New hunter with questions

[robman2629]

I am new to hunting as of this year. I went on my first hunt back in the spring for turkey, unfortunately I didnt get one but I shot at a couple (bad aim). I have a remington 870 super mag shot gun which means I can use any type of shell 2 3/4, 3, 3 1/2. I was wondering if anyone knows, do the barrels come rifled? Also, I have a choke on there right now to hunt turkey but would like to go hunting for deer this year. I am looking for a rifle but don't know what to get. Also, just incase I need to save money for school, what would be the best option for using my shotgun on the deer? I have heard, having a smooth barrel using rifled slugs with a full choke. Any and all help is much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[jstgsn]

First, welcome to the forum. You will find many on here who have tons of information and experience. If you scroll down the screen, you see a "hunting" section, which is where you should post further questions about hunting. The forum managers will guide you further with that.
As far as the shotgun, if it has screw in chokes it is not rifled. They do sell rifled barrels for shotguns, some of which are "cantelever" or with the top of the barrel extending back to accomdate a scope. That way you can take the barrel off and keep your scope zeroed in. The cost of a cantelever rifled scope is probably cheaper than buying a new rifle. However, you can use your regular barrel to shoot slugs, you just won't be as accurate at greater distances. I took a nice doe last year using a youth model 20 ga. shotgun with a modified choke in my barrel, but did have a scope on the gun. I think the key is practice with what you have. (If you missed a couple turkeys, you may want to practice estimating distance and shooting.)
In the state I live in (Delaware) you have to use a shotgun for deer. I normally use a 11-87 Remington with a cantelever (sp?) barrel and a 4 power leapold scope which I shoot slugs through. It seems to me that each gun handles different slugs differently, so we are back to practicing with what ever you use. Some people shoot slug guns out to 200 yards or so, I shot most of my deer under 100 yards.
I could go on for hours, but others on here will offer you more ( and maybe better) advice.
My biggest suggestion is you take a hunter safety course, always keep safety in mind, make sure you know the rules and regs of where you are hunting, always hunt ethically. My second suggestion is by all means continue your education until you find what direction you want to go in life.
Once again, welcome aboard. Keep us posted on how you are doing.
Fred

[carver]

Welcome to the forum! You can get the rifled barrel for around $250, or so: http://www.midwayusa.com/product/391...e-sights-matte Or you could go with the 28" barrel with rem-chokes for a few dollars more: http://www.midwayusa.com/product/754...ddle-bead-blue With the 28" barrel, and rem-chokes, you can hunt anything you want to from the smallest of game, like doves, to deer, and even bears! You will be limited on your distance as to what shot you are using. That means that you have to buy the shot size you want, depending on the game you want to hunt, and then pattern the gun. Same with slugs, you are limited to the distance that you can put all of your shots on an 8" paper plate. I've seen guns that will give you 65 yds with slugs, and I've seen guns that will give 100 yards with slugs. As jstgsn stated, a rifled barrel with sabot slugs will shot out to 200yds, and do so accurately.

[Country101]

I believe you can use your current setup to shoot slugs and do it effectively with a full choke, depending on where you hunt. Without a rifled barrel, I would stick to under 100 yards. You will have to try a few differant types of slugs and see what you get out of them though. I havent shot slugs very often, but I have gotten varied accuracy out of them. A day at the range should be a priority before heading out.

As far as rifles, what kind of price range are you looking at and what kind of distances might you be shooting? If it is about 200 yards, I like a Marlin 336 30-30 with a scope(my eyes aint what they used to be). If you are thinking about longer range, there are a number of other good calibers. A little more info will get you some other suggestions.

[robman2629]

Thank you with the advice so far. Jstgsn, in order to hunt in Maine you must take a safety class. I imagine our hunts are similar in that most of the places around here, you dont have much space to shoot a rifle. However, there are opportunities for that to happen. I am able to unscrew the choke. Thoughts on this barrel http://www.shopremingtoncountry.com/...&searchSize=12
I do need to go to the range seeing that i only shot the gun three times.
Country, I am looking to spend around 400-500, if I dont just make improvements to my shotgun. If I can do it effectively, I would much rather just use my shotgun.

[aa1911]

that looks like the same barrel you probably have, don't think that's rifled. what do you want that barrel for if you already have choke tubes? just curious. Most rifled barrels come with some sort of sights on them (not a bead).

you can shoot shot outta rifled barrels too if need be but the rifled barrels with slugs can be quite accurate out to 100yds-ish. For certain cheaper than a new gun and you could mount an optic on your shotgun also if desired.

the 870 is a workhorse, it will treat you well for a lifetime!

[robman2629]

That one is longer than the one I have now. Basically I want to be able to hunt deer and not have to be as close as I would hunting turkey haha. I have heard a lot about rifled barrels with sabot slugs. I would like a optic on there to help improve accuracy. Wont the barrel have to be cantilever?

[aa1911]

holy smokes, what length barrel do you have on there now?

26 or 28" are my preferred for the 870.

not sure what you mean by cantilever, the barrels have nothing to do with mounting optics as the receiver normally is what is utilized; mossbergs and others have drilled and tapped uppers where others just use a clamp device that also uses the trigger guard pins.

[robman2629]

I have a 20" barrel on there right now.
A cantilever shotgun barrel is a barrel with a one piece scope mount base attached to it, to make it possible to mount a scope on your shotgun without tapping threaded holes for a regular scope base.

[Country101]

If 100 yards or around there is going to be the longest shot, just get a rifled barrel and call it good. You can do that cheaper than a gun and will be plenty good. If you dont need a scope, you could use this one:

http://www.shopremingtoncountry.com/...&searchSize=12

Save you a little bit of money. It only does 3", but that should be plenty.

[aa1911]

Originally Posted by robman2629

I have a 20" barrel on there right now.
A cantilever shotgun barrel is a barrel with a one piece scope mount base attached to it, to make it possible to mount a scope on your shotgun without tapping threaded holes for a regular scope base.

cool, never seen a 3 1/2" chamber in a 20" barrel!

that rifle barrel posted above looks like what I'd go for if I were you unless you think you will need longer shots. They can be surprisingly accurate, just buy a box of as many different slugs as you can find and test them out. Likely you will find a handful that do much better than others.

never mounted optics to a shotgun so I'm pretty unhelpful there

[carver]

Originally Posted by robman2629

Thank you with the advice so far. Jstgsn, in order to hunt in Maine you must take a safety class. I imagine our hunts are similar in that most of the places around here, you dont have much space to shoot a rifle. However, there are opportunities for that to happen. I am able to unscrew the choke. Thoughts on this barrel http://www.shopremingtoncountry.com/...&searchSize=12
I do need to go to the range seeing that i only shot the gun three times.
Country, I am looking to spend around 400-500, if I dont just make improvements to my shotgun. If I can do it effectively, I would much rather just use my shotgun.

You state that you are unable to unscrew the choke. Does that mean that the choke is removable? If the choke can be screwed out, there will be 4 small cutouts in the end of the tube. These are for a choke tube wrench, an item that can be purchased for only a few dollars. The 26" barrel you posted does not say what choke it is, nor does it state that it is fitted with choke tubes. Choke does matter! Full choke shotguns don't handle slugs well. They tend to squeeze the slug, and cause it to veer off on one direction or another. The barrel you posted is also in matte black finish that probably won't look too good on your gun. What you need is a 26", or 28" barrel with rem-chokes. They make all kinds of sights to go on shotguns, but here's one example: http://nougban.info/universal-slugge...ger-sight.html

[robman2629]

"You state that you are unable to unscrew the choke."

If you re-read it, I actually said I am able to unscrew the choke.
Im looking to get a win 270 set up or a 30-06 rifle and just keep the shotgun for turkeys.
Thoughts on this? My buddy was telling me about a good spot near him where he has deer cross all the time.

[Country101]

Cant ever have enough guns, so that aint a bad idea. 270 or 30-06 would do you good. You can always get a slug barrel later if you want. Just depends on what you want to do.