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Old October 3, 2012, 09:40 PM   #1
Farm_Hand
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Rem 11-87 Magnum Slugs and "00" how much will it take ?

Ive got a newer 11-87, Ive been shooting 3" Remington Magnum loads of 00 buck, 3" magnum rifled deer slugs, and Federal 3" magnum "BB" loads through it. It hits pretty hard.

Just wondering, how much of this activity will this gun take, of running nothing but 3" magnum loads through it ? Is it built to take it, or will these larger powered rounds bring it to and early demise ?

Im just wondering, thanks, Bill
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Old October 4, 2012, 05:34 AM   #2
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My buddy has been running nothing but 3" heavy waterfowl loads out of his ever since I sold it to him in 1987. No problems. I don't think I have ever seen a problem I would attribute to heavy loads. The gun doesn't really care what's exiting the barrel as long as you have the right tubes for steel or whatever.
Why are you shooting all that stuff in 3"? Do you just like a lot of romp and stomp on both ends?
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Old October 4, 2012, 09:35 AM   #3
forehire
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3" Stuff

If it is just set up as a sporting gun, it will last a long time. I had a HD/Pump, and shooting 3"dixie Tri-Ball, the 3" shells, removed the Red Dot sights, the light, but shot very well. That's why the HD guns use "low recoil"
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Old October 4, 2012, 09:37 AM   #4
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Thanks VA in LA,

Yes romp and stomp. I use the gun primarily for nuisance animal control on and around the farm. We back up to a large wooded area (about 1000 acres), we have several hundred animals on the farm, allot of which free range (foul), and we are surrounded by coyote, fox, and wolf. Im also told their are big cats in my proximity, but have seen no tracks as of yet. I dont want to have 2-3/4 #8 bird shot in my gun when I run across a big cat staring me down.

I have found the deer slugs to be awfully accurate up to 150' considering your shooting a gun with no "real" sights. It might shoot farther with some accuracy, but that is all the farther out Ive target shot with it, just to get a feel for the shells.

Im not sure how much kinetic energy a 1.0oz slug carries, but its significant, for I put one through one of our old pickups, it when through four layers of sheet metal, and was still flying straight when it came out the other side.

I figure I will shoot the largest affordable load I can get into the gun, then it occurred to me that the large loads may take a toll on it at some point.

Ive recently had to shoot a raccoon 4 times. Shot him 3 times @ 50' with 2-3/4 #8 bird shot, he didnt really seem to mind, I then slide in a 3" magnum 00 and knocked him over, and put him out. It was at that time I decided that Im going to just buy the big stuff, so Im only buying magnums. Not sure I do enough shooting to screw up my shoulder, but those loads sure get some work done, and you know your shooting them.

Not sure if its my imagination, but that 11-87 shooting magnum loads, has more recoil than my BAR .300 winmag with a brake. Which I did not expect out of a automatic shotgun. Have not tried shooting the mags out of my 870 yet, not sure Im going to try it...
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Old October 4, 2012, 09:41 AM   #5
Farm_Hand
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VA in LA, one question for you, what do you mean by

"The gun doesn't really care what's exiting the barrel as long as you have the right tubes for steel or whatever"

I know there is steel shot and lead shot, are you supposed to run different barrels or chokes ?

Im shooting both right now, and the gun is 100% stock with the supplied choke (which I forget which one is in there).
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Old October 4, 2012, 09:55 AM   #6
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There are steel rated and non-steel rated choke tubes. Don't shoot steel thru the non steel rated tighter tubes or it can screw them up. Remington makes a steel rated Full tube, and it says "Full - Lead or Steel" right on it. The gun doesn't care if its buckshot or a slug or 2 ounces of duck shot aside from that. If you want to learn all about chokes go to www.briley.com and look around. I like Briley but I do not think you need all those different shaped ports or to spend $80 on a choke tube. RemChokes work fine.
Small shot is strictly a bird load to me. I have done a little animal control on a farm in Ohio and Virginia, and I found #4 buck to work quite well. I don't like anything but slug for deer - had to track one too many shot with buckshot. Deer are tough.
I am surprised your gun is recoiling so hard. I have 1100s, but had an 11-87, and they are 99.5% the same gun, and they are about the softest recoiling shotguns anywhere., especially with heavy loads. If you shoot some out of that 870 you will see what I mean.
Have fun.
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Old October 4, 2012, 11:12 AM   #7
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Thanks for the help guys !
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