View Single Post
 
Old 08-04-2012, 08:47 PM
walnutred walnutred is online now
US Veteran
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Ohio
Posts: 4,451
Likes: 785
Liked 3,030 Times in 1,002 Posts
Default Buck shot and rifled barrels

After talking to some of her friends my wife told me she wanted a pump action shotgun for a night time house defense gun. I've never been a pump fan always preferring a sxs. Frankly while I obviously want something reliable I didn't want to invest too much into something that will not get used much. Once I find a brand of buck shot that functions well she'll probably only run a box of ammo a year through it to keep her familiarity up and most of her actual practice will be with low recoil trap loads. Neither of us hunt any more nor do we shoot clays.

That is the background. In a LGS I found a gently used Remington 870 Express Magnum slug gun for $240. We had 870s in one Battery that I served as Armorer so I felt comfortable with the action design and the price. Then I saw that it had a rifled barrel. What little testing data I was able to find with buck shot and rifled barrels the rifling seems to expand the shot pattern 1" per foot. The longest realistic shot in our house would be about 25' which should give a 2' shot pattern. A smooth bore barrel at the same range is supposed to have only a 4-5 inch shot pattern.

My thought is that I'll use a smaller shot size, maybe #3 buck to increase shot density. However my hope is that the wider shot pattern will increase the probability if a hit at inside the house ranges.

OK, so what are the flaws in my thinking? If this is a totally bad idea then deer season is only a few months away and I'm sure I'll have no trouble getting rid of a rifled 870 then.
Reply With Quote