My Remington 870 Express Tactical shotgun (video)

[Steve32]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skaI9kHNt5Y

 

:usa:

[Steve32]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKpHb1PFQ1c

 

 

The first shots with it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5empL1ZgY8

 

:up:

[RichardR]

Not too shabby for your first time out, a couple of hints/tips/tricks..

Try leaning your weight a bit forward, tucking in a bit tighter on the weapon & racking the action back/forth a bit harder & quicker.

When you load/reload practice doing it w/3 shells in your hand, strip them off 3 at a time, make sure rims are all on same side (palm) of your hand, slank them in one at a time, one right after the other..that will help speed your loading/reloading up.



.

[TripleDigitRide]

Obviously, the mall ninja Halloween costume didn't come with directions on how to shoot an 870.

[RichardR]

Obviously, the mall ninja Halloween costume didn't come with directions on how to shoot an 870.

Meh, everyone is a beginner at one point or another.

Besides I liked his little tacti-cool outfit, made him look very macho, a little warm this time of the year but would be great for cold weather shooting.

Macho macho man! He's got to be a mah'cho-man! Just kidding dude, you looked absolutely *fabulous!* or was that mysterious? Meh, can't remember now which one I was thinking of now ...

[TripleDigitRide]

Obviously, the mall ninja Halloween costume didn't come with directions on how to shoot an 870.

Meh, everyone is a beginner at one point or another.

That's true, but if you're going to be posting videos on YouTube while wearing that get-up, you should probably make it appear like you know what you're doing.

[RichardR]

That's true, but if you're going to be posting videos on YouTube while wearing that get-up, you should probably make it appear like you know what you're doing.

I assumed the reason for the costume was because he was trying to protect his identity, while still being able to post a video of himself on the internets.

No idea of what was actually going through his mind though, heck for all I know he was thinking "I'm so highspeed ... ain't no one as highspeed as me!" The whole time ...

[RichardR]

Anyway Steve congrats on your new scattergun!

Now you'll want to find some shells to feed it, when it comes to 00 buckshot there is a few things to consider.

1.) How it patterns out of your particular shotgun.

There are several factors that play into this equasion that I will touch briefly on as I go, but ultimately each shotgun will prefer (for whatever reason) one brand over another.

2.) Shell size & payload.

The three most common shell sizes are 2 3/4", 3" & 3.5" typically I almost always use 2 3/4" shells, the only time I ever use any of the "magnums" is if I am turkey or goose hunting & I need the extra payload and extended range.

2 3/4" is more than potent enough for most everything else, even for home defense &/or social work, without as harsh of recoil as the magnum shells & a bit quicker to get the shotgun back on target for any potential followup shots that may or may not be required.

3.) Pellet size.

Tons of information already on the internet for which # size to use for hunting various critters, so I'm going to limit my comments to the most common home defense choices, #4 buckshot to #1 buckshot enjoys a small following of loyalists, they tout it's multi-pelleted approach to perferate as many organs as possible, while limiting potential of through & through penetration (meaning that a solid COM hit, the pellets are less likely to exit out the backside).

Personally I'm a big fan of 00 precisely because of the potential for a very nasty exit wound, figuring that the more initial trauma & blood loss caused to a home invader/intruder/attacker the better, even if it means more mopping blood up off of the floors afterwards.

4.) Plated or unplated pellets.

Unplated pellets will start to squish and deform almost as soon as the shotgun is fired, as poor of aerodynamics as a sphere has, a deformed sphere is even worse, plated pellets will pattern better & for longer than unplated ones will.

5.) Buffered vs unbuffered pellets.

Again unbuffered pellets will deform more than buffered ones will, buffered pellets pattern better & at longer distances than unbuffered ones will.

6.) Wads.

All wads are not created equal, in fact the "cup & crush type" wad will help keep the pellets from deforming & help with patterning, especially the further out you are from the target.

I am particularly fond of Federal's flightcontrol wads.

7.) Out of time, will revisit this later if there is interest.

[RichardR]

7.) Paper, plastic or brass.

Paper cartridges aren't used all that often anymore but there are still a few floating around, I don't recommend using them simply because they do not protect the powder very well from crushing or absorbing moisture.

Plastic cases with brass rims are the most common, they do well protecting from both crushing & absorbing moisture, especially if they are factory sealed for use in LE or for hunting in foul weather, are inexpensive to buy & can be easily reloaded.

Brass (full) cases are usually surplus, these are a bit less resistant for crushing, dinging, etc than the plastic ones because they don't "bounce back" so to speak, but any damage to them is easily noticed, discard any that are.

8.) Less lethal options.

Rubber balls, bean-bags, rock-salt, heck they are even making 12g. taser rounds now, unfortunately the laws here in TN are not "less lethal friendly" so I'm afraid to say ... use your best judgement, but be prepared to be charged with something if you do use a less lethal shotgun option for home or self defense.

9.) Specialty rounds.

Flechettes, dragon's breath, bolo-rounds, coins, washers, etc, I've experimented with all of these at one point or another over the years & none of them work anywhere near as well as traditional buckshot or slugs.

The only varient worth even considering are the 12g. flair signaling rounds, the rest ... bleh.

[RichardR]

Doh! Hit post too soon, reserving this spot for slugs, be back after a bit.

10.) Slugs.

Slugs come in a variety of different configureations, the three main types are rifled slugs, bernanke slugs, saboted slugs.

For smoothbore shotguns, use rifled shotguns & bernanke slugs but for rifledbore shotguns use saboted slugs (yea, doesn't make sense but that's how it is).

Much like bird & buckshot, some shotguns will shoot some slugs better than they will others, so you will want to buy & shoot at least a couple different brands & types through your particular shotgun to see which one will preform better than others.

That's about it .. a not-so quick, not-so little tutorial on shotshells, again congrats on your new shotgun Steve, I hope you enjoy shooting things with them at least half as much as I do. Edited June 10, 2013 by RichardR

[JAB]

7.) Paper, plastic or brass.

Paper cartridges aren't used all that often anymore but there are still a few floating around, I don't recommend using them simply because they do not protect the powder very well from crushing or absorbing moisture.

Plastic cases with brass rims are the most common, they do well protecting from both crushing & absorbing moisture, especially if they are factory sealed for use in LE or for hunting in foul weather, are inexpensive to buy & can be easily reloaded.

Brass (full) cases are usually surplus, these are a bit less resistant for crushing, dinging, etc than the plastic ones because they don't "bounce back" so to speak, but any damage to them is easily noticed, discard any that are.

 

 

Nice write-ups but you left out one.  "All plastic" shells.  These aren't seen very often, anymore, but (like the paper ones) there are probably still some floating around.  When I first got a shotgun (late '80s) these were very common.  In fact, the first box or two of shells I got for my old single shot 12 gauge were all-plastics.  I got it for Christmas when I was 16 so that would have been 1987.  Unlike the plastic hulls that have either 'high brass' or 'low brass' rims, these were made almost entirely of plastic.  The primer was metal, of course.

 

Here is a link to a pic of an "all-plastic" shotgun shell:

 

http://www.oldammo.com/WinchesterPlastic.jpg

Edited June 11, 2013 by JAB

[RichardR]

Nice write-ups but you left out one. "All plastic" shells. These aren't seen very often, anymore, but (like the paper ones) there are probably still some floating around. When I first got a shotgun (late '80s) these were very common. In fact, the first box or two of shells I got for my old single shot 12 gauge were all-plastics. I got it for Christmas when I was 16 so that would have been 1987. Unlike the plastic hulls that have either 'high brass' or 'low brass' rims, these were made almost entirely of plastic. The primer was metal, of course.

Here is a link to a pic of an "all-plastic" shotgun shell:

http://www.oldammo.com/WinchesterPlastic.jpg

Ha! I had forgotten all about (or purposely repressed the memory of) those!

Yea man talk about a good idea, I think I had to pry every single one of those out of the chambers after firing, except for when fired from one single shot break-open barreled shotgun that I had, can't remember the brand now but the extractor on it was huge, like crescent-moon huge & it'd pop them out just like any other brass rimmed hull, probably why they quit making them.

[JAB]

Oh, and I meant to say, "Nice shotgun, Steve32!"