huntinmandan

okay , im 14 years old and about 4 yrs ago i decided i wanted to start hunting so i save up all my money for three yrs. and i bought a remington 870 express. on my barell it says shoot 3in or 2 3/4 in magnum reciever in all others shoot 2 3/4 ? mine does not say that its a magnum rieciever but i shoot threes thruogh it all the time!! what shoulf i do ?know my waterfowl hunting is going to be over, youcant nock geese or ducks down as well w/ 2 3/4 in shot can i still shoot 3s through my gun !@!?

stubblejumper

If you switch to bismuth or tungsten polymer instead of steel you can go to a smaller size and have as many pellets in a 2-3/4" shell as in a 3" with steel shot.For the record almost all of my ducks and a large percentage of my geese were shot with 2-3/4" shells.

driftrider

There are, to my knowledge, two types of recievers made for the Model 870, standard 3" and the Super Mag 3.5" reciever. You have the former, which will handle 2.75" and 3" shells, but will not function with 3.5" shells.

You say you already shoot 3" shells all the time, so why do you doubt that you can use 3" shells for waterfoul hunting?

Mike

stubblejumper

There were also 870's made with 2-3/4" receivers.

driftrider

I didn't think that they made the 2.75" recievers anymore...but I could be wrong.

Mike

halcon

I believe they still make the 2 3/4 " and I know they made a magnum 3" because I have one . These are in the wingmaster , not the Express .

huntinmandan

how mucch are those bismuth and tungsten loads ?
you say thwy have enough fir power for geese?

stubblejumper

Bismuth and tungsten polymer are more dense than steel so you can use smaller shot.They perform very much like lead shot.They do cost more than steel.For the amount that most people use though the cost is not prohibitive.Unless of course you are one of those people that uses three or more shots for every bird that you take home.

whiskeysnoot

Like I stated on the waterfowl forum, your receiver type is identified by the serial number suffix.

I just verified it from the remington website. If your serial # ends with a "V", it shoots 2 3/4" only. Ending with "M" shoots 2 3/4" and 3". A serial # with "A" shoots 2 3/4", 3", and 3 1/2". Go to www.remington.com, go to Support, and click on Help Center to see for yourself.

Also, a 3" barrel will fit on a 2 3/4" only receiver and chamber a 3" shell. This practice is not advisable and I am not saying it is okay to use in this configuration. Just that it is possible to mix the two up.

Don't worry about the bismuth and tungsten shot yet. If you saved 4 years to buy your 870, you won't be able to afford these shells.

huntinmandan

Edited for colorful language