Is this shotgun ammo any good?

[ny32182]

I'm going to take my new 870 (my first shotgun) to the range for the first time tomorrow. It got back from the shop, and everything looks to be running well, so I'm going to shoot it.

I have (all from Wally World, all 2 3/4) some Winchester 7 1/2 target loads, some Remington 00buck, and some Remington 1oz slugs.

Would the Remington 00buck and/or slugs be good home defense ammo?

Up till now I've left my VEPR K as my loaded long gun at home, but if I feel comfortable with the shotgun I'll probably transition to that instead, to reduce overpenetration concerns.

 

[Black Majik]

00 Buck is pretty good for home defense, run some round through the 870 to ensure that there is no malfunction.

Do you live in an apt or house? It might be something to consider whether or not to use slugs for HD. Personally I'd stick with the 00 buck.

 

[ny32182]

When I bought the gun, it wouldn't release shells from the mag correctly, so I had it sent off to be fixed. Just got it back; I still have personally not fired it. So, it will definitley have a few shells run through it before I would rely on it for HD.

I was thinking more of the brand... is this Remington a good, reliable load, considering it comes from Walmart? (green and yellow box) Is all 00buck created equal, or do I need some high dollar Federal Tactical or something? Do they offer it in 3", and if so, should I be using that?

I live in apt for the moment... moving to a house soon. In my current apartment, overpenetration wouldn't be a big concern in the most probable lanes of fire, but any other direction would be. I'd probably be leaning more toward 00buck for HD either way. But, a slug still won't penetrate as much as a 30cal rifle round, will it?

 

[Magnum88C]

The Remington is fine.
Your unplated shot from any manufacturer is all about the same. "Tactical" loads are usually downloaded ammo.

Remington or Winchester OO is a good choice for home defense. 2¾" shells are fine, and I like Remington's 12-pellet OO over their 9 pellet load. OOO is also a good HD choice.

Fire different brands and see what the gun prefers.

Slugs are very limited in HD scenarios, I'd save them for hunting. Any situation that calls for slugs would be better handled by the VEPR.

 

[ny32182]

Ok, thanks. A couple more newbie questions:

I was a little curious about the overall utility of slugs. It does seem to me that anything a slug could do, a rifle could do better. Are slugs used for much of anything other than hunting deer where rifles are not allowed?

Also, how many grains to an ounce? Just for reference.

What sort of velocity should I expect from shot or slugs?

What does DR. EQ. mean?

Thanks for all the info so far.

 

[Dave McCracken]

The search feature is your friend. Use it to check the Archives. All the questions you've asked have reams of info buried there.

Run light loads until you're used to the kick. Trust me on that.....

 

[SASS#23149]

There are 7000 grains in a pound so divide by 16 for oz. eqivelant.
Dram Equivelant,or Dr. Eq or DE is the old way of measuring the 'power' of shotshells as compard to a like-loaded black powder shell.The bigger the DE number the harder it kicks.
Most mfgs. are using fps on shotshell boxes thes days seems like.