I had a rem870 that i turned into a slug gun. I order a hastings rifled barrel for it and a rifleman shotgun scope. Ive been shooting the hornady sst slugs out of it. I havnt been able to shoot consistent groups out of it. Its all over the place. I shot 50 and 100 yrds. I almost feel bad for putting money into it. ive heard from alot of people that these guns can get descent groups out to 100. Any help???????????????/
870 shooting bad please help
- Thread starter dyllan78
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ICANHITHIMMAN
Well-Known Member
I have 5 remington slug guns in my safe right now. There is not one of them that will not shoot one ragged hole at 100 yards, with the right slug.
They all shoot well with lightfields! I have an 1187 that only shoots federal. You have to try diffrent sabots in your gun. Thats the only way to get the groups your looking for.
Make sure everything else it tight! Blue locktight is your friend.
im getting 2-4 in groups at 50 and 3-7 in groups at 100. that pretty much sucks. Anyway im going to try the lightfields and see what happens. Do you think a sims recoil pad will help with accuracy since it kicks. talk to me chief no one else is responding. I guess nobody gives a crap.
ICANHITHIMMAN
Well-Known Member
Its not that they dont care just not alot of eastern hunters here. I have to drive to use my rifles. If I want to hunt on my property its slugs only during the regular season.
Just try a good cross section of slugs. Hasting makes a great barrel my uncle uses one on his 870. Sabots are expensive I know. I have always had the best luck with lightfeilds.
I dont know about the recoil pad maybe are you shooting 3"? Make sure all the bases and rings are tight. I have always zeroed my slugs at 50yards. there are directions on the back of the light field box that say something to the order of if you zero 2" high at 50 your dead on at 150.
shooter#42
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since the se corner of pa went to shotguns only many years ago i discovered alot about shooting slugs to help out my clients.
get a good smith to do a trigger job or have the timney for the 870 installed.
if you have a saddle mount or a cantaliever mount you are working against yourself. i never seen one that i couldn't induce movement into. have the gun drilled and tapped for a weaver 62 plate.
barrel attachment. use blue loctite to secure the barrel to the receiver and keep the nut on the mag tube tight. yes you may have to heat it to get the barrel out but live with it. the more secure the barrel mounting the better your accuracy.
a good recoil pad, earplugs and muffs while sighting in helps alot.
now the worse part. i know it can get expensive and painful but you have to try as many varieties of slugs that you can to find out what the gun prefers. i have had guns that would shoot cheap winchesters and hated expensive brenneke's. i will tell you i have found large variations in different lots of the hornady slugs. a gun does well with one lot but not another.
the final piece of advice i can give you is that key boards type great groups. i have had people claim an accuracy level of their gun but when i met them at a range to see it they were not able to reproduce it on demand.
good luck on your search
get a good smith to do a trigger job or have the timney for the 870 installed.
if you have a saddle mount or a cantaliever mount you are working against yourself. i never seen one that i couldn't induce movement into. have the gun drilled and tapped for a weaver 62 plate.
barrel attachment. use blue loctite to secure the barrel to the receiver and keep the nut on the mag tube tight. yes you may have to heat it to get the barrel out but live with it. the more secure the barrel mounting the better your accuracy.
a good recoil pad, earplugs and muffs while sighting in helps alot.
now the worse part. i know it can get expensive and painful but you have to try as many varieties of slugs that you can to find out what the gun prefers. i have had guns that would shoot cheap winchesters and hated expensive brenneke's. i will tell you i have found large variations in different lots of the hornady slugs. a gun does well with one lot but not another.
the final piece of advice i can give you is that key boards type great groups. i have had people claim an accuracy level of their gun but when i met them at a range to see it they were not able to reproduce it on demand.
good luck on your search
Thank you very much for the information. Finally a couple responses to fill in the gaps. Im going to work on it, but i think ill be better of buy a barrel for my thompson center, 12 and 20. i dont want to put any more money into an pump action gun that wont give me what im looking for. Anybody looking for a hastings barrel???
shooter#42
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well thats what i did. i got a fully rifled barrel in 20 gauge for my encore. with the remington slugs it is accurate but even better it is consistant as to point of aim. i got rid of the H&R/NEF super slugger after i shot the barrel.
Dr. Vette
Well-Known Member
For the price of buying a barrel for your TC you can easily buy a 5-shot box of several types of slugs and figure out exactly what your gun will - and won't - shoot well. It will give you exactly what you're looking for - if you let it. A 12 gauge will do better than a muzzleloader with the right ammo.
I fit a Hastings rifled barrel on my Rem 11-87 and shot it on Monday. Of the 3 brands of slugs I had it shot each brand very differently, which did not surprise me at all. Ended up with 2-3 inches at 100 yards, which is more than good enough for me.
You may want to think about sighting in off a Lead Sled. Slugs kick horribly, and I wouldn't think of sighting in slugs without my Sled. Any flinch and you've got your 5 inch 100-yard group.
shooter#42
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dyllan,
i'm have been a cop for the past 33 years as a proffession. i have been a ffl holder since 85 when i started repairing guns for others. i live right on the otherside of the river from nj which is a shotgun only state and our area has been shotgun only for over 20 years so i have had some time to work with this issue.
i'm have been a cop for the past 33 years as a proffession. i have been a ffl holder since 85 when i started repairing guns for others. i live right on the otherside of the river from nj which is a shotgun only state and our area has been shotgun only for over 20 years so i have had some time to work with this issue.
HawkeyeFan
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- Apr 25, 2010
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- 20
I always try to make a list of possibilities when I encounter a problem like this. Several of these are repetitive so I apologize in advance.
1. The scope could be broken but I doubt it if it is a leupold.
2. SLug guns are picky about brand preference.
3. THat being said 2 inches isn't horrible at 50 yds. despite what many will say.
4. I have heard (but never witnessed) that bigger slower slugs get eratic after going subsonic and groups open up quite a bit.
5. My friends all use my lead sled and our groups have shrunk and virtually eliminated flinch induced flyers.
6. Some errant lead or sabot residue could be interfering with accuracy. I once took a barrel off and literally beat it on the floor with a tight jag and patch, when it came out little shards of lead came out with it. Groups tightened dramatically.
7. Sometimes life just gets you that way.
Best of Luck
1. The scope could be broken but I doubt it if it is a leupold.
2. SLug guns are picky about brand preference.
3. THat being said 2 inches isn't horrible at 50 yds. despite what many will say.
4. I have heard (but never witnessed) that bigger slower slugs get eratic after going subsonic and groups open up quite a bit.
5. My friends all use my lead sled and our groups have shrunk and virtually eliminated flinch induced flyers.
6. Some errant lead or sabot residue could be interfering with accuracy. I once took a barrel off and literally beat it on the floor with a tight jag and patch, when it came out little shards of lead came out with it. Groups tightened dramatically.
7. Sometimes life just gets you that way.
Best of Luck
I shot an 870 for years with a hastings. It was a nightmare till I got the barrel fitted. The #1 killer of accuracy on a 870 slug gun is barrel fit. As said keep it tight but often times this is not enough and they need to be fitted. Lightfields more often than not will be a top choice.
Look at Tar-Hunt shotguns Randy Fritz does custom fitting of barrels for designated 870 slug gun. Barrrels can be removed with torch
Look at Tar-Hunt shotguns Randy Fritz does custom fitting of barrels for designated 870 slug gun. Barrrels can be removed with torch
First you need a barrel with a cantilever base. I had purchased a Mossberg 500 pump that had a drilled and tapped receiver for a scope mount and I used it. I could not get consistent groups with it. My gunsmith told me that I wouldn't because most pump shotguns don't have a solid lock up between the barrel and the receiver. He then demonstrated the movement of the barrel while the receiver was in a padded vise. No matter how tight the barrel nut was, the barrel still moved. He also showed me the same movement on a Remington 870. I then purchased a cantilever rifled barrel from Mossberg and the groups improved drastically. I was still not satisfied. The gunsmith inspected my setup and pointed out that the crown at the muzzle seemed out of alignment. He recrowned it and my groups got really tight. At 100 yards I can get 3 to 4 inch groups. I am using the Winchester Partition Gold Sabots. My best groups are with a discontinued Marlin Slugmaster bolt action shotgun. I had to recrown this barrel also. I have also heard that Browning and Savage have bolt action shotguns that shoot very well. Good luck
