Surefire Forend: Worth It?

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Panzerschwein

Panzerschwein

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Hey gang! I have a light on my Remington 1100 Tactical now and would really like to also put a light on my Remington 870 Police. I have an 18.5" bbl 870P with standard 4 shot magazine, and light mounts seem few and far between if you don't have an extended magazine.

I know about the Surefire forend lights for shotguns, and it seemed like a good option to go with a standard 4 shot magazine, which I'd like to stay with. So I looked on Amazon at the reviews for the Surefire DSF-870 and was surprised to see many negative reviews:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/cr/B00E9YEEPK/ref=mw_dp_cr

Several mentions of quality control and ergonomic problems. I was under the impression this setup was generally regarded as top quality, but those bad reviews have be worried about dropping over $300 for this item.

For those with experience with these Surefire forends, what are your thoughts? Are they worth the money? Does Surefire have good customer service if something is wrong?

Thanks for the help!
 
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MY THOUGHTS
I have an older model which originally came with the halogen bulb and it's worked great. I bought a later model, but no longer current, with LED bulb for my Mossberg 590A1. I've seen these older models on Ebay still selling in the $200 range.

As shown in your reviews, I understand the battery draining problem has been solved by Surefire. If you buy a used DSF-870, it may need to be sent back for whatever Surefire does to upgrade it. Surefire's customer service is pretty darn good, but has fluctuated over the years.

WORTH THE MONEY
Money is a personal issue/problem and only you, your accountant, your family, or your bank can answer that. I say buy it, then come back here and give us your review.

ALTERNATIVES
Buy an older model in the $200 range;
Buy one of these Streamlight Pic rail adapters and mount your own weapon-light:
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/754094/streamlight-tactical-mount-remington-870

I don't know if Streamlight is still making this Pic-rail adapter as I couldn't find it on its website.
If you go with this adapter, a Streamlight TLR-1 or TLR-1HL, the alternative switch, and the coiled pressure switch, you'll be in the $300 range. At least you'll be able to use the TLR light on other guns, however. Other lights will fit on that rail as the rail is generally universal. I've got something similar to this on my Remington 11-87P, but didn't opt for the remote switch & cable.
 
Someone recommended to me the Magpul forend that I could attach a light to. I am wanting to keep the setup KISS, and would prefer to avoid any coils or remote switches. That Streamlight mount that goes behind the magazine cap looks flimsy, I am looking for high durability yet simplicity. Does it hold up?

I just emailed Magpul to see if their forend is compatible with a standard length mag tube with a sling swivel attached to the magazine cap.

It appears easy to find mounts for an extended magazine, much more challenging for a standard length tube (no extension) but I will not be going with one on this 870P, it handles too nice and I believe 5 shots with a sidesaddle for extra rounds is enough for my purposes.
 
Cooldill, it seems as if you are looking for opinions, so here is mine, FWIW.

Although it is oldschool, just get a Choate 2 round mag extension (it will fit a 18.5" barrel nicely) and hang whatever light you wish on it. It comes with a mag/barrel clamp to make it sturdy. You can use this with original wood furniture if you have that, which I prefer. You don't even have to use it as mag extension if you don't want to: just keep the forward magazine stop in place with the factory mag spring. I don't know what the Surefire fore-end costs but the Choate extension is not cheap at $45 from Brownell's. It was a lot cheaper from Choate 20 years ago. :(

http://www.brownells.com/shotgun-pa...lued-shotgun-magazine-extension-prod4203.aspx

Just my $.02 worth.

Jim
 
expat_alaska said:
Cooldill, it seems as if you are looking for opinions, so here is mine, FWIW.

Although it is oldschool, just get a Choate 2 round mag extension (it will fit a 18.5" barrel nicely) and hang whatever light you wish on it. It comes with a mag/barrel clamp to make it sturdy. You can use this with original wood furniture if you have that, which I prefer. You don't even have to use it as mag extension if you don't want to: just keep the forward magazine stop in place with the factory mag spring. I don't know what the Surefire fore-end costs but the Choate extension is not cheap at $45 from Brownell's. It was a lot cheaper from Choate 20 years ago. :(

http://www.brownells.com/shotgun-pa...lued-shotgun-magazine-extension-prod4203.aspx

Just my $.02 worth.

Jim
Click to expand...

I understand and thank you for the help. I would like to not buy a magazine extension considering I don't want one.
 
Cooldill said:
Because if there is an alternative, I would like to not have to buy and install an extended magazine considering I have no plans to use one on my shotgun. It just doesn't make sense to me.
Click to expand...

Fair enough, I figured this was a defensive shotgun and was just curious to why you wouldn't want more round capacity.
 
$2-300 seems rather expensive for a shotgun foreend with a flashlight that may or may not work. You could spend about $100 for a flashlight mount and light to put on the barrel. Your options are fewer without a barrel extension but not eliminated.
 
First - I am a Mossberg dude. I have a few of the Surefire fore ends (old school halogen - and a ton of thier flashlights). Love them. Purpose purchased. Depending on your desire - look up Hans Vang. He does a lot of tricks to Remingtons and Mossbergs.

https://vangcomp.com/
 
Very cool.
herrwalther said:
$2-300 seems rather expensive for a shotgun foreend with a flashlight that may or may not work. You could spend about $100 for a flashlight mount and light to put on the barrel. Your options are fewer without a barrel extension but not eliminated.
Click to expand...

I see. Do you have any idea of such mounts? I am not seeing much that would mount to the barrel but am not sure.

I am wondering how the Magpul shotgun forend does with a light attached... I will hopefully here from Magpul about if I can run a standard sling swivel off the magazie cap with that forend installed.
 
It seems as if the new DSF mounts are looked down upon compared to the old 318 and 618s. I have read many reports of those saying the grip area is small and slippery, as well as the index finger being banged up during recoil.

It appears to be nearly impossible to get an older model, they've been discontinued for a few years.

I'm thinking the Magpul forend with a light attached would be the way to go at this point but am open to ideas.
 
I have a halogen bulb model Surefire fore end on an 870. It's worked and held up well, including some rough three gun handling. I've never had to utilize their service department.
I'd recommend looking for something with both momentary and latching on/off switch(s).
It was expensive, but worth it IMO.
 
Cooldill said:
That looks extremely cool, do you have any personal experience with it? Is it solid?
Click to expand...

Nope. My 870, when I still had it, had the extended magazine tube. So I had a bit more options to work with. I used a much smaller mount and put a Novatec SPL120 at the 6 o clock position. Easy to activate with my support hand.
https://www.botach.com/battle-steel-3-rail-5-position-shotgun-tube-mount/

I did have a sling loop made by GG&G (company that makes the fore end I shared above) that I had on the same previously owned 870. Very stable spot to put a sling, even a 1pt like I had. Says a lot because I hate 1pt slings.
 
I am a big fanboy of the Surefire SG forends, but not for 1100s ! The Surefire light you have should go back to Surefire with and explaination, it WILL be fixed or replaced. I am not sure about your mount to light, probably that is the problem you should have a bomb proof one . These are good, get the right one for your light !
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1...10-to-1040-ring-diameter-ar-15-aluminum-matte
 
Thanks, gang. Magpul got back with my and when I asked them if it their forend was compatible with a 4 shot tube with no extension:

Thank you for contacting us.

The M-LOK forend for the Rem870 should fit and function on your 870 police model. There is nothing on the forend itself which would get caught up or tangled with the sling.

However, I suppose if you were in a stressful situation and need to quickly grab the forend and cycle the action, if you were to grab onto the sling at the same time, it could cause some issues. That really all comes down to how you operate the weapon.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks,
Mike
 
Click to expand...

So it seems it will work but I'd need to watch to not grab the sling as well. I found out that GG&G has discontinued their fore ends with picattiny rails attached. I see ones with the rail on the right side are still available, but that would put the shotgun on the right side of course. I am right handed and would like to use my left hand (support hand) thumb to turn on the light with the shotgun mounted on the left accordingly. With it mounted on the right, I guess I'd need to use a remote switch or something and that opens up a whole can of new worms.

It seems at this point the Magpul might be better for me since I want the shotgun on the left side. This is how my 1100 is set up and I think it works very nicely. Open to any and all options and suggestions at this point. I am determined to get a solid and good light mount on my 870P with stock 4 shot tube. It will happen.
 
We run Surefires on our work 870's. They are decent, but they are heavy, and the new ones you actually need the owners manual to make the light work the way you want. Not ideal in my opinion. For a standard length tube and 2 point sling, so long as you're holding the fore end (ie the pump) itself, it takes a ton of slack in the sling to get it caught up on a normal profile light mounted to the fore end. If you are truely worried about the sling tangling, you could always got with a single point sling, that would completely eliminate the problem.

-Jenrick
 
Jenrick said:
We run Surefires on our work 870's. They are decent, but they are heavy, and the new ones you actually need the owners manual to make the light work the way you want. Not ideal in my opinion. For a standard length tube and 2 point sling, so long as you're holding the fore end (ie the pump) itself, it takes a ton of slack in the sling to get it caught up on a normal profile light mounted to the fore end. If you are truely worried about the sling tangling, you could always got with a single point sling, that would completely eliminate the problem.

-Jenrick
Click to expand...

Do you mean a Magpul forend? So far I have been impressed with Magpul's customer service. Makes me want their forend IF I can get a secure mount of a light on the LEFT side where my left hand thumb can activate the switch.
 
One of the other range guys has that exact setup on his personal mossberg. I don't remember off the top of my head who makes his light mount, but it works great. We've never seen any problems, in a year plus.

-Jenrick
 
Jenrick said:
One of the other range guys has that exact setup on his personal mossberg. I don't remember off the top of my head who makes his light mount, but it works great. We've never seen any problems, in a year plus.

-Jenrick
Click to expand...

This is excellent news. That GG&G mount looks great but they only offer the rail on the right hand side. Like I said I'd rather not fool around with stick on remote switches, I really like the light on the left and it is working great on my 1100.
 
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