I bought a 870 express magnum a coupl months ago and have been shooting 3' Remington Slugger 1 ounce slugs out of it.  After 5 shots it is super dirty and takes about 5 or 6 rags Soaked in hopps to get the thing clean.  I don't like how dirty this gets after 5 shots. My question is what do you guys use that doesn't leave a lot of crap in the barrel after a couple shots and is this normal for this type of slug?  

All guns are dirty, but shotguns are possibly the dirtiest.

Slugs, buckshot, and most birdshot is dirty stuff and will lead up the bore.

Welcome to the world of shotgunning.
Buy good cleaning materials, and replace your bore brushes fairly often.

I buy Hoppe's #9 bore solvent in quart bottles, my patches in 500 to 1000 packs, and my bore brushes in bulk from Brownell's.

I use barnes cr-10, I let it soak for a few min and the crap just comes right off

Quoted: All guns are dirty, but shotguns are possibly the dirtiest. Slugs, buckshot, and most birdshot is dirty stuff and will lead up the bore. Welcome to the world of shotgunning. Buy good cleaning materials, and replace your bore brushes fairly often. I buy Hoppe's #9 bore solvent in quart bottles, my patches in 500 to 1000 packs, and my bore brushes in bulk from Brownell's.

My verona 405s is not nearly as dirty. My main question is are there slugs that don't foul up the bore as much.  I have heard lead is no good to shoot, should I switch to a copper slug or just keep the Sluggers.

Try some sabots; the lead won't come in contact with the bore.

Quoted: My verona 405s is not nearly as dirty. My main question is are there slugs that don't foul up the bore as much.  I have heard lead is no good to shoot, should I switch to a copper slug or just keep the Sluggers.

Is this (870 Mag) a smoothbore/non-rifled?  If so, does your verona have a bore that appears much shinier?  You may need to hone the 870 barrel.  Honing makes them much easier to clean and resists some of the usual crap building up.

You could switch to sabot slugs since the lead won't make contact with the barrel, but sabots cost more.  Shotguns get dirty when you shoot them; that is natural.  This grotesque muck won't hurt the gun; it is part of shotgunning.

It is ok for your shotgun barrel to be dirty.  The dirt will not adversely affect accuracy and it will not damage the barrel.  In fact, a freshly cleaned, shinny shotgun barrel will not be as accurate as one that has had a few rounds shot through.  Don't worry so much about a little dirt.


Also, a Reminton 870 needs only five (5) drops of oil for proper lubrication.  It is like a Glock in that respect.  If you don't put a lot of oil on it, it will take longer to get dirtly.  

Quoted: Try some sabots; the lead won't come in contact with the bore.

+1  I'm hooked on them.  I've found accuracy is a little hit and miss (no pun intended) but I've seen people claim some crazy stuff with nothing but a rifled choke tube!

Gundraw

ETA:  I personally don't believe keeping a pump gun sqeaky clean is necessary.

Quoted: Try some sabots; the lead won't come in contact with the bore.

Sabotted slugs won't shoot worth a crap out of a smoothbore, unless it also has a rifled choke tube - and are MUCH more expensive than foster types... I'm currently using mostly Winchester SuperX 2 and 3/4" out of my smoothbores, and getting good results - they appear to be *a little* cleaner shooting than Sluggers are, and can be had for $6 for 15 rounds at Wallyworld... I would take a guess that Benneke slugs *might* shoot a little cleaner, but have never grouped all that well for me - although for penetration, they're probably without equal...


Now, maybe I can help your cleanup efforts a llittle - what I found to work best on smoothbores is to spray some Shooter's Choice Shotgun and Choke Tube Cleaner down the bore, let it sit for about 10 minutes, then run a SS Tornado brush down it about 10 times... I *might* have to do that twice, before having a sparkling clean bore.. Aftrewards, I'll dry patch it, then run an oily patch through a couple of times, and call it good... Although it probably wouldn't hurt anything, I don't use the Tornado brush on my fully rifled bores - opting to use a regular bronze-phosfor brush for them instread... My belief is that the SS Tornado brush *might* dull the rifling edges on a fully rifled bore - but they work like a champ on smoothies...



  - georgestrings

"It is ok for your shotgun barrel to be dirty. The dirt will not adversely affect accuracy and it will not damage the barrel. In fact, a freshly cleaned, shinny shotgun barrel will not be as accurate as one that has had a few rounds shot through."


That has not been my experience - my shotguns have always shot their best with a clean bore, and that's how I hunt, too - they've never needed some "fouling shots", like some rifles will after a thorough cleaning, for getting their best groupings... Furthermore, in my experience - most slug guns will have an increase in group size after about 15 to 20 shots without cleaning - and will only get worse from there...




 - georgestrings

georgestrings,

In March I took a five day shotgun course.  I shot at least 900 rounds of buck, slugs and birdshot.  during the week and did not clean my Remington 870 once.  On the last day we shot the "school drill" which included 5 slugs at 50 yards in X seconds (can't remember off the top of my head how many seconds.  it was enough time but you could not waste time).  All five of my shots were in the X ring.  

I am not bragging about my shooting skills.  Anyone who shoots with me knows that I am not an expert marksman.  I am trying to illustrate the fact that with a shotgun that was by all accounts filthy as hell, accuracy was not adversely affected.

ManekiNeko - Although I won't doubt you, one of the things I've done every season for a few years is help out during "sight in days" at my local R&G Club - and in my experience, slug accuracy tends to drop off after about 15 or 20 rounds... Now, I'm not talking about rapid fire, like your example - but am talking about actual group sizes... I do most of my gun hunting for whitetails with a slug gun, and have been doing so for over 25 years - so I've shot a few slugs over the years, and have probably taken well over 100 deer that way(not meaning to brag)...

Of course, YMMV - but those are my experiences...



 - georgestrings

The Boresnake is the best $15 U will spend on a shotgun.