Hunting deer with a 20 gauge remington 870 express magnum?

is it realistic to even hunt deer with this shotgun and what type rounds should I use? at what rangeHunting deer with a 20 gauge remington 870 express magnum?
keep your shots within 50 yards, the 20ga. loses power rapidly past that range. We're talking slugs, don't even consider buckshot.


Try to test-fire several 5-shot groups of each of the 3 major brands of slugs, Winchester, Remington, and Federal. You may find one brand is more consistently accurate. There are also Brenneke slugs, sabot slugs, and odd brands that turn up from time to time, doesn't hurt to try whatever you can find. In my experience the Winchester slugs tend to shoot best but I've had guns that clearly preferred federal or remington.


the 870 is one of the great guns of all time, and don't let the snobs tell you the express is inferior, its plenty rugged. I put tens of thousands of rounds including a fair share of heavy magnums thru my 12ga express with not one failure to feed, fire, or extract, and it was damn near good as new on the sad day I sold it, but that's another story.Hunting deer with a 20 gauge remington 870 express magnum?
In the area of MN that I hunt in, we can only hunt with shotguns during firearms deer season. 20ga is actually quite popular but mostly for younger hunters. The Remington you are speaking of though is the exact same model that my brother in law used for a number of years and has killed a deer each year. He has always used either Remington or Winchester slugs.
the 20GA will be fine. we have to use shotgun, handgun, or muzzle loader in lower michigan and a lot of people have found the 20 has a better trajectory and plenty of power.


try several types of slugs to see which is most accurate in your gun. mine actually likes the cheap green box remington best (mine does happen to be a 12GA but dad, and two of three uncles all use 20)
Yes it is and is very popular to hunt with that gun in Iowa. Pretty standard. If you got a smoothbore, try some Rem sluggers. Then try some other rifled slugs to see what works better. Make sure you have the right choke if you don't have slug barrel. I have a rifled barrel so I use Rem Copper Solids. I can take them out to 200 yds with that rifled barrel.





Smoothbore limit is 100 yrds most guys don't like to make shots beyond 70 yds with a smoothbore and slugs.
I'm sure you can. It would be advisable that you consider a 12 gauge as you'll get more firepower and also a larger selection of slugs.





Also check you local hunting requirements as this may limit your choice in your area.