Thoughts on a 870 Combo? Can it be converted easily for home defense?

[Covelo-NdN]

Hello the highroad shot gunners! This message post is in regards to the Remington 870 combo. The rifle comes with a 20" rifled barrel and a 26" smooth bore barrel. The gun in question can be found here...

http://www.remington.com/products/firearms/shotguns/model-870/model-870-express-combos.aspx

The intended use of the rifle will be for deer hunting hence the rifle barrel, and with the option of using the smooth bore barrel for hunting birds and shooting clay and what not I think that would be cool.

My question is or clarification is how easily would it be to to convert the rifle from a field rifle either deer hunting your bird hunting or clay shooting to multipurpose home defense rifle.

I see that the rifle comes with wood furniture so when I got home from the field couldn't I change the furniture ? or something? slide either the 26" or 20" out and install a 18" barrel or something and then kep it by my bed stand.

Do this even sound completely possible?

Price range for the build it somewhat up in the air cause I could build it or piece it together like the 18" barrel then furniture... I'm also wondering can I add a magazine extension to increase the capacity, I think the 870 combo holds 5? And others hold 8?

Please reply post if you have a 870 combo any stories , or advice.

I like the 870 and look forward to one being I'm my home. Thanks high road readers and god bless...

 

[Glockpride]

The barrels are easily swapped by removing the magazine cap and the sliding the barrel off. The install the other barrel. For HD I would go with a smoothbore 18/18.5" barrel. The rifled barrel is only for slugs. For HD my choice would be buckshot. I would not personally worry about the wood furniture. If you want the black synthetic then get it from the start.

 

[rcmodel]

The 26" barrel should come with internal choke tubes so you can change the choke to whatever hunting needs you have.

The 20" rifled barrel will do just fine with 00 buckshot for inside the house SD distance at the typical short ranges involved.

Buying a 2" shorter 18" smoothbore barrel for HD use would be a waste of money.

As would changing the wood stock for a plastic stock just for HD use.

You will be a better faster shot if you protect your home with the same stock set-up you hunt & target shoot with.

As for an extended mag tube?

If you can't settle a fight with a standard mag full of 00 Buck??

You either need to practice more.
Or, were terribly out-numbered and couldn't win anyway, no matter how many shots you had in the gun.

Extended mag tubes full of ammo just make a shotgun heavier and slower handling!

rc

 

[horsemen61]

^^what RC said I trust his opinion almost religiously

 

[200Apples]

.
I too am a fan of 870s and of rcmodel. Hahaha...

I'm wondering, though, about a "20 inch rifled barrel". Would that be a "20 inch rifle-sights smoothbore barrel"? instead?

Rifled shotgun barrels are a specialty item, to be used with sabot slugs. Yes, standard lead slugs might be used too, but leading of the rifling might be an issue.


To the OP, if you can't find a nice used Wingmaster, then the combo you've shown us should do the job, for both hunting, skeet and home defense. Swappin barrels takes less than one minute.

 

[USAF_Vet]

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Rifled shotgun barrels are a specialty item, to be used with sabot slugs.

Yes, they are to be used with sabots, but they are not what I would consider a specialty item. Specific use item, sure.

I don't have the rifled slug barrel for any of my shotguns. I do have the 18.5" barrel for my HD shotgun, and I disagree with RC that it was a waste of money. I can see his point though, that there isn't much difference between 18.5" and 20", and at social distances the spread of shot is minimally different between the two. So if you've already got a shorter barrel, like the 20" slug barrel, then an 18.5" smoothbore might be redundant. But not necessarily so.

I'm also going to disagree that magazine extensions are unnecessary. They do make the gun heavier and they do change the balance and 4+1 rounds of 00 buck should be enough to end a fight. But on the rare chance that it doesn't... I don't want to be in your shoes.

I've got a second HD shotgun with a +3 extension, giving a total of 7 rounds in the tube. I hope it never gets used anywhere but practicing at the range. But because I do ractice with it, I've gotten accustomed to the excess weight and balance of the gun. But it's also not a room clearing gun. It's a last stand, behind a barricade while my family escapes behind me gun.

Don't discount any potential accessories just because they aren't there from the factory. Learn how to use the weapon, then evaluate whether or not the extra barrels and mag extensions are worth it.

I do agree there isn't any real need to swap out furniture between field and home defense. Plastic stocks will be a little lighter than wood. But I've fired both, and there isn't a considerable difference in recoil.

 

[dogmush]

rc is correct that a 20 " rifled barrel is perfectly adequate for HD.

For myself, I think k a bead type sight is enough better for CQB I would go ahead and get a third 18.5", smoothbore, bead sight barrel for the combo. I think the extra $100 or so for those three attributes is worth it.

Swapping barrels is super easy, and that's really all you need to do.

 

[Glock Doctor]

For more than 30 years I used a Remington 870 that was setup very much like this. Mine had a Choate Machine And Tool Magazine Extension tube on it; and, in my opinion, that and a set of Uncle Mike's Quick Detachable Sling Swivels are,

THE ONLY GENUINE, 'MUST HAVE' ACCESSORIES FOR AN 870!

Fooling around with any other stuff is simply wasting money. The stock and forend on the shotgun combo you're looking at are NOT wood. They're made of a very durable, wood-colored, synthetic material instead.

The ONLY type of slug you should be using is the Remington, 'AccuTip Bonded Sabot Slug'. Consequently you do NOT want to use any sort of smoothbore slug barrel. (I made that mistake; so I would know!) While it CAN BE DONE; it is neither a good idea, nor practical to fire buckshot through a rifled shotgun barrel.

For almost 4 decades I hunted with a variety of 12 gauge shotguns in all different barrel lengths and chokes. A 26 inch, vent rib barrel is a fast, compact-size shotgun that is well designed for use, both, in heavy brush as well as for making fast wing shots! Any shotgun with a 26 inch barrel should be equally useful for home defense, too.*

You don't need to be repeatedly swapping out, 'mission specific' parts on your Remington 870. When I was young I used to do needless things like that with my shotguns: i.e.: 'combat furniture', pistol grips, rifle sights, and even a detachable scope mount - Which, by the way, if you use an optic is the only other option I would recommend for the 870!



* You mention, keeping a shotgun by your bed. I've had some experience with this sort of thing; and my recommendation would be for you to keep your shotgun UNDERNEATH your bed instead of, 'next to it'. Different people wake up in different ways - Some more easily than others, too! This is one of the principal reasons, 'Why' (with the obvious exception of revolvers) I do NOT recommend keeping a round chambered in a bedside gun.

 

[Virginian]

What's to "convert"? Just load it and practice.

 

[Sunray]

The typical short ranges are the operative words. Shot, out of a rifled barrel, flies in a spiral leaving huge holes in the pattern. No good for hunting, but won't matter from here to the door.
Oh and yep, a Rem M870 Combo is dandy. So is a Mossberg M500 Combo.

 

[oneounceload]

I'm also going to disagree that magazine extensions are unnecessary. They do make the gun heavier and they do change the balance and 4+1 rounds of 00 buck should be enough to end a fight. But on the rare chance that it doesn't... I don't want to be in your shoes.

Then keep an AR ready; the blast inside from a short barreled shotgun is going to momentarily stun just about everyone anyway. If 4-5+1 isn't doing the job, the AR is a better alternative.

 

[USAF_Vet]

Then keep an AR ready; the blast inside from a short barreled shotgun is going to momentarily stun just about everyone anyway. If 4-5+1 isn't doing the job, the AR is a better alternative.

Got one of those, too. But if the blast from a 26" 12 gauge barrel is going to stun everyone around, the blast from a 16" bull barrel AR with no muzzle device is going to be much worse. It hurts being near it with double hearing pro and seeing the basketball size flame from the muzzle in broad daylight. The old 12 gauge with extended mag is notably quieter and safer to shoot in a confined space when hearing protection will probably be lacking.

Again, your weapon of choice really doesn't matter, as long as you know how to handle it. Having an AR or whatever doesn't make up for not being trained and practiced. You can hang as many doodads and gizmos on your gun as you like, won't make a difference if you don't know how to shoot it.

 

[rszwieg]

The OP is from Calistan so ARs are a pain.

I say get an 18.5" barrel for HD and save the rifled barrel and field barrel for hunting.

 

[Jim Watson]

An extreme suggestion: Buy the gun with bird and deer barrels, buy a box of buckshot, and SHOOT THE GUN! See what the pattern is like at the maximum clear sight range in your house. Buy a riot gun barrel if necessary, don't buy if not really needed.

 

[Virginian]

An extreme suggestion: Buy the gun with bird and deer barrels, buy a box of buckshot, and SHOOT THE GUN! See what the pattern is like at the maximum clear sight range in your house.

Evolution; when common sense becomes extreme. Good one.

 

[bannockburn]

Covelo-NdN

Seems like a decent set-up just as it comes from the factory. I had something very similar to it (mine had a 28" vent rib barrel) as my first shotgun. Worked great for hunting and for home defense. Only thing I added was a Choate mag extension to go with the 20" barrel.

 

[Water-Man]

I've had the 870 Express Combo for eight years. Buying another barrel for HD purposes is a waste of money. Use the 20" barrel with buckshot. It works fine for HD ranges in your home. Don't bother changing the furniture either.

 

[200Apples]

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Slinging buckshot down a rifled shotgun barrel bore may spin the shot pack and can leave a sizeable hole it the shot pattern.

That 20" rifled-bore, rifle-sights barrel included in the combo the OP wants is a sabot slug barrel, and used with the appropriate round, absolutely devastating. Sabot slugs "are usually .50 caliber with a .72 caliber sabot surrounding them to seal the bore and grip the rifling." - What caliber is a 12 gauge deer slug?

For $109.99, Midway offers a Remington 870 12 Gauge 18-1/2" Fixed Improved Cylinder Bead Sight Parkerized Barrel. Much mo better for buckshot at home defense/camp defense distances.

 

[LUCKYDAWG13]

the 870 will work just fine i killed a lot of deer with mine the one thing i would switch out is the safety https://www.google.com/search?q=big...-safety-remington-870-1100-11-87-blue;880;660

 

[Andy John]

I'd recommend simply getting an 18" smooth bore barrel with a bead sight. It will set you back $100 and some change. That's all you really need to make yourself a great home defense gun. All the other add-ons (fancy stocks, lights, scopes) are not necessary.

Using the 20" rifled barrel for home defense will work, but limits your effective range by about half. Who's to say you may be attacked by a lunatic firing at you from across the street, down the road, etc. The ability to engage an attacker at a longer range is probably worth $100 bucks.

Using the 26" in barrel for home defense will work well. The only drawback is its length reduces your maneuver space.

 

[Jim Watson]

Slinging buckshot down a rifled shotgun barrel bore may spin the shot pack and can leave a sizeable hole it the shot pattern.

It may, it might, it could. It might not, not enough to matter.
The longest likely shot in my house is 30 FEET. The longest possible shot in my house is less than 50 FEET.
Wouldn't it be sensible to SHOOT THE GUN at those ranges before laying out another hundred bucks?
Although it seems that the OP has Tactical Fever with notions of appropriate "furniture" for the job. (Not an easy change.)

 

[oneounceload]

As long as it makes him THINK it will help, then it will, regardless of reality

 

[Delmar]

Don't know the layout of your home, but a 20 vs 26 inch barrel is really not that much to deal with.
Try going through your home with the 26 and see if it really causes that many problems for you.
If it does, look around for either a smoothbore riot 18 inch with bead or a 20 inch with rifle sights.
The problem with magazine extensions are that they are either expensive or cheaply made-buy quality if you go that route.
The standard 870 holds 4 in the magazine +1. I keep mine next to the bed with a loaded magazine and an empty chamber.
Consider a shotgun cuff which slips over the buttstock, holds 5 rounds.

 

[Fuego]

What's to convert? It is fine as is. Brownells has the Remington 18.25" smoothbore barrels but the 20" barrel you have is fine. You will not see any difference.

If you feel like you want spend some money get some #00 buckshot and see where it shoots. Put a sheet of butcher paper on a barbed wire fence and se what it does at ten paces.

Other than that, you are good to go.

 

[shiftyer1]

That exact combo is what I started with, I have others now but my 870 is still in the corner loaded with 00 buck, and if I wanna shoot some birds it takes only a couple minutes and no effort to swap barrels and ammo.