I have been trying to look up this information for longer than I care to admit and keep hitting walls or conflicting information so I have become thoroughly confused. Hoping some experts can set me straight without much trouble!
The situation is that I recently picked up a new barrel on clearance so I can use my 870 express as a "loaner" for friends for skeet. The gun had a mag extension on it, so I am trying to replace that with a factory style mag cap, but have run into tons of conflicting product pages and information about the right mag cap to get. I am almost certain my gun/barrel has what they call the external ratchet mag cap. However, I bought a mag cap that specifically said it fits "870 express" guns and it came with the "internal ratchet." Is my 870 express unusual to have external or was the product mislabeled? Making things worse is that the product pages often don't specially mention whether they are for internal or external mags and often missing an item picture from an angle which would allow me to see which it is. I have found some helpful product images on brownells, and if I had to do it over again would just order from there.
The situation is that I recently picked up a new barrel on clearance so I can use my 870 express as a "loaner" for friends for skeet. The gun had a mag extension on it, so I am trying to replace that with a factory style mag cap, but have run into tons of conflicting product pages and information about the right mag cap to get. I am almost certain my gun/barrel has what they call the external ratchet mag cap. However, I bought a mag cap that specifically said it fits "870 express" guns and it came with the "internal ratchet." Is my 870 express unusual to have external or was the product mislabeled? Making things worse is that the product pages often don't specially mention whether they are for internal or external mags and often missing an item picture from an angle which would allow me to see which it is. I have found some helpful product images on brownells, and if I had to do it over again would just order from there.