Author Topic: Idea for Rem 870 all purpose config? (Read 1096 times)

BattleRifleG3 · « **on:** June 09, 2005, 04:47:49 AM »

I've been thinking of switching from my Moss 590 in a purely tactical setup to a Remington 870 for every shotgun purpose. These would include every sort of western PA hunting, including turkey, waterfowl, deer, and small game, as well as home defense, flying targets, and the ability to use Dixie Slugs against the largest animals on the continent.

So here's what I was thinking of as my ideal rig:
1. Get a 870 ESM synthetic that can take 3.5" shells, assuming that any 870 barrel will fit a Super Magnum receiver.
2. Buy a rifled barrel for an 870 from my friend who has two and only uses his scoped one (the first came with a combo).
3. Somehow obtain a factory magazine extension (any idea how apart from a shotgun?) for home defense use and get an 18" rifle sited smoothbore barrel (or with ghost rings) to match it.
4. Get an adjustable choke, either PolyChoke II or a similar device sold by Cabelas currently.

So I was wondering how I could most cost effectively set up this rig? Anyone know where I could get a factory mag extension separately? I'd get the 18" model with the extension except that I wanted the Super Magnum receiver. The base shotgun would probably be a synthetic ESM 28" version I saw at Dick's, though if an independent dealer can do it for not much more I'd go that route instead to support them and trade my 590 towards it (possibly straight accross, but it should at least count for a very large portion of the price.)

Any thoughts on this rig, or how it may be as cost effective to stick with a multiple shotgun setup instead of having three barrels for one? And are there any incompatibilities I didn't recognize?

RaySendero · « **Reply #1 on:** June 09, 2005, 03:29:19 PM »

My "all purpose" is a 3" mag. 870 turkey gun. I bought it for by son when he was 9 yrs old. It was light enough and balanced well so I cut two 3/4" pieces off the butt an added that lace on recoil pad. Make a great kids gun reloaded with 7/8" reduced speed loads.

Now he's got longer arms than I. The cuts were saved and added back. The stock was refinished and the 30" barrel was picked up some years ago. He uses it for dove and ducks. I use it to turkey hunt and its the first gun I grab for when using a shotgun to squirrel hunt. With the sling added, its the handiest one to take - strapped on my back it doesn't stick up higher than my head and allows me to use both hands crossing a creek (really funny how squirrels alway fall on the other side).

That turkey target was shot at 40 yards. Notice that it has 9 pellets along the spine area!

Have not ever felt the need to move up to a 3 1/2" gun. Really would not want to as the slide seems uncomfortably long to stroke, the balance feels wrong plus the "kick" with that light of a gun with a 3 1/2" is toooooo... much!

Ramrod · « **Reply #2 on:** June 10, 2005, 01:57:07 PM »

BattleRifleG3, did you ever hear the old saying, "Jack of all trades, master of none"? I think it was coined by a very experienced shotgunner.

RaySendero · « **Reply #3 on:** June 10, 2005, 04:16:15 PM »

I've also heard to beware of the man with one shotgun because he probably knows how to shoot it very well!

JPSaxMan · « **Reply #4 on:** June 11, 2005, 03:10:01 PM »

Just get an 870 and never look back!

:grin:

sniperVLS · « **Reply #5 on:** June 11, 2005, 04:31:45 PM »

Heres my adored 870 Magnum.

Please fix this picture JP[/color]

EDITED:

Bah!! the pics are down! I need to get the space back my friend gave me, this webshots is poop!

here it is...

Already got the heat shield and a 26" barrel to go with the 18" that came on it.

Ordered a tactical cheek pad yesterday, cant wait to get it on..

http://www.copsplus.com/prodnum3533.php

Plan on getting a light put on her as well.

Come deer season, the 26" goes on and all is well.

BattleRifleG3 · « **Reply #6 on:** June 16, 2005, 10:08:06 AM »

Quote from: RaySendero

I've also heard to beware of the man with one shotgun because he probably knows how to shoot it very well!

That's pretty much what I'm going for. The many barrel and tube options would help for each different purpose, but the core shotgun would be the same.

Ramrod · « **Reply #7 on:** June 16, 2005, 12:25:13 PM »

Quote from: RaySendero

I've also heard to beware of the man with one shotgun because he probably knows how to shoot it very well!

That may or may not be true. But all the really good wingshots I know own more than one shotgun. Besides kids, it's the bum shots that only own one.

JPSaxMan · « **Reply #8 on:** June 16, 2005, 04:19:31 PM »

Thanx for fixing the pics VLS,

Ramrod...does Tom Knapp own one gun? Oh he might own that one Benelli...and dang nab it wouldn't we all love to shoot as good as him. :roll:

dukkillr · « **Reply #9 on:** June 16, 2005, 04:39:16 PM »

If you think Tom only has one gun you're dreaming. I can't think of a good shooter who only owns one gun. I agree with whoever said you're trying to be the jack-of-all-trades and you'll end up being the master of none.

JPSaxMan · « **Reply #10 on:** June 16, 2005, 04:50:14 PM »

Yea you're most likely right dukkillr. A guy like Tom Knapp being the[/i] spokesperson for Benelli prolly has 3 gun cabinets filled with just Benelli :eek: :shock:

BattleRifleG3 · « **Reply #11 on:** June 17, 2005, 04:31:46 AM »

Darnet, you guys are tempting me to get a 10 and 20 gauge too...

sniperVLS · « **Reply #12 on:** June 17, 2005, 06:46:46 AM »

Quote from: BattleRifleG3

Darnet, you guys are tempting me to get a 10 and 20 gauge too...

thats what we are here for

RaySendero · « **Reply #13 on:** June 17, 2005, 04:36:49 PM »

Quote from: BattleRifleG3

Quote from: RaySendero
I've also heard to beware of the man with one shotgun because he probably knows how to shoot it very well!

That's pretty much what I'm going for. The many barrel and tube options would help for each different purpose, but the core shotgun would be the same.

BRG3,

I use to shoot competion sheet, trap, sporting clays and hunt a lot with many different shotguns. I realized at some point the different feels and different height of the rib post were causing the different guns to shoot to different points of aim! After I quit competing I sold all my shotguns and bought one that I considered to be "best all around" for hunting and a shoot now/then at the range. My precision both on and off the field IMPROVED.

Your thinking in the right direction - Keep going and don't let the arm chair QBs steer you wrong. I've been there, done that, learned from the experience and am glad to share it with you.

Ramrod · « **Reply #14 on:** June 18, 2005, 02:40:56 PM »

Ray, why did you need all those guns to compete? Think about it. Could you have been as good a competitor with just one gun? What are you hunting now? If your hunting was as varied as your target shooting, I think you would own more than one gun.

RaySendero · « **Reply #15 on:** June 19, 2005, 11:15:03 AM »

Quote from: Ramrod

Ray, why did you need all those guns to compete? Think about it. Could you have been as good a competitor with just one gun? What are you hunting now? If your hunting was as varied as your target shooting, I think you would own more than one gun.

I do own several rifles but only one shotgun! My son has that one pictured above and I have a 12 gauge Remington 1187. I use his for squirrel/turkey and mine for all else. Don't have any need that's not met - If we squirrel hunt together one of us will take a 22. Think his set up is the most versatile of the two.

Also believe that having one shotgun for targets/hunting helps your wing-shooting in both cases. IMO, Shooting a shotgun and shooting a rifle are very different. The mount, balance, and over all handling of a shotgun takes a lot of repetitions (target shooting/practice) to commit to memory!

The "feel" referred to so much means to get the brain and many more muscles all working together, sometimes very quickly! Kinda like shooting free-throws, pitching or hitting a base ball - You have to practice until these movements are "learned". Similarly, you really can't perform any of these and think about them at the same time! You have to practice so they become second nature. So again, think learning the "feel" of ONE shotgun real well is the way to go.

Hope this answers your question.

dukkillr · « **Reply #16 on:** June 19, 2005, 04:22:54 PM »

I don't disagree that shooting one gun for everything would make you more accurate, but i believe the loss in comfort caused by shooting different guns is outweighed by the ability to shoot guns designed for that purpose. For instance, I dove, quail, pheasant, rabbit, and squirrel hunt with a light weight 2 3/4" model 12. I like that gun and I feel like I shoot it better than any other gun I own. BUT, in January in a duck boat when there's going to be ducks and geese mixed with mud, ice, water, wind, etc that Model 12 simply isn't as good as my 3" BPS or even my 3 1/2" 10ga BPS. What I lose in accuracy I make up for by having a gun that can get wet, scratched, frozen, etc and still function flawlessly plus shoot the larger shells. Now when spring comes around could I shoot any of those guns at turkeys? Sure I could, but I've got a gun that's better for turkey hunting than any of those mentioned. (Besides, if you miss a turkey with a shotgun it's not the gun's problem).

To me the question isn't "can you do everything with one gun?" clearly you can. But I'm pretty confident in saying that just because you CAN do it doesn't mean it's the best idea.

Of course all of this depends on exactly what you're going to actually hunt/shoot.

BattleRifleG3 · « **Reply #17 on:** June 20, 2005, 04:58:32 AM »

I'm thinking this way - If certain uses are extremely different, I might go with guns that are significantly different enough not to confuse their performance. Ie a BPS for 10ga and a Rem 870 for 12. The weight difference would probably cause me to automatically adapt. If I had a ribbed Win 1300 and used it as well as a ribbed 870, that would be another matter.