beatledog7
Member
I have a 2-shot extension because 7+1 is better than 5+1 for last resort defense. In the event that I need to use the gun, the extra weight is only there for a couple seconds, tops, and may even aid in swinging onto target.
Defensive shotgun - standard tube vs. extended tube
- Thread starter oldguy870
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JohnBT
Member
All of mine have standard magazines. I do keep 3 of them loaded though.
bassdogs
Member
Have an 18" 870 w/ factory +2 ext. That's the way I bought it and the way it came from the factory. Really don't know what all the buzz is about concerning the ext. mag. In a sense it is my "coach gun" in that it goes with me on road trips and leans in the corner of the closet in the bedroom. Are the extra rounds necessary? Probably not, but like someone here said, they're there if you do! If I grab it and go, I have 12 rounds at hand [5 in butt band] without having to grab an ammo belt. At some point, the extra weight starts to become a liability, but my set-up works for me.
PS: if nose weight is a problem for you, don't load the +2 but you retain the option to slip in the extra shells if you find a need. For Zombie hunters, there is never going to be enough loaded ammo. For the 'it will never happen to me" bird hunters, 2 or 3 total is enough. Either way, have fun and shoot often.
PS: if nose weight is a problem for you, don't load the +2 but you retain the option to slip in the extra shells if you find a need. For Zombie hunters, there is never going to be enough loaded ammo. For the 'it will never happen to me" bird hunters, 2 or 3 total is enough. Either way, have fun and shoot often.
Whole Hog
Member
That's right, you don't have to load them all the way. I have a +3 extension on an 870, but only load 5 rounds of buckshot. There are 5 rounds of slugs in a butt cuff and I can load two of them without doing anything else.
I like the Wilson one shot extension.
http://shopwilsoncombat.com/Extensi...tud-1-Shot-12-Gauge/productinfo/SGET-QDS-U-1/
Extra round, low profile, minimal weight, and allows sling use when appropriate.
YMMV
http://shopwilsoncombat.com/Extensi...tud-1-Shot-12-Gauge/productinfo/SGET-QDS-U-1/
Extra round, low profile, minimal weight, and allows sling use when appropriate.
YMMV
Here is a variation on the same question for the people who voted to have the +2 extension.
Let's assume the defensive scenario for the shotgun will give you enough time to clip a shell belt to your waist containing 21 rounds of 00 buck ...
... Do you still feel the +2 extension is important? Even with rounds on your waist, are you concerned about only 5 rounds (4+1) in the gun?
Let's assume the defensive scenario for the shotgun will give you enough time to clip a shell belt to your waist containing 21 rounds of 00 buck ...
... Do you still feel the +2 extension is important? Even with rounds on your waist, are you concerned about only 5 rounds (4+1) in the gun?
dredd
Member
I think I own enough of both factory-standard 4 or 5 mag and factory-solid-tube 7 or 8 mag to opine:
A six-round elastic butt-cuff on a 18-20"bbl pump with a 5rd mag satisfies me the most, ergonomically speaking.
I don't do many aftermarket-add-ons, and tube extenders is one I don't really care to experiment with. Call it irrational skepticism if you will...
A six-round elastic butt-cuff on a 18-20"bbl pump with a 5rd mag satisfies me the most, ergonomically speaking.
I don't do many aftermarket-add-ons, and tube extenders is one I don't really care to experiment with. Call it irrational skepticism if you will...
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FIVETWOSEVEN
Member
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2009
- Messages
- 5,146
I don't think it would be a problem. It's a home defense weapon so you would be carrying it for a short time and you're shooting a large human being, not a small flying disk. I didn't have a problem with my already front heavy 1100 with an extension.
627PCFan
Member
Note: the added weight can compromise the cycling ability of some recoil operated semi autos.
mdauben
Member
I have to agree 100%
Of course, I'm not much of a shotgun "sport" shooter, either for hunting or for trap/skeet/sporting clays. So, perhaps I just don't appreciete the fine points of shotgun balance and handling, but I've never noticed any problem with handling a gun with a fully loaded, extended mag.
ApacheCoTodd
member
I think you really have to ask yourself in a cold unimpassioned way, what it is you feel you'll be defending against .
Let the natural course of events filter out the video games, movies, TV shows, inter-babble/photos, tacti-geek advice and any other riot of zomlypsageddon2K scenario.
Stick with what you got and train with it - oh, and load it well.
Let the natural course of events filter out the video games, movies, TV shows, inter-babble/photos, tacti-geek advice and any other riot of zomlypsageddon2K scenario.
Stick with what you got and train with it - oh, and load it well.
DammitBoy
Member
My Bennelli M1 with it's 8 round mag points like a dream and seems light as a feather. Nice balance, good ergonomics, soft recoil.
The 1100 sits alone and dejected in the back of the safe...
The 1100 sits alone and dejected in the back of the safe...
Something to consider with a +2:
It partially depends on how you plan to store it. Many people store their pump gun with a full magazine and nothing in the chamber.
Some with hammer back requiring the slide to be manually unlocked to cycle, and others with the hammer down in what is referred to as 'cruiser ready' leaving the slide able to move but requiring nothing but a quick pump to chamber a round.
Both requires the pump shotgun to be pumped once to put a round in the chamber.
Similarly some store their semi-auto shotguns this way, requiring the action to be cycle once initially.
This means you have just eliminated the weight and leverage of at least one round in the extension before needing to swing it, the extension itself being of minimal weight compared to the lead in the round.
Some people like to download the magazine whether they have one in the chamber or not. This can allow someone to either cycle the shotgun to chamber the first round, or to put say a slug from a side saddle or butt cuff etc in a magazine loaded with something else. In fact defensive use aside, I have found having to load a single round of bird shot for rattle snakes to be far more frequent than anything else. Generally not downloading the magazine, I have to then remove a defensive round, making room for the birdshot. (I still don't like to use a gun for them, but keep one ready while dealing with them in case it goes on the offense while I am dispatching it with something else.)
Any round can be loaded in the magazine if it is downloaded, then the action cycled to quickly put the just manually loaded round type in the action without having to deal with unloading anything or trying to keep the next round from the full magazine from cycling into the action while you do it.
If the gun is stored chamber empty and one down in the magazine, the first pump would then put the magazine at -2, magazine extension now empty, that weight is no longer forward.
Such a gun with a magazine extension is essentially using the capacity of a fully loaded and chambered stock magazine and has a similar weight with the benefit of being able to simply put any round in the magazine and cycle it next.
So even if you don't like a magazine extension, one may wish to install one and simply not load it as the extension by itself weighs very little.
Some people also load the magazine full, and have one in the chamber. This of course does put the full weight forward. So you are talking about the weight of 2 rounds applying maximum leverage at the furthest point from the fulcrum.
While the weight of a couple or more rounds is not much, it does make a bigger difference than the weight of the rounds themselves because of the leverage. Rounds next to the action in the magazine have almost no leverage. Rounds at the end of the barrel have a lot of leverage.
Your primary hand on the grip is the fulcrum, so as you get forward of that the effect of leverage increases substantially.
Also as you get forward of where you support hand holds the gun the weight and handling will be noticed even further.
So its not just a couple ounces, it is a lever applying leverage and someone so inclined could use some math to solve just how much greater of a difference it is.
There is no wrong solution. They just handle differently. However perfect swing is really more important when shooting small moving objects, or maybe a gun fight in a big open space. Indoors defensively shotguns are aimed at bigger slower things with little room to maneuver the gun in and are often handled more like carbines. So the extension brings the capacity up to the length of the barrel and is a decent match without much handling sacrifice in the intended role in my opinion.
That said I personally would rather have a 12-14 inch shotgun with the barrel ending just forward of the support hand. Requiring no magazine forward and ending the leverage right around the support hand. As some law enforcement guns are set up.
Making the question whether to have a 5 round magazine with a 14", or a 4 round magazine with a 12 inch. With both handling much better indoors with lower overall length and the support hand practically moving the gun from the muzzle nearly instantly with no resistance. Swing in such a role is not that important when the support hand can instantly put the muzzle wherever it wants.
That should be the real question: 12" or 14", 4 or 5. Shotgun barrels also don't result in much velocity lost at that length either.
However due to our laws we have to use field guns inside, or go through a hassle to have a gun with a lot more legal red tape and restrictions as an NFA item.
It partially depends on how you plan to store it. Many people store their pump gun with a full magazine and nothing in the chamber.
Some with hammer back requiring the slide to be manually unlocked to cycle, and others with the hammer down in what is referred to as 'cruiser ready' leaving the slide able to move but requiring nothing but a quick pump to chamber a round.
Both requires the pump shotgun to be pumped once to put a round in the chamber.
Similarly some store their semi-auto shotguns this way, requiring the action to be cycle once initially.
This means you have just eliminated the weight and leverage of at least one round in the extension before needing to swing it, the extension itself being of minimal weight compared to the lead in the round.
Some people like to download the magazine whether they have one in the chamber or not. This can allow someone to either cycle the shotgun to chamber the first round, or to put say a slug from a side saddle or butt cuff etc in a magazine loaded with something else. In fact defensive use aside, I have found having to load a single round of bird shot for rattle snakes to be far more frequent than anything else. Generally not downloading the magazine, I have to then remove a defensive round, making room for the birdshot. (I still don't like to use a gun for them, but keep one ready while dealing with them in case it goes on the offense while I am dispatching it with something else.)
Any round can be loaded in the magazine if it is downloaded, then the action cycled to quickly put the just manually loaded round type in the action without having to deal with unloading anything or trying to keep the next round from the full magazine from cycling into the action while you do it.
If the gun is stored chamber empty and one down in the magazine, the first pump would then put the magazine at -2, magazine extension now empty, that weight is no longer forward.
Such a gun with a magazine extension is essentially using the capacity of a fully loaded and chambered stock magazine and has a similar weight with the benefit of being able to simply put any round in the magazine and cycle it next.
So even if you don't like a magazine extension, one may wish to install one and simply not load it as the extension by itself weighs very little.
Some people also load the magazine full, and have one in the chamber. This of course does put the full weight forward. So you are talking about the weight of 2 rounds applying maximum leverage at the furthest point from the fulcrum.
While the weight of a couple or more rounds is not much, it does make a bigger difference than the weight of the rounds themselves because of the leverage. Rounds next to the action in the magazine have almost no leverage. Rounds at the end of the barrel have a lot of leverage.
Your primary hand on the grip is the fulcrum, so as you get forward of that the effect of leverage increases substantially.
Also as you get forward of where you support hand holds the gun the weight and handling will be noticed even further.
So its not just a couple ounces, it is a lever applying leverage and someone so inclined could use some math to solve just how much greater of a difference it is.
There is no wrong solution. They just handle differently. However perfect swing is really more important when shooting small moving objects, or maybe a gun fight in a big open space. Indoors defensively shotguns are aimed at bigger slower things with little room to maneuver the gun in and are often handled more like carbines. So the extension brings the capacity up to the length of the barrel and is a decent match without much handling sacrifice in the intended role in my opinion.
That said I personally would rather have a 12-14 inch shotgun with the barrel ending just forward of the support hand. Requiring no magazine forward and ending the leverage right around the support hand. As some law enforcement guns are set up.
Making the question whether to have a 5 round magazine with a 14", or a 4 round magazine with a 12 inch. With both handling much better indoors with lower overall length and the support hand practically moving the gun from the muzzle nearly instantly with no resistance. Swing in such a role is not that important when the support hand can instantly put the muzzle wherever it wants.
That should be the real question: 12" or 14", 4 or 5. Shotgun barrels also don't result in much velocity lost at that length either.
However due to our laws we have to use field guns inside, or go through a hassle to have a gun with a lot more legal red tape and restrictions as an NFA item.
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Sheepdog1968
Member
For home defense I got the Mossberg with the 20" barrel that holds 8+1. I hope to never need that much but I'd rather have it and not need it.
Whole Hog
Member
Zoogster explained my thought process better than I did. Another benefit of not fully loading an extended magazine is that I've never had the problem of spring pressure deforming the shells that others have reported.
memphismark
Member
Home defense is home defense 'Dood'. On that horrible night when some crack head is trying to possibly kill you, are you going to want that extra shot or two? Let's everybody say it together, HELL YES!!!!! . You want every possible human advantage you can get, and then some. Namely, almighty God intervention. This is your life 'bubba'. You've only got one, and one good shot from some other lunatic could end it. Fast. He's in your house, unload till the threat is DEAD. Sounds awful right? Well it is. The whole mess that they will have caused, is just that. A big mess. Not trying to hit you hard today brother, but being merciful in home defense will get you killed. I've got cops and sheriffs for friends, and I won't go into their storys, but you get the picture. That extra shell or two will add no more than 5 oz. my friend, and the extra metal for the extension itself is thin walled tubing, (I own a full metal/machine shop) no more than another 3 or 4 oz. Is ten or 12 oz. on the end of that gun in a high adrenaline situation really gonna cause you problems. I personally don't think so. On the contrary, the pro's so far outweigh any cons that it shouldn't even be on your radar. Anyway, 'just my opinion, oughta be yours'! memphismark 
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chas08
Member
I like the standard tube fully loaded and five on the stock for spares. I didnt like the idea of drilling out the dimples and losing the mag cap retaining feature for when I decide to hunt with it.
Kingcreek
Member
I have tried my 870 with a +2 extension and I'm happier with with the standard 4+1. The effect on handling is significant. If 5 rounds and the ability to reload isn't enough then I'm in deep trouble.
I personally detest carrying spares on the stock for the same reasons of added weight. I'll carry my spares in my pocket or belt.
I personally detest carrying spares on the stock for the same reasons of added weight. I'll carry my spares in my pocket or belt.
Earlier I posted in favor of 4+1. Tried extensions and didn't like 'em. Why? Could be that I have short arms (32 sleeve). Longer arms may very well handle that extra weight out front better than I can. Regardless, it is an individual preference that may vary by intended application for your shotgun.
cameron.personal
Member
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2004
- Messages
- 369
I would NEVER add an extension tube to a defensive shotgun! That is just crazy talk.
Here is one of mine without a silly extension tube in sight.
Here is one of mine without a silly extension tube in sight.
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Gun Geezer
Member
I hold the Rev Clint Smith in high regard. He does preach it!
However, he has apparently never seen a Street Sweeper with a 50 round drum mag. It IS enough. Unfortunatley, you can't buy them any more.
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