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Posted: 11/2/2010 5:37:25 PM EDT
| Looking at getting my first shotgun, a remington 870. How hard is it to swap between a 18.5 inch HD barrel and a barrel I could use for bird hunting? Any special tools required? |
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Quoted:
No issue at all. If you can unscrew a cap then you can replace barrels. With practice you could swap barrels in 1 minute or less. When I got mine I wanted to do the same as you,plus I wanted to take the plug out. I unscrewed the cap,took the plug out and wanted to see how hard it would be to take the bbl off. While looking around for other pins,screws etc.,the bbl pops off! easy as pie! |
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Slightly more complex.
Remington uses 2 styles of retaining the magazine spring: The "Old Style" uses a metal piece that is friction-fitted inside the tube. The magazine cap on a old-style 870 will have little dimples around the perimeter of the magazine cap. The barrel has a little spring-loaded ball detent on the barrel ring that will pop into one of these holes when the magazine cap is screwed down, and keep the barrel secured. The "New Style" uses a plastic retainer with 2 slots on both sides, and plastic "teeth" on top. Inside the magazine tube there are 2 metal dimples. You press the retainer down, and turn it 180 degree. The 2 dimples then lock the retainer in place. The new style magazine cap has little teeth inside of it to catch the magazine retainer & to keep the barrel secured. While it is as simple as unscrewing the magazine cap to switch barrels, most field barrels do not have the "Old Style" ball detent. So if you are using a old-style magazine retainer with a field barrel without a barrel detent your magazine cap can come loose under recoil. So if you have a old style magazine retainer (or a 870 with an extension), and a new field barrel without a barrel ball detent, you will need to prevent the magazine cap from unscrewing. You can: * Have a gunsmith install a ball detent on your barrel ring * Use Teflon plumbers tape around the magazine tube threads * Speedfeed makes a "Wave Washer" for the 1100 that I think can be used for the same purpose on the 870. * Wilson Combat makes a sling swivel that has a ball detent, but it is not spring loaded. Not a major issue, but it something to consider if you run a old-style magazine retainer. ETA: JD please correct me if anything in this is wrong, or there is a easier fix 
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