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

[Hookeye]

If your deer bbl is rifled you can still run the big lead full bore slugs (don't have to shoot sabot rounds).
If wanting to deer hunt, you'll have to test for cleaning interval as it will lead up (but then sabot rounds often leave a nasty plastic residue on the rifling).
BTW, Remington makes a reduced recoil lead full bore slug.

 

[Dr.Rob]

Is that a fully rifled barrel or a rifled choke?

I have that set up with the rifled choke and it works just fine at room to room distance. Pattern it and practice so you know where and how it shoots with various loads.

I like the rifle sights. I have had fantastic accuracy with Winchester 1 oz max slugs (NON Sabot) these are sometimes sold in 15 packs at Wal-Mart.

I only use the long barrel for dove hunting or busting clays.

 

[Hookeye]

I've shot sabot and foster slugs from both fully rifled bbls and rifled choketube guns.
Some barrels have rougher rifling than others (foul more quickly).

Worst bbl I ever had was on an 835. That 3.5" chamber jacked everything up. Plus the bore was rougher than a cob.
It did however shoot fair after polishing and ultimately running 3" fosters. Cantilever didn't converge with bore when I first got it either.
So wasted a good chunk of $$$$ sabot stuff. Think I ended up firing 90 slugs from that turd before it was dialed in, over 2 days, from the bench.
Not even a purple mark on my shoulder. But way down in the joint it was plenty sore.

Rifled choketubes and fosters...........my old 870 Remchoke would get fliers after 10 shots.
Throw them a few inches wide at 50 yards. Left or right.

Nice about Remchoke rifled tube.............just pop it out and clean, screw back in and put 'em on target again.

Saw fliers after 10 shots, so went with a 10 shot cleaning interval to get things to behave. 2 3/4" one ounce WW fosters.

Of course getting it figured out so I could shoot to 100 yards well, I saw a buck in the CRP come season, already drenched from rain............so decided WTH and snuck up on him. 20 yards and pow, dropped and never twitched.

My preference is for fully rifled and the old WW HI Supreme slugs. Man they worked.

The idea of a rifle sighted choketube bbl for HD and hunting.........usable for deer, but may shine more when used for turkey.

My HD shotgun is a 23" 870 Supermag turkey gun with IC choketube It is a vent rib model though. Farthest tom was 42 yards.
Have run it on doves. Not ideal, but even on crazy F&W draw hunts I'll run 50% with it and no cherry picking.
Since we have to use non toxic shot, that leaves the 1100 Trap at home nowadays