Wanna get a new shotgun

Minihuntur · #1 09-29-2007, 10:14 PM

Lately I have been hoping to get a new shotgun. I have been leaning towards a Rem. Model 870 Express Magnum because its not too pricy, reliable, and will eat anything you feed it. I have been thinking of other guns, but they'd have to be able to take anything from deer to grouse to high altitude geese, and not be over $500. I'm open to suggestions, so fire away.
Minihutur

skeet · #2 09-29-2007, 11:34 PM

A really hard gun to beat. Especially for the money. They are getting close to the 10 million mark on the production of 870's Don't know who keeps buying them but they are the best choice of the every day working gun now...and for the foreseeable future. Buy it in 28 inch and get a couple of extra choke. They come with a mod choke so get an IC and preferably a skeet. Full choke for the most part really isn't necessary now days....except maybe for Turkey!

tjwatty · #3 09-30-2007, 08:45 AM

ditto: what skeet said, 870 is the way to go, but don't shoot high altitude geese you can't kill'em.
Former biologist buddy told me that they did a study, a few years back, on our local resident flock. Almost 50%, of the adult birds checked, had pellets some where in their body.(x-rayed) That tells us that we are taking too many high, out of range shots.
They are one tough bird in range, long range shots just aren't practical.

fabsroman · #4 09-30-2007, 10:46 PM

That means that half the population you are hunting has been shot at before, hit, and survived. Imagine how much harder it is to hunt that population.

When the resident season first opened here several, several years ago, it was a slaughter. Now, the birds are pretty smart after a decade+ of being shot at.

Skinny Shooter · #5 10-01-2007, 10:07 AM

I love my 870 Turkeygun but you need to check this out: http://www.mossberg.com/products/def...ction=products

Should be under $500 and wish Remington would do something like this.

tjwatty · #6 10-01-2007, 10:50 AM

fabs,
I wish more people had a chance to be around this guy, the stuff I learn from him is amazing. Last year I got the chance to go along when they were banding geese, that was cool. Who'd have thought you could herd geese with a helicopter.
I also learned that most of the geese, in our resident flock, that are killed the first year are juvinile geese and they are shot in the Texas/Ark./Kan. area.(after the early season) Apparently the youngsters like to do a little traveling and join up with the migrators for a year or so. Then they mate but don't breed, but do return to our area. The mature birds will stay within a couple of miles from where they were born the rest of their lives and only migrate as far south as they need to to find food and open water. I know that just makes the golf course folks tickled pink.
I find out all kinds of trivia when I hunt with this guy, but he likes to eat peanuts so his calls are a little jammed up. LOL

Catfish · #7 10-01-2007, 04:35 PM

There is no doubt in my mind that the 870 Express is the most gun for the money on the market today. I have had both the 870 and a Mossy 500. There is nothing wrong with the Mossy, but the 870 is a better built gun and will hold up even if you shoot alot of trap were I don`t think the Mossy would stand the abuse for over a year or 2.

jmarriott · #8 10-01-2007, 04:37 PM

Remmington does make one just like the mossburg.

http://www.remington.com/products/fi...ax_Gobbler.asp

fabsroman · #9 10-01-2007, 06:12 PM

tj,

It is just amazing what we can learn from these band studies and the overall study of wildlife. I never would have guessed that the juvenile geese flock with the migrators, mate, and then return to the area. What happens if they mate with a migrator? I guess they have a good argument about where to take up residence in the spring for the mating season, and then they go on. Or, maybe they come to some type of agreement to alternate each year. LOL Who knows.

I would have guessed that the magority of birds killed are juveniles. Seems like that is the majority of the birds we kill too. It's the young ones that want to get down the quickest. The older birds sit back there and wait until the dumber ones land before they commit.

Skinny Shooter · #10 10-02-2007, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jmarriott
Remmington does make one just like the mossburg.

http://www.remington.com/products/fi...ax_Gobbler.asp

Nice!
jmarriott, thanks for that link. I had looked on the remmy site before I posted and missed it.

tjwatty · #11 10-02-2007, 02:41 PM

fabs,
It's my understanding that it's just as it is for us. The mated pair go where the female wants to go. She picks the house, the pair go to a location somewhere close to where she was born. Have you ever noticed that geese leave the nest area almost as soon as the little ones are capable? The adults take them away from the nest they use to keep them from returning to their nesting area. I was thinking I should have done that but I had 2 boys and, yep, they went where the wives wanted. Strange how that works. When you have children, if you have girls, maybe you should consider moving when they're off to school..???LOL

Also, I guess they go 2 years as non-mating pairs before the actually mate and have chicks. Kinda like living together and playing house. More like humans than we thought.

Minihuntur · #12 10-17-2007, 07:49 PM

Just this morning I shot a Remington 870 Magnum Wingmaster 20 gauge with mod. choke. It was the first 20 I've ever shot. I'm very impressed with it. I shot a double at 50 yds on two ducks, a pintail and a blue teal (small but yummy), both were dead in seconds. But like any other gun the 870 has issues. Number one the ejection port is scarcely long enough to fit a loaded shell which can be a problem if you have to have one in the chamber and two in the magazine (a stupid law). Speaking of the magazine that darned little cover thingy solves the problem of crud getting into the gun but makes loading way slower. The space is small enough being a 20, let alone that cover getting in the way. Still I love that gun and have never found one that is lighter, fits better, or is faster to swing.
Minihuntur

skeet · #13 10-17-2007, 09:14 PM

If you are talking the little black thingie where you put the shells...that is the shell lifter and is necessary and as you say..it keeps crud out of the action. The ejection port is just as long as it needs to be as the ejector is just past the rear of the port anyway. I mean they are working on 10 million of those guns..and I think most of the bugs have been worked out...by now anyway. The most made sporting firearm of all times I think

fabsroman · #14 10-17-2007, 09:50 PM

My BPS pump has a way to load a shell via the magazine in lieu of actually having to drop the first one in the chamber by hand. Doesn't the 870 have the same option? I would assume it would, so the entire problem with the length of the ejection port might be a moot issue, if it is one in the first place. I have absolutely no problem dropping shells in any of my autos and I am sure they don't have extra long ejection ports because that would increase the length of the receiver. As far as the "cover" is concerned, are we really talking about the shell lifter because every single auto and pump that I can think of has a shell lifter. Granted, on my BPS the shell lifter is out of the way when I am loading the mag because it merely consists of two small arms that are used to eject the spent shell out the bottom and then bring the new shell back up. I love my BPS. Just hate the fact that it is a Browning.

mrmiskin · #15 10-21-2007, 09:49 AM

Mini hunter dont know exactly how mini you are but the most important thing is to get one that fits and you feel comfortable with. I think just about everyone makes variations in stocks and i am sure that remington does.