Remington 870 questions.

[Nick9130White]

How's it Goin? I'm new here and I have a couple questions about my new shotgun.
I bought a Remington 870 Express and I was wondering, does the "express" mean anything? Or is it just the base 870?
And my second question is, am I able to shoot slugs through this shotgun? If so, what choke should I use?

 

[Deerhunter]

You can shoot slugs through it. It just depends on what barrel you have on it and what slugs you are shooting. You can't shoot sabots through a smooth bore barrel.

If you are planning to shoot slugs out of in go ahead and invest in a rifled slug barrel for it and shoot sabots. Then you don't have to worry about chokes

The Express is just the base model 870. They have an 870 Express Magnum and an 870 Express Super Magnum also

 

[hogdogs]

You can shoot slugs through it. It just depends on what barrel you have on it and what slugs you are shooting.

Correct, the "rifled" (grooved) slugs are designed to be shot thru smooth bores up to and including "full" choke safely... performance will vary with choke constriction and slug chosen...

You can't shoot sabots through a smooth bore barrel.

Actually you can shoot sabot slugs in a smooth barrel and rifled slugs in a rifled barrel...
Sabot slugs are costly compared to cheap rifled slugs and you will not see the benefits of their potential in a smooth barrel but it is safe to fire them.

Rifled slugs will load the rifling with lead in a rifled barrel real quick and is going to be a chore to clean. but it is also safe to fire them in a rifled bore.

If you are planning to shoot slugs out of in go ahead and invest in a rifled slug barrel for it and shoot sabots. Then you don't have to worry about chokes

But the cost of the rifled barrel and sabot slugs may out weigh the lower cost of the "Express"... If you intend to use slugs beyond 80-100 yards, you will want to look into rifled barrel and $abot $slugs... These easily go $3+ per round... not far from the cost of .50BMG rounds... If shooting under 80 yards, buy several makes and models of "rifled" slugs and see what you and your gun do well with...

The Express is just the base model 870. They have an 870 Express Magnum and an 870 Express Super Magnum also

The express is a rougher gun planned to sell to folks shopping on price only... The Mossberg and Maverick both come in with lower price and still retain semi-nice finish...

Brent

 

[Nick9130White]

Thank you very much. I think I'll do just that.
Another question, I bought a Winchester cleaning kit for my shotgun and rifle, and it has those brush things not te brass the fuzzy ones, how do I clean those after I use them?

 

[hogdogs]

I consider the wire brushes and swabs to be "expendable items", I do not try to clean them, I just go until the brush is too loose to scrub well and the swab is a nasty caked up blob... I get a few dozen cleanings out of each...

Brent

 

[Rifleman1776]

He asked good, basic, questions.
I know almost nothing about slugs.
Could sabot slugs be used in a smooth bore barrel with a screw-in rifled choke? Is there a screw-in rifled choke available for the 870?

 

[hogdogs]

I am no 870 man but I am nearly 100% that there is a rifled choke tube for them... I just don't believe they could impart enuff spin... My little knowledge of physics says that after 24+ inches of un spun forward motion, that last 2 inches will largely be wasted with "skidding" before the wad even hooks at all...

Brent

 

[zippy13]

Express means they hurried it along the assembly line.

 

[Nick9130White]

Wow, you guys know your stuff here.
I like it here!
Thank you for all your help.
I ended up putting the swabs in a masen jar with soap and water, i was cleaning my bore snake, so i decided to just put those on it aswell.

 

[rantingredneck]

Brent,

Remington does in fact make a rifled choke tube for the 870. They come standard, along with an IC choke, in Remington's Remchoke rifle sight smoothbore deer barrels.

I haven't used the rifled choke extensively, but I fired a few groups with it last year using Brenneke slugs. I couldn't tell any appreciable difference between the rifled choke and the IC choke at 50 yds. I don't $pend money on $abot $lugs personally. .

Tom

 

[Deerhunter]

@hogdogs

Sorry I guess I should have gotten more into that. You are correct and I stand corrected on I should have gone into more details. Yes you can shoot sabots out of a smooth barrel. They will tumble all over the place though. Sorry I was answering kind of fast. Hogdogs gave you more accurate info

 

[DRT300]

When shooting rifled slugs through a smooth bore I always got best results with a improved cyl.

 

[anthonygordon]

in order to shoot slugs out of a shotgun you need to get the right barrel for the job. i have a mossberg 500 and i have to put a rifled barrel on it to shoot a sabot slug. if you try and shoot a slug out of a smooth bore barrel then you will probably damage the barrel, because of the choke tube

 

[hogdogs]

in order to shoot slugs out of a shotgun you need to get the right barrel for the job.

Yes you are sort of correct... If you want to invest in sabot slugs, you would likely want to pair the investment with a new rifled barrel or you will not see the full potential.

i have a mossberg 500 and i have to put a rifled barrel on it to shoot a sabot slug.

Yes, see above...

if you try and shoot a slug out of a smooth bore barrel then you will probably damage the barrel, because of the choke tube

Now this is 100% erroneous and you really need to be careful that you actually know what you are talking about before spreading it as factual info. I am glad you were wrong leaning towards safety...

The truth is that "damage" to a smooth barrel from a sabot slug is very unlikely with any choke, fixed or tube, constriction up to and including a standard "full"... Also, you will not "damage" a rifled barrel with a "rifled" slug. However, you may foul the rifling grooves with lead that will require a deep cleaning with a liberal application of elbow grease to remedy.

Brent