trap/skeet with remington 870?

H

Husqvarna

New member
trap/skeet with remington 870?

is it doable or are pumps more deer guns than bird guns?

I am thinking of buying a lefthanded pump

sick of my rem1100, figure that a pump is less maintenance, sick of having to switch to my O/U for sporting, a crappy gun to, can't get a reliable reload with trap ammo and the O/U is having problem aswell so it's a loss/loss situation.

gonna go look at a rem870 express 28 inch barrel and a used model labeled Mch? Mach? match?

are the 870 and 1100 somewhat similarly "shaped"?

is there a huge point in having 3 inch shells? (only have 2374 in my 1100) edit didn't even realize that there are 3 1/2 inch ones!

I guess for slugs you could get magnum ones that pack a punch but for sporting you don't want alot more recoil.

a pump is 1/2 the price of a good semi (new atleast).
 
For trap and skeet, IF the gun fits you well enough, it is a viable alternative. You never use anything more than 2-3/4" target loads for trap or skeet -no need for 3" anything in that regard. A pump can be a hindrance when it comes to shooting the doubles portion in skeet - that will depend on your ability to work the slide while keeping the barrel on target - not easy, but doable.

You never said what brand your O/U is, but any decent one from Beretta or Browning would be more than up to the task

IF you get the Express instead of the Wingmaster take note - most of them require to finish polishing the chamber on the Express, not so on the Wingmaster
 
Of course its doable. I use to shoot a lot of skeet and trap, and I used a 870. I had a 4 gun set in 410, 28, 20 and 12 gage for skeet and had a FC Trap barrel and trap stock for my 12 gage. Also had a Mec 600 JR for each gage, but my nimble fingers weren't too good at loading 410s.

The only disadvantage is the 870 has a little slower lock time then most skeet and trap guns.

All that met was you took a 6' o'clock hold on the birds instead of blotting it out.

I've had a heck of a lot of 100 straights in both trap and skeet (although not many with the 410 and 28 gage).

I'm not into shotguns any more but I still have my 12 and 20 gage 870s.
 
my O/U is a Hungarian, the gunsmith took one look at it and said that well you could club the deer to death with it:D, I "had to buy" it with my safe for like 20bucks, and I lend it most of the time.

does the 870 have fixed chokes? not any kind of horrible screw ons like my rem1100 with a hideous cutts compensator?

screw ins or fixed?

only looked at the express because they were LH, but I guess the stock is straight and the ejection infront of my face doesn't bother me now so better to look at a wingmaster?
 
My 870s were from the mid 70s, they don't have interchangable chokes.

I do have a barrel that came with different chokes but I haven't used it.
 
If you are using the gun for both trap and skeet, you'll want interchangeable chokes to go from M or tighter for trap to skeet for Skeet. Briley, and others, make both flush and extended chokes. No need for ported ones
 
I have a 30+ year old wingmaster that still shoots as good today as the first day I shot it and still looks great. It has a fixed modified barrel. My two sons both have an 870 express with screw in chokes. The express is not going to be anywhere near as smooth cycling as the wingmaster and the finish is no where near as nice. You are also going to feel more recoil with the 870 that you didn't have with the 1100.

As far as shooting skeet. I took my 15 year old out awhile back to shoot a couple rounds for practice since we had not shot in about three months. I had bought a new automatic so I wanted to test it out. My son grabs his 870 express. I asked him why he wasn't shooting his O/U and he told me he was going to show the old man how it was done. Darn boy shot a 22 and 23 to my 18 and 20. Can it be done? Yep, but not by this old man. But it sure is fun to watch him get so much better than I ever was with a shotgun. Now to just get him to spot me a couple birds.
 
870s are everything you want them to be. And, I started shooting stuff with them in the 50s. Only Heaven knows how much meat I've made with them over the decades.

And had oodles of fun....

About a decade back I traded into an 870TB I used for trap. It was a wonderful choice for a starter trap gun. 30K or so shells through it before it went to a friend.

I used it for other games also, after buying a new 30" LB barrel fitted for Remchokes.

I used that same barrel last weekend on another 870, one I built from parts. Son used a 1955 made 870 with a new barrel also as we warmed up with a round of trap and then a fast 50 Sporting clays targets. Scores were good, fun factor was excellent.

Yes, I might have picked up a bird or two using my Beretta O/U instead, but that's about it.

At the moment, Casa McC holds 8 shotguns. 5 are 870s. My great grand kids will appreciate them.....
 
Like others advised ...nothing wrong with a good pump gun in a 28" barrel for general shotgunning ( Trap, Skeet, Sporting, live birds...)...

Rem 870's are popular ...so is the Browning BPS Hunter model ...and personally I like the BPS Hunter a lot more ..safety is on top of the tang / easy to get to with gloves on. BPS is cast neutral ...so it doesn't favor a right handed or a leftie ...and it ejects out of the bottom - so spent shells are more or less at your feet.

I shot a BPS Hunter model for at least 10 yrs primarily at Trap singles..but some doubles as well ...and continental too. It was the older model with Invector screw in chokes...and I still have it ( its about 30 yrs old now )...probably has 150,000 shells thru it ...and I still use it once in a while / or as a training gun --- bought a 2nd one in 20ga too...and both guns have been thru my 2 boys (both adults now ) and at least 4 of the grandkids ( with 6 more to come ..)....

http://thefiringline.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=43354&d=1236031619

Especially as a Leftie ....the BPS Hunter is a better choice.....new or used...you should find some around..

http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/detail.asp?fid=011B&cid=012&tid=211&bg=x

New in my area ...BPS Hunter sells for a little over $ 500.../ but I've seen some good clean used ones for about $ 300 ....
 
personally I would fix that 1100. I have five, have had one of them since 1963, and it runs like a typewriter with everything 2-3/4". If yours doesn't, something is wrong. A Wingmaster will certainly work as well but most people prefer a semi auto to a pump.
 
inlaw

I've got a brother in law who has shot 870's for trap for many years. His guns have trap butt stock and an after market rib and are use specific, far from field guns.

What is amazing is the round counts on his guns. I hesitate to quote a number.....plain can't remember...but when he told me I was stunned. He piks up a beater now and then for parts, but his stocked receiver and custom barrel keep going.

We picked up so much shot and wads one trip that I thought we were going to bust the suspension on his SUV.
 
re Virginian- L- A

dunno if I wanna sink more money into it. got it for about 150usd, I have already done my fair share of kitchen-gunsmithing, real work and money is makeup on a pig at this point

doesn't seem worth it.
 
If you can find a Model 12 with a cutts comp tube/w chokes -- get it. NOTHING is faster than a pump shotgun... not even automatics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tD-t80nkgU
(The Low House/Doubles is far faster -- near instantaneous.) :D


But if you must have a left-handed -- and if not a Model 12 -- then consider either an Ithaca 37
http://www.ithacagun.com/trap_gun.html

or a Browning BPS
http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/detail.asp?fid=011B&cid=012&tid=241&bg=x

Both are bottom eject so left/right doesn't matter
 
I am by no means an expert on shotguns; or any type of gun for that matter. In Fact, Saturday I went Dove hunting, and for the first time in my life I attempted to shoot a moving target with a shotgun. I got 4 birds out of 40 rounds. Everyone else had automatics (man those things shoot nice!) This is what I was shooting:

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3789558&postcount=3

That is a Savage model 77-D in 12ga.

At first, I was not getting anywhere close to the birds. But as the day went on I figured out my mistakes and I was able to stay on target; or at least close. One bird I fired at three times, taking the bird on my third, and last, shot. The recoil of a pump made it harder to keep on target, but it can be done. It is not easy to move that pump in a nice smooth linear motion. Especially when the gun kicks like an old grumpy mule.

I have never shot one, but I would imagine that the 870 is going to operate much smoother than my Savage.
 
Gotta Agree with BigJimP

My younger brother is also a Southpaw, and hated just about every pump he tried other than the BPS, and one other I'm blanking on. He could only find two Pumps that didn't have the ejector pushing the hull into his line of sight, or worse, the side of his face.

That said, I've heard great things about the Wingmaster, and terrifying horror stories of the Express. I suppose the best advice with high ticket items like guns and cars... buy the right one the first time, even if you have to save and spend a little more. Get the BPS (Assuming it fits) for 600ish, rather than several you hate for 200 a pop. Remember this:

The 870 express is often what they give people in Hunter Ed classes where noone cares if you can hit the broadside of a barn, as long as you don't literally hit someone else's barn.

The last words of what passes for wisdom from me would be this: I wouldn't mind shooting skeet, double, or sporting clays with a pump, but single target trap where you usually are only allowed one round in the gun and have to load every time due to range rules... ugh. Give me my O/U every time. A Semi Auto is even better than a pump for single shell shooting. I felt like you had to go through the Marine Corps Silent Drill routine every time you wanted to load the thing. Disappointing for one bang per twirl.
 
The 870 Express is fine -- if you polish the cylinder and/or shoot brass-base cases. Polished (15min) it shoots the steel stuff
as well as anything else. (I've got both an old Wingmaster and new Express.... and you ain't lived `til you've jammed
an autoloader w/ a steel-based case. NOTHING has the ejection/jamm-clearing leverage of a pump shotgun)

As to bottom-eject pumps, the Browning BPS and the Ithaca-37 set the standard.

As to single-loading, drop the shell into the ejection port and/or push it into the magazine tube and rack the slide. Nothing could be simpler
 
"Leftie" is not an issue...

with a"rightie" 870 - I just had a gunsmith install a "leftie" safety in my two 870 Wingmasters, and shoot them off my left shoulder. I never have any trouble with ejected hulls hitting me. The new safety buttons are oversized, so they are easier to find by just feeling for them with your trigger finger.

My Wingmasters (a 12 ga, 2 3/4 inch chamber, and a 20 ga Lightweight Magnum, 3 inch chamber) have such beautiful wood stocks and highly polished blue metal finishes that I could just sit and look at them for hours.

My 870's make me a happy camper!:p
 
Is the mossberg 500 an equal to the 870?

got a better package deal on one of those

real tree camo what is that? some plastic over the barrel/stock or paint?

Screw in chokes

How easy is it to change barrels for a rifled slug barrel?

Possible to have brackets to adjust LOP and left/right "tilt"?
 
i,m left handed and have 7 clay games shotguns, and i shoot a 870 rem TB,and some weeks shoot 3-4 hundred shells with out a hitch and i regulary out shoot 2-3 thousand dollar shotguns at trap,i do use a rem 1187 and a citirie browning o/u at sporting clays and five stand,but my scores are only 2-3 birds more than with my rem 870. we have a shooter at sporting clays who uses a mossberg 500 who shots in the 42-45 range,he is like greased lightning and fun to watch. i have morgan adjustable pads on all my clay guns and a gun that fits you will mean more than the make. eastbank.
 
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