Bought my first shotgun / Remington 870 Magnum

[whatnickname]

My first shotgun was an 870 Wingmaster with a walnut stock and a nice blue finish. The year was 1973 or 1974. The price out the door was $130.00. I still have that shotgun. It’s seen me through thick and thin and has fired thousands of rounds. I have taken excellent care of it. It has never let me down.

 

[spraay]

I'm not a hunter , just wanted a decent home defense option.View attachment 945531

Great choice. I have one of these, and I have the 20" barrel which I originally purchased for deer hunting. Short and handy and shoots slugs or buckshot. Spend some meaningful coin on some ammo and get to know it.

 

[grammontS]

Great choice. I have one of these, and I have the 20" barrel which I originally purchased for deer hunting. Short and handy and shoots slugs or buckshot. Spend some meaningful coin on some ammo and get to know it.

Bought a 18" barrel off of another poster here and slapped it right on.

 

[grammontS]

 

[Homerboy]

Barrels are that expensive? I remember buying a mossberg 500 18” barrel for $55 brand new in the mid 90’s. I know times have changed but 5-6 times the price for a barrel? That’s insane.

I have an 870 Express I rarely shoot. Never failed to function. A year ago before this covid nonsense my local guy had 870 Police for $250 from the Alaskan Game Commission or something. Just like 10 of them sitting in a barrel in his shop. Should have bought them all and made a mint on selling them now for 3 times what I would have paid.

 

[Sniper66]

Our OP has picked up a solid HD weapon and not much expense. With his newly installed short barrel it's even better for HD. Since it is primarily for HD, I recommend shooting it as much as needed to develop load-in-the-dark level of familiarity. I can load and unload any of my HD guns with my eyes closed.

 

[lemaymiami]

Attaboy Gramont... looking good and Sniper's advice is right on the money as well. The one thing I'd emphasize is learning to work the slide lock and the safety so that it's instinctive. On the street (where I worked 870 in hand on any hot call) my trigger finger was always on the safety never the trigger as I advanced into position. For a homeowner finding a sudden need for a defensive shotgun - placing the safety on after racking the action to load a round will greatly reduce the possibility of an accidental discharge (if you'll allow that a fraction of a second needed to clear the safety before firing is a reasonable precaution). In my world - all those years ago, even the thought of an accidental discharge was enough to keep me up at night...

 

[Riomouse911]

Looks like you’re set!

Stay safe.

 

[dh1633pm]

I took my FN SLP to sporting clays 18 inch ghost rings and all. Got a 25. Better than that I figured out more about how it handles. Gained familiarity with its control and practiced loading it two at a time. Many compete with their 870 pumps. I did when I first started

 

[If1HitU]

Nice looking shotgun family Rubone.