Slug gun comparo...

[1899]

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the Remington 870 with the 20" slug barrel vs. the Benelli Nova 18.5" barreled slug gun?

The prices are $379 for the Remington and $519 for the Nova. I like the idea of the recoil reducer available for the Nova, but have no first hand experience with them.

Additionally, is it ok to shoot shot through a rifled barrel?

 

[DarrylDB]

If your shooting core lokt's or such, the 870 is going to a) give you more barrel to burn powder, and generate more velocity,
b) soak up a hell of alot more recoil based on weight. easily 1.5 lbs heavier.
(nova's are light as hell which is a plus minus depending on your opinion)
and c) the cost of extra parts barrels stocks etc. Im not a big 870 guy, but you can get ANYTHING for them for relatively cheap.
And one more plus for the 870, the R3 is one hell of a pad, and soaks up recoil well.
Parts and barrels are rather limited for the nova.
weight wise, i would compare the nova to my winchester 2200.
I would take the recoil of my 14 inch 870 I had over the recoil of my winchester 2200 with turkey loads. Even though the action of the winchester soaks up the recoil a bit, at just over (and I mean fully loaded to be over) 7lbs, it kicks the #### out of you.
And you can compare a core lokt to a 2 oz turkey load IMHO

Its Ok to shoot shot through a rifled barrel, but like any other sabots (which is basically what your shot cup is) it will foul your barrel, and your pattern wont be #### hot at all. But for a grouse @ 15 yards, sure as #### its dead.
Apparently Stoeger has a copy of the Nova available for much cheaper.
Might be worth a look too...

 

[Davidf]

Interesting comments Darryl,

I bought an 870 Express with the cantilever rifled barrel last year. Can't remember what I paid but at the time it seemed a great value. My opinon of this gun;

1. Recoil is very harsh. I need to consider a better recoil pad clearly.
2. Accuracy is good at least to 100 yds.
3. Doesn't seem to like the Core Lokts. Far better results with the cheapest Federal 2-3/4" plastic sabot with lead slug. I was thinking this was a rate of twist vs weight and velocity issue. BigRedd tells me more likely a plastic fouling issue so I'm experimenting with more frequent cleaning and a plastic sabot solvent.

At the end of the day, I still think this gun was good value. If cost was less of an issue, I rather have an auto loader or bolt action slug gun

 

[1899]

1. Recoil is very harsh. I need to consider a better recoil pad clearly.

Interesting. I would like my wife to use it and being a new shooter she is very recoil sensitive. Plus I do not want her to develop a flinch. The recoil is not an issue for me. Maybe the managed recoil slug will be ok for her. Haven't tried those yet.

 

[Adrian J Hare]

I just sighted up my wingmaster 870 with the 20in cantileaver and have to say that the recoil was half of the 26 in hastings I had. As for groups , well I was impressed with some of the shots with Core Loc's and some where off more then I liked. But as I shot 12 slugs ,at 100 yards , I did get a 1 in group. Got it hitting dead on at 100 and I am more impressed then I thought with the shorter barrel...BT