REMINGTON 870 SUPERMAG

[gophert]

Normally I would say the Ventilator .655 would be a good choice, but in a 28" barrel I think it may be too tight.  The longer the barrel, the tighter that pattern will be.  Since you have it on the way, there's no way to know, but to shoot it.  My next choice would be the Primos JellyHead in .665.  I think that will probably be your best hunting pattern. 

If you can find some of the Fed Turkey Thugs #6's left a wal-mart, that is the best lead load I have seen this year. 

Good luck!

Tim

The question I have is how will the 3.5" Hevi-13 2.25oz #7 loads shoot out of the Ventilator .655 choke?  I know the Hevi-13 3" 2oz #7 loads will shoot just fine out of this choke in the 3" chamber 870 28" barrel I have.  I have told you this before, but neither Jelly head .660 or .665 shot any better than the Indian Creek BDS .665 out of my 870 with the Hevi-13 3" 2oz #7 loads.  All were right around 200 to 204 in the 10".  The Ventilator will rip those chokes to pieces in my 870. 

This was the very first shot I shot out of that brand new Ventilator .655 choke that I thought would be too tight for my barrel.  It showed off right away.  And other shots have been close to this.

I was unsure how long the barrel was that the pattern you showed came from.  It does seem to put up a good number in the 10".  I agree the Ventilator is under mentioned here on OG.   I think it would be interesting to see the whole pattern as well.  I know the Primos did not shoot good in your gun,(yes we have had this discussion)  but I would say that your gun is more of an exception verses the norm in Rem barrels and just more reason someone needs to shoot their gun to determine what is the best fit.  I am an Indian Creek fan due to the fact I have found they shoot the most consistent patterns with all my handloads.  However, my 870 SM did NOT like the Indian Creek.  The Primos .660 threw a better number regardless of what I ran through it.  When I had my 26" barrel I got over 300 with the Hevi #7's 2.25 oz everytime.  I then went to a 23" barrel and still got around 275 in the 10.  Nothing else I shot even came close. So, to totally disregard the Primos as a bad choke is not prudent.  There are too many great patterns with the Rem barrels to do that.

Brad, why don't you make the move to TSS where the big boys play.  I got some 20 ga patterns that will make someone with a 12 ga cry.   

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

Tim,

I was'nt saying to disregard the Jelly Head .660, or. 665 chokes.  I was saying that they did'nt work in my 28" barrel.  And just so you know Tim, I have even been telling guys in pm's who ask me about what 870 choke to try that a lot of folks swear by their Jelly Head chokes in either.660, or .665.  I also tell them they did'nt work very well in my 870 28" barrel shooting Hevi-13 3" 2oz #7 loads. 

TSS is just too expensive to shoot.  And I got burn out on reloading in my younger years when ole Brad was the shell guy for my buddy's I dove hunted with at the time.  I still have all my reloading stuff.

[FL-Boss]

Coming from someone that has a bunch of 11-87 and 870's – the different barrel sizes do change a lot. As it was stated above, I also had a 870 that loved the IC... but it had a 26in barrel.  However, my 11-87 SM with the 23in barrel loved the Jelly Heads in both .660 and .665 when shooting HEVI #7, 3.5.  Not so much the IC... like the other gun. 

When we talk numbers in the 10in,  my tests show when shooting HEVI #7 in a REM... the IC, HEVI choke, JH are consistent winners.  Ventilator was also close.  But the JH seems to beat the others by a little. 

My personal favorite for actual hunting was the Wrights .670 -  I like my hunting chokes a little wider.

[turkey buster]

870SM 26in barrel with a .665 Jelly Head shoots good for me with the 3.5in mag blends and nearly as good with the HS 3.5in 6's

[Longshanks]

Rem 870sm/ Ventilator .655

160's in a 10 @ 40  Winchester XX 3/2/6's

280's in a 10 @ 40  Hevi 13 3/2/7's

*Just put a Ventilator .655 in a brand new 21" bbl/ Remington 870 Wingmaster.  Be interesting to see what it will do.

[captin_hook]

Can't go wrong with a jellyhead