How do you "Re-Dimple" an 870 / 1100 / 1187?

F

FirstFreedom

Moderator
Friend of mine has a Rem 870 express which I gave him with 2 barrels - a short home defense barrel and a longer hunting bbl (the one that came with the gun). When I owned it, I put a Tac Star extension on it.

If he were to go hunt upland birds now, the plug would not get him down to the requisite 2-in-tube-mag legal requirement.

So, you can you put the dimples back into the tube, which had been dremeled off, or otherwise make the stock spring & endpiece work again?

Actually, come to think of it, I would bet it will work just fine with no dimples at all - he'll just have to cram the spring & endpiece in manually and place the threaded cap on, like a jack in the box - no sweat, eh?

Or alternatively, fashion a longer wooden plug for it?
 
The barrel ring should be drilled for the ball detent. Order the right parts from Brownells, and convert it to the Wingmaster / Police retention system.
 
A good method to convert back to a standard length tube is to buy an old style magazine spring retainer.

This is a blackened steel "spring-cup" that fits inside the mouth of the magazine tube and is retained by friction.
This will hold the magazine spring in place.

To use a standard magazine cap, simply wrap some Teflon plumber's pipe tape around the magazine threads, and this will prevent the cap from unscrewing under recoil.

You can buy a old style magazine retainer from Brownell's:
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/sc...ngton®&model=870+Standard+Weight-+12,+16,+20+

Item Number 38.
Note how the retainer goes in cupped side down.
 
Just make a plug, it isn't rocket science. After all, you are only dealing with federal enforcement folks (oops, did I just say that out loud?)

Whenever I need one (which is usually when I get out to the blind) I just look around for a sturdy bush with somewhat straight shoots (like a willow or alder), cut and peel a piece, then work on the length until I can only put 2 in the mag. This gives you something productive to do while your partner is wading around setting out the dekes.

Be sure not to point the shotgun at your partner's dog while loading shells to try out the plug--this will make your partner nervous and he might not get the dekes set out properly.

I have a collection of about 20 plugs for my Mossberg sitting in a box at home as a result of my efforts. Amazingly, they're all pretty close to the same length!

Nice as they are, I never seem to take one with me when I head out...
 
Cut a plug from a 1/2" dowel and use your extended tube and spring so nothing else to keep track of. How many less do you want it to hold? 3 less? 3 X 2-3/4" = 8-1/4" so then you'd trim 7-3/4" off the dowel to use as a plug. The 1/2" slack is for the 2 shells and a third shell will only partially insert making you hunt legal.
 
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