Hey guys I need some help, earlier this year I patterned my 12ga 870 with a Rem super full turkey choke and found that the #6 Federal flight control wad shells was doing just what I needed it to do and I eventually took a good tom at 43 yards with it, flop! Now the bad, I cleaned my gun rather well and put it up to rest until fall but my buddy bought a new 870 supermag so I got mine out and we was shooting and comparing blah blah blah, the first time I shot, boom! Awesome just like it should, the next time and every time after that the pattern is blown everywhere! I mean at 20 yards it is all over the place and before at 20 yards it made one fist sized hole. I also noticed that now no matter what shell I run through it, one of the petals on the wad will be completely torn almost ripped off and mangled all to pieces. The choke tube was tight I already checked, I swapped chokes to an IC and shot some 00 buck through it and the same thing is still happening. The bbl is cleaned with a bore snake after each shot there was no obstruction, does anybody have any clue what is going on? Any advice or answers will be greatly appreciated! Thank you.
Never had that issue with my 870, which I've had for many years. We've got some real gun experts here, that I'm sure they can tell you what's happening.
Remove the barrel. Put it back on and make sure it seats properly. Then tighten it good and snug. You can't over tighten it with your hands so put some muscle to it. Do the same thing with the choke. Check the inside of the choke for a burr too.
If that barrel and choke is clean and you are using the same shells as you were when you made your kill, the most likely thing is exactly what has already been said...tighten that barrel and choke. Only thing it can be I think. Let us know when you find the problem.