870 - what's the "special purpose"?

B

bfskinnerpunk

New member
A local guy is selling an 870 23" "Special Purpose".... double bead ribbed.

I'm new to shotguns, so do not know what makes it a "special purpose" or what "double bead ribbed" means.

Is there anything about this that makes it ill suited for home defense?

It's a bit long, but another barrel would fix that, right?

Alright... so what differentiates a special purpose, from a typical 870?

Kelton
 
If it's not a "Special Field" also available with 23" barrel, the barrels interchange with most 870s. The Special Fields were different, the barrel ring is located a little closer to the receiver,etc.

Special Purpose 870s will interchange with Wingmaster, Express,etc, as far as parts are concerned. And, despite Net Myth, a 23" barrel will do well for defense if it's employed by a set of trained, cool, hands.

The SPs were more turkey oriented than tactical, but they will work quite well for both. Double beads(one at the muzzle,one halfway back) are often found on target shotguns, but have little drawback on other shotguns unless we focus on them. For the stuff that we AIM at, like turkeys, they can serve as sights.

HTH....
 
Dave gave the useful info, so here's something not quite as much:

Anybody else have a flashback to watching the Steve Martin movie "The Jerk"?

It found it's special purpose! :D
 
The Special Field had 21" barrels and a straight grip.

The Special Purpose shotguns made by Remington were set up from the factory for a "special purpose" instead of being a general use gun.

They offered a 23" version for turkey hunting. It came with a extra full choke.

They also offered a deer hunting version with a raised comb for shooting with a scope.

They also offered a waterfowl version.

The first guns were made with dull finished walnut stocks, cut checkering and parkerized metal finish. Later the stocks were changed to black or camo synthetic or the same birch stocks with stamped checkering offered on the Express. The metal finish was also changed to the matte blue just like on the Express.

The original versions are quite nice and will bring a little extra to someone who knows what they are getting. Later versions are really just Express models with different barrel lengths.
 
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