Home Defense 870

[waynedm]

I've been looking at getting a 870 Home Defense 8-shot for a while. I've got a few questions.

I wanted to install a Knoxx Copstock folding stock with the recoil reduction. Does anybody have any experience with this stock? We've got them at work and the but that is iron rod basically feels like it would hurt pretty bad against your shoulder. Maybe it isn't bad considering they claim the stock reduces recoil by 50%? I was on the Knoxx.com site and they have a video of a guy shooting one with one hand just fine.

I was told the barrels on the 870 Home Defense are fixed cylinder, is that true? Do they pattern okay? I'm wondering if getting chokes installed would be worth while. Also, is it a good idea to run 00, 000 buck through chokes?

 

[flashman70]

I have the Knoxx stock on my gussied-up 870 Express. It really eliminates almost all recoil.

 

[ChristopherG]

You can run buck through chokes without concern; but for a HD shotgun, do try patterning some different Buckshot rounds before you run off and start tampering. I'd also recommend doing this before you drop money on a new stock, if you haven't shot a lot of 12-guage and are (forgive me) afraid of it. It's not that bad, and the techniques to minimize and appropriately manage recoil can be mastered by just about any normal sized person.

The best course would be to get your gun (it's a fine one for the job) and a bunch of ammo and start getting to know your gun--how it handles and patterns--before you start changing it. It's an awesome tool the way it is.

 

[Fred Fuller]

These days you can pretty much control pattern size by choice of load. Tight patterns? Try Hornady TAP buckshot, or Federal LE loads with FliteControl wads. Open patterns? Try Sellier & Bellot buckshot. Choke tubes are pretty much optional these days, as long as you ccan get the buckshot loads that pattern well in your gun.. Experiment to find out for sure which ones those are. I've been shooting 00 and 000 through choked barrels to include choke tubes up to MOD for years with no problems.

As to stocks, I like conventional style stocks on shotguns. Just make sure it is short enough to fit you properly (it's easier to shoot a too-short stock than a too-long one) and has a good recoil pad installed.

Stay safe,

lpl/nc