Aim just listed these tonight.  LE trade in's per the description and some cosmetic wear/tear based on the pics.  This a good price?  I am on the fence about doing form 1 sbs for one of my 870's.  I prefer the rifle sights, so to me it seems like a good price but I admittedly have not done a ton of research.

I think so.

Heck yeah. I think I paid several times that for a new one a few years ago. Admittedly maybe I overpaid.

Yes, great price.

Do it!

Hell Yea. Any 870 barrel 21" or shorter has been unobtainium for two years or more

copy that, ordered.  thanks guys

I had a barrel like that I sold for $200 because it was an extra and I was trying to trim down.  You don't see them often.

Keep in mind that model is more like an express sight than a true rifle sight.

Ordered a couple of them to put back for possible future SBS project(s). I'm surprised they've lasted more than a day.

I should buy another

I bought one yesterday as soon as I saw the email. Took about 2 seconds to make the decision.

Same here. I already have a 14” bead sight extra, but at that price kind of hard to pass up. Now for a cheap wingmaster to sbs

Interesting that they were made with a modified choke considering the application.

Wonder if the force that ordered these were running a smaller size buckshot load?

I can't tell from the pics. Is the rear sight brazed on like the front sight is or is it doevetailed into the barrel?

Brazed on w a XS rear. These are the 14 in versions of the DEA barrel.

That's what I figured but just wanted to make sure. Thanks

Would these work okay with slugs?

Eh, ordered one anyway.

Rifled slugs through a modified choke are gtg.

For those who ordered right away a few days ago can you post a pic or two of the barrel when it arrives?

Here are some pics of mine.  I ended up ordering a second one.  They show signs of handling, one barrel looked new inside the other was clearly fired and not cleaned after.  I didn't notice it when I ordered, and the pic they have is not the best but these do not have traditional rifle sights on them.  They have XS sights, non-tritium.  It appears the rear base is proprietary to XS.  I don't think they could be swapped with traditional rifle sights.  Would have been helpful if AIM had taken some better pictures and a accurate description.  But after looking and handling it some more I think these will be fine for me.  But just fair warning for anyone else that may buy one.

Submitted my form 1 so now Im just playing the waiting game.

Attached File
 
Attached File

It’s hitting high w slugs. The MOD choke is so-so w 8 pellet Flite Control.

@dwb1987, thanks for the pics & @LonChaney, thanks for the pics/range report.

I love the XS Express sites.  They are quick and give you decent accuracy.  Rifle sights are probably better for longer range slug shots.  But for buckshot, I prefer the Express style sights compared to ghost ring sights or even a bead.  I really need to get one of these for my Tac-14.  This is going on my short list when my next commission check gets cut.

What length magazine tube are these compatible with?

I am thinking of SBS’ing an old wing master I have. Would this work?

Standard size magazine with the 14”. If you go shorter you have worry about the magazine length.

thanks, just ordered one.  now i guess i will SBS this thing once it arrives....

The Wilson Combat plus ones should be just about flush with these.

I ordered 2 before this thread was made. I ordered 2 more yesterday. These are a heck of a deal.  
Muzzle diameter is .885” plenty for getting threaded for Rem Chokes.

Anyone know which service owned these barrels?

Great price . I paid $226 for a new one a week ago. Hard to come by that often .

Just got the email, got one inbound. Let’s see what shows up, not a bad price.

Mine was literally perfect, pristine bore and only a scratch or two on the exterior. Already sent it off to rose action sports…

Can someone give me the front sight height measurement? I want to replace my front sight with a fiber optic front but I won’t have the barrel for another day or two.

Edit: Clarity.

I should have ordered mine earlier I guess . I received mine today looks like hammered shit and missing the rear sight 🙄  why I don’t buy lottery tickets

Oops forgot to mention it’s rusted


Aim offered  to swap it so will I will try that.  I liked the sights pictured in others barrels on this discussion why I ordered one . I have  Remington rifle sights now , a little variety be great if all the parts were there. The barrel I received had seen some hard neglect and abuse and someone who should have worn glasses before trying to adjust the sights took a hammer to the rear sight. Dovetail is prob oversized because of this, I’m suspecting is why it fell out or was Missing . Anyway let’s see what I get if they exchange it. I will be the first to brag if my experience is a good as other comments on this thread

*I just asked for a refund , I like aim and will buy from them again , this item wasn’t for me , I just ordered another new one for $226 delivered that way I know what I’m getting for sure . *

I too received mine this past Saturday and it looked like the rear sight was jb welded on and not brazed like the front sight ramp. Also, knowing this is a trade in barrel I was expecting the finished to be scratched up but near the chamber end of the barrel looked like the parkerizing was gone and they touched it up with one of the birchwood casey products. Needless to say it was returned back to Aim today.

My two arrived today and my feelings are mixed.  I’ll post pics later today.

@prebans

If you have time to voice your opinion today/this weekend I'm interested in why you have mixed feelings. Condition issues?

So can you run slugs or 00 buck? I hope so since I just oredered one.

Awesome, thanks for the pcs and info! So how do you think 00 buck would run in them?

Oh hell, I'm getting woriied from the last few posts now.

@third_rail

Thank you for the reminder.  This week went sideways not long after I made that post.  I’ll update this thread hopefully tonight or maybe tomorrow with photos.

Please consider this post 1/2.  You’ll see why later.

I ordered two barrels on Sun 08/14 for my two 870 SBSes.  They arrived on Wed 08/17 via USPS Priority Mail.  The barrels were more expensive than the guns, but that’s our brave new world.  (All tax free on a F5; bought over two dozen 14” 870P from a PD for $90 each when I was a SOT.)  


Taken immediately after opening the box and lifting out the top layer of brown packing paper.  Whoever packed these didn’t bother separating the barrels with anything.  Both had scars from rubbing against each other in transit, but at least they didn’t get dented.  


Both barrels are factory Remington 14.5” 2.75” or 3” barrels, parkerized, with modified choke.  They are each marked “REMINGTON ARMS CO ILION NY” on the right side and (star) 12 GA 2 3/4” OR 3” plus “MOD” on the left side.  

Both have the same front and rear sights.


There is a large non-tritium XS front sight.  



Both front and rear sights are drift adjustable for windage only and is dovetailed into their mounts.  The rear is in a XS-marked mount.  This appears non-standard.  If you wanted to change them out, I think there’d be some moderate gunsmithing involved.  

One barrel clearly has more external wear than the other.  We’ll concentrate on that one.  It has some light corrosion here and there.  You can see it on the front and rear sights, and in a scrape on the side of the barrel above.  There is also corrosion inside the magazine tube ring.  


My bigger concern is the bore.  I tried photographing this multiple times but couldn’t get it right.  This isn’t just a dirty barrel; there’s corrosion in there too.  This is also why this is only post 1/2.  I want to send a copper brush, solvent, and bore snake down there before I make any final judgments.  If this comes clean, I’ll keep it.  If not, it goes back for an exchange.


Compare this with the second barrel.  This bore is just dirty, not rusty.

Both magazine tube ring detents have wear.  This is one area where the first barrel is in better shape than the second barrel.  The first barrel’s detect is round while the second barrel’s detect seems like it got clipped with a file.  Both will still work though.

This is why I’m of two minds about this purchase.  I’m a retired dealer and did plenty of milsurp, LE trade-in, used, and gunsmith special sales.  I didn’t expect perfection.  Had I not read these earlier reviews, I’d consider these pretty acceptable externally for LE trade-ins.  I am annoyed by whoever packed my barrels.  Seriously, is it that hard just to jam some crinkled paper between them??!

But the first barrel’s bore may be the show stopper.  We’ll see, and I’ll report back.  I’ll also test the second barrel’s mag tube ring detent, plus compare both barrels to the existing factory 14” 870 bead setup which came with my PD guns.  I guess I want to avoid dicking around with a return and return shipping, but I’m not going to keep it if the bore is too heavily damaged.

Well.

They're $130 barrels - that's for sure.

I don’t know.   Guess I’ve been away from the Remington barrel too long.  This may (?) be the market today.

I’ll post pics of mine when it comes back from Rose Action Sports for forcing cone lengthening and threading for chokes, but I guess I got lucky - bore was mirror bright after one pass of the bore snake, and the exterior basically only had 2 small scratches on it after I degreased/scrubbed/relubed it…

Unfortunately that really is just the going rate for short barrels in that kind of condition.

Personally I just buy old/dented/takeoff barrels and shorten them myself. It's worth the short time investment to me and I can set the sights up however I want.

The nice part is that the older Remington barrels were decent so I end up with good quality barrels. The newer/beat up stuff rusts and dents so easily I wouldn't be shocked to find out it's 1026 or similar steel as a cost saving measure.

Fair enough.  We’ll see how this cleans up.  Assuming it looks good, I’ll keep it.  If not, back it goes.

Perhaps a Cerakote is in order if it turns out well.

We got two nice ones out of eight.Rest went back

…wow.  Maybe I’ll have to order more and just keep the best.

You're already at a 50% hit rate. Doing great all things considered.

It did so-so with the Federal Flite Control. It really liked the Hornady 8 pellet reduced recoil versatite wad load.

I’m gonna get out and run some “regular” 00 buck through it soon.

same here. I was dreading the worst after reading some replies but Aim has always done right for me and this is no exception. The bbl looks new with only a few small handling marks here and there. Dang! Now I need to find an older POLICE 870!