Remington 870 w/ 3.5" chamber?

[richardschennberg]

Chuck Bradley at Shooters Connection (see Favorite Links on Schennberg.com) has extended tubes for Benelli M1 and Remington 870, for either 8-shell (Standard) or 10-shell (Open) capacity. For the Remington 870 12 guage with extended tube for 8-shell capacity, the shortest barrel currently in production that will be longer than the tube is 23". Somehow, the least expensive model currently available new (REM 5106 870 EXP 12 3.5 23 RC TKY BLK) has 3.5" chambers. It will also shoot 2.75" and 3" shells, so this should be O.K.

Is there any drawback to a pump shotgun with 3.5" chambers if I am only going to shoot 2.75" shells?
Thanks,
Richard

 

[Chris Rhines]

One small advantage, one small drawback.

The advantage is that it's really easy to toss a shell into the chamber, 'cause you've got that huge gaping 3.5" ejection port.

The drawback is that the reciever of the shotgun is a bit longer than that of a standard 870 2-3/4" shotgun.

I'd go ahead and get it.

- Chris

 

[Steve Smith]

Moving to Shotguns until this becomes Competition related.

 

[richardschennberg]

Thanks for the good information, especially that the ejector port and receiver are larger. This tells me that there is a competitive advantage for reloads on the clock, and that if one exchanges barrels, one should keep 3.5 inch 12 guage barrels with 3.5 inch 12 guage receivers.

The pump shotgun with 23" barrel and magazine tube extended to 8-shell capacity (for 2.75" shells) is for the shotgun portion of 3-gun competitions: USPSA Standard Division or IPSC Standard Manual Division.
Richard
http://www.schennberg.com

 

[Nuts590]

Do the 3.5" 870's have the magazine indents similar to the 3" and does a 3.5" 870 accept "normal" 870 accessories? My interest is now peaked.. I smell a project in the works...

 

[richardschennberg]

You have to remove the dimples in the mag tube to use an extension on a Remington 870. Grinding them off with a Dremel or similar tool is the easiest way. If you pound out the dimples, you have to brace the tube on both sides so that you don't oval it.

Chuck Bradley at Shooters Connection (see Favorite Links on Schennberg.com) has Dave Metal Works magazine extensions. The tube that gives 8-shell capacity works best with a 23" barrel, and the tube that gives 10-shell capactity works best with a 28" barrel if you don't want the tube longer than the barrel. The 8-shell tube is legal for USPSA Standard Division and IPSC Standard Manual Division. The 10-shell tube is for Open Division but most local matches will let you use it without a 2-shell plug if you never load more than 8 in the tube and one in the chamber.
Richard