I was looking into buyinga remington 870 synthetic stock 12Ga 3" shells, but the barrel is 20" is it ONLY used for self defense ? can i target shoot or hunt with it ? i'm not really great with shotguns , sorry with the noob question D:
The affects of a 20" barrel?
- Thread starter canadianmarksmen
- Start date
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
If you are a new shotgunner, using 3" shells will ensure that your marksmanship will not improve. Use low brass 2.75" shells until your marksmanship develops to a proficient level. The golden rule is to only use shells as long as, or shorter than, specified on the barrel. If the barrel is stamped with 12 ga 3"' you're good to go with any shell up to 3" in length, but no 3.5". If it says 12 ga 2.75" using a 3" or 3.5" shell will cause it to open beyond the chamber length and increase pressure to a dangerous level.
Choose the shot size which is appropriate to the job, using heavier charges of shot, or driving the shot at a higher velocity is generally to increase range rather than lethality.
Choose the shot size which is appropriate to the job, using heavier charges of shot, or driving the shot at a higher velocity is generally to increase range rather than lethality.
- Location
- Airdrie, Alberta
I shoot clays all the time with my Moss 500 Persuader 20", I find I shoot just as good as my buddies do with their longer barrels. I tend to use a little heavier shot though.
yeah i know about the shell things, learned it in the course haha, all i was wondering if the barrel was good enough, a guy at ellwood epps told me it was only used for home defense.. so i was curious because it';s cheap, and in my range to afford it
yeah i know about the shell things, learned it in the course haha, all i was wondering if the barrel was good enough, a guy at ellwood epps told me it was only used for home defense.. so i was curious because it';s cheap, and in my range to afford it
Buddy needs to brush up on Canadian laws and shotgun info. 20" is a good all around length that will work. If its a fixed cyl. bore (no choke) then heavier loads with larger shot will help keep patterns together at longer ranges. If it has removeable chokes you can pretty well make it pattern any load well. Dont worry about velocity, it climbs very little past much more than 18" of barrel length, depending on the load. Most sport and hunting shooters prefer long barrels for the way they swing. Shorter barrels can be a little more whippy and hard to track/follow through while shooting moving targets and they offer a shorter sight radius. Not a big deal especially to a new shooter who hasnt yet built muscle memory for shotgun shooting. With practise and the right load/choke you can get just as good as others with longer shotguns.
Brutus
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
On a similar note some shotgun receivers and actions are barely long enough accomodate the longer expended shotgun shell with it's longer petals now extending farther out. For example a 3inch capable shotgun might be less prone to hang up upon ejection if one used 2 3/4inch shells exclusively within the 3inch magnum receiver. Let's say this is a 12 gauge pump action shotgun.
The slightly shorter 2 3/4inch expended shell might be less prone to hangup on ejection, as opposed to a just fired 3inch shotshell.
One very good reason to stay with 2 3/4inch slugs that will feed/fire/eject 100% of the time in a tight situation, even if you have the option of using 3inch magnum length shotgun shells in your pump action shotgun.
maybe..........
