Info on Remington 870 SPS-T

[HMMurdock]

I know enough about shotguns to know I want a Remington 870. I am looking for a multi-purpose tool. I am a fugitive recovery agent, so I'd like a short enough barrel for "entry" purposes. I would like to theorhetically have my rifle for hunting. I would also like to be able to defend my home with it as well as trust me life on it when I am in Alaska visiting friends and family and decide to go on nature excursions.

To fit these purposes, I have been suggested to look into the Remington 870 "Turkey" or SPS-T model 12 ga. with 21" vented barrel.

What can you tell me about this? Can I remove the choke and use slugs in it to ward off Alaskan Bear? Can I trust my life to it's capabilities when affecting dangerous arrests? Can I put on the choke tube and hunt with it without a hitch?

What else would you suggest and what can this SPS-T not do?

Thanks in advance and please excuse my shotgunnery ignorance.

 

[Fred Fuller]

I think the 21" turkey version of the 870 comes about as close to a one gun/one barrel do-it-all shotgun as you're going to find. I have an Express Turkey version with a 21" VR barrel (twin beads) set up for RemChokes from the factory. That gun and a pocketful of choke tubes will do almost any job you need.

As with any jack-of-all-trades compromise, there are shortcomings of course. You could go all the way down to an 18" barrel with rifle sights for big game or defensive use, and you might prefer a longer vent rib barrel for wingshooting/small game/clay games. The 870 is so modular in nature that it's but a few minutes' work to reconfigure the gun to whatever need is at hand. The basic gun with two barrels abd a few accessories is the approach most folks take to solving all their shotgun problems.

But if you want to stick to one gun with one barrel, the Turkey configuration seems to me like the best bet. You'll want a variety of choke tubes, and that should about cover it.

Stay safe,

lpl/nc

 

[Dave McCracken]

What Lee said, and.....

Never fire a shotgun equipped with tubes without a tube. Expensive, messy and with slugs, inaccurate.

For slugs, use an open choke like IC or a rifled tube, which can aid accuracy.

 

[HMMurdock]

Fascinating. And I did not know that about the no choke vs. open choke-- thanks as always!!