This comming up hunting season I am going to South Carolina to go hunting with my dad. One of my dads coworkers has a family farm they have about 300-350 akers that is wooded and a couple of fields that are open. We have been given permission to take up to 4 deer and as many hogs as we want. The land owner however whishes for us to only use Shotguns and handguns. I am going to bring my Remington 870 Super Mag and if I get it intime a Glock 20 (10mm). First off i have never used a shotgun for deer hunting. I have used the 870 for hog but that was with bay dogs and I was about 10 feet away 00 buck shot to the head neck area is nasty!! Any way I have no idea what to use. There is a chance that there will be 75-100 yard shots but in the woods it is dense there so it will be realy close range. My shotgun is smoothbore I have a few chokes and I will be trying several types of ammo if I choose to use buck shot. I do not have a cylinder bore choke. I do however have an improved cylinder can I use that for slugs? What kind of accuracy should I expect to get with a smooth bore shotgun with a beed sight and slugs? Or is it pointless to use slugs and a beed sight. I want to avoid having to buy a rifled barrel or another shotgun to go on this hunt. If it is a must I will purchase the barrel or new shotgun for the purpose. Any recomendations would be much appriciated.

Thanks
Sorry so long

This comming up hunting season I am going to South Carolina to go hunting with my dad. One of my dads coworkers has a family farm they have about 300-350 akers that is wooded and a couple of fields that are open. We have been given permission to take up to 4 deer and as many hogs as we want. The land owner however whishes for us to only use Shotguns and handguns. I am going to bring my Remington 870 Super Mag and if I get it intime a Glock 20 (10mm). First off i have never used a shotgun for deer hunting. I have used the 870 for hog but that was with bay dogs and I was about 10 feet away 00 buck shot to the head neck area is nasty!! Any way I have no idea what to use. There is a chance that there will be 75-100 yard shots but in the woods it is dense there so it will be realy close range. My shotgun is smoothbore I have a few chokes and I will be trying several types of ammo if I choose to use buck shot. I do not have a cylinder bore choke. I do however have an improved cylinder can I use that for slugs? What kind of accuracy should I expect to get with a smooth bore shotgun with a beed sight and slugs? Or is it pointless to use slugs and a beed sight. I want to avoid having to buy a rifled barrel or another shotgun to go on this hunt. If it is a must I will purchase the barrel or new shotgun for the purpose. Any recomendations would be much appriciated.

Thanks
Sorry so long

http://shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=37669

You have several options. The Dixie Slugs Tri-Ball is a megabuckshot load that holds very tight patterns out to 50 yards. The Tri-Ball III is a 3.5" load made for guns like yours.
The hard lead .60 caliber pellets will penetrate better than foster type slugs. These generally shoot close to point of aim with the 870's

Other options include Breneke slugs, and the Remington, Winchester and Federal foster type slugs.

Reality - you have to try them to find out where they shoot out of your gun with the bead on the vent rib.

I don't know if it's available for your rem but I have a smoothbore slug bbl for my moss 500 w/ OEM rifle sights and fixed cylinder bore. They are not the most accurate sights, front blade is way too wide but it works since I just haven't gotten around to changing them for the last .... uhhh .... well, maybe I don't want to admit how long I've been meaning to change them ....

Anyway, Foster slugs suck for after impact performance but my M-500 will print them into about 9" or so @ 100yds. I haven't gotten around to getting any Dixie Predator's to try in it either but from what other people tell me, they are very accurate from the smoothbores and really perform after impact too. My PRB loads will consistently print under 6" @ 100yds.

Just some FYI, from my M-500, standard 2.75" OOB loads will print decent patterns to about 25 yards but I've yet to find any with truly "hard" pellets. I've tried Wolf, Rem, Win & Fed, all about the same, not real difference between them including the easily deformed pellets that don't penetrate good enough for my likes. If you're working the 15 yard max thick stuff, they'd probably suffice but I'd still prefer going with my PRB loads or Dixie's Predator slug or Tri-Ball load as my first choice. I have several boxes of Foster slugs and buckshot loads and the only thing they used for is critter control around the house.

Smaller buckshot loads like #1 and #4 pattern pretty good from the M-500 bbl too, with even less power than OOB, these too only see use as critter control.

I do have the 28" vent rib screw choke bbl but it hasn't been mounted in years. I built some birdshot loads that work good in the cylinder bore, not getting sufficient 45 yards patterns I can from the birdshot bbl but out to 30-33 yards I can hammer the snot out of birds if needed. For factory rounds, the best performing from the slug bbl are about any 1 to 1.125 ounce 2.75" upland loadings with #5 or #6 shot do fairly well to about 25 yards, not great but decent. Heavier loads in the hi-brass rounds don't perform as well as the standard loads from the cylinder bore. Best patterning factory loads from mine are the Wolf Heavy Dove & Quail w/ 1.125oz of #6 shot.

Speaking of hard buckshot....If you reload.....Buy BPI high antimony buckshot.......heat them to 450 deg. for ome hour and cool water quench..........James