Remington 870 Express Tactical Ammo

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this_is_nascar

New member
I just picked up my 1st ever shotgun, a new Remington Model 870 Express Tactical. Its primary duty will be home-defense in a small, rancher style, home. Secondarily, I'll take it to the range (25' maximum distance in length) to shoot at some targets and get the feel of the gun.

What type of ammo do you recommend for each usage? I know the indoor range doesn't allow all types of ammo. I forget what's allowed/not allowed, so I have to give them a call today when they open.
 
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zippy13

New member
Greetings this is nascar, and welcome aboard.

You're in NJ, it's a gun un-friendly state like my CA. For purely political reasons, should you ever have to use your gun for HD, may I suggest you use ammo that's labeled home defense as opposed to stuff that's marked as tactical or for law enforcement.

For your range work, be sure to follow their ammo restrictions/recommendations. Hopefully you'll have some training with the same ammo that you'll use for HD.
 
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ATW525

New member
25' maximum distance in length
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Do you mean 25 yards? 25' is rather short.

Anyways, I personally find that shooting at paper with anything but slugs gets really boring really fast, but that's just me. A lot will depend on the range rules.

For home defense there are various sizes of buckshot along with Foster type slugs. I'd stay away from birdshot, Brenneke style slugs and sabot slugs. Birdshot doesn't penetrate enough, and Brenneke and sabot slugs penetrate too much.
 
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kx592

New member
Run some 00bk through her, get use to the recoil, and keep some on hand for HD. Other than that the run the gun every chance you get and be very comfortable with it.

NJ resident as well, you said tactical 870? Do you have an adjustable stock and pistol grip type of deal? Re read title 13, chapter 54 if your not sure whats allowed. Better safe than sorry.
 
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MLeake

New member
Indoor ranges...

... generally will not want you to use anything but slugs.

Friend who owned a range told me that in his experience, lighter shot had a nasty tendency to ricochet. They'd had a couple instances, luckily with no injuries, before his range put a general ban on shotguns.

Not sure if heavier buckshot would ricochet. As noted, I've only been allowed to use slugs at indoor ranges, in the few I've found that allowed shotguns (many do not).
 
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this_is_nascar

New member
It definately seems that SLUGS are the way to go at the range. One could argue their usefullness for home-defense over BUCK, but that's another thread.

That being said, is there any slug ammo (keeping in mind that I'm in NJ) that would not be acceptable for use? What do you folks recommend along the lines of 2 3/4" slug for the range?
 
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popeyespappy

New member
Bamashooter said:
I have some 3.5'' 00 buck for home defense in my 870. Thats why my go to home defense gun is my .45.
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That's why I I like 2-3/4" low recoil for my HD 870. Just in case the .45 runs empty. ;)
 
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ATW525

New member
What do you folks recommend along the lines of 2 3/4" slug for the range?
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I always liked Remington Slugger. I can usually find it relatively inexpensively and it's not too bad on the shoulder.

For buckshot you might want to look at Federal's Flight Control loads, as they have a reputation for extremely tight patterns.
 
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VUPDblue

New member
I'll second the recommendation of Federal's 00buck with Flitecontrol. Their PD132 loading (low recoil, 8 pellet) is VERY tight patterning and a very effective load.
 
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this_is_nascar

New member
The more I'm reading about varios ammo, the more I'm getting confused. For example, I just read this in the description of some ammo.

Designed specifically for smooth bore barrels but can also be used in rifled choke tube barrels or fully rifled barrels.


Is this something I need to be concerned over? I've read the specs that I could find about my Remington 870 Express Tactical and didn't see anything specific about the barrel.
 
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rantingredneck

New member
Your shotgun is a smoothbore barrel. You'll want to focus primarily on buckshot loads and if you want to shoot slugs, the cheaper "rifled" slugs of either Foster or Brenneke design will be the cheapest option and will work well from your smooth (non-rifled) barrel). Sabot slugs are meant for rifled barrels and are quite spendy. Some as much as 2 to 3 dollars per shell.

For buckshot, I'll chime in as a proponent of the Federal Flite Control or Hornady Versatite shells.

This target was shot with a Hornady TAP FPD Versatite shell (8 pellets at 1600 fps):

941a9006-a309-420f-9c99-a8827b82a293.jpg


At 15 yards.......from a Remington 870 with an 18" cylinder bore barrel much like yours.

This target was shot with a Federal Tactical LE12700 Flite Control shell (9 pellets at 1345 FPS):

8d03eb9e-b684-4835-b7ba-7df492c64184.jpg


At 15 yards from the same 870.

Now at across the bedroom distances the above shells throw one ragged hole patterns. At across the bedroom distances, traditional wad technology shells (Remington Express, Federal Powershok, etc.) do very well.

Example patterns of Remington and Federal traditional 9 pellet 00 buck loads at 7 yds:

Federal:
002dc51e-827e-4560-9c7f-3bfd99d49f2a.jpg


Remington:
cce85054-045e-4dd9-8c16-c466b18fea36.jpg


These patterns put the lie to the statement that "You can't miss with a shotgun".
 
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rantingredneck

New member
Zippy's advice of using ammo with "defense" in the name is also something to consider.

Hornady TAP FPD (For Personal Defense)
Hornady Critical Defense (basically the same load as the TAP FPD and includes the VersaTite wad).
 
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myshoulderissore

New member
Your shotgun has a cylinder bore, meaning no choke. You'd be hard pressed to find anything it won't eat with ease. I have about the same gun, and I love it.

Also, to note, it will NOT hold 6 3" rounds in the tube, as far as I can tell... 4x3" and 2x2 3/4", yes, but not 6x3". But the 3" loads can get pretty punishing, so don't sweat it. Just use 2 3/4" and keep in mind how many shots you actually "need" anyway.
 
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this_is_nascar

New member
Thanks for all the responses folks. I really appreciate it. It took me forever to decide on this gun. I didn't realize I'd spend at least as much time, if not more, deciding on which ammo to use in it. :D
 
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