what kind of range w/12 ga?
 

What kind of realistic range that I can expect to get out of a Remmington 870 12 ga, 28" brl, shooting Federal 00 buck, 3" mags? Thanks.

If u pattern it with differint chokes to git the best pattern i would not go past 40 yards.40 yards is the effective range with my stoeger auto with a full choke.

why not shoot slugs?

My Old Mossberg 500 Pump action with 30" have taken many a deer at 75-80 yards using 3'' Federal 00 Buck loads.
So it depends on the gun and barrel and ammo and hunter.

There's been a lot of discussion on here as to how many pellets are enough, but even if you hit him with the whole load I agree that 40 yards is max, 30 even better. My opinion is that slugs are a much better round for killing deer. Even without a fancy slug gun you should be able to hit one past 40 yards. Slugs will give you big holes with lots of blood, deer are much easier to track than one hit with buckshot.

Yeah you might want to try slugs, can't remember who sell's them but they now make a ballistic tip slug that can do 100+ yards !

Try 250 yards!

With my Mossberg 500 shooting slugs I was accurate to about 75 yards 2 inch group

Running deer with dogs, through Southern swamps and cutovers...Slugs aren't the best option, buckshot is...

As mentioned, pattern your gun, try different chokes and brands of buckshot...When you can put 4-5 pellets into a 10-12 inch circle at 40 yards you are good to go...Try to keep your shots inside of 40-45 yards...

Like duck hunting, some will try skyblasting but the 40 yard line is a good stopping point...

Hawkeye I agree buckshot is better in southern swamps.40 yards is about right.