I bought the wrong 870, now what?

S

simonz

New member
I'm new to shotguns and I've been thinking about getting a Remington 870 for the dual purposes of HD and skeet. Last night I was in Wal-Mart and took a look at the shotguns and was smitten by a Remington 870 Express Combo with a 20" rifled barrel and 26" Rem Choke barrel and 4+1 magazine capacity. I liked the laminated wood stock furniture. So, I took her home for $394.

Now I realize that I may have made a big mistake. For HD the magazine the 4+1 capacity is too small (I don't like leaving one in the chamber, so only 4). The 20" rifled barrel is useless for my purposes. The 26" barrel may be useful for skeet, so that is a plus. The 870 has dimples which need to be removed to add a mag extension. And Wal-Mart's policy is NO RETURN for firearms.

I'm considering buying a new 18" or 20" smooth bore barrel so I can use it for shot and buck for HD, that's about $120. I don't like the idea of drilling out the magazine dimples on, so I'd have to have a smith take a go that, more $$, and then about $45-75 for a quality mag extension. However, I am happy with the wood furniture and dislike synthetic stocks.

What should I do, sell it, keep it stock and buy a HD gun, or use it as a base for building it up? What would you do?

simonz
 
4 is actually not too bad for HD. It is good as a hunting gun too if you want to try it as such. If you add a shell holder and reload after each shot you can have the 4+1+5 on the side or in your case 3+1+5 on the side. It is still an 870 express so there are upgrades.

Another option would be to take it to a gun dealer for a trade. You might lose money this way but it could be easier than trying to get a mag extension installed.
 
The 20" 4shot tube gun is a great defensive gun. Spend the money you would otherwise give to a gunsmith and Brownells, and buy some ammo. Shoot the pee-pee out of it, and then decide what you like and dislike.
 
Depending on your environment, the rifled barrel isn't a show stopper. Louis Awerbuck advocates using slugs as at most social distances, the shot pattern isn't going to open up much and you might as well be shooting a more accurate, more predictable round.

As for the capacity, a Wilson/Scattergun Tech mag extension can deal with that.
 
You might also take it to a gunshow NIB and try to trade for what you want.

You can sell the rifled barrel here or on one of the auction sites. Full-rifled barrels on E-bay routinely sell upwards of $150. If you use the proceeds to buy a smooth-bore short barrel, it will probably cost you around $100. Use the difference to by the magazine-tube extension. You might even have enough leftover for a side-saddle, bandolier sling or buttstock ammo carrier.

A magazine tube extension should screw-on to your existing magazine just like the cap. I'm not familiar with the dimples of which you speak.
 
Just Some Food For Thought...

4+1 is a lot. You need to remember, that is a 12ga SHOTGUN. It can blow things to pieces. You will be hard pressed to find a situation where you will need more than that in an HD scenario. Just my opinion, but in reality, and in most circumstances; one shot from a 12ga will do the job.
 
At indoor ranges, the shotgun works on a theory similar to a submachine gun, in that it lets you put a lot of pistol caliber lead (9 .32 cal pellets with 00 buck) on target very quickly. The shot gun might be a little more forgiving than a rifle or pistol in terms of shot placement, but not by much. You still want all 9 pellets on target. At halway ranges, I don't know how bad your rifled barrel will perform. I'd pattern it before I bought a smooth bore. At 10 yards, you might ok with what you have. I also like rifle sights on a shotgun, which you can get with a smooth bore, but not always. It's not a bird or trap gun.
 
I run slugs exclusively in my working shotguns, and carry buck for critters like dogs and such. For human encounters, the 1oz slug is hard to beat, and it performs the same whether the range is 2feet or 100yds.
 
(I don't like leaving one in the chamber, so only 4).
Click to expand...

Is that with 3" shells or 2 3/4" shells? my Mossberg 500 holds an extra round with 2 3/4" shells. I'm not too familiar with the Rem 870.
 
The rifled bbl can be used with 00 or anything else!

If an intruder gets past 4 or 5 rounds of 00 throw the gun at him/her/them and run ... for you 1911.
 
I can't think of a better shotgun platform for upgrading or diversification than the 870. You have a great deal of options available and adding a mag tube extension is kid's play. Start there if your unsure that 4 is enough. You are aware that the term "one shot stop" holds especially true for shotguns right? Shotty's have a reputation for ending fights very quickly and effectively.

Smoothbores for the 870 are not break-the-bank expensive. Here is one from Midway:

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=381172

I highly recommend you NOT shoot buckshot out of a rifled barrel. That soft lead gets into the grooves waaay too easily and can be very difficult to get out. And, it really compromises the accuracy when you want to shoot sabot slugs out of the barrel. Sabots turn your shotgun into a rifle with a good degree of accuracy out to 150 yards and beyond (from what I've read). :eek:

You have the opportunity to turn your shotgun into a real multi-purpose firearm with a little more investment. I've not regretted doing these upgrades to my 870 for one second since I got it. :D :cool:
 
Barrel issue solved

Mike U,

You have given me the answer on the barrel issue. I'll get a smooth bore barrel and save the rifled barrel for slugs or even sell it. The link for the Remington factory replacement barrel at MidlandUSA is exactly what I've been looking for and the price is right.

Others had question about the dimples. On newer Remington Express 870 models there are dimples in the magazine chamber that prevent any shells going beyond the dimple and this precludes using magazine extensions unless the dimples are somehow removed. Some people drill the dimples out, some use a Dremel tool to grind them out, and others pound them out using a socket wrench. I'm reluctant to take a drill to a brand new gun. These dimples must have been the idea of a lawyer.



simonz
 
Simonz, don't beat yourself up. I don't think that there is a "wrong" 870.

Drilling out the dimples is no big deal. It sounds scarier than it is. There are two tricks, though.

First trick: stuff paper towels into the receiver and the bottom of the tube as plugs to prevent filings from getting where they shouldn't. Remove the towels carefully when you've finished cleaning the tube after drilling.

Second trick: start with a bit that's smaller than needed to drill out the entire dimple, and get that first hole as perpendicular to the dimple as possible. It's your pilot hole. Once you've made them, the rest is relatively boring. Just keep increasing the size of the drill bit to increase the size of the hole a step at a time. Three or four bit sizes should produce a perfect job.

When you've finished drilling out the dimples, debur the inside of the tube. Just wrap a 1 inch strip of wet-or-dry abrasive paper around a dowel that almost fits the tube. Twist the dowel so that the abrasive cleans up burrs. It shouldn't take more than a few seconds if you've used my trick to drill the holes.

Be sure to clean out any filings from the tube. Some Hoppes #9 on some patches will do what's necessary. After you've finished this step, carefully remove the paper towel plugs.
 
simonz,

There really is no "wrong" 870, because they're like Legos- you can make almost anything you want out of one.

Seems you have a start on getting your barrel questions sorted out- just sell the rifled barrel and use the proceeds to buy a smoothbore. There are 20" smoothbores with rifle sights that are externally identical to the one you have, and there are 18" factory barrels with bead sights and an occasional one with rifle sights too. You just have to figure out which one to get.

There are two systems used to retain magazine caps on various 870s. Old Express guns, Wingmasters, SPs and Police guns have a spring-loaded detent set into the barrel ring that engages recesses in the inner rim of the magazine cap. Newer Express guns (except the HD guns that come with magazine extensions) are like yours- they have a plastic magazine spring retainer that doubles as a magazine cap retainer. Teeth on the plastic retainer engage other teeth inside the magazine cap to keep it tight. The dimples are there to retain that plastic retainer.

You really do need to remove those dimples. It is a DIY job, no need to pay a smith to do it. The best thing to do is drill them out. Trying to pound them smooth using a socket etc. for a mandrel risks damaging the magazine tube. That's pretty thin steel in the walls of the magazine tube and I have seen people distort the magazine threads trying to 'iron out' the dimples. The best DIY approach is to drill them out carefully.

I'd drill a small pilot hole at each end of each dimple first, then work up from there. You want to wind up with a hole no bigger than it needs to be to get rid of all the dimple, it'll be an oblong hole with radiused ends when you're done.

Plugging the magazine tube to keep filings out is a good idea. Remove the trigger plate first, to get it out of the way. Take a piece of cloth large enough to block the magazine tube and a loop of twine long enough to reach through the magazine tube. Lightly oil the cloth, hang it in the loop and drop the other end of the twine down the magazine tube from the receiver end. Use the twine to pull the cloth plug partway into the magazine tube, then drop the free end of the twine down into the tube.

Drill out the dimples, clean up the burrs and polish the area. Upend the receiver over a trash can so the muzzle end of the magazine tube is down. Shake out the twine and slowly pull the plug out through the muzzle end of the magazine tube. The oiled cloth plug should clean out the magazine tube as it comes, if you arranged it to fit tightly enough.

You really can do it yourself, or a tool-handy friend can help you with it if you aren't comfortable doing it alone. But that is the best approach to getting rid of the dimples.

lpl/nc
 
COOL!

With all of the great advice these guys are giving, you'll be ready to rock and roll in no time. And another shotgunner is born!

Congrats on the purchase of your 870! Your kids will be able to pass it on to their kids. These shotguns really are that good. :D
 
Chris,

The reduced recoil shells in 2 3/4" length usually run 9-00 buck pellets.
I have reduced recoil Winchester Ranger reduced recoil 2 3/4" shells that have 9-00 pellets@ 1200 FPS.
Also, I have some Sellier&Bellot 12 ga 2 3/4" shells that run 9 pellets per shell too and they come out at 1210 FPS.

Now, I also have a box of Remington Buckshot load# SP12H that is 3" and has 15-00 pellets. No idea of velocity on this one. :confused:
 
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