Brass shells in the Remington 870

[fat tony]

I don't reload, but just suppose I wanted to get lots and lots of practice with slug reloads and wanted to use brass shells, like the ones being made out of .50 cal brass, (probably quite an investment right there). Does the Remington 870 feed these types of shells good, or area they only good for use in break action/singleshot guns?

[Ranger J]

I suppose if for some arcane reason someone wanted to load slugs in brass shells they could do so.    I almost bet that a good AA hull would outlast them and at way less cost.  Even if the brass got twice the number of reloads as the AA the once shot AA are available for much less.  The brass hulls that you see being offered today are mainly for people interested in cowboy shooting and want to be ‘correct’ down to probably their underwear.  The military used brass shells in WW I because they could be made watertight and wouldn’t swell, as did the paper ones in the wet environment of the trenches.  It would be a lot more trouble to load brass that would work reliable in a ‘repeater’ but as the army used Winchester pump guns in WW I so I guess it could be done.  They, however, were shooting buckshot loads.  I think I will stay with my Lee slugs loaded in AA hulls with WW wads as I am yet to wear a hull out and they give me good accuracy.  If you do this, keep us posted.
RJ

[fat tony]

If I were to start reloading, I would probably stick with the basics until I got the hang of it, then move  on to more fancy stuff like that. Really, you're getting a lot of reloads out of the same hull? Winchester AA? Are you using a roll crimp or the star crimp? I'm guessing the star crimp?

[Ranger J]

I used to hunt deer in Illinois where it was shotgun only so I have two shotguns set up for riffled slugs.  One is a Remington 11-87 and the other is a Mossberg 500.  I have never shot a sabot through them as shots where I used to hunt were 50 yards or so and at that the Remington sluggers worked fine.  About 15 years ago I moved to MO and hunted deer there for several years with the Remington but finally got tired of carrying it around so I broke down and bought a deer rifle.  I don’t shoot the shotguns much anymore but do load some AA hulls with the Lee ‘keyhole” slugs that I pour myself from a mold.  These slugs use ‘regular’ shotgun wads and have a star crimp.  I use AA hulls and wads but with the right combo you can use other brand hulls and wads.  I have shot and reloaded some of the AA hulls at least four times and they are still usable.  Through the Remington, with a rifled choke and a red dot scope, they will do 2 or3 inches at fifty yards.  Even in Missouri most of my shots are within this range so I am not anal about getting 1-inch groups.  These ‘home rolled’ loads shoot as well as the factory loads I have shot.
RJ

[moxgrove]

if you read about Ed Huebels 12 ga from H*** you will see he has used the 870 for some of his experiments with 4759 loads. He is a very experienced loader/wildcatter and I wouldn't recommend just going for it. I am however working with some of his data in my Mossberg 500. Yes it can be done but probably more effort than you would want put in unless you are really into the heavy paradox rifle concept like me. You can see his posts on this forum and the Beartooth forum.

[moxgrove]

the 50 call brass he uses has to be modified to the 12 ga rim size I am using the montana 12 ga turned brass.

[fat tony]

the 50 call brass he uses has to be modified to the 12 ga rim size I am using the montana 12 ga turned brass.

I was aware of the 12 gauge from hell project, It's on several forums, a really interesting idea, the thing is a real beast! The only 12 gauge brass that I know of is balloon head I think. I can't remember the name of the company. This montana company, are they online? Regards.

[moxgrove]

Sorry it is the Rocky Mountain cartridge company and they turn the cases