Brand New Remington 870 Super Mag Patterning Issues

[Escout711]

Hello all. I picked up a brand new Remington 870 Super Mag 12 gauge on Monday and took it to the range yesterday. I was really disappointed by the early results and looking for some direction. I started off at 25 yards and while the pattern was certainly deadly, it was more like I would expect at 40. But the real issue is that at 40 yards I could not get a pellet onto paper. The pattern was flying so high that I needed to aim 2 feet low to get any hits. I was using both the supplied Remington Super full choke, and a regular Undertaker choke. I was shooting 3" Longbeard #5, 3" Remington Premier, and 3.5" Federal #4. I'm still scratching my head about how the pattern could totally disappear in 15 yards. Any guidance would be appreciated. The targets were a last minute scramble, my printer ran out of toner.

[DBell]

Hello all. I picked up a brand new Remington 870 Super Mag 12 gauge on Monday and took it to the range yesterday. I was really disappointed by the early results and looking for some direction. I started off at 25 yards and while the pattern was certainly deadly, it was more like I would expect at 40. But the real issue is that at 40 yards I could not get a pellet onto paper. The pattern was flying so high that I needed to aim 2 feet low to get any hits. I was using both the supplied Remington Super full choke, and a regular Undertaker choke. I was shooting 3" Longbeard #5, 3" Remington Premier, and 3.5" Federal #4. I'm still scratching my head about how the pattern could totally disappear in 15 yards. Any guidance would be appreciated. The targets were a last minute scramble, my printer ran out of toner.

How big was the paper you were shooting at? If it was too small maybe completely missing. If the target was large (3'x3') then I have no clue.


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[Escout711]

Hello all. I picked up a brand new Remington 870 Super Mag 12 gauge on Monday and took it to the range yesterday. I was really disappointed by the early results and looking for some direction. I started off at 25 yards and while the pattern was certainly deadly, it was more like I would expect at 40. But the real issue is that at 40 yards I could not get a pellet onto paper. The pattern was flying so high that I needed to aim 2 feet low to get any hits. I was using both the supplied Remington Super full choke, and a regular Undertaker choke. I was shooting 3" Longbeard #5, 3" Remington Premier, and 3.5" Federal #4. I'm still scratching my head about how the pattern could totally disappear in 15 yards. Any guidance would be appreciated. The targets were a last minute scramble, my printer ran out of toner.

How big was the paper you were shooting at? If it was too small maybe completely missing. If the target was large (3'x3') then I have no clue.


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I was just using 8.5"x11". The cardboard on the target stands at the range were absolutely shredded, and I next time I'm bringing large sheets of paper. I'm trying to attach pics, but I'm new to this forum and they clearly have not made it easy to post pics.

[Escout711]

Hello all. I picked up a brand new Remington 870 Super Mag 12 gauge on Monday and took it to the range yesterday. I was really disappointed by the early results and looking for some direction. I started off at 25 yards and while the pattern was certainly deadly, it was more like I would expect at 40. But the real issue is that at 40 yards I could not get a pellet onto paper. The pattern was flying so high that I needed to aim 2 feet low to get any hits. I was using both the supplied Remington Super full choke, and a regular Undertaker choke. I was shooting 3" Longbeard #5, 3" Remington Premier, and 3.5" Federal #4. I'm still scratching my head about how the pattern could totally disappear in 15 yards. Any guidance would be appreciated. The targets were a last minute scramble, my printer ran out of toner.

How big was the paper you were shooting at? If it was too small maybe completely missing. If the target was large (3'x3') then I have no clue.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My friend was watching me shoot and said he could see the cardboard above the target getting hit.

[Tom Foolery]

Lots of guns have POI problems.  Williams Sluggers or TruGlo pro series if you want fiber optics.  I use the Williams with ghost ring on mine. 



I shoot at a 36x36" sheet of paper, you'll see your whole pattern with it. 

[Escout711]

Lots of guns have POI problems.  Williams Sluggers or TruGlo pro series if you want fiber optics.  I use the Williams with ghost ring on mine. 



I shoot at a 36x36" sheet of paper, you'll see your whole pattern with it.

Thanks, I definitely want to upgrade the sights, but the bead is not threaded and it came with a magnetic Hi-Viz the mounts right behind the bead. It's not just the POI, it's the pattern as well, seemed a bit too open at 25, so I'm wondering if anyone has a choke recommendation. I've tried posting pics, but haven't had luck. First they were too big, now it won't let me load a jpeg. I'm posting from my iPad, so I'm a little little on being able to format pics.

[nyhunter]

My guess is the Hi-Viz front sight is the problem, I'd try some williams or true glo rifle sights or a red dot ,  keep in mind your not gonna get super tight patterns with 4's, there's just not that many pellets in the load to have a tight looking pattern, so it may be better than your thinking, 100+ in a 10" circle is all you need at 40yds. If I was gonna shoot lead it would be #6 Winchester LB xr, with a Carlson long beard choke.

[aclawrence]

I added a red dot to my shotgun this year and I'm really enjoying it. It's a little bit of a process to get it on an 870 since they're not tapped but it's super nice when you get it set up. You have a much finer dot to aim with and you can adjust to fix you poi issues. I would also look at shooting some 6's to help with your numbers. Good luck.


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[BINK McCARTY]

I totally agree about the big target, a 3'x3' is fine, heck I use a 4'x4' target. Being able to see your ENTIRE pattern is key to figuring out the what's-what with your pattern. You can get rolls of contractor paper @ Lowes or The Home Depot to use as patterning material. If I'm not mistaken your choke is a .665 ? And, BTW the undertaker is a fine choke, however if you're not getting even close to the pattern you want ,you prolly need to get a different choke. Typically for 6s you would want to use something around a .655 or even .650 exit diameter, for 5s a
660.,and for your bigger 4s a .665 or a
670. Now, keep in mind these are just recommended "starting points" finding out for sure means trial & error ,which can get rather expensive but if you have buddies that shoot the same type of choke as you ,ya'll can swap up chokes& ammo til' you find something that works for you. Look on here in ALL the possible "for sale" categories as there is usually some good deals on choke tubes. Next, dependent upon your budget you may even look into a Burris speed bead mount system with a Fast Fire 3. It fits in between your stock & receiver and will alleviate the issue of getting your receiver drilled & tapped. Or use fiber optic sights that clamp on the rail of your gun, some fine options are the Pro series Magnum gobble dot (MPN:TG944A) or my personal choice is the Tru-point xtreme Turkey/deer universal FO sight (MPN:TG960) this one comes with both a traditional 2 dot rear sight OR you can use the peep sight. Both these are from Truglo and both are windage & elevation equipped. HiViz has some good choices as well,and William's are very popular too. Don't hesitate to reach out to us here on Olg Gobbler as there are PLENTY of folks willing to lend advice & ideas to help. GOOD LUCK and keep us posted on what you do with your 870 and some patterning pictures as well!!!

[Turkeytider]

I added a red dot to my shotgun this year and I'm really enjoying it. It's a little bit of a process to get it on an 870 since they're not tapped but it's super nice when you get it set up. You have a much finer dot to aim with and you can adjust to fix you poi issues. I would also look at shooting some 6's to help with your numbers. Good luck.


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This in spades. Red dot and throw some 6's. Plenty of smiths that can mount the dot if you need help.

[Tom Foolery]

Lots of guns have POI problems.  Williams Sluggers or TruGlo pro series if you want fiber optics.  I use the Williams with ghost ring on mine. 



I shoot at a 36x36" sheet of paper, you'll see your whole pattern with it.

Thanks, I definitely want to upgrade the sights, but the bead is not threaded and it came with a magnetic Hi-Viz the mounts right behind the bead. It's not just the POI, it's the pattern as well, seemed a bit too open at 25, so I'm wondering if anyone has a choke recommendation. I've tried posting pics, but haven't had luck. First they were too big, now it won't let me load a jpeg. I'm posting from my iPad, so I'm a little little on being able to format pics.

The Williams or TruGlo will bolt onto your rib and both are fully adjustable or put a dot on it.


The LB #5 shot ok from my 870.  The other 2 loads you have I wouldn't expect much of a pattern from. 


Lots of good chokes, I shoot a Kicks .660 in my 20" barreled 870.  None of mine shoot 4's, I'm a fan of lots of pellets on target so that works out good. 


At 42yds all 3" shells

LB 5's averaged 157 and splotchy
LB 6's averaged 192 and even
Winchester HV 5's averaged 115
Winchester HV 6's averaged 118
H13 6's 160
H13 7's 240
Nitro H378 4x5x7 240

[bbcoach]

As others have said, you have a POA/POI issue.  First thing is get 3' x 3' or 4' x 4' paper for patterning.  Get some dove loads and shoot at 12 to 15 yards.  This will give you the POA/POI feedback you need.  Then you can move forward with sights or scope and choke and shell selection.

[DBell]

Lots of guns have POI problems.  Williams Sluggers or TruGlo pro series if you want fiber optics.  I use the Williams with ghost ring on mine. 



I shoot at a 36x36" sheet of paper, you'll see your whole pattern with it.

Thanks, I definitely want to upgrade the sights, but the bead is not threaded and it came with a magnetic Hi-Viz the mounts right behind the bead. It's not just the POI, it's the pattern as well, seemed a bit too open at 25, so I'm wondering if anyone has a choke recommendation. I've tried posting pics, but haven't had luck. First they were too big, now it won't let me load a jpeg. I'm posting from my iPad, so I'm a little little on being able to format pics.

If you have a smart phone download the tapatalk app. It makes posting pictures very simple. I was having the same issue w/ pics prior to tapatalk
You may or may not be able to fix the poi issue with the adjustable sights but for $50 it might be worth a try before going red dot.
Definitely try a couple different chokes and use the bigger paper so you can see the whole pattern of each shell/choke combo


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[Escout711]

Wow, thanks for the great advice, it's appreciated. To answer a few of the questions...

-The gun came already tapped for a mount, so that part is already done and an option.
-The supplied Remington Super Full and the Undertaker are both .665.
-I do have the rear sight set from a TruGlo  Tru Bead set I used to have on my Benelli Nova.
-I will try using the Tapatalk to post some pics. At 25 the pattern is definitely deadly, but just not quite as tight as I'd expect. Just guessing, but I would say 150 pellets inside a 7" circle.

[DBell]

Wow, thanks for the great advice, it's appreciated. To answer a few of the questions...

-The gun came already tapped for a mount, so that part is already done and an option.
-The supplied Remington Super Full and the Undertaker are both .665.
-I do have the rear sight set from a TruGlo  Tru Bead set I used to have on my Benelli Nova.
-I will try using the Tapatalk to post some pics. At 25 the pattern is definitely deadly, but just not quite as tight as I'd expect. Just guessing, but I would say 150 pellets inside a 7" circle.

Tru glo gobble dot magnum pro is the set you want. It has the adjustable rear sight for wind age and elevation. You might be able to correct your POI with that


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