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I've never used steel shot before.

Is it true that they damage the barrel in the long run?

I've got a Rem 870 12-ga using 2-3/4 shells, and I'll have a full choke installed for ducks.

Pros and cons will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

jaeger45 wrote:I've never used steel shot before.

Is it true that they damage the barrel in the long run?

I've got a Rem 870 12-ga using 2-3/4 shells, and I'll have a full choke installed for ducks.

Pros and cons will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

It will pattern a little tighter than leadd, so you can use one size looser choke. Th only damage I have ever heard was from using it in an older gun with thinner barrels. Your gun has choke tubes that interchange so it has a heavier wall barrel than the older guns.

bearandoldman wrote:

jaeger45 wrote:I've never used steel shot before.

Is it true that they damage the barrel in the long run?

I've got a Rem 870 12-ga using 2-3/4 shells, and I'll have a full choke installed for ducks.

Pros and cons will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

It will pattern a little tighter than leadd, so you can use one size looser choke. Th only damage I have ever heard was from using it in an older gun with thinner barrels. Your gun has choke tubes that interchange so it has a heavier wall barrel than the older guns.

Thanks, Len. BTW, my 870 replacement bbl will come by the end of the month with full, mod and i/c chokes. Hope I'll be drawn for ducks.

Ever used slugs? I live in CA so I don't have much use for it-- however, I'm just wondering if it's better for pigs esp. with the farther-reaching shotgun slugs I'd read about, or just stick to my scoped .243. (BTW, saw the fires and smelled the smoke but thank Almighty it never got any nearer than 2 miles as the wind died down. But I'll admit seeing the miles long line of fires burning brightly at night was scary.)

Actually, the only experience I have with rifled slugs was when my host in MA last Dec. got a deer with his scoped SG. (He got two- one right after the other. And scared the rest of the herd to nearby Rhode Is: we never saw another one for the rest of my vacation. To add insult to injury, my daughter sent me picture of Bambi chomping on her flowers right after I left. )

Good to hear you didn't suffer any fire damage. Several of my relatives were evacuated but the fire died before doing any damage. One group in Rancho Santa-Fe had the fire approach dangerously close, it was stopped just a mile away from their home.

I've been through several fires, earthquakes, and floods when I lived in California - it's all just part of living in the golden state.


Shotgun slugs have a limited range. I consider the max effective range to be 50-75 yards out of a smooth shotgun barrel. You can extend the range out a little by using a rifled shotgun barrel but then you're only gaining another 50 yards. Many states - like Ohio - require them for use in deer hunting to prevent accidental shootings or downrange mishaps. I wouldn't recommend them for pig hunting. Pigs are fairly small targets, compared to a deer, and rifled shotgun slugs aren't as accurate as rifle/heavy caliber pistol rounds.

R,
Bullseye

I've killed two wild pigs with slugs from an 870. Both field dressed out at about 150 lbs. One was about 60 yards away and the other boar was "up close and personal". One nice thing about a shotgun when you're hunting hogs is that the last round can be 00 buck.

jaeger, you don't want to use a full choke if it's not an extended type with steel shot, it may damage your barrel. Usually the damage is a bulge just behind the choke. For factory chokes use your Modified as said before the steel will group tighter anyways. This past winter I was using Improved Cylinder will steel shot and had amazingly good luck with it. I am not that great of a swing shooter, correct that I am not great at all.

For slugs you should have your Improved Cylinder in the barrel. I always felt that 100 yards was about the max that one would want to try to wring out of a slug in a smooth bore. Look around you may be able to pick up a rifled barrel cheap.

Blindpig wrote:I've killed two wild pigs with slugs from an 870. Both field dressed out at about 150 lbs. One was about 60 yards away and the other boar was "up close and personal". One nice thing about a shotgun when you're hunting hogs is that the last round can be 00 buck.

"Personal"???

Aw-ww come one, BP- be reasonable!

You put a shotgun slug in anybody and of course he's gonna take it kinda personal!!!

Hee hee hee...

jaeger45 wrote:

Blindpig wrote:I've killed two wild pigs with slugs from an 870. Both field dressed out at about 150 lbs. One was about 60 yards away and the other boar was "up close and personal". One nice thing about a shotgun when you're hunting hogs is that the last round can be 00 buck.

"Personal"???

Aw-ww come one, BP- be reasonable!

You put a shotgun slug in anybody and of course he's gonna take it kinda personal!!!

Hee hee hee...

Got to agree with that.