Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Foster slugs for 870 Express

Kimber7man,
He has asked me to find out what it will cost to ship, so he can send you the money to get it done. He offers his thanks again.

Just wanted to add more info concerning that B-Square scope mount. It's one of those "saddle" mounts isn't it? Where it straddles the receiver and you run the 2 bolts thru in place of the pins and put a nut on the other side of each bolt? If so, then don't torque down those 2 bolts too much. By doing so you can cause the trigger mechanism to fail 'cause if the bolts are overtorqued you are putting the squeeze on the trigger mechanism's "guts". Look at the 2 pins on an 870. They are just fore and aft of the trigger. Too much pressure on the receiver walls right there can interfere with the trigger mechanism eventually getting to where the trigger stops working. Guess how I learned this? I also now have a different mounting system on my 870. The saddle mounts work O.K. though, as long as you don't crank'em down too tight. I would reccomend just snugging them up with some removable Loc-Tite on the threads and some nylon washers under each bolt head and nut.

22250rem,
Thanks for the info
Do you think that very small lock washers would do?
When they go flat stop tightening the bolt.

Sounds like a good idea. Just enough to flatten the lock washer should be good. I forgot what make of saddle mount I had but remember having a box wrench on both ends of those cross-bolts and cranking them down. It took a couple years before the trigger quit working. Called a gunsmith I know personally and told him the trigger didn't work on my 870 slug gun. Then he asks: "You got a scope on that thing in a saddle mount?". Turns out mine wasn't the first one he's seen with that problem. Now my only question is: "Why do I have to learn everything the hard way?".

Just some thoughts on my 25 years of shotguns & slugs on whitetails in OH.

If your buddy is OK with limiting his shots to the 101 feet that you mentioned, he'd be fine, as is, with 3" 50 yard groups. Matter of fact, that's real good for the setup he is using! If he doesn't mind spending some cash, odds are that he can stretch things to at least 100 yards.

Mind you this can get real expensive, real quick. I've experimented with at least half a dozen shotguns and mine all have been individualistic on their ammo preferences. (Or maybe the manufacturers change their formulas on me.)

After going through several temporary guns in my youth, I eventually was able to buy an 870 Wingmaster. It was a 20" smoothbore and if I could get 3" 50 yard groups I was elated. Took experimentation to even get there. I probably shot 6 boxes of slugs, and they probably cost $2 - $5 each back then. I later bought a 20" rifle-sighted barrel and had to reshoot groups. (More $$.)

Oh, speaking of scope mounts, early on I added a side mount scope base, (similar to the saddle mount you mentioned, except that the plate was only on one side of the receiver- not straddling both sides) then covered the gun in camo tape. Day before deer season was going thru a couple more boxes of slugs after sighting in to check the drop when accuracy went to pot. Turned out the threads stripped loose on the scope mount and the camo tape was the only thing holding the scope and mounts on! Later bought a Kwik Mount? where it straddles both sides of the receiver and never had another problem.

I eventually traded and got the then new 870 Express, since they just came out with 3" magnum slugs and I had to have a "magnum". It has a 21" Remchoke turkey barrel. More $$ checking on what slugs it liked.

Then I bought a screw-in rifled Remchoke and had to reshoot all the slugs again. Some slugs shot slightly better, some shot much worse. More $$ by the way. By now prices had gone up and there were even more choices to have to try to find the best. In spite of some of the exotic stuff coming out, it liked Remington Sluggers in the magnum version best- either 2 3/4 or 3".

Then I bought a fully-rifled 20" Remington barrel with the cantilever scope mount. I decided that I was going for the gusto. I bought one of every slug I could get my hands on and shot them for group size. It hurts- in more ways than one- to watch $12 a box (of 5) slugs doing 18" groups at 75 yards! I'm sure I spent well over $200 on ammo for the experiment! Sad to say, at the end of the testing, my best were only doing 2 1/2" at 100 yards. I believe they were Remington copper solids.

By this time I was ready to choke the gunwriters who claimed to get 3" groups with iron sights and foster slugs out of smoothbore barrels at 100 yards! A couple weeks later, just after deer season, I saw some new slugs from Remington called "Buckhammers" and thought, "What the heck, I've tried everything else, might as well buy it, shoot it, then I'll be able to say that I tried it all." Took a 50' shot to get it on paper, adjusted the scope, shot at 50 yards, tweaked the scope some more, and proceeded to cloverleaf the last 3 at 100 yards!!!! I thought, "No way!" The I hot-footed it back to town for the last 2 boxes left and shot all 10 into less than 3" at 100 yards!

I have a couple friends in TN who called and asked what they should try and they both got similar results so... I'd definitely give them a try. And by the way, my dad's Winchester 1400 does 3" groups at 50 yards with a 28" modified choke barrel, bead sight, and Winchester plain Jane foster slugs.

Thanks for the replies, I am keep up with them.
My friend is reading my print-outs too.
He asked this question, and I could not answer it.
"Do the longer 28 inch barrels have side to side, and/or, up and down "whip"? He saw that most dedicated slug barrels are somewhere around 20 to 24 inches. Maybe someone here knows.
All shotgun barrels, made for shot shooting, are thin walled.

As far as cost to find "the shells" that my guns shot well, I was lucky. I tried the 2 3/4 inch Copper Soilds first and was pleased. However the Winchester 1300 went through 5 different mfgs. to find the right one. I think that 2 inch groups with iron sights at 100 yards is very good. Fighting bi-focals now and a scope helps me get above the line better. My friend with the smooth bore likes the Winchester Foster slugs in the 2 3/4 inch. They do hold very good groups for his gun. His theroy is that you can get some slugs that are too fast, or too slow, for a smooth bore and that Winchester has done their homework BEFORE they made the shells available to hunters. Our thanks to them.

All barrels have some "whip". They bulge, squirm, flex, ect no matter if they are thin walled or the axle weight bull barrels found on bench rifles. Lenght has no bearing on if one does or doesn`t whip. That is the reason no two barrels shoot the same with the same ammo and one needs to try a few brands/types to see which his rifle prefers. It also is the cause of a bullet of a given weight and style hitting a different point when a same weight bullet of a different style is substitiuted, the barrel flexs at a different frequency. I assume the reason for the 24" tubes on slug barrels is due to woods handling improvements for game type hunting, in place of those needed for wing shooting.

Here is a web site with info on barrel harmonics and a animation of a barrel flexing. http://www.varmintal.com/amode.htm

Very interesting. Confirms his thoughts.

He has put a B-Square mount and scope on his shotgun now. Will take him to the range next Saturday. He will try the Remington Sluggers, Winchester Super X, and Federal's Tru-Ball. That mix should give him a good idea of what shoots well in his 870 Express.

Hello All
Living in Ohio we are limited to slugs muzzle loaders or pistols.
My expierences follow along with bhemry's and I've also found that the Buckhammer slugs shoot very well both in a 20" full rifled 1100w/ scope (2" @ 50yds) and a 870 20"rifle sighted rem choke bbl w/Briley extended rifled choke tube (3" @ 50yds).
If your buddies gun shoots 3"@50yds tell him it's a keeper and good luck.
nelson

Federal Tru-Ball have been the most accurate foster slugs that I have tried lately in most of my shotguns. The price ain't bad either. I caught a hell of a sale going on last year, a large local store had them on sale for .99 a box. Yes, less than a dollar!. They limited you to four boxes a trip, and I hit that store dang near every day for a month. I still have about 100 boxes in my personal inventory. I have shot groups with these in the neighborhood of 3" with fair consistency. This is in a smooth-bore with a 20" barrel and GOOD rifle sights. I would certainly give these a try if you are still looking for a good shooting load.