How far is a safe shot with a Remington 870 12ga with Foster slugs?

[huntersdog]

What would be a safe shot with the Remington 870 12 gauge in a 28 in barrel with just a bead sight, using 1 oz. Fosters slugs for deer 50, 75 yards?

What choke would you recommend using a modified or an improved cylinder in the 28 in Barrel?

 

[LoonWulf]

As far as you can land the slug in your intended kill zone.

Ive only shot slugs thru dedicated barrels, all of which were CYL bore....so cant help really.

 

[9x56MS]

The best way to determine that is staple a paper plate to your backstop. Start your shooting at 25 yards and back up 10 yards after every successful shot and shoot again. When you can no longer hit the plate you have determined your max effective range. Every gun and shooter is an entity unto itself. Only you can make that determination by shooting it.

 

[9x56MS]

I would recommend using a cylinder bore or if you can't buy one go with the improved cylinder you have. Also for about $15 you can buy a set of truglow sights that fit right over your vent rib that will help to better aim with. Good luck hunting.

 

[guyfromohio]

It can safely take a deer at farther ranges, and it can miss at closer. I think your 50-75 is about right. Here in Ohio, I don’t get much opportunity past 100 yards. Cylinder is what you want to shoot, but I’ve had great experiences using an aftermarket rifled choke. I think the one I use is by Carlson’s, but that requires a trip to the basement to verify and I’m comfortably enjoying my solitude and coffee.

 

[243winxb]

SLUGS- Install a set of front and rear sights on the shotgun first. https://www.midwayusa.com/shotgun-sights/br?cid=19478. Sights clamp on. Should improve accuracy to 50 yards. Use improved cylinder. Just using the bead, groups tend to hit low & right. Enough to gut shoot or miss completely.

BUCK SHOT- For just a bead sight, i suggest OO buck in 3" magnum shells with buffer. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1002080197. Modified choke. A full choke may blow patterns, choke to tight.

The plated shot with plastic buffer will greatly inprove patterns to 50 yards.

 

[MEHavey]

12 gauge in a 28 in barrel with just a bead sight, using 1 oz. Fosters slugs for deer 50, 75 yards?

Specifically looking at the OP's conditions -- AND -- remembering no rear sight -- AND -- shooting off a steady rest -- AND -- having thoroughly practiced/calibrated cheekweld for bead/Kentucky offset.....
60-75 yards

 

[jmorris]

Depends a lot of the shooter, I can hit full size poppers pretty reliably at 85 yards with just a bead but that’s also a larger area that I would like to land shots on a deer.

I modified a triangle file and added a flip up/fold down 10/22 sight in the rib and a dovetail front sight for more repeatable POA.

 

[jmr40]

You'll just have to go shoot and see what YOUR limitations are. I've done a little work with slugs and feel pretty good out to 50 yards with just a bead. You do have to practice to figure out where you'll hit in relation to how you hold. Getting the exact same cheek weld is important with no rear sight.

With a front and rear sight I'd shoot slugs at 100 yards.

 

[herrwalther]

I have done 100 yard shots with foster slugs. But I was also using a stable rest and better sights. Either a red dot or rifle sights. In a stock 870 with a bead or rib, 50-60 is more realistic. It is also going depend on the terrain you are deer hunting in. Not many hunters here in the deep south have fields to take deer in and do a lot of brush hunting. So 100 yards even with a perfect shotgun setup is going to be too far.

 

[PapaG]

Only you can decide that. Tyy a bunch of Foster brands (I choose Federal Truball), examine your ability to judge distance and hold accurately, have an easily repetitive trigger pull, and be willing to practice, all play into the answer. All up to you. BTW, I choose imp cyl and Truball but really use a 220 Savage and Accutips

 

[tactikel]

It’s really simple, take a 7” paper plate, at whatever range you can put 3 out of 4 slugs on target you are good.

 

[huntersdog]

I didn't know what range a slug would be effective at killing a deer without wounding in it.

Thank you all for the replies!

 

[9x56MS]

I have killed deer with pass through at 125 yards.

 

[guyfromohio]

I didn't know what range a slug would be effective at killing a deer without wounding in it.

Thank you all for the replies!

Hitting it in the right spot is your concern. If you can hit it right, it will drop. That is why the focus has been on accuracy at various ranges.

 

[GooseGestapo]

Depends a lot of the shooter, I can hit full size poppers pretty reliably at 85 yards with just a bead but that’s also a larger area that I would like to land shots on a deer.

I modified a triangle file and added a flip up/fold down 10/22 sight in the rib and a dovetail front sight for more repeatable POA.

View attachment 1026249

Show front sight too, please!
I’m Impressed! Great idea!

 

[bassjam]

A solid lead slug is very lethal at distances further than they can be accurately shot. Someone I used to know took his 8 year old son out on gun day and saw a massive buck 150 yards away while getting out of the truck. Kid had a .410 H&R single shot, dad had him aim high and "shoot at the deer". First shot went over it's back, second shot miraculously hit the vitals and it ran 100 yards and died. They use it as an example of being a crack shot, I think it's an example of an irresponsible hunter teaching his son to be an irresponsible hunter but the fact is that deer quickly died with just one slug in it's body.

I have a 12ga 870 with 2 barrels, and with either the 28" barrel and a modified choke or the 20" smooth bore slug barrel accuracy seems about the same. It's good to go out to 75 yards when I'm shooting off a bench rest, but I limit myself to 50 yards when hunting. But I also hunt thick woods and have never shot a deer further than 30 yards away and most have been much closer. I've also found Brenneke KO slugs to be more accurate out of my gun than Remington Sluggers, but inside of 50 yards the difference isn't enough to matter.

 

[huntersdog]

I much prefer to go out there and kill one deer instead of of possibility of wounding 20 of them on opening day.

 

[Armored farmer]

The bead sights and the accuracy of foster slugs was the best problems that I had for deer hunting in the 1970's. It lead me to the world of black powder and muzzleloaders.
I joined the ranks of the eccentric old coots that have neither the money nor the good sense to shoot modern guns.
Foster slugs and poor sights steered me into this t/c Hawken kit in the fall of 1980.
40yrs later, it is still my go-to. Cracked stock and all.

 

[Dinosaur1]

If your 870 has screw in chokes, get the most open choke you can. If it is a fixed choke model, say full, then you risk what used to be called “dumping the choke”. This means that it will change the point of impact of your shot pattern. Sometimes quite a bit. There are those who call BS on that but I’ve seen it happen several times. If the 870 is all you got then experiment with different brands and speeds of slugs, IF you can find them. When I was restricted by law to a shotgun I went with an H&R 20 ga. Ultra with rifled barrel. With Remington Buck Hammer slugs that rig was good for 200 plus yards. The last buck it took was at 227 +/- and it was a pass thru. They show up used a lot now that most states have approved straight wall rifle rounds. I currently use the .350 and I like it. All that being said, when an 870 with a fixed choke was all I had, I used Breneke slugs and limited myself to 40 yds because that was what I could hit.

 

[9x56MS]

I have killed a lot of deer over the years with my trusty Hawken in 50 caliber. Killed my first wild hog with it in Tennessee. Much more accurate than Foster slugs but about same range limitations.

 

[LUCKYDAWG13]

My 870 cylinder bore 20" barrel I do have front and rear sights I wouldn't hesitate a 100 yard shot at a broadside deer with a solid rest but this was my hunting shotgun until I switched over to a scoped muzzelloader best thing to do is put a paper plate out and see what you are capable of

 

[DustyGmt]

I have seen a couple people mention using a Cylinder bore over Improved Cylinder, why is that? I was under the impression, where slugs are concerned, IC would add an additional 20-25yds of effective range and stabilize the slug out to slightly further range, I think I was told generally speaking the benefit of IC would make your shotgun capable of slugging out to 100yds vs cyl bore shotguns where 50-75 is about max.

Why would one choose Cyl over IC? For defensive use, hunting, better flight stability for slugs and tighter buckshot patterns, etc....

 

[mokin]

I'm with the crowd on this.. Buy some slug ammunition and find out. I'm confident you could make humane kills out to 100 yards with a 1 ounce slug provided you make a good hit. Fifty yards shouldn't be to hard. I reckon with practice you could double that distance. From a rest I can shoot a good pattern at 100 yards with the bead sight and 18 inch barrel on my Winchester 1300 with an Improved Cylinder.

 

[huntersdog]

I just picked up a scope mount that mounts where the trigger pins holes are and picked up a used shotgun slug scope. That should help me out with further distance and more accuracy than just using the front bead sight.