Whats my max range you think?
 

What do you think my max range isto kill a deer with a Remington 870 Express Super Magnum shooting 3 1/2 inch Remington Express 18 pellet-00BK buckshot?

RE: Whats my max range you think?
 

Depends on your pattern. I would put out some butcher paper at 35-40 yards and see what works best for you. A single pellet can cause a fatality, sooner or later, even at 100yards. (You don't want to know how I know that, either.) But I bet you would feel better with at least 3 pellets in the vitals.

RE: Whats my max range you think?
 

Buckshot is deadly up close but the lack of energy and shock lets way too many deer run off and die if the shots are too long. "IF" you have a good pattern I would shoot no further than 35-40 yds. Past that use a slug.

RE: Whats my max range you think?
 

I agree! Stretch the range of buckshot, and it is a sure miss, or worse, wounded deer! For what its worth, #3 or #4 buckshot will give you a much better pattern, with no real loss of range!

RE: Whats my max range you think?
 

Well I shot it at about 20 Yds yesterday and it had about a 10 inch to a foot ofspread.

RE: Whats my max range you think?
 

ive used the same load in my mossberg 835 with a full choke to take a little 6 point buck a few years back hunting in Louisiana the shot was about 70 yards.

RE: Whats my max range you think?
 

I have had horrible luck with buckshot. I keep all my shots under 30 yards.

RE: Whats my max range you think?
 

If people only knew how many deer are running around with buckshot in their bodies...

For every "I've killed one at 100yds" story, there are thousands of "misses" that may have not been clean misses.

In my opinion.....2 words....Buckshot sucks. I've spent a lot of time patterning buckshot, and I've found one thing. There is no pattern.

Why is it that someone shooting a rifle/slug will spend hours at the range sighting in their gun to get things lined up, but nobody can possibly pattern buckshot properly. Most rifle hunters can hit a 3" circle at 100yds from a bench. Put that same 3" circle at 50yds, and nobody can consistently hit it with buckshot.

RE: Whats my max range you think?
 

Honestly probably not any farther than a 2 3/4 load of buckshot in a standard 3 inch barrel. And it would kick a WHOLE lot less would be my guess.

As with any other gun your max rang is really going to depend on what your gun does with a particular ammo and how well you shoot it. Yes effeciency of the load is a factor, but it doesn't matter how far a load will work if you can't hit anything with it;).

Buckshot is made for close up kind of work, not longer distance stuff, that is what slugs are for. I would say keep it in the 40 yard range if your gun patterns well enough for that. I would be looking for tight patterns at that distance, like enough to keep the shot in the vitals.

With buckshot you need to pattern your gun just like you would with any other load for any other game. Even more so in my opinion. Don't be afraid to try different chokes and different loads. Even 2 3/4 and 3 inch loads, your gun should shoot them just as well. Just because you have a 3 1/2 inch gun doesn't mean you have to shoot those big ole shells out of it.

My buddy has a 3 1/2 870 special purpose turkey gun and it shoots anything you put in it, I would assume yours is the same. He also has a rifled barrel for it. Anything that will fit an 870 will fit your gun, you don't need a special barrel if you get a different one. He just went out and bought a standard rifled cantilever barrel from remington. Shoots absolutely great.

I personally don't care for buckshot, but I supose it has it's purposes and it is legal so I try not to bag on people that use it. If I wanted to shoot that close I would just use my bow or maybe get a handgun. In my opinion though if you want to shoot farther than 30-40 yards you should see how some rifled slugs shoot out of it, or get a rifled deer barrel which will extend your range quite a bit farther.

Good luck,
Paul

RE: Whats my max range you think?
 

I think there is a point to buckshot not patterning like birdshot. I don't think it responds well to shaping like a tall column of birdshot. It behaves like musket ball. I like to print my shotguns with buckshot because each is going to hit the paper differently. I have also found that the more choke you use, the more stringers you get.