I recently bought a box of 2 ounce #5 Remington Premier shells rated at 1300 fps for my 3 1/2" 12 gauge. I've tried similar loads from Federal and Winchester, but nothing rated up at 1300. I had a bunch of chokes on hand to test and was looking for something that would shove the 2 ounce and over loads into a tight pattern at 40 paces.

I found that the slower shells performed just as well, speaking of lead. The thing I really noticed, is that the faster 2 ounce load rated at 1300 generated a huge increase in recoil. I mean so much more punch than the rest that I would gladly give them to away. I can shoot 3 or even 4 of the other brands right after the other to attain the kick of just 1 of the Premiers. They were just plain nasty.

Don't get me wrong, I still shoot 3 1/2" shells. The slower fps shells were just more bearable after multiple shots. Now, here's a funny thing I found about the Remington Hevi-shot.

Having not been real impressed with my patterns, and on the advice of my turkey mentor, I grabbed up a box of Remington Hevi shot. Ironically, he shoots the same gun you have... an 870 Supermag 3 1/2 incher with the same dimensions. He suggested I try a .665 choke, (his was an un-ported Trulock), with the 1225 fps Remington #6 Hevi-shot, in the 1 7/8 ounce payload. I've shot the best pattern I've ever counted with this combination to date.

The funny thing about it was that the Hevi-shot recoiled about as much as a HV Winchester 3" turkey load that I used to throw out of my old turkey gun, a lightweight Winchester pump. Go figure.

The only thing I've seen shoot better than this thus far has been the Rhino choke / Nitro shell combo. Another close hunting buddy went to the Rhino choke / Nitro shell combo that was recommended for his gun and it flat out smokes anything I've seen. To make matters worse, he's shooting 3" shells. Very nice indeed. Hope this helps and good luck with the Toms.