Armory Sponsor
Posted: 6/26/2011 8:21:15 PM EDT
|
My wife finally okayed me getting a shotgun
Gonna get a REM 870 express tomorrow Was looking at either the regular express for hunting or the 7 round for a hd gun Is it easier to buy a reg express and turn it into a hd gun with mag extension and short bbl Or to get the 7 round and turn it into a hunting shotgun remove mag extension and get a longer bbl? |
|
I'd honestly look for a good police trade-in or Wingmaster over a new Express. Among other things, the new units have some cheaper parts in them and the newer units require work removing dimples in the mag tube so that the extra shells will pass from the tube into the extension and back again. Plus, a good trade-in or Wingmaster will be cheaper. Not answers to the questions you asked, just opinions you may want to consider for 5 seconds before you move on.  |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
It seems to be just to impede the less mechanically inclined from simply screwing on an extension tube.
Are the dimples there because they changed the parts to something new or to impede putting on an ext tube? Those damn dimples... 
I bought a 28in barrel express model that I then turned into my HD gun. I dremeled the dimples out, but what a pain. Buy the HD one then find someone selling a used field barrel for it (because they bought an 18in one  ).
|
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
It seems to be just to impede the less mechanically inclined from simply screwing on an extension tube.
Are the dimples there because they changed the parts to something new or to impede putting on an ext tube? Those damn dimples...
I bought a 28in barrel express model that I then turned into my HD gun. I dremeled the dimples out, but what a pain. Buy the HD one then find someone selling a used field barrel for it (because they bought an 18in one ).
+1. Get one with the mag extension already installed. There's some police trade ins floating around now as previously mentioned. If you can find one, definitely get it. they're damn good for the money. |
|
I could just use the 7 rounder for deer hunting
would the only difference using slugs in a smoothbore be that it wont be as accurate? here is a guy on youtube shooting slugs at 200 yds with an 870 smoothbore with short barrel link i could use it if i couldnt find the right deal on a field barrel Is my thought process correct or am I way off? |
|
Quoted:
I'd honestly look for a good police trade-in or Wingmaster over a new Express. Among other things, the new units have some cheaper parts in them and the newer units require work removing dimples in the mag tube so that the extra shells will pass from the tube into the extension and back again. Plus, a good trade-in or Wingmaster will be cheaper. Not answers to the questions you asked, just opinions you may want to consider for 5 seconds before you move on. They don't come with dimples any more....at least the last 2 I bought didn't have the dimples. I pretty sure they stopped doing that. |
|
Quoted:
My wife finally okayed me getting a shotgun Gonna get a REM 870 express tomorrow Was looking at either the regular express for hunting or the 7 round for a hd gun Is it easier to buy a reg express and turn it into a hd gun with mag extension and short bbl Or to get the 7 round and turn it into a hunting shotgun remove mag extension and get a longer bbl? You can find good deals on the longer hunting barrels on the EE. I would say get the HD model and then get a mag tube cap, spring retainer, and find 26" or 28" VR Rem Choke barrel on the EE. My 2 cents. |
|
Quoted:
I'd honestly look for a good police trade-in or Wingmaster over a new Express.Among other things, the new units have some cheaper parts in them and the newer units require work removing dimples in the mag tube so that the extra shells will pass from the tube into the extension and back again. Plus, a good trade-in or Wingmaster will be cheaper. Not answers to the questions you asked, just opinions you may want to consider for 5 seconds before you move on. +1 New expresses will take a while to smooth out and are ammunition sensitive. My room mate has an older blued wingmaster- it is a much better gun. |
|
Quoted: Quoted: I'd honestly look for a good police trade-in or Wingmaster over a new Express.Among other things, the new units have some cheaper parts in them and the newer units require work removing dimples in the mag tube so that the extra shells will pass from the tube into the extension and back again. Plus, a good trade-in or Wingmaster will be cheaper. Not answers to the questions you asked, just opinions you may want to consider for 5 seconds before you move on. +1 New expresses will take a while to smooth out and are ammunition sensitive. My room mate has an older blued wingmaster- it is a much better gun. I've never heard of them being ammo sensitive other than Winchester birdshot value packs which jam every shotgun I own. I did read anecdotal evidence of some Expresses leaving the faction with rough chambers, but this was around 09 during the scare when everyone was cutting corners at times to speed production up. The 870 has been made the same way it's been made since 1951, other than MIM parts and the flexitab carrier. These changes in no way have compromised the design. The dimples were put in place in order to made it easy to remove the magazine retainer with only a quarter turn of the retainer. I'd still buy a police surplus, but only if I can inspect it. Generally most are good to go mechanically, but you have to remember that most law enforcement are not gun people and could care less about weapon maintenance. Also, since they don't own the weapon they could care less if they ding it up. One unusual thing that I've seen rarely with police trade-in shotguns is that the barrel will get clogged and cemented solid with cigarette ash because officers used the barrel as an ash tray since the shotgun was in a vertical gun rack right next to them. |
|
Quoted:
I've never heard of them being ammo sensitive other than Winchester birdshot value packs which jam every shotgun I own. I did read anecdotal evidence of some Expresses leaving the faction with rough chambers, but this was around 09 during the scare when everyone was cutting corners at times to speed production up.[/span] [span style='color: rgb(0, 0, 205);']The 870 has been made the same way it's been made since 1951, other than MIM parts and the flexitab carrier.[/span] [span style='color: rgb(0, 0, 205);']These changes in no way have compromised the design.[/span] The dimples were put in place in order to made it easy to remove the magazine retainer with only a quarter turn of the retainer. I'd still buy a police surplus, but only if I can inspect it. Generally most are good to go mechanically, but you have to remember that most law enforcement are not gun people and could care less about weapon maintenance. Also, since they don't own the weapon they could care less if they ding it up. One unusual thing that I've seen rarely with police trade-in shotguns is that the barrel will get clogged and cemented solid with cigarette ash because officers used the barrel as an ash tray since the shotgun was in a vertical gun rack right next to them. Mine would not extract low brass when hot or winchester birdshot at all and would occasionally hang up feeding lighter 2 3/4" shells. I have not seen the same feeding problems in other 870s although I have seen the extraction problems at 3 gun where they are run hot. I have zero problems using the same ammunition in the mossberg 930 that replaced my 870 and the mossberg barrel/chamber is even rougher. While the design has not changed, machining quality has. Mine was very rough from the factory (bought it in 08, so it may have been a 'rushed' build) and took additional polishing work to make acceptable. |
|
Quoted:
I could just use the 7 rounder for deer hunting would the only difference using slugs in a smoothbore be that it wont be as accurate? here is a guy on youtube shooting slugs at 200 yds with an 870 smoothbore with short barrel link i could use it if i couldnt find the right deal on a field barrel Is my thought process correct or am I way off? I don't believe this is true! I think hunting shotgun is limited to 2 in magazine and 1 in chamber... dzc |
|
I haven't read this whole thread, but I'll still give my input.
Get the HD model and use it to hunt. For $20 you can remove the magazine extension, replace the spring, and if needed, add a plug. That's much cheaper and easier than removing the dimples and buying an extension. You can hunt and defend your home with either wood or synthetic furniture, but if you get the HD model, the forend will be compatible with side saddles. As for barrels, you won't notice much of a difference between a longer one and the 18" that comes on the HD model. Slugs will hit the same, and Flitecontrol/Versawad (or whatever it is) shot will spread just as well as a tighter choked long barrel (the wads are made for Cylinder bore). |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
I could just use the 7 rounder for deer hunting would the only difference using slugs in a smoothbore be that it wont be as accurate? here is a guy on youtube shooting slugs at 200 yds with an 870 smoothbore with short barrel link i could use it if i couldnt find the right deal on a field barrel Is my thought process correct or am I way off? I don't believe this is true! I think hunting shotgun is limited to 2 in magazine and 1 in chamber... dzc -1 For most migratory birds federal law limits you to three shells nationwide. And some state may have a three shell restriction for anything. But the majority of states for the majority of game species you can load with as many shells as you want to carry. |
|
Quoted: Quoted: I've never heard of them being ammo sensitive other than Winchester birdshot value packs which jam every shotgun I own. I did read anecdotal evidence of some Expresses leaving the faction with rough chambers, but this was around 09 during the scare when everyone was cutting corners at times to speed production up.[/span] [span style='color: rgb(0, 0, 205);']The 870 has been made the same way it's been made since 1951, other than MIM parts and the flexitab carrier.[/span] [span style='color: rgb(0, 0, 205);']These changes in no way have compromised the design.[/span] The dimples were put in place in order to made it easy to remove the magazine retainer with only a quarter turn of the retainer. I'd still buy a police surplus, but only if I can inspect it. Generally most are good to go mechanically, but you have to remember that most law enforcement are not gun people and could care less about weapon maintenance. Also, since they don't own the weapon they could care less if they ding it up. One unusual thing that I've seen rarely with police trade-in shotguns is that the barrel will get clogged and cemented solid with cigarette ash because officers used the barrel as an ash tray since the shotgun was in a vertical gun rack right next to them. Mine would not extract low brass when hot or winchester birdshot at all and would occasionally hang up feeding lighter 2 3/4" shells. I have not seen the same feeding problems in other 870s although I have seen the extraction problems at 3 gun where they are run hot. I have zero problems using the same ammunition in the mossberg 930 that replaced my 870 and the mossberg barrel/chamber is even rougher. While the design has not changed, machining quality has. Mine was very rough from the factory (bought it in 08, so it may have been a 'rushed' build) and took additional polishing work to make acceptable. Winchester birdshot will not easily extract from my 870P, Benelli M4 and Ithaca 37. On a side note I've found more issues with Winchester handgun ammo compared to Federal, but the rate of WIN fails is only .005 vs .003 for Federal, so it isn't a big deal for me. The rougher chambers and less attention to detail are about the only bad things I've heard about recent 870s, but I think they have finally fixed that since the rough chambers only came after the election scare. |
Armory Sponsor