Cheapest way to add sights to my Rem 870?

M

MikeGoob

New member
I could get a new 18.5" barrel with sights for $175 but im hoping for a cheapter option.

Any other ideas?

Thanks
 
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Mike, what kind of sights do you want?
Obviously the front sight goes at the muzzle end, but the rear sight can be at the rear of the barrel, or at the back of the receiver (see Dedicatedshooter's recent conversion to Trijicon Ghost Rings for a very nice installation).
The advantage of the barrel mounted rear sight is you don't dedicate the gun the rifle-type sight operation. A simple barrel change and you can be shooting birds or clays with a vent rib barrel. The advantage of the receiver mounted rear sight is most folks shoot better with a "peep" sight; but, you'll have dedicated the gun to that type of sight and lose versatility.

With the 870, and other removable barrel guns, there is some motion between the receiver and the barrel -- this doesn't help rifle-style accuracy. It's one reason cantilever scope mounts are popular. By placing the rear sight on the receiver, you may lose some accuracy. It becomes a trade-off between accuracy and the benefits of a greater sighting radius. The decision is yours.

Check out Brownells, or other gun parts sites, to get an idea of what's available and the price range. If you can't drill and tap or solder for sight mounts, you'll also have to figure on installation costs.

Of course, there's the bigger question, do you really need a rear sight? Are you building a HD or slug gun?
 
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I have an 18 1/4" police trade in barrel with a single bead and I can keep slugs on a paper plate out to ~ 50-60 yds. What more do you need yours to do? Police trade ins used to be about 50 bucks
 
When I had mine shortened the smith at the shop welded a bead on it. The whole gun, which is in decent shape, only cost $200 (11 years ago) so it couldn't have been very much.
 
Thanks guys, its a HD gun mainly. I am completely unexperienced with other uses for shotguns (clays, hunting etc) and I guess I thought anything would be better than a bead for dark environments. I could add a light or something to the front--but it has no rails of course and I kind of want to avoid adding too much to it.
 
I just recently put an XS Big Dot front sight on my Remington 870. It cost $60, but is much more visible than the factory bead, especially in low light conditions.
 
the other thing is I have no drills or work bench so anything requiring drilling/tapping the barrel or receiver requires me to send it off to a smith.
 
Mike, contrary to Net Myth, a simple bead sight and an unaltered shotgun are capable of great things. It's up to us to make that so.

Speed's essential in defense. Nothing's faster than a bead. Go shoot some skeet, trap or similar games, especially stuff that comes in pairs. After a few cases, your chances of survival in a short time frame crisis are much improved.

And the practice is lots of fun, too.......
 
Adding to Dave's wise words - your EYES are your rear sight. at HD distances, your eyes, couples with a simple bead (remember simple is GOOD), will work wonder with the requisite practice you'll be doing. You want to focus on your target, not your sights.................
 
One thing to keep in mine is that you aim a rifle, you point a shotgun. If you aim at a moving target with a shotgun, you are going to most likely miss...
 
For a cheap expedient put a drop of bright yellow paint on the bead. If there's any ambient light available you can see it. My 870 just has a BIG bead painted yellow. I have no trouble finding it in low light conditions. Brownells should still have a fiber optic bead (actaully a small cylinder) that will screw into the Rem. bbl. (if it's threaded). Mine ribbed bbl. was.
 
For about the same amount of $$$ you could get the Hawk 982 (870 clone) with nice GRS. It is a better all around gun so you would have two shotguns for same price and the better one would have nice GRS.
 
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