I'm in the market for a remington 870 shotgun. I need information on which is right for my needs.?
February 13th, 2010 by eranio
I’m looking for an 18" to 20" barrel. I will be using this for indoor range as well as outdoor ranges. I need to know if getting the fixed cylinder choke is the best way to go. I know remington has one for under 400 bucks which is around my budget. Also, what is the difference with a rifled barrel and a smooth bore barrel. I will not be using this for game hunting. Thanks for any help.
Posted in remington shotguns
February 13th, 2010 at 10:49 am
The Remington 870 is the most popular pump shotgun ever made. A great selection. I have had one for years. You will want a "smoothbore" only. The rifled barrel is for shooting 1 oz slugs at big game like deer and bear. The smoothbore will shoot the typical "birdshot"/ pellets.
If you can get one with the "choke tubes" or "Rem Choke", you would like that better. It offers options later on when you change your mind about what you may want to use the shotgun for. You just leave the choke tube installed in the gun. If you still go for the "fixed choke" — I would recommend an "Improved Cylinder" choke, or maybe a "modified choke". If this is for personal home defense the 18" barrel is great. If this is for something else like trap or skeet or hunting — a 26" (or 28") barrel may be more in tune with what you need.
February 13th, 2010 at 10:49 am
Why do you want that short of a barrel? They are typically used for self defense or by children or women. If you get a barrel with choke tubes, you don’t have to change the tubes. If you get a barrel without choke tubes, you have to get a different barrel or pay a gunsmith a lot of money to make it accept choke tubes.
February 13th, 2010 at 10:49 am
get the Rem 870 Express or Magnum Express I use my Magnum express for everything from home defense to targets to birds and it has a 20′ inch barrel its around $550 but im not 100 percent sure about that but if i were you i would throw in the extra cash for the magnum express it will be the best Remington 870 for the money.
If your not hunting don’t even think about a rifled barrel if you shoot any type of shot out of it you will mess up the rifling and the pattern will be in a big O shape with almost no shot in the middle. Rifled barrels are only good for slugs and sabots. The smooth barrels will shoot everything from light field and target loads up to heavy sabots and slugs.
February 13th, 2010 at 10:49 am
Rifled barrels are ONLY for shooting sabot slugs. Smooth bores are for shooting everything else. So obviously smooth bore is the way to go. Sabot slugs are only useful for long range deer or other big game hunting. They’re not even good for self defense. For defense a rifled foster slug is far superior but these are not to be fired out of rifled barrels, the slug itself is already rifled. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen an 18-20" barrel available with anything but a fixed choke. Usually the cylinder bore you mention, or occasionally improved or modified choke. If you’re not familiar with it cylinder choke means basically no choke at all. The barrel is just the same the whole length down. Then improved cylinder has a slight tightening of the barrel towards the end to choke the shot down and make for tighter patterns, then modified cylinder has a slightly tighter choke than the improved cylinder and so on. The removeable choke tubes are for use in hunting guns so that you can choose the best choke for what game you’re after/what shot you’re using. Modified choke is typically the best choice for defense uses. It gives you the tightest buckshot patterns in most cases. Full choke is great for birdshot but in many cases won’t perform as well with the larger buckshot pellets. Since they’re for hunting removable choke barrels are usually much longer. Since you don’t plan on using it for hunting there is no reason whatsoever to get the removeable choke tubes, nor the rifled barrel.
February 13th, 2010 at 10:49 am
Not for game?…..
Then get an 870 with a smooth bore barrel….. Rifled barrels are for slugs only and will not effectively fire buckshot….. Here’s why….
http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot43.htm
Fixed cylinder choke?…. I am not really clear why Remington calls there barrel on the 18 inch defense shotguns a "fixed cylinder choke"?…. Its more like a cylinder bore or commonly known as a straight pipe…… I am going to assume you want this shotgun for home defense, security work or just because….. The 18 or 20 inch barrel Remington 870 shotguns are defense duty shotguns… For that use the Fixed Cylinder Choke is perfect… With that barrel you can fire slugs (rifled – foster type – see below), buckshot, bird shot and even this stuff…. Yikes!!!!!
http://www.deltaforce.com/catalog/12gaugeammo.html
The upside to that gun is it can digest any 2 3/4 inch or 3 inch cartridges… Any! — No worrying about chokes, rifled barrels or anything else… This gun digests anything….
http://www.remington.com/products/firearms/shotguns/model-870/model-870-express-synthetic-7-round.aspx
A smooth bore barrel is like a water pipe – smooth on the inside… A rifled barrel has groves on the inside of the barrel to cause a slug to leave the barrel in a twisting fashion… The barrel grooves have a twist so the slug leaves the barrel spinning… This makes the slug have a longer, more predictable and accurate flight path….. Long range shots are generally not a huge consideration when considering short barrel defense shotguns….. So stick with a smooth bore barrel… "fixed cylinder choke" in Remingtons word usage…..
I have 2 of these shotguns….. The 2 on the bottom….
http://www.dystopiat.com/Goffpics/guns/DSCN0707.JPG
There decent shotguns… I generally prefer the Mossbergs for defense duty but to avoid an argument here I will stick to your question….
Anyways… LOOK here for info on shotgun slugs and what barrel they go in…..
http://www.chuckhawks.com/shotgun_slugs.htm
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