Plinking Gun

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P Bizzle

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I'm looking for a shotgun that I can use for having some fun. I'm lookin to go out to the gravel pits and shoot clays, or just assassinate some pop cans. I'm thinking something along the lines of an 18" 870 Express

http://www.remington.com/products/firearms/shotguns/model_870/model_870_express_synthetic_18inch.asp

A good majority of time will be spent with cheapy 2 3/4 federal target loads, however I may feel the urge to put some 00 or slugs through it.

I'm not too concerned with longer range stuff, but if need be, what kind of effective range/accuracy can I expect from rifled slugs through the 18" cyl barrel? I'll be sticking with the stock bead sight. Most of my shotty time has been at the range with O/U's, so I have no idea when It comes to slugs.

So whadya'll say? The 870 a good choice, or should I be looking elsewhere? As this is just a fun gun, I'd like to keep the price down to a minimum.
 
There's few shotgun questions that an 870 doesn't answer well. For your purposes the model mentioned will be OK. However....

This has a fixed, open choke. A longer barrel with choke tubes will have more application for clay games, which are major fun and good practice for more serious usage. You may want to consider a longer barreled model or two barrels.

As for slugs, most folks can put the right slugs into 3" at 50 yards from the bench with just the bead after some practice.

HTH....
 
Definitely a good choice if you're looking for a fun gun. When I started out years ago in the pre-Express days I bought a Remington 870 Police for just these purposes. Lots of guns have come and gone since then but I still have the 870 which does honorable duty as my "predator control" gun.

For all round use though Dave's advice is right on. And if you want to get the most out of slug shooting you might consider one of the Express Combos with a 20" rifle sighted slug barrel and a 28" ribbed barrel with choke tubes for clays.
 
normally id suggest the 24" barrel but it seems that they dont make one for the 870. i didnt check but they use to make one for the 1100 fld model.
 
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