I finally picked my 20 ga up. A few up-close observations as I haven’t had a chance to shoot it yet.
Plain old box. The little foam bb’s that flake off get stuck under the rib and insides, so look to clear those out when you put it together.
The walnut was very dark. The recoil pad is solid and well fitted to the stock. There is a sling swivel installed in the stock. The wood-to-receiver fit is a bit proud; a thumbnail certainly gets caught on the lip where the wood sticks up a bit on both sides. The matte finish is very uniform, no issues there. The trigger/guard set is polymer, like a lot of new guns, which I don’t like but at least it matches the finish well.
The checkering is like the 1980’s style; a fleur-de-lis with minimal grip. I could see this being a bit slippery on a damp day, but overall it’s clean. There was no real wobble or rattle in the fore end with or without the barrel installed. The magazine cap has a sling swivel, making for an easy sling mount if one is wanted.
Three Rem Chokes comes with it, F,M,IC. F says lead shot only, which is common. Chamber is 3” for those who use a 20 for waterfowl or turkey.
The rib is well installed and has a bit of grooving to keep reflection down. One bright white bead is at the muzzle, no center bead is mounted.
One thing I did not like is the mating between the barrel rib and receiver. The receiver is drilled/tapped for optic mounts which is great, and it has a bit of a swale down the middle as a sighing aid. But the swale is a bit wider and shallower than the butt end of the rib, so there is a step up that catches my eye that I don’t like.
The white bead is easy to see on a darker day, in bright light or against white clouds it may be tougher to spot.
Trigger pull was decent. Not much creep out of the box, consistent with a 5-pull average of about 3 3-/4 lbs.
I like it so far. It isn’t perfect, but for a field shotgun in 20 ga I can’t wait to shoot some clays and then hit the pheasant fields.
Next post compares it with my other 20 ga pumps.
Stay safe.