Remington 11-87 accuracy with a Hastings slug barrel

[Dr. Vette]

Several years ago I purchased a Remington 11-87 from my hunting partner. In addition to the factory smoothbore barrel he threw in a brand new Hastings slug barrel with cantilevered scope mount. I use it for lower Michigan hunting, and we have taken deer with it. A few years ago I tried several brands of slugs in it and found that it liked the Hornady SST slugs best, which is good because that's what I had been using.

I was always a bit disappointed, though, in its grouping. Not bad at 3 inches or so for a 100 yard group but I never sighted it in for longer distance than that even though Hornady recommends 150 yards. I just wasn't impressed enough to trust a 150 yard sight in.

This past week I swapped the smoothbore to the rifled slug barrel and took it to the range. One adjustment of the scope and it was printing nice groups, so I took it to 150 yards and got it hitting dead center, exactly where I was wanting it.

So why is it more accurate this year? I inadvertently forgot to swap the gas valve from the smoothbore to the rifled slug barrel, and it's essentially a "slide bolt action" rifle rather than a semi-auto. All I can figure is that the movement of the action somehow affected the accuracy as it's the only change from past years.

Of course, part of me wants to see if it's now accurate if I reinstall the gas valve but the most of me doesn't want to mess with it since it's shooting REALLY well. I'll just have to let my son know how to manually cycle it when he's using it.

One week until opener!

 

[truck driver]

Barrel tension on the action has a lot to do with accuracy in autos and pump guns. When I was forced to use a slug gun in my favorite hunting area we experimented with several different brands of shot guns and types of barrels. Hastings was the replacement barrel of choice.
I had bought a Mossburg 500 for my son with a full rifled barrel and soon learned not to use the old still rifled slugs since they leaded the barrel badly. I had bought myself a Browning BPS 12ga 3" mag and some of the then new sabots for it in both 3" and 2 3/4". In testing and sighting in I found the 2 3/4" to be the most accurate in the Browning which they said would produce rifle accuracy at 100yds with premium ammo one of the reasons I bought it.
When we tested for accuracy the Browning would out shoot the Remington 11-78 that my friend had bought which had the factory cantilever barrel on it that was all the rage at that time. What we found was that when he fired the 11-78 the barrel would shift from the recoil with the scope on the cantilever mount. My Browning mounted the scope on a base that was on the receiver. We cut the cantilever off the barrel and mounted the scope on the reciever with a Weaver style base. It shot better but still wasn't consistent. so we looked at the differences in barrel tension and played with that for awhile which did make a difference in POI.
We looked farther at how the barrel would fit in the receiver and saw that my Browning was dove tailed into the receiver locking the barrel up and not letting it shift when fired. Since the Remington barrel doesn't move in the receiver like some autos we decided to drill and tap the hood and receiver and put two screws in it to lock up the barrel and not allow it to shift, this greatly improved the accuracy of the Remington 11-78 since it was a dedicated slug gun we didn't see a problem with locking the barrel up tight. For cleaning we would pull the the trigger group and clean from the muzzle.
Everyone has to experiment with what works best for them, but I think you have found that by not having changed the gas system over so that the action doesn't cycle you have seen where the barrel doesn't move and cause the barrel to shift. Just be careful not to pull straight out on the action bar or lever which will cause it to come out and get lost and disable the gun when trying to cycle the next round into the chamber.

 

[Dr. Vette]

I, too, have wondered about that cantilever, but it's what came with it. You can go with a side receiver mount and a different slug barrel, but I'm working with what I've got. We only hunt 1 day a year in the shotgun zone, and my son usually shoots this while I have my .44 Mag revolver and/or muzzleloader. Of course, last year he took 3 shots in a row. I'll have him practice with some spent rounds to see if he can easily cycle it.

 

[truck driver]

The side mounts that work off the action pins which are replaced with bolts can be a problem also as they will squeeze the action and cause the action not to cycle. there is also one that looks like a saddle that fits over the action but can cause ejection problems. If it were me I would just get a Savage bolt action slug gun and keep the 11-87 for a smooth bore.
If you want consistent accuracy you have to have a solid barrel lock up and a solid scope mount.

 

[Dr. Vette]

If it were me I would just get a Savage bolt action slug gun and keep the 11-87 for a smooth bore.
If you want consistent accuracy you have to have a solid barrel lock up and a solid scope mount.

Absolutely. I've thought many times about going to a Savage, but for one day a year... it hasn't happened. This shotgun gets used for turkeys in the spring/fall and deer one weekend per year. I have other smoothbores for bird hunting, this one is my utility gun.

 

[Dr. Vette]

FYI, my son took deer this year at 125 and 175 yards with this shotgun. Both were well placed, and with a 150 yard zero he did not have to adjust at all for distance. I didn't think that was too bad for a shotgun.

 

[salmonchaser]

Early in my career we still trained with slugs, I am amazed by what you guys can do with them. I never really felt comfortable shooting much past 50 yards with them. It would appear your son has mastered the weapon, well done both of you.

 

[Dwh7271]

Dr V,
That's excellent slug shooting with great results.
In Ohio until this year we were restricted to slugs, muzzleloaders or pistols. I shot an 870 w a Hastings for quite a while then got a bug and bought the break action NEF bull barrel single shot. The single with a Leupold and Hornady SST was terrific FWIW.

 

[Dr. Vette]

I've thought about a similar single shot, but... it's a single shot.
The Savage slug rifles are really tempting, but as I noted above for 1 day a year I haven't done it.

I shot a doe at 70 yards with my TC Impact muzzleloader 25 min before my son shot his first doe, and it did well. I took my 44 Mag pistol along, but didn't choose to use it. For my first one I will likely try to stay within 50 yards.

 

[Dwh7271]

Sounds cool.
With a little practice you'd be amazed how fast you can drop another one in with the single shot.

 

[SJB358]

I screwed my 11-87 down at the cantilever. My favorite slug (Remington Buckhammer) will touch all three at 100 yards if I doing anything close to right. It is a devastating combo for a slug gun.

The funny part is I pinned the cantilever because of the floppiness of the mount and bent it one morning coming out of my treestand. My old gunsmith drilled and tapped the receiver and fastened the cantilever to the receiver. It's been an excellent shotgun for me.

 

[tecumseh]

I've got a Mossberg trophy slugs yet I got 15 years ago and it shoots lights out with 2 3/4 Remington copper sabots! It drops deer where they stand.