De-Tacticalizing Your Shotgun

[amprecon]

I had "tacticalized" my hunting shotgun by replacing the 26" vent ribbed barrel with an 18" police "riot" barrel and installing a magazine extension. It spent many years configured this way......and I never used it. I finally changed out the worn and scuffed up wooden stock and pump forearm and installed the black polymer stock set, and it looked good and "tactical". But I just never had a need to use it like it was. For any perceived defensive uses I had always relied on other weapons for those purposes.

I realized that I would use it more in a hunting capacity than in any kind of defensive one, so I plan to change it back to its original configuration when I get home. I might even find that I'll use it more at the range for trap and skeet and even maybe some rabbit and bird hunting.

Shotguns are versatile weapons, but when there are other tools in the shed, sometimes its just best left alone and used for what they were designed to be used for.

While it sat in the safe for years waiting for that rare moment when I'd grab it up in that perceived desperate moment of survival, I have been missing out on some good shotgun fun.

I'm looking forward to using my shotgun as a shotgun again

 

[CoRoMo]

I have been missing out on some good shotgun fun.

So why haven't you used it to bust clays or rabbits?

 

[mljdeckard]

Did you throw away the original parts?

 

[oneounceload]

I have been missing out on some good shotgun fun.
So why haven't you used it to bust clays or rabbits?

Because 18.5" barrels with mag extensions suck for trying to hit anything that is moving, especially a small flying disc moving at great speed

 

[SouthernWake]

"Because 18.5" barrels with mag extensions suck for trying to hit anything that is moving, especially a small flying disc moving at great speed"

But they look so cool when your with your buddies shooting paper target from 10 yards at the handgun range and talking about how your going to handle the gun battle at your house later that evening....

I get it..different strokes for different folks but i never got the need for any of that stuff, my duck gun will greet someone at the door if need be and have the same effect.
Maybe I'm just a closed minded person though...

 

[amprecon]

Because 18.5" barrels with mag extensions suck for trying to hit anything that is moving, especially a small flying disc moving at great speed

There is one reason.

And no I have not gotten rid of the shorter barrel and mag extension, I will just put those items away, you just never know.

But I feel my shotgun will get more use in it's original configuration then it ever did with the shorter barrel and magazine extension.

It was my most used firearm at one time, I do miss shooting it.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Another lesson learned.

Some HD shotguns get used, and more should be, regularly, for reasons I hope are obvious.

The better you know your weapon, the more effective you are.

Some of us, like me, have one shotgun ready, and another that gets used and used and used. Heck, there's 5 870s here.

"I do miss shooting it..."

Easily remedied......

 

[beatledog7]

Funny about configuring things a certain way then never using them in that form.

Insurance comes to mind.

I have a 12ga BPS with a 28" barrel, 3+1 capacity (waterfowl plugged), and walnut furniture. I look forward to every opportunity to use it in its intended role.

I have a second 12ga BPS with a rifled 22" barrel, 3+1 capacity, walnut furniture, and a scope. I look forward to every opportunity to use it in its intended role.

I have a third 12ga BPS with a 20" barrel, 7+1 capacity, black synthetic furniture, and a light. I hope I never have to use it in its intended role.

I practice with all three, but the third gets more range time than the other two.

I have auto insurance. I hope I don't have to use it.

 

[CoRoMo]

Because 18.5" barrels with mag extensions suck...

Oh c'mon, you're making me blush. I don't think I'm THAT good, so I figure whatever I can do, he can do as well. The goal here is not to bust clays, it's to be useful with the HD gun. You have to move beyond static paper targets for this, but more so, you have to take the gun out of the bedroom first. My Berretta sure swings a whole lot smoother, but I refuse to let Remington just sit there untouched. So it's used about as often on clays and whatever other moving target I find to shoot. It's fun stuff!

Try and not take the path of least resistance at all times. A little challenge and difficulty is essential to almost everything.

Doing laundry sucks, but it has to be done. Sometimes simply going to the range sucks, but I think it needs to occur. Like the man said...

Some HD shotguns get used, and more should be, regularly, for reasons I hope are obvious.

The better you know your weapon, the more effective you are.

Whatever HD shotgun is owned, it needs to be used as often as any other firearm in the safe. Maybe even more often, but at the very least, it needs to be used. I don't get the various people that I know who buy a gun for a defensive roll, set it somewhere in their house, and that's the end of the story. Same here; if you outfit a gun for some reason, it's all for nothing if it isn't going to be practiced with.

 

[amprecon]

The combat shotgun has a large and dedicated following, no doubt about it. I have found that I am not one of those die-hards. Sure shotguns are effective combat weapons, within their limitations, but so is a carbine.

I simply prefer the extra range a carbine provides over a shotgun, not disparaging the shotgun at all. I wouldn't hesitate to use one if its all I had, but since I have carbines, they are what I prefer.

I have realized that it makes no sense for me to configure my shotgun as a riot gun when I would never utilize it in that fashion, I would rather select a pistol or a carbine.

There is no wrong selection as long as you recognize your weapons' limitations and are able to exploit its attributes.

 

[orphanedcowboy]

But they look so cool when your with your buddies shooting paper target from 10 yards at the handgun range and talking about how your going to handle the gun battle at your house later that evening....

I get it..different strokes for different folks but i never got the need for any of that stuff, my duck gun will greet someone at the door if need be and have the same effect. Maybe I'm just a closed minded person though...

For me its another reason to buy a gun and pizz a Liberal off. I own numerous shotguns, 3 get used with any consistency, 2 duck guns and a HD gun, and yes I shoot clays with a FN SLP and I am just about as good with it as I am with a 10" longer barreled gun.

 

[fatcat4620]

My hd shotgun goes with me to the range almost every time I go. If you feel bad about it just sitting there take it to the range next time and have some fun.

 

[bassdogs]

Got $250 invested in an 18" 870 including the limbsaver pad. Don't think that I'm going to lose any sleep over the next 10 or 15 years if I don't do anything with it other than practice and make sure its there if I need it in an emergency. Do I think that many spend way to much time planning for the defense of there home, like there are several zombi tribes ready to attack at any moment? For sure some are playing fantasy HD rather than really being prudent. I'm pretty comfortable that my 870 and my Glock 40, along with a couple of other surprises, will serve quite nicely should the need present itself. Now when do the bowl games begin?

 

[amprecon]

I have a 12ga BPS with a 28" barrel, 3+1 capacity (waterfowl plugged), and walnut furniture. I look forward to every opportunity to use it in its intended role.

For waterfowl hunting you mean 2+1 capacity, 3 rounds total.

I will probably get rid of the magazine extender, but I will not give up the 18" barrel. The barrel takes all of about 20 seconds to change out, but a little longer if a mag extender is installed.

You just never know, I may end up moving to a shotgun only deer hunting state where I'd prefer a shorter barrel or maybe even head to Alaska where a short-barreled shotgun is usually the weapon of choice out there against the big brownies.

But for skeet or trap range use, bird or rabbit hunting the longer barrel will get more use than the short one ever will by me.

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

Why not just put the longer barrel on when hunting or skeet shooting? The plastic furniture is often lighter and more resistant to moisture than wood. I'd keep that.

 

[foghornl]

Yeppers....I have a Maverick 88 with the short barrel for HomeLand Security, and a Mossberg 500A for my "Woods-N-Water" use. So, no matter which one I use, they both work almost the same...different safety locations.