Barrel Mag Clamp/Heatsheild Questions

[Danhits]

I have all original 1988 Rem 870 police magnum, parkerized, walnut stock with plain bead sight 18" barrel, no mag extension, no swivels.

Want to add +2 mag extension and swivels and a simple sling. Looking for suggestions/pics on brands/models to choose from. Have looked at several mag extensions, factory Rem, Wilson, Vang Comp, Choate, Tac Star, ect. Remington version is the only one I find that has a barrel clamp for the +2 mag extension for an 18".

I see that many people strongly advise getting/having a barrel/mag clamp for use with a +2 mag extension with 18" barrel. It makes sense to me. Called Wilson. They don't offer one and advised they don't see a need for one saying mag extension is extra strong and won't break/fail.

Seems from reading other threads, that the many +2 mag extensions are advertised as extra strong/won't break. Wilson seems to be the most popular. Also seems that if you were to have mag extension with no barrel mag clamp, and bang the mag extension against something, it wouldn't be the mag extension tube that would fail/be damaged, but the mag receiver tube at the thread area of the receiver. Is this really nothing to be concerned over or is it something that needs to be addressed?

Other than factory Remington, what is everyone else using if anything for a barrel mag clamp on a +2 extension for 18" barrel? Does anyone else think it is necessary or un-neccessary to have a barrel mag clamp on a +2 extension with 18" barrel? Opinions and post pics if you can.

Anyone know where to get the wide barrel mag clamp as seen on the military 870 mk models? I think it also serves as a bayo lug mount? Are originals available, clones, too expensive? Also, anyone know what barrel heat sheild is used on the same military 870 mk model? Where can these be found? If these are too rare or expensive what other options are available in parkerized matte black? Is the ATI $20 blued model the only choice? Only one I could find so far. Is there a stronger/ better made heat sheild than the ATI brand/model?

Thanks in advance if you have any pics or info on the topic. Much appreciatd.

 

[Gewehr98]

Re: Military 870Mk1 parts and sources.

PM sent.

 

[dfariswheel]

The Choate also comes with a clamp as standard.

I recently picked up a Uncle Mikes barrel clamp, which is a near-copy of the Remington one piece clamp.

I'm of the opinion that these one piece clamps are probably the best design.
They seem to stay put better, without sliding down the barrel under recoil.


As for finding a clamp for those brands that don't come with one, Brownell's carry Choate, Tac-Star, and a super expensive model from Clark.
The Uncle Mike's is available direct and from other sources.

You're quite right about the weak link in the magazine extension being the GUN's magazine tube.
It doesn't matter HOW strong the extension is, it could be a solid steel bar.
Give the extension a good bump and it will bend out of line or get knocked completely off the gun, damaging the gun's magazine tube.

The military heavy-duty barrel clamp/bayonet lock assemblies were custom built for the military and aren't ordinarily available.

However, one does turn up on Ebay from time to time, but the prices will make you blanch.

 

[rattusrattus]

"...For those interested, the step down in diameter at the front of a remington factory magazine extension is a remnant of an old effort by Remington to equip their popular 870 with a bayonet. The mounting lug was attached on their magazine clamp, however wound up being rejected by the military as not strong enough. The military designed their own magaazine extension/bayonet mount....it is significantly beefed up form the original remington plan."

http://www.tacticalshotgun.ca/content_nonsub/shotguns/compare_870_590.html

 

[Gewehr98]

Revival of ancient threads notwithstanding, Rattusrattus speaks true...

Edited.

 

[rattusrattus]

Beautiful weapon.

I'm busy looking up stuff for my new 870.

The bayonet adapter that you have is the one I want.

Is there anywhere you can find the dimensions/material, etc?

I might try my hand at running one up if I can find a bayonet lug.

Which heat shield did you use? I'm looking for one of those as well.

 

[Fred Fuller]

You might be able to drive a Mack truck over your magazine extension with no damage. Or trade it to a carpenter for his framing hammer and let him pound nails with it all day, without problem. Or use it for a lever and lift an Abrams tank for a tread change without bending it.

But what your superstrong tank-proof drive nails all day magazine extension might possibly do is BEND THE MAGAZINE TUBE THREADS where it screws onto the gun enough to come off/jam the magazine, if you whack it on something solid without the support of a clamp.

No, it isn't likely- but frankly, it isn't any more likely that two more shells in the magazine will ever make one iota of difference to you either. Yet you're willing to spend 5- 10X as much money to put on the magazine extension as a simple clamp would cost you?

If you want to follow belt-and-suspenders logic (that is, more shells in the magazine is a Good Thing), then at least follow it all the way (to having a magazine that works is a Far Better Thing than having a single shot in a gunfight).

Have you looked at the thickness of the metal at the end of your magazine tube yet? If not, please do so now...

FWIW the last Mk I front-end hardware I saw sold went for nearly $400. That's ballpark (over $300) for every set I have seen sold at auction on eBay or Gunbroker.

You need a bayonet on a shotgun like a hog needs a bicycle. Learn to load the shotgun, or learn to transition to a sidearm, or learn to judge what situations you need to stay out of with nothing but you, a shotgun and a sidearm (in other words, learn when you need to bring a fire team with you).

Forget hanging stuff on your shotgun that detracts from its main purpose- being quick to get on target. Hanging extra weight on the gun, especially forward of the support hand, slows the gun down and slows you down using it. AFAIK Remington never issued the 870Mk I with a heat shield- I think they prototyped it and that's as far as it went. The heat shields were put on original WWI trench guns to protect the forward hand if the soldier using the gun had to go to bayonet and the gun was hot. If you learn to load the gun at the shoulder, you'll never touch the barrel anyway.

Buy ammo, get training, SHOOT the thing, learn to keep it fed, keep it running, hit in a hurry with it and you'll be much better off as a shooter.

But you'll have to learn to live with posting fewer kewl zombiekillershotgun pics on the iNt3RwEbZ if you go that route...

lpl/nc

 

[Gewehr98]

I'm having a difficult time figuring out...

Who that last sentence was directed at, Lee.

I'm very much a big believer in BA/UU/R, and have said so repeatedly in the last several years here on THR. Preaching to the choir, as it were.

Honestly, I've been around the block, LFI I & II, a couple attempted home invasion robberies, etc. I've shot 3-gun with the above 870Mk1, and the heatshield was a welcome addition to the 20" barrel after just one match. My other shotguns are pretty much plain vanilla, but I also am of the opinion that be it a WalMart 870 Express or 870Mk1, I can hang just fine.

Yes, it's my HD gun. It doesn't have a laser, phaser, or wind speed indicator, but it is short, stout, and holds enough 00 Buck to get the job done. The bayonet lug isn't used as it sits by my nightstand, but the forward sling swivel is. Having worked with the same type of shotgun in my Strategic Air Command days, I'm more than happy with the strength of the magazine tube and barrel clamp configuration. It doesn't mean I'll be stabbing intruders with the bayonet, nor swinging it like a club after the last round of buckshot is fired. I am virtually guaranteed that the magazine tube won't be a failure point of that particular scattergun.

Nor would I begrudge somebody who had a military Winchester Model 1897 or Model 1912, and decided it was going to be their HD gun. As long as they're comfortable and proficient with the use thereof, I wouldn't pull a Fudd on them and their choice of weapon. If they bolt stuff on to look tacticool, that's one thing - their lack of training and practice will be evident at some point or another, and we can all have a laugh reading the obituaries. It does not, however, mean that one cannot make use of a military-pattern shotgun for their own purposes. That's kinda like saying my No5Mk1 Jungle Carbine is a poor deer rifle. The deer in the freezer didn't know that, and if I ever have to use my 870Mk1, the aggressor may never know the difference.

Our thread author would be best served working with a plain 870 for a while - that much is true. However, if he wants to build it up into an 870Mk1 configuration later, more power to him. I wouldn't spend $300-$400 for the kit, but I didn't spend more than $50.00 each for the two factory Remington conversion kits I bought in the mid 1990s, either.

But you'll have to learn to live with posting fewer kewl zombiekillershotgun pics on the iNt3RwEbZ if you go that route...

Duly noted. Pics will be removed.

 

[Fred Fuller]

Gewher98,

It didn't have any sights on it, and it wasn't pointed at anyone in particular either.

It was said mostly in jest. They're your pics to do with as you will, but don't remove them just on my account. They're about the only decent and easy to find photos of Mk I hardware on the 'net.

Far too many folks try to substitute bolt-ons for BA/UU/, for training, for experience, for anything else at all. If anyone prefers added stuff after paying dues, it isn't for me to criticize. Look around here at Casa Lapin and you won't go far before you come across 870s with SureFire fore-end lights or light rails mounting M3s or the like, magazine extensions, Sidesaddles, sling swivels and slings.

Pay your dues, learn your chops and it doesn't matter to me WHAT you want on your shotgun. Try to substitute store bought bolt-ons for paid-up dues and a pile of empty hulls, and IMHO that's a mistake. But that's just it. It's an OPINION. It is not gospel writ by the finger of the Almighty on a stone tablet.

I (and several others) have made jibes about shooters versus picture posters here for some years now. Is that really the first one you've seen?

lpl/nc

 

[A man with a gun!]

Given my druthers I'd leave the mag tube alone. Sounds like too much hassle and expense for two more rounds.

You can buy a set that includes a threaded mag cap with the sling swivel and the fitting for the butt stock cheap.

IMHO all you really need to do is add the sling to have the perfect shotgun.

 

[rattusrattus]

See, as far as I am concerned, It's strictly ornimental. I don't intend on using the bayonet; it's psychological warfare.

If some creep busting into my house isn't detered the rack-rack sound and the sight of a bayonet, then I would know where I stood. And hopefully where he would fall.

If I can get rid of him without having to discharge my weapon, so much the better.

You are right, practice is important. You have to be able to handle any weapon instinctivly to be really compentent with it.

Also, I don't intend to spend a fortune on it either; I've already got an M7 bayonet, and if I could find a bayonet lug I'd try fabricating one myself.

Any ideas where to find one?

 

[rattusrattus]

The gun I really want is a Winchester Model 97 WW1 trench gun with heat shield and bayonet. One of my uncles was a police officer, and had one with all the gear.

Now that was a beautiful weapon.

I saw the Norinco copy long ago. Close, but not the same.