Choke tube size versus shot size

[Miramichijeep]

My son just bought me a new Remington 870, Turkey camo, 21" barrel with an Turkey Extra Full choke. What is the largest size shot I can fire out of this choke without damaging the firearm and myself ? I like to hunt partridge with #6 shot but I also hunt whitetail deer with slug and buckshot. Thanks for the help.

[Synchronizor]

First off, that choke is going to be rated for lead shot only - maybe certain softer nontoxic shot materials as well, but pretty much just lead. As long as you're shooting lead shot, you shouldn't have to worry about hurting anything in the gun.

That said, something like an Extra Full choke is going to throw a very tight pattern that's mainly meant for specialized applications like turkey hunting or card shooting with small- to medium-sized birdshot. For hitting birds in the air, you're probably going to want something more open, to give you a larger pattern. Buckshot hunting favors tight patterns, but with those larger pellets, you'll probably have better results with something like a normal Full choke anyway.

I wouldn't recommend slugs with an Extra Full choke. You probably won't blow up an 870 trying to do it, but you will stress the choke and barrel, likely damaging them over time, and accuracy is almost certainly going to be bad anyway. Most smoothbore slugs do best through something much more open, like an IC choke.

[Miramichijeep]

Thanks Synchronizor