Remington 870 5 round vs 7 round?

A

absolutedge

Inactive
I am purchasing my first pump shotgun for home defense.

I am debating on whether the extra weight of the 7 round is better than the 5 round.

Anyone have opinions?

My initial thought is that a 5 rounder with less weight will give me more mobility in my home and also a little lighter for my wife.

Thanks in advance for your help!

:)
 
I have a +2 extension that came on a gun. I took it off and replaced it with a regular magazine cap. It is not just the weight, but the balance. I found that being able to get on target more quickly and with better accuracy outweighed 2 more shells.
 
A defensive shotgun should be configured to the smallest/shortest person in the household who will be using it. In your case, I'd definitely suggest staying with the 5 round version. The less weight out in front of the support hand the easier it will be to handle. And a little weight makes a lot of difference.

Not only that, but I'd put as short a stock on it as necessary to properly fit your wife, and keep the field length or sporting length forearm in place as well.

hth,

lpl
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ETA - I'd even consider a 20 ga. Express Youth Model, after thinking about it a bit. http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/678/products_id/95561 That one has a 13" LOP stock out of the box. And if that's too big, there's even a Compact model that's smaller - http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?r=view&i=418248 .

Best bet as always is to let your wife handle and if possible shoot the different options, and let her choose. Whatever she can handle, you can handle...
 
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I'm with Lee on this one. If your wife is smaller stature, go with a 20ga youth model. It will do all you need it to do in the HD arena, and your wife will not be intimidated out of practicing with it. And practive is needed to handle a weapon under stress.
Not to put too fine of point on it, but short stroking a pump action could be the last mistake a person ever makes.
 
wow thanks too all the response!

it is difficult in the area that i live in, but i am going to find a gun store and let me wife try them out first.

then i will get one that caters to her.

thanks!

:D
 
If you do wind up with a 'short stock' shotgun to fit your wife, and it turns out to be genuinely short for you, about the only adaptation you will have to make is to remember not to wrap your shooting hand thumb around the top of the stock. Instead lay your thumb over on the knuckle of your trigger finger, so your thumb doesn't bop you in the nose under recoil. 'Squaring up' on the gun is easier with a short stock too - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfH_v9rv3Js .

I'm 6'3" and my wife is 5'4", I wear a 37" sleeve and we both shoot the same 'house guns.' They're 870s with 12.5" LOP stocks, set up to fit her. It's gotten so I prefer the short stocks.

BTW, a really good recoil pad helps a lot, too.

lpl
 
If you need to get a shot stock for your wife, but wish to use the same gun you might consider a slip on but pad for yourself. If this is a poor idea, the experienced guys will sing out.
 
Unless you're defending the Alamo or leading Custer's flank towards the Greasy Grass the 5 round will be all you'd ever need.
 
You can always put an adjustable stock on it.

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My initial thought is that a 5 rounder with less weight will give me more mobility in my home and also a little lighter for my wife.
Click to expand...

I have a +2 extension that allows for 6 rounds in the tube.

Since the magazine is always loaded for HD, I download by one to keep from compressing the spring over long periods of time. Chamber empty on pulled trigger.

With the side saddle removed (5 more rds.) the gun is light enough for mobility even if I were expecting trouble and loaded up with 6 + 1.

With the five round sidesaddle, the gun is heavier, but recoil is less. Since my Scattergun Tech has a SureFire fore-end (which adds weight), the side saddle is removed.
 
My thoughts...

I bought a 7 shot, but removed it when I added the Surefire lighted forend. It was a weight issue for me. I don't feel any less armed with 5 rounds than with 7. I'm an leo, so having the light mounted is just as important as ammo capacity, but If you are not concerned with weight, go with 7. It never hrts to have a couple more rounds in your mag tube.
 
I like having the 7 rounds that my mag tube extension provides me but I also have had feeding problems with it in that the last two rounds will sometimes not go unless i unload the whole tube then reload it. Most of the time I dont have a problem but occasionally it will happen. Now you would already only have the 5 shot capacity so the extra two rounds or not, even if it jams you have your original capacity, but its a mental distraction if your thinking you need to reload six and can only put four in. Has anyone else had this problem? also Its the factory mag tube extension that came with my Desert tac recon.
 
Brownell's sells a +1 magazine cap for the 870.

I removed my 870's +2 factory extension. One reason was balance, and the other was that spring force was deforming bases on the Win law enforcement ammo used. These rounds would no longer feed. Maybe the problem was a defective batch of ammo.
 
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