looking at a beater 870 wingmaster magnum, fixed full. can steel shot be used effectively? thanks for any input.

In a word, no. While you might safely shoot it with steel shot and do no damage, the odds are just as good that you might damage the choke. The best reason for not putting steel shot through it is your patterns will suck big time. Were it me, and the price was right and I had to have it, I would buy it and have the choke opened up to improved cylinder or light modified. The cost is but a pittance, and your patterns will exhibit good density for bird killing.

Better yet, if you are somebody who only fires a few shots at waterfowl per year, perhaps just leave the choke alone and spend a few extra bucks for some non-toxic non-steel shot loads that are compatible with a tight choke. They will add a buck or so to the cost of pulling the trigger, but what's a couple bucks if only a few shots are contemplated? Compared to the other costs of putting yourself in a duck blind, a couple extra bucks for shells shouldn't matter. Plus, and it's no small plus, such ammo kills better than steel ever will too.

Remington says it's ok to use the smaller sizes of steel, but most sources say patterns won't be very good. Too much restriction for the steel. But replacement barrels, though a bit pricey, give you the magic of modern screw-in chokes, and you'd still have the old barrel if you traded or sold it. But as gnoahh says, for a couple of days of hunting a year, just buy the higher priced non-toxics and have a better load than steel!

don't know if shooting a non toxic load will help or not. most of them that I have used (hevi shot)has the hardness of steel but the density of lead. it is the non compressibility of steel vs the softness of lead that is the issue. if the non toxic load is anything like Hevi-Shot you still risk bulging or destroying the end of the barrel. my .02 on the matter. I would open it up to modified or imp modified or better yet get an additional barrel as suggested earlier with screw in chokes.

Spot on advice.

Listen to gnoahhh!

I would try the softer non-toxics like Bismuth in a full/fixed choke barrel.

Yeah, I was thinking Nice Shot or Bismuth when I typed my reply. I should've been clearer. HeaviShot is certainly a killer but not especially full choke friendly.

One of my goose hunting buddies insisted on using an 1100 full choked gun with steel, and besides needing to empty the gun into a single bird to kill it, after a couple boxes of shells you could see a distinct bulge on the barrel about 1�" back from the muzzle.

By keeping the gun choked full and using a quality soft non-tox shot charge, you can effectively drop to relatively light charges and because of the density of the pattern get great killing effect on tough honkers. Example: I use a 1924-vintage LC Smith Longrange Model double gun, chocked extra full-and-tighter-than Uranus full, with one ounce loads of #2 Nice Shot @ 1250fps. Over dekes, at 30-40 yards, one shot kills, deader than dead. Easy on the gun, easy on the shooter, and in the long run cheaper than shooting steel (fewer shots per dead bird, even though each trigger pull is more expensive). I would blush to admit to a few truly long range "Hail Mary" shots that dropped them stone dead too.

Thanks for the good info fellas. Much appreciated. Lucked into a real nice SBE so if I pick it up it will not likely get a ton of steel use. Could be fun to take it out with a couple boxes of Rio Bismuth once in a while though. Thanks again, Rick35

The results of steel shot and a screw in full choke. Its called ring bulge.

http://www.browning.com/customerservice/qna/detail.asp?id=128

Yes Remington certifies their fixed Full choke 870-1100 shotguns for up to #2 steel at standard velocity's. Others Are not informed or are directly misleading on Remington Shotguns. Some have been called on this multiple times and continue to mislead people. These are the Jack-a-napes of the Internet world

At what point does Remington offer this "certification"? Does it cover all Remington 870's ever made, or just recent ones? Does the OP's gun in question fall into this area, for sure? I don't know, and I'll bet nobody else here does.

While Remington may warrant the safety of doing that (heck, most any well made single barreled full choke gun will hold together ok), you're still left with the immutable fact that patterns with steel out of a full choke are lousy, making it still a lousy idea on other levels.

You know the answers to these Question. Remington has been Giving them for decades. Yet people Still intentionally Misinform on Remington And Steel shot. Patterning Takes Work, Get to it for yourself. Steel shot Performs very well out Of Remington Fixed Choke barrels. Buy Some Remington Sportsman and Pattern some #3 & #2 Then you will know. Until then You are just Uninformed

Stop you are making sense!

Oh my god please tell me you didn't just say he is uninformed?????

I would love to see these wonderful patterns out of a full choke with 2's or 3's!

Here Has Been Misinforming others on the Remington's For Years. Period

Let us all know when you get a good pattern out of a full choke with steel shot. Mean while we will continue on with our lives, as this project of yours is going to take a lot of time. Good Luck.

By the way gnoahhh is usually spot on with shotgun advice. The only one mis-informed I see in this is you.

Feel Free to maintain you ignorance and follow the low info internet poster

an article by Don Zutz in, I believe, the American rifleman in the nineteen eighties gave several manufacturer's recommendations for steel shot in older shotguns. i believe remington, as baltz526 said, ok'd the use of smaller steel shot in all 870 barrels. no guarantee of good performance, just that their more modern shotgun models would handle the smaller sizes of steel without damage. i have found that modified chokes give far more even patterns with steel than full out of modern remington barrels with full tube marked "lead or steel." i hope i have omitted enough capitalizations to make up for baltz526's excessive use of them .

Let him go, fellas. He latched onto a one theme rant, and will likely trip over his tongue any minute now.