my preferred defensive load) will handle and pattern differently than birdshot will.

My advice is to do the same, however I am not so arrogant as to assume that my way is the only right way, so do what works for you.

Rail Driver said:

I'm the kind of person that trains with defensive ammo. I don't practice with birdshot in my shotguns because buckshot (my preferred defensive load) will handle and pattern differently than birdshot will.

My advice is to do the same, however I am not so arrogant as to assume that my way is the only right way, so do what works for you.

Click to expand...

While I don't place much value in your patterning point (assuming POA/POI is about equal between loads), there is something to be said for practicing with heavier recoiling ammo. To me that means heavy game loads, which are much closer to the recoil of buck while still being relatively cheap like target loads.

Could anyone recommend good target ammo and good HD ammo?

For training and practice, most anything will do. Usually the operative word is 'cheap,' but cheap isn't always best. Some shotguns (not just 870s) have problems with steel base shells sticking in the chamber after they're fired. Winchester's economy loads are frequent culprits in this regard, I had one 870 Police barrel that took exception to some Fiocchis once though.

HD ammo should be chosen based on your circumstances and situation first. Depending on where you live and how near the closest neighbor is, your choices may differ from those of others.

Any accessories you'd recommend? I'm trying to learn about the 870 so any help would be appreciated.

To start with, ammo/training/practice are probably the best accessories. There are no telling how many 870 accessories are available out there, but it sure wouldn't be hard to go broke buying one of everything. As it comes out of the box, the 870 is more shotgun than many shooters can use at full effectiveness and efficiency. It isn't the gun that needs work, it's the shooter more times than not. There are in fact a few things that will make the gun more efficient because they make the shooter more efficient, and those are the things it's best to seek out IMHO. A short list:

- a stock short enough for the shooter to use comfortably. Many shotgun stocks are too long for many shooters.
- a premium recoil pad
- a sling or carrying strap. A sling on a shotgun is like a holster for a pistol.
- a white light source/weapon light
- I like Sidesaddles, some don't. But IMHO there needs to be a way to carry more ammo on the gun.

Any special tools needed for takedown?[/]

Depends on how far down you want to take it. For field stripping, a golf tee to poke out the pins that hold in the trigger plate assembly is useful. But if a Sidesaddle is installed, its screws will replace the pins and the Allen wrenches that come with the Sidesaddle will be needed. Other than that, for a field strip that's about it.

Can slugs be fired without a choke or without modifying the factory choke, if there is one?

I'd bet your barrel has a fixed choke and is marked either CYL or ImpCyl. If that's the case, shooting slugs of the proper gauge and length should be no problem.

Yesterday..I shot a 3" group at 50 yards with an 870 and an 18 " barrel with rifle sights (cylinder bore). You can do the same. I found the barrel likes...Truballs 2 3/4 ..Walmart Federals 2 3/4 and Rem Sluggers (all slugs). I also use a Limbsaver and a Fortmann left hand safety ( laboriously self installed)

IF you are planning on going to your typical trap/skeet club for practice, be aware that #6 is usually prohibited. No shot size larger than 7.5 - the wally world 4 packs are generally decent enough for that use. If you are shooting some pasture clays, then disregard. For HD, anything "buck" will work fine

For cleaning (after your initial one), cleaning the bolt face and wiping the inside and outside down will usually suffice

If I remember Correctly the Express has the same barrel clamp as the 870 Tactical. So the only thing you need to disassemble is a standard flat head screwdriver.

For target ammo I use standard Winchester Heavy-8 rounds. Can usually get 200 or so rounds for less than $50 if you shop around. For home defense I keep a mixture of rounds based on circumstances I might be in or might not. For most HD/SD applications I recommend Winchester PDX1 rounds that fire a 1oz slug and 3 00 buck pellets. Inside 30 meters it will seriously ruin someone's day. If you live in an apartment or some other close living situation, stick with a good sized birdshot round.