Help with 870 Super Mag

[donjuan]

Hello all,
I have always appreciated the input of everyone on this board so I was hoping your could help answer some questions.  I have an 870 Wingmaster and love it.  I found an 870 Super Mag for a real good deal. Now, I have read on here about some load and choke combos that excel at 40 yards, but I was curious as to what you all found to give you a good 15-20 yard pattern and a workable pattern at 40?

More importantly, I have heard about the ejection issues with these guns.  I have never had any trouble with the wingmaster.  Are these a common problem for most all of these new 870s or is it just the most commonly reported issue?  Also, what about rust on the matte barrels?  Should I get a camo version or do they commonly rust?

[Bigspurs68]

My super mag that I carry now is camo with the shur shot stock. Camo is no big deal but that shur shot stock is nice. I shoot hevi 13 and nitro loads out of it with a .665 IC tube and get outstanding results. If a bird is inside 20 yds you better aim small tho.

[cuppednlocked]

I believe the stroke is just a little longer on the SM version than a Wingmaster.  At least it feels that way to me.  I had ejection trouble when I switched from a 3" to the SM version.  I was short-stroking the action.

[allaboutshooting]

Hello all,
I have always appreciated the input of everyone on this board so I was hoping your could help answer some questions.  I have an 870 Wingmaster and love it.  I found an 870 Super Mag for a real good deal. Now, I have read on here about some load and choke combos that excel at 40 yards, but I was curious as to what you all found to give you a good 15-20 yard pattern and a workable pattern at 40?

More importantly, I have heard about the ejection issues with these guns.  I have never had any trouble with the wingmaster.  Are these a common problem for most all of these new 870s or is it just the most commonly reported issue?  Also, what about rust on the matte barrels?  Should I get a camo version or do they commonly rust?

There were some problems with the early 870 SMs with ejection. It's been a while and I can't really remember the "fix" that was necessary. It was as I recall, pretty simple and could/can be done by an authorized repair station pretty easily and probably at no cost to the owner. Of course,  it may have already been done to your gun or it may be a model that already had the fix from the factory.

Those problems never existed with the Wingmaster or any of the 2.75" or 3" guns, just the 3.5" models.

As has been stated, camo is more for us than for the turkeys. As far as rust goes, I know a lot of folks have problems with the matte finish on Remington guns. I hear about it a lot, here and other places, including some gun shops.

I have a bunch of those guns and shoot them a lot in competition in the summer months when I sweat on them and they get rained on at times. I wipe them down when they get wet and when I'm through shooting, I'll use and oily rag on them, really over-oil the exterior and let it soak in before wiping off the excess. I don't have any problems with I follow that process. I also store them using a mini-dehumidifier and vapor technology cubes. That seems to help a lot.

There is a challenge in getting a choke/load that works at close and far distances. I know what works in the guns that I use, including my 870s. Maybe this will help some http://allaboutshooting.com/article_info.php?articles_id=367

The new tighter shooting loads can sometimes be way too tight at 20 yards but the proper choke tube and load can be of great help.

It pays to practice at all distances just so you'll know what your gun does.

Thanks,
Clark

[FXDWG]

I have the 870 sm with a sure shot and a 20" barrel. I use a rhino .660 and a cheap truglo .660 ( works as good as rhino lol). My gun loves hevi mag blend and Longbeard #6. I had the ejection issue and fixed it with a dremel in three minutes. Don't let the ejection issue dissuade you, anyone can easily fix it. There is a burr on the inside of the barrel in the chamber. There is a video on here that someone shared with me on how to repair it. I only had trouble ejecting 2 3/4" shells. It runs perfectly since I fixed it. I love the gun, I put a fastfire III on mine.

[SCDieselDawg]

What barrel length are you running?

My SM has a 23" barrel and I run the .662 Hevi choke with 3.5" mag blends. i don't let em get close enough to have to worry about 20 yds and under. Once he gets inside 40 I start putting pressure on the trigger.

[davisd9]

Longbeards are going to have you tight at 20 yards and under.  Shooting a tight choke or putting up huge numbers at 40 with Hevi, or really any load, is going to have you tight up close.  Number chasing is for shooting cardboard and out of blinds.  Look for a true hunting pattern, decent numbers and good even spread throughout the 10" circle.  A Jellyhead .665, IC .665, or Pure Gold .670 would do the trick for a good open pattern.  If you want to shoot Lead I would go with the Federal Turkey Thug #5 so the pattern would be more open a closer ranges, HTL I would go with a #6.  Good to have a good hunting pattern cause you never know when Mr. Longbeard is going to sneak up on you at 15 yards.  Good luck!

[donjuan]

Thank you all very much!