870 Express barrells

[BeJaRa]

Ok, I was not sure if this went into the gunsmithing or shotgun forum so forgive me. First off, I have a Remington 870 Express 12ga. with I believe is a 28" barrel. I don't really bird hunt anymore so I would like to put a shorter barrel on the shotgun for HD. I want a smoothbore 18 1/2" -20" barrel on the gun with just a bead sight. Budget is a concern as well. Do I need to look for replacement barrels that specifically state they are for an 870 express or will any 870 barrell work? I am considering this barrel mostly because it meets all my wants and is cheaper than the remington barrells that are not exactly what I want. Also, I was looking at magazine extensions for my 870 express. Right now with the plug removed the shotgun holds 3+1 I believe. Are these things reliable, and tough enough? or do they tend to break easily? The 870 is an early 90's manufacture so I am not sure if it has the "dimples" in the tube or not.
Thanks for any help you guys can offer. I don't think I will ever be replaceing the stock of the shotgun with any sort of pistol grip configuration as I like the traditional stock as well as keeping the shotgun over the required 26" overall length. Figured I would let you know that since it might have some relevance to the other 2 questions.

 

[Landlocked Pirate]

I bought that same barrel from Midway for my 870 Express after reading several positive reviews on their website, and I am extremely pleased with it. It comes in a phosphate finish that closely resembles the Express finish. I highly recommend it.

 

[Famine]

I got a Rem 18" from Cabela's for $110 about 6 months ago. It arrived in about 3 days with standard shipping. I love it.

 

[BeJaRa]

Cool, Balrog, that is what I needed to know. Now has anyone used one of those magazine extenders?

 

[Dave McCracken]

One of the extensions here is a Choate. darned if I can recall which one. It and a factory Remington extension have gone decades without a prob.

 

[Fred Fuller]

Remington used to sell the basic bead-sighted 18" 870 barrel for $96. Before I gave more $$ to someone else for anything else, I'd check with Big Green first and see if that deal is still on the books.

There are a goodly number of used 870 barrels around. eBay features a bunch of them as a rule, at varying prices. The 'forsale'n'trade' forums here on THR list some occasionally. Your favorite FFL likely has some stashed somewhere for sale- ask them next time you go by. As with anything, shop around a little.

Be sure the barrel you get is compatible with your gun. Old Expresses use the same barrel-ring detent as Wingmasters, Police guns etc. to keep the magazine cap in place. Newer ones use a plastic plug in the magazine as both the magazine spring retainer and as magazine cap detent. The plug is held in place by dimples pressed into the magazine tube.

If your gun has these dimples, they will have to be done away with before you can mount a magazine extension. That opens a can of worms re. returning the gun to its original configuration if you ever want to. You have to kluge up a way to keep the magazine cap in place without the plastic plug- teflon tape or something. I decided to forget messing around with newer Expresses, it just isn't worth it to me. YMMV of course.

Choate makes decent magazine extensions. Be sure if you mount one, you use a barrel clamp. You need it to support/reinforce the thin metal of the threads at the end of your magazine where the extension attaches, not because the extension is weak.

hth,

lpl/nc

 

[ArchAngelCD]

BeJaRa,
Be careful with mag extensions because some require a minimum of 20" barrel to fit. Make sure that extension can be sure with a 18.5" barrel.

BTW, you are looking at right around $155 in parts with shipping. Adding a pistol grip will add at least another $30 to the bill. I bought a Mossberg 500 combo which came with the 3" Magnum shotgun, a 28" barrel, a pistol grip to replace the wooden stocks and a 18.5" “riot barrel.” It holds 5+1 shells. I got all of that for $249 even though it retails for $351. That might be another option to think about since the price is about the same but you get another shotgun in the deal.

 

[Dixie Slugs]

Just a idea! Mike Orlen, moderator of the Reloading Section of Shotgun World, does all of Dixie's barrel work. We have many shooter/hunters that buy Remigton 870 Express guns to convert into a Tri-Ball guns by having the 28" VR barrels cut back to 21" and re-threaded for the Remington tubes. Mike does this job set up on centers. If you don't plan to use the 28" barrel, it's a lot cheaper to have Mike shorten the barrel and re-thread for tubes....than buying a new barrel.
Something to thinks about!
Regards, James

 

[blutarsky]

Remington used to sell the basic bead-sighted 18" 870 barrel for $96. Before I gave more $$ to someone else for anything else, I'd check with Big Green first and see if that deal is still on the books.

i recently got a remington brand 18" cylinder bore barrel for my 870 express. the first one i ran into at a store was the mossberg brand, but i decided to stick with remington because, well, i wanted it to match and function perfectly (nothing against the mossberg's, i'm sure they're great but for only a few extra dollars i wanted to stick with the remington, just to be sure). i thought midway used to list the remington 18", but i just searched around and couldn't find it... either i'm missing it or they don't offer it any more?

i got mine from ableammo:

http://www.ableammo.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=92393

it currently lists for $110 -- a bit more than the mossberg, but not by much. the finish matches perfectly... it looks really nice. you might be able to find a better deal on it elsewhere, but i would recommend getting the remington brand as it fits and matches perfectly.

when i received it, it did have a bit of rusting, as did my brand new 870 when i purchased it -- ran a cloth on the outside and it turned slightly brown/rusty colored. that's not limited to the extra barrel, that's how my gun came a while back too. i fixed that problem real quick by soaking it down with CLP and rubbing down a couple times. just sprayed it on and let it sit, and repeat. since then both my barrels (the 18" and the 26" it came with) and the gun itself show no signs of rust and look beautiful.