I'm looking to get a magazine extension for my remington 870 express, its the 20 gauge "youth model" with a 21" barrel. Should this fit the gun?
I would leave it alone, except for patterning the gun to find the 2 3/4" loadings it prefers, and shooting that gun to where it becomes an extension of you.
Including, taking a class.
That youth 20 ga, with the 21" inch barrel is one helluva serious shotgun just as is.
Dead serious, some bodyguards, private in house security and other folks use that set up, or the Mossberg Bantam equivalent.
No mag extensions, no side saddles, though a few do have lights.
You
do want choke in a shotgun barrel.
From my experiences going back and some testings, to investigate and verify, there is a "magic" in barrels 21", 23", 25".
I mean I and mine have taken a 32" bbl, had it fitted for screw in chokes and kept cutting it about 1" shorter , re cutting to accept the screw in choke and shooting the same ammo, from the same lot numbers as a controlled test.
Hence for me, a factory barrel I want a 20" , as that is as close as I can get for most "police" or "riot" barrels.
The 21" Turkey, and 23" Bird guns, are best kept secrets in both 12 and 20 bore, and part of the magic is the length of barrels.
What one has is not only a shotgun a smaller, more petite person can handle, or physically limited person can handle they also have what many defensive instructers recommend.
-a shorter LOP ( length of pull)
-shorter barrel
-bone stock
Just add sling swivels for a simple sling and light if your environment and needs dictate you need/ might need one.
One of my pet shotguns I used in travel was a Ithaca 37 Police, with 20 inch bbl.
Another was a Ithaca 37 20 ga with a 21" barrel with external screw in choke.
In layman's terms this restriction was near SK2 or Modified.
Barrel was free, a fella fired it with mud in the barrel and insisted I have it.
I paid for the steak dinner.
This set up was great for quail, and for lessons inside shoot houses. Easy to tote, maneuver, and the balance was a bit ahead hands.
I did do one thing I and mine prefer on a serious firearm , no matter if handgun, rifle or shotgun.
Gold Bead front sight. Mine was 18k yellow gold, though 14kt is fine and what most folks use.
I have walked into a hotel, taken the elevator and nobody knew I had a loaded shotgun ...
I am the reason some ladies and others that travel have a similar set up with a 21" barrel.
They too can toss that gun in a garment bag , and enter, and exit a hotel room.
Oh, and its just a bone stock
kids shotgun, for those areas of the country not real friendly to guns.
You may lose a whole more than 2.5" by shortening that barrel from 21" to 18.5.
In fact I am certain you will.
Reliability is a huge thing with me.
So I personally alleviate as much as can to not have Mr. Murphy show up at the worst possible time.
Like extensions and side saddles.
It does not matter how many rounds you have, as all guns run out of ammo , so one is best to know how to run the gun they have, and this includes keeping it fed.
Shooting is 90% Mental and 10% Physical.
Get the physical , such as guns and loads figured out and the quit messing with them.
The 90 % is where one gets, and ingrains the Software to run the Hardware.
