new gun~!

[tha bugman]

Well, I got my new 870 Express Magnum with a 23" barrel on Friday....took it home and found a Remington Xtra Full choke for it.  Got some Remington Premier 2oz #5's and got 132 pellets in a 10" circle at 30 yards....40 yards totally blew up with around 50 pellets??? Thought that was pretty good.... I will post pics of gun and pattern tomorrow!

[mcgruff1533]

Sounds like that load/ choke combo is good for about 30-35 yards.

I would NOT hunt with that combo at 40 yards... the pattern is far too thin to reliably put a bird down every time.

I'd try a box of Winchester Supreme or Super X loads, and re-evaluate your pattern.    #6 pellets will give you more pellets per ounce and a more dense pattern.

[tha bugman]

went with #5's since it was the only 2 oz load they had at Wally World...so you are saying I need the #6s since it is basically a 30-35 yard gun??? or should the #6's be sufficient for 40 yards killing shot if the pattern is better than the #5's were?

[mcgruff1533]

Here on Old Gobbler, the benchmark number we use for a 10" pattern is a minimum of 100 pellet hits.     If your Remington 2oz, #5's were only doing 50 pellets at 40 yards, it's clear that choke/ load combo has not met the benchmark.

Lead #6's have 225 pellets per ounce compared to 170 pellet per ounce of lead #5's.    This will give you approx 450 pellets in a 2 ounce load instead of 340.   Lead #6's pack more than enough energy to drop a gobbler at 40 yards.

Don't be afraid to try other chokes and loads with your gun if you're not satisfied.   The pattern testing is half the gun of turning your shotgun into a hard core turkey slayer.