ET
Member
I've only owned an 870 with a plus 2 extension. Works great for me just like that, but ignorance is bliss I guess.
Gun becomes so muzzle heavy that my swing/point gets messed up. There is such a thing as too much weight out front
The High Standard K-120, Riot 18-7 shotgun played a starring role in The Getaway with Steve McQueen.
A one shot extention magazine does not complicate take down for magazine cleaning or installing a long field barrel and standandard magazine cap. The one shot extention also balances the "riot" barrel about the same as the field barrel.I prefer no magazine tube extension for the following reasons:
1) Harder for me to take the gun down to clean.
2) More things to go wrong such as shells getting hung up at the extension interface.
3) Gun becomes so muzzle heavy that my swing/point gets messed up. There is such a thing as too much weight out front for me.
Simple to test - get a 2x4 or similar something in length (and hopefully weight) to your gun. Get an 8oz weight - attach it on what would be the stock end to simulate a butt cuff with ammo and try swinging it around. Then move it to the area where a side saddle would be and swing the gun, then at the muzzle end......
There is a noticeable difference in handling and responsiveness and it has nothing to do with upper body strength, but everything to do with fit and balance
SOMEONE gets it! Good job
Simple to test - get a 2x4 or similar something in length (and hopefully weight) to your gun. Get an 8oz weight - attach it on what would be the stock end to simulate a butt cuff with ammo and try swinging it around. Then move it to the area where a side saddle would be and swing the gun, then at the muzzle end......
There is a noticeable difference in handling and responsiveness and it has nothing to do with upper body strength, but everything to do with fit and balance
I shoot PSG using a thirty-year-old Ithaca M37. It has the minimum length barrel allowed in the UK: 24". It holds 7+1 rounds. (Or 8+1 with 32g birdshot cartridges.)
I'm not denying that there is a difference, or that a shotgun without a tube swings easier than one with a tube, I'm just not sure that an extension tube, or even on the extreme end, that something like a X-Rail is as big of a hinderance as claimed.
I've seen any number of skilled 3 gun shooters who are able to lay down any number of targets in very short order with shotguns that would be considered extremely front heavy and unbalanced.
Ultimately, I think that there are two approaches to shotgunning being taken here. On the one hand, people with experience shooting clays and birds understand and value the ability to swing a shotgun, and therefore value the same in a defensive gun.
On the other hand, people with a background in defensive use or practical shooting competition generally run their shotguns in the manner mentioned by Chris Rhines a few posts ago, basically as large-bore, short-medium range rifles. In these cases, swing isn't considered as important as capacity.
One of the first things I learned when I started shooting 3 gun is that shotgun stages are won or lost not in the shooting, but in the reloading. Any technique (within division rules) that reduces the number of reloads you have to make will save you precious seconds on the course. in the same way, I see little reason for why the same wouldn't apply in a home defense scenario as well, especially since such a situation is extremely unlikely to occur when wearing a beltfull of shell carriers.
I don`t want to knock 3 gunners here but the more extreme setups don`t look so practical for street or bush use where concerns of portability, encumbrance and durability come into play.