18.5" 870 cylinder bore barrel for small game

J

Jumbalaya

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Hi,

I have an 870 express and was thinking of picking up the 18.5" barrel from Canada ammo for small game. My 28" barrel is a bit cumbersome in the heavy woods and brush where I hunt. Anybody have any experience with the patterning on such a barrel with say #7.5 or 6? What would be the effective range on rabbits/grouse.

Thx!
J
 
18.5 is a bit small for hunting IMOP....... I have a 20 gauge single with a 20" barrel I throw in the back of the truck for "critters of opportunity" and even that is borderline........ are there other lengths available?....
 
The barrel could be IMP CYL or CYL. In CYL with #6 or 71/2 shot you are good out to about 30 yards before the pattern thins out. IMP CYL will get you to 35 yards and maybe a bit more. For small game in heavy cover you could make worse choices. You know your gun and most shots will be poke shooting anyways. I think it is a decent choice for the task at hand.

Darryl
 
If you like eating pellets in your game........this is why guns are choked as well as to add range.......JMO...Harold
 
Thx for the advice. It's a cylinder bore no removable chokes. It's only $79 so I figured for the price it might be worth a try. It's a bit lighter and won't get hung up in branches etc. I don't see taking shots further than 30y... Maybe someone who owns one of those will chime in on the patterning.
 
One can kind of make up for lost killing distance (+30 yards) on small/upland game, in an IC or C shotgun with a fixed choke.

One example; Prairie Storm bird shot shells from Federal have a reputation for a tight pattern on open chokes, from the get go. Especially in #6 loads.
Should give one some little bit of extra range from those true cylinder bores.

For normal distances in the boreal forest (9-15 yards) I just use Winchester target loads #7.5. Kills bunnies and grouse deader than dead.

just info
 
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Jumbalaya said:
Thx for the advice. It's a cylinder bore no removable chokes. It's only $79 so I figured for the price it might be worth a try. It's a bit lighter and won't get hung up in branches etc. I don't see taking shots further than 30y... Maybe someone who owns one of those will chime in on the patterning.
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I have a Remington 18.5" barrel for my 870 but have been thinking about sending it off to have it threaded for RemChokes. That way, i can get a tight pattern for birds/bunnies in thick brush and have my shotgun be much more portable than it is with a full size barrel on it. Worth a thought anyway.
 
I've found a 18.5" barrel in my area of mixed montane/boreal forest to be just the ticket. As mentioned, most shots are most likely at your feet or spitting distance and if they et any farther you'll never see them again. I spend 90% of my time swimming through and body checking brush, timber and Devils club uphill both ways, turns a long, nice swinging shotgun into the biggest pain in the ass imaginable.
 
I've got an 870 that I put a Dlask 14" barrel on and have been doing some testing for this exact same reason so here are some numbers for you to think about.
All shots at 15 yds
2 3/4" slug was 1" off POI left and high
2 3/4" 00 buck 7 of 9 pellets in a 12 inch circle
3" BB Federal snow goose 31 pellets in a 12" circle
3" no.2 Score had a whopping 47 pellets in a 12" circle
I didn't have any 4,6,7 with me but I imagine you would just show more pellets.
Now keep in mind that these are full goose hunting loads but it suggests to me that a 14" barrel is still plenty lethal with these shells.
Obviously you will need to pattern your barrel to figure out what works best and nothing will beat the pattern from my .22 or my bow but as a back up I think it's not a bad option
I will be doing more testing in the neer future.
 
I had my 18.5 barrel tapped for chokes at TacOrd.Price was $90 and very quick turnaround.Its an 870,and the barrel has rifle sights.I use it mostly for 3Gun with a modified choke.It does well knockin over steel targets,with the cylinder bore it often would not knock them over consistently.I'm certainly happy with the results.
gj
 
If I'm not carrying a 22 or a sxs I use 18.5" barrel mossberg for a lot of small game hunting. Never had an issue. I've been shooting a 21" cyl 1100 for all my waterfowl hunting this year. Works fine
 
brybenn said:
If I'm not carrying a 22 or a sxs I use 18.5" barrel mossberg for a lot of small game hunting. Never had an issue. I've been shooting a 21" cyl 1100 for all my waterfowl hunting this year. Works fine
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Tell me more i.e.: what steel size and velocity, average distance of shots taken, number of shots per bird etc. I am considering shortening some of my shotguns and was wondering just how well CYL would perform with steel for waterfowl.

Darryl
 
Dorian Gray said:
I have a Remington 18.5" barrel for my 870 but have been thinking about sending it off to have it threaded for RemChokes. That way, i can get a tight pattern for birds/bunnies in thick brush and have my shotgun be much more portable than it is with a full size barrel on it. Worth a thought anyway.
Click to expand...

...or spend a bunch more cash and order a 26 in bbl with chokes... 18 inch tubes best for clearing out trenches, alleys and such...:cool:
 
madtrapper143 said:
Tell me more i.e.: what steel size and velocity, average distance of shots taken, number of shots per bird etc. I am considering shortening some of my shotguns and was wondering just how well CYL would perform with steel for waterfowl.

Darryl
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Early season #4 kent 2-3/4" factory shells. Can't recall the velocity. Think they were 1-1/4 oz. When I was my part shot shot per bird out to 35 yards. As the season gets later I switch to #2 steel. Was using rem sportsmen 2-3"/4" 1-1/4 oz. When the northerns come down and it gets cold I use BB shot from Rio and kent to help get thru the fat. With bb out to 40-45 yards if you can Lead them right they're dead.
I was out last week using #2 steel the last of my kent of the 4 ducks I shot one shot for the Ruddy one shot for the bufflehead 2 shots for the greater scaup - big blue bill and the lesser blue bill I knocked down on the 2nd shot. First shot hit him with no effect. A finisher on the water was needed. All were taken at the edge of the spread 35-40 yards. I hit a redhead and dropped him in the decoys as other birds circled I reloaded. That bird came to and dove and was seen about 100 yards down the lake and was not recovered. We dropped a canvasback at about 45 yards to a well broken wing an it began diving once it hit the water. He'd dive before the shot got to him out 50 yards. I'm not ashamed that I fired over half a box of shells at him trying to rake him on the water. The patterns were good out to 45 yards. Starting to have holes at 50 yards. I could rake the water all around him out 70 yards but didn't hit his head. My partner tripped and fell into the lake chasing it so we left. Bigger shot is the key for late season birds. I patterns surprisingly tight in cyl chokes. Lighter shot really opens an is perfect for early season over decoys.
I took about 30 ducks this year with maybe 35 shots if you consider dead before hitting the water.
I did some hunting with sxs guns and Bismuth. I'd rather use cheap Winchester steel than original Winchester bismuth. The kent bismuth work great
Hope this helps
This is from a 21" cyl 1100
I shoot a lot of skeet with short barreled guns. My running total right now is 391/400 with my 1100
 
Good info and stats. I have one or two shotguns that are super full fixed and need some opening. I wondered how CYL would work with steel. I will hit the patterning board in the spring for further testing. Thanks for the report.

Darryl
 
A barrel that short will be moderately effective on stationary or slowly moving game. It will be a handicap on flying game. It will not affect velocity or "range" significantly, range depends on pattern density, and that is determined by bore dynamics and choke. It is somewhat more difficult to put the pattern on target with a very short barrel at medium or long distance (30-60 yds) , which I understand you are not concerned about. People are continually promoting ultra short shotgun barrels on this site because they are "handy" - but they sacrifice a lot: greatly increased muzzle blast/noise, and very bad balance and poor swing and follow through on flying game. If you like an ultra short barrel, go for it, but please don't pretend that it is somehow superior to standard lengths of 26" or more for flying game. Millions of experienced hunters, and trap, skeet and sporting clays shooters would disagree.
 
I have everything from 18.5" to 32". I prefer 26.5" for sxs and 24-26" for pumps. The precieved lead is much greater with shorter barrels and they swing faster and stop easier but I find they come up faster. To each their own
 
Longwalker said:
A barrel that short will be moderately effective on stationary or slowly moving game. It will be a handicap on flying game. It will not affect velocity or "range" significantly, range depends on pattern density, and that is determined by bore dynamics and choke. It is somewhat more difficult to put the pattern on target with a very short barrel at medium or long distance (30-60 yds) , which I understand you are not concerned about. People are continually promoting ultra short shotgun barrels on this site because they are "handy" - but they sacrifice a lot: greatly increased muzzle blast/noise, and very bad balance and poor swing and follow through on flying game. If you like an ultra short barrel, go for it, but please don't pretend that it is somehow superior to standard lengths of 26" or more for flying game. Millions of experienced hunters, and trap, skeet and sporting clays shooters would disagree.
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I think you've missed the point as have a few others. The OP was asking about short range heavy brush hunting of small game. Not goose or duck hunting out to 40 yds.

Go get into some dense brush and try to swing or follow through with a 26" barrel.
In heavy brush hunting you are lucky to get a 15 yd shot. There is no pretending here, it's a question directed at anyone who might have experience using a shorter barrel in these very specific circumstances.
Do you have experience in these situations? Or are you just spouting stuff you have read or heard somewhere? Have you patterned an 18" cylinder choke barrel? If so please post your findings. If not ... Well maybe you shouldn't comment.
 
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