Slug accuracy/range in a remington 870 cylinder bore

[Texan Scott]

Apologies if this is covered elsewhere ... I found nothing in perusal of the stickies, and my new Android dislikes THR search boxes (adding to my list of foil hat Google conspiracies).
I'm a lever rifle guy... haven't fired a shotgun in many years. I am starting to consider a Remington 870 ('cuz it's well made and the only one I have any real experience with) for my house and truck.
Here's the ignorant question: How much USABLE range can I expect (with lots of expensive practice, of course) if I pop a slug into an 18.5" bead-sighted smooth cylinder bore? I don't want a dedicated slug gun (that's what rifles are for IMO), but the ability to pop a slug in for deep penetration at longer ranges would make me feel better about trading a carbine for a shotgun. Could I, for instance, expect to consistently hit a 6" plate at 40-50 yards?

 

[DNS]

I ring an 8 inch plate at 100 yards with a 26" 870 and fiber optics.
I see no problems with that set up at 40 - 50 yards.

 

[27hand]

TS, I'm guessing that "with lots of expensive practice" you should be able to hit that 6" plate at 50. It's been years since I used a smooth bore and only shot one deer at 35-40 yds (one shot kill w/20 Ga Savage model 30 pump).

I would advise to perhaps get a rifled bbl with either rifle sights or scope mount and have it as a dedicated addition to your smooth bore bead sighted bbl.

I have a dedicated slug gun for the county I live in (Ithaca 20" rifled bbl). It shoots well at 100. I would trust it to 125. Cheap Simmons 3X9 on top.

Sabots are expensive so I shoot 2 shot groups at 100. This target was lightfields to the left and Rem copper solids to the right. I shot a doe at 70 +- last season. One shot and down.



Last year. Rem copper solids also at 100. Good luck with your choice. Post a few pics.

 

[22250Rem]

Anything in the 40-60 yard range should be no problem except to me those bead sights aren't the greatest for slugs. I've had my 870 since 1987 and for about the first 15 years it had the smoothbore slug barrel with rifle sights on it. Lots better than a bead! Nowadays it's a dedicated sabot slug gun for when hunting in a shotgun/handgun zone. It has a 2.5x Leupold and wears a rifled barrel but if I was only planning on 40-50 yards I'd put the smoothbore back on it and go with the 2 & 3/4" Winchester rifled slugs which have always been great in every smoothbore Remington I've seen, (lots cheaper than sabots too). Got the biggest whitetail of my life in 1989 with that gun with the smoothbore slug barrel at about 90 yards. I've taken deer with both 2 & 3/4 " and 3" slugs through the smoothbore barrel and am convinced the deer can't tell the difference. So I used 2 & 3/4" cause they're more accurate out of my barrel. If you wanna keep the barrel with the bead sight just practice a bit more with slugs and 40-50 yards should be doable.

 

[Dlowe167]

I just seen this topic covered on Guntalktv. Buckshot is spread far at 50yrds,to nearly ineffective. But the slug still effective at 100yrds+. That is impressive. They used Remingtons 870.

 

[Tim the student]

With practice, I think you should be fine at that range.

 

[DaleCooper51]

With a good amount of practice and a brand of slug that your gun likes, I don't see an issue with that range. At 50 yards off hand with a bead sight (20" IC 870) I can keep Brenneke KO slugs well within the center section of paper plate.

 

[LeonCarr]

I read online that the 18 inch bead sighted barrel on a Remington 870 was designed to hit dead on at 100 yards with full power Foster type slugs. I thought yeah right whatever.

The last time I was at the farm I took the Remington 870 Express HD and a few boxes of Remington Sluggers. From sandbags I put three slugs inside an 8.5 x 11 sheet of white paper at 100 yards. About a seven inch group...with a bead.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

 

[redneck2]

FWIW...for some reason the plain old slugs seem to shoot better now than they did 50 years ago. I know a guy that has multiple deer in the record book that has taken them at way over 50 yards. More like 100+. Back then, we typically used whatever shotgun was on hand. Non choked slug barrels were very rare.

As noted, if you are really looking for accuracy, sabots out of a rifled barrel are good to maybe 150ish. I shot (witnessed) a coyote on our farm at 140 yards with an 870 rifled barrel and 2x7 scope.

 

[Hornet24]

With a good amount of practice and a brand of slug that your gun likes, I don't see an issue with that range. At 50 yards off hand with a bead sight (20" IC 870) I can keep Brenneke KO slugs well within the center section of paper plate.

Those are the best slugs that I have found out of a smooth bore shotgun. I have a Mossberg 500 that will out shoot a lot of guns with rifled barrels with those slugs...

 

[27hand]

slug choice

As kind of mentioned, your gun may perform better with a specific slug. Get a few different types and see if one groups more tightly than others.

I was surprised when the 1 1/4 oz Lightfield sabots grouped almost the same as the 1 oz Rem copper solid sabots although POI was on either side of center.

I have a 18 1/2" bead sighted Rem 870 and some old slugs. I should shoot them up and see what the Remmy can do. Won't get out to the range for a week or better to see what my new today Texas Weapons systems dogleg rail/ red dot can do on my Norinco AK.

 

[Mobuck]

I have shot a couple of deer using a vent rib cylinder bore 12 gauge 870 in the distant past. It really would hit a paper plate @ 50 yards consistently. BUT-- It hit about a foot high at that range so I had to hold on the bottom of the chest.

 

[danweasel]

I got pretty good accuracy at 50 yards out of my Mossberg 500 with an 18.5 barrel. I was testing Brenekke Black Magic slugs and also the green ones for bear D up in Alaska. Probably a 4" group or so but the thing was, it was low and left a bit, which is a little hard to compensate for with a bead.

I absolutely recommend Brenneke slugs. Heap big wallop. If I remember correctly they are supposed to hit dead on at 80 yards.

 

[Zoogster]

You could definately hit that range easily.

The biggest issue with the OP's intended use is that buckshot/birdshot and slugs hit a different point of aim, and it changes more as the distance increases.

Where you get used to pointing and mentally compensating to make shot go where you want will be very different from where you need to point with a slug. A slug can hit a foot higher than the center of the pattern of shot.
It can be consistent and accurate, but will remain different.
So you need to test the slug, get used to the different point of aim, and be prepared to compensate for that difference if you choose to use one.

If you have been shooting a lot of shot, you will be programmed to aim and hit to a different point of aim, and it won't come naturally to use a different point of aim unless you practice that ahead of time.

 

[Kingcreek]

I have a smooth bore 870 slug barrel with rifle sights and I can shoot 4-5" at 75 yards with standard remington sluggers. I shot a whitetail buck at exactly 110 yards by holding about 4" over his back and perferated his aorta right at the top of the heart.
I have an old Ithaca Deerslayer 20g that for some reason shoots groups about half that size. My sister used to kill deer with it and now my wife does. out to about 80 yards.

 

[Centurian22]

Different gun different sights (Ithaca smooth bore 12ga deerslayer cylinder bore 24" w/ rifle sights) but I managed "minute of pie plate" accuracy my first time at the range with it firing unsupported standing. I'm sure even with an 18" barrel and bead sight with practice as you say you would be able to shoot just fine with it. My ammo of choice were federal 'tru-ball' 1oz rifled slugs and they performed great at a very reasonable cost.

 

[DeadFlies]

I used to have that same (18.5/cyl/bead 870) setup.

It took some practice but I found that hitting a milk jug at 50 yards wasn't too difficult. But it did take some practice.

 

[Fred Fuller]

What the shooter can do is what matters most. Slugs can be punishing to shoot in quantity - I just finished a one-day shotgun refresher class, and wimped out this time. I used reduced recoil slugs and buckshot since the range we were on was only 50 yards, and 1-ounce birdshot loads. Shooting a pocketful of full velocity (1600 FPS) 1-ounce slugs at one sitting will get your attention, even if your gun fit and mount is good and your form is perfect.

Beads on a lot of shotguns are usually mounted straight on the barrel, which makes them hit about a foot high at about 40 yards with the usual 'bead' sight picture and slugs. Remington puts their beads on pedestals now, which helps with the shooting-high problem - especially with shorter barrels.

There are 18.5" 870 smoothbore barrels with rifle sights available from the factory - I shot the class with one of those Wednesday. But if you already have the bead sighted barrel, there's no reason not to try it out and see what it will do for you. All it will cost is the ammo.

Just don't shoot the thing from a bench rest like a rifle - shoot standing, from a vertical rest like a post. Keep the gun on something soft against the rest, so it won't 'shoot away' from the rest. Lots of people do just fine with bead sights shooting slugs.

 

[22250Rem]

I started deer hunting with my old High Standard Flite-King 12 ga. pump which has a bead sight. Once I discovered that it shot Remington Sluggers best and put in enough practice then a paper plate at 50 yds. was no problem. Still have it but haven't deer hunted with it since 1986; (got my 870 in 1987). Last year I picked up a bunch of Sluggers and this year I may take the High Standard out again just for old times sake. Some of the places I hunt in ain't gonna give you much more than a 50 yard shot anyway. Usually use a scoped 44 magnum Redhawk for in the thick stuff but it would be so cool to get another deer with the High Standard again. So I'm gonna practice with it this year and relive some of the old days when all my buddies and I were using bead sighted smoothbores.

 

[Armored farmer]

I have put many deer in the freezer and several on the wall with a smoothbore 12ga. Illinois is shotgun/muzzleloader/handgun only deer hunting. We used to be shotgun m/l only...the handgun thing is pretty recent.
Mine happened to be an 1100 Rem. 50yds a pie plate is no problem. A scope is nice for greater distances because that bead or blade front sight tends to cover too much target at that range.

...Like 22250 said..I also had my best groups with cheap Winchester or Rem foster slugs...not brenneke.

 

[nathan]

Bead sight is fine as long you practice a steady hold. Practice and practice is the way to go.

 

[RinkRat]

The box-o-truth did a Shotgun Slugs, Sabots, and Smooth Bore Barrels comparison.

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot46.htm

Taken many a deer with slugs out of my Mossberg Model 395KB C-LECT CHOKE 12g Bolt for many a years, out to as far as 40 to 50yrds.

 

[apps45]

Raised in westen CO now living in IN since 86- archery shotgun muzzleloader/ now 2012 crossbow-- my 870 was my waterfowl gun til 86 and it turned to a combo. I have witnesses cause they watched and chuckled 2 does one at 124-125 yds heart shot and one at 130 plus shoulder. This must have been luck. 7pt dead run across a picked corn field 167 steps by my old AF buddy from1966 and my son whom would not shoot because it was too far and it was on a dead run. OH one shot right rib cage and out left front. Your 870 will do fine!

 

[PapaG]

Federal truballs will do everything you are asking. They have full power, deep penetration and reduced recoil loads to choose from. I get 2 1/2" from my cyl bore 870 at 50 yards.

 

[blackwalnut]

Re: Texan....

Somebody else mentioned Federal Tru-balls Slugs. They will give you exactly the performance you want. they are designed for smooth-bore shotguns and can even in some slug guns make them shoot almost as good as a rifle up to the ranges you need.

i have used them to hunt deer in 12 and 20 gauge. One being an 870 and the other a Winchester 1300. Super performance in both power and accuracy.

Try them you will like them. Given a choice for hunting I would still prefer a rifle its want i started with. have fun.

I hesitate to say they match some rifled barrel slug guns due to the fact that some just plain suck even with every sabot load known to man . They (Federal Truball) will out shoot rifled shotguns up to 50 -60 yards. Nows thats something!!!! I have done it.