Cylinder vs. Improved Cylinder

[WJR]

I recently purchased a barely used 870 Police model (made 1993). It has a 20" rifle sight, cylinder bore barrel on it. I want to put a different barrel on it and probably put the rifle sight barrel on another shotgun.

I want this 870 to be my home defense shotgun and plan to put ghost ring sights on it (probably MMC with tritium front post). My question is will I be able to tell much of a difference with a 18" Cylinder bore barrel (I have already located two of these for the Police model for decent prices) versus an 18" Improved Cylinder bore barrel (I can order from Remington, but very costly). I stubbornly continue to think that I must have an Improved Cylinder, but is it really that much better for my intended purpose?

I am a shotgun novice and plan to spend a lot of time in the upcoming months getting very familiar with my two 870's.

Your input would be greatly appreciated.

WJR

 

[9mmMike]

Were I you, I would buy the cheaper cylinder bore barrel(s).
At HD distances there is little difference between the two.
Patterning with various loads will get you something you like and if all else fails you can have the barrel backbored to alter the POC to IC numbers. This is still way cheaper than a new IC barrel from Remington.
Good luck,
Mike

 

[Dave McCracken]

What you have will work fine. One of my "Serious" 870s has a 20" RS barrel, the other an 18" setup. The difference in handling is too small to note.

At typical HD ranges, choke is a non issue.

 

[dfariswheel]

Agreed. Inside most any house there's no noticeable difference in cylinder and Improved. There just isn't enough room for the shot to spread much.

As a matter of interest: The latest flier from Centerfire Systems has an ad for Remington factory 18" parkerized 870 barrels.
These are listed as Cylinder bore, and come WITH three choices of Trijcon night front sights: Rifle, Bead type, or Ghost ring.
NOTE: these are advertised as coming with NO rear sight.

Price is listed at $89.99. That's a DEAL

 

[Mannlicher]

WJR,

Be advised that there is no hard and fast industry standard for what actually constitutes IC or cylinder choke dimensions. Browning's dimension might vary from Mossberg'sby as much as 25 points. Not every barrel marked IC or Cylinder will shoot like another one. Generally speaking, the skeet choke (Cylinder) barrel should put 35 to 40% of the shot into a 30 inch circle at 40 yards. The IC should ut 45 to 50% in the same circle, at the same distance.

HD shooting is most likely not going to be at 40 yards, and either of these choke designations will put a much higher percentage of the shot into a target at the much closer ranges.

I would get the barrel that is represents the best value.

 

[WJR]

Thank you for the responses. I really appreciate the input.

WJR

 

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