Clays and 18"

[turtlehead]

I have a 870 Express with 18" barrel. I bought it a long time ago mainly for home defense and the tacti-cool looks. The one I have looks like this: http://www.impactguns.com/store/047700811000.html

Can this be used for shooting clays? I've never shot clays before but it looks like a lot of fun. I'm wondering if the barrel might be too short to realistically hit anything? Can choke tubes even be used in this and if so would they help out? I thought I read somewhere that since it came with the full length magazine it would be difficult to switch into longer barrels. Is this true? Sorry for asking these dumb questions!

 

[Gord]

You can try, and it'd certainly give you a challenge. You most likely have a fixed IC barrel - no choke tubes. Wide patterns.

That said, you can easily unscrew your magazine extension and buy a longer barrel to turn your HD shotgun into a more benign-looking clays gun with ease (or just leave the extension on if you're having trouble hitting those pesky doubles )

 

[hmphargh]

You can do it, and I think it is fun to try to blast some pigeons with an 18.5" barrel on occasion, but if you are looking to learn and improve, you should really get at 24"-30" barrel to go on your 870.

 

[DaleCooper51]

Give skeet a try. It won't swing as well as a longer gun, but you can break some clays with it.

 

[ReloaderFred]

When I was back at the FBI Academy at Quantico in 1978, one of the things we did was shoot combat skeet with 18" Model 870's. It was a kick in the pants and great training, too. I managed to hit 17 birds the first time through.

In combat skeet, you start with two rounds in the gun at each station, and when you say "pull", the thrower has 4 seconds to throw from two to four birds, and you have to load from the belt and hit those last two birds, if he chooses to throw them at that station. You shoot all the stations except the middle one and you never know if you're going to get two birds or four.

So, in answer to your question, you can shoot some games with a cylinder bore gun, but 16 yard trap would be a challenge, and back from there would be really difficult.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Al LaVodka]

Skeet. And the extra-long mag tube adds weight and leverage like a longer barrel. You'll do fine at regular skeet...
Al

 

[hoodfu]

Definitely. I use my Benelli M4 for trap and I got 16 out of 25 on my last go around, it only being the 3rd time I tried. I've got the modified choke in there, which is the middle one out of 5. Only thing is that you have to hit it within about the first second of launch. After that and it's a miss.

 

[dom1104]

Here is my 870 with a 26 inch barrel. the 18 inch barrel makes it about the same length as the AR or just a tad shorter. Just to give you an idea how much longer it is.

 

[oneounceload]

If you're talking about going to a regular gun club, then you need to ask beforehand - many do not allow barrels shorter than 24" or so.

Short barrels work great for static targets where you are aiming and not pointing. Moving clays generally require a longer barrel to smooth out the swing necessary to hit the moving clays. While it can be done by a skilled person, it will be more of a challenge. A 28" barrel on there would help considerably

 

[Nushif]

I've seen it done, but the guy practically grew up with a gun in hand.

 

[Al LaVodka]

I disagree about the shooting approach. Many skilled shooters lead the target, stop, and shoot where it is going to be. Personally, I usually do the exact opposite and I shoot right in the middle of an exaggerated, perfectly timed, arc but I can lead-n-match or stop-n-wait at will. There is no "right or wrong" only broken or unbroken birds.
Al

 

[Moose23]

One of the most successful skeet shooters I ever shot with used a 20" or 22" barrel on a beat-up old 870. He got on target quick & dusted most of what he hit. Getting on target quick & pulling the trigger was key, though. Anything that made it past 18 or 20 yards was free to roam, reproduce & make little baby skeets.

 

[Mr. Bojangles]

There's no reason not to shoot clays with an 18" bbl. You won't win any competitions at your local range, but that doesn't mean you can't have fun. Plus, shooting clays is great for practicing self-defense shotgun skills. Where else can you shoot at a moving target over and over?

 

[mooseracing]

There's no reason not to shoot clays with an 18" bbl. You won't win any competitions at your local range, but that doesn't mean you can't have fun.

This is what we do, I started out with the 18" since the gun came with it until I found a deal on a longer barrel. It's very doable, just sometimes more frustrating when shooting with buddies with longer barrels.

That is until I started practicing with my SP-10