Best aftermarket follower - S&J?

[1190405]

I currently run factory Remington plastic followers on both my 870's. One is gray in color and the other is orange. I'm looking to upgrade them to something more robust. I know that the Wilson Combat/Scattergun Tech. follower was the standard but I've read about some issues and now there are now better options out there.

Seems like the S&J Hardware followers get the best reviews. I see that they have three different types. Types 1 and 2 have a tail and type 3 looks similar in shape to stock. I was wondering if anyone has tried them and can recommend which version is the best to get and as well as the cheapest source?

Also, my 870's all feature a factory +2 extension so I need one that will work with it and not cause any capacity-limiting issues.


Thanks

[Chief Brody]

I've got the green, tailed Type-2 in my 870P with the factory 2-shot extension. No problems at all, S&J makes good stuff.

[Reaper]

I think the S&J followers are the best on the market. I have all 3 types in 3 different 870's. The type 3 is in my hunting 870 with no mag extension. It is slotted and will work in the smooth or the dimpled mag tube. I have the type 1 and 2 in my 870's with the extended tubes. I believe the type 2 green is my favorite though. I can see the green color the best and I like the hole in the front of the follower so I can feel with my finger that the mag tube is empty. I've never had a hang-up or any problem with any of these followers.

[1190405]

Thanks for the responses. Sounds like type 2 it is.

[Synchronizor]

I haven't had a chance to personally test one yet, but I would tend to lean toward S&J's Type 3 follower. The Remington factory extensions were designed to use a cup-style follower, and while you probably won't lose any capacity with a solid-bodied follower, pushing one of those all the way up to the follower stop will tend to compress the spring past its solid length, which isn't a good idea with the narrow-diameter Remington extension springs.

S&J Follower_C.JPG (47.03 KiB) Viewed 8254 times

I have an S&J Type 1 that I've modified to essentially be a Type 2 (I prefer the orange color), and I really like it, but ever since I did the math & measuring on the Remington extensions & spring, I've gone back to using a factory cup-style follower when I'm running one of my Remington extensions. I'm planning on ordering an S&J Type 3 at some point, but I've got a lot going on right now and limited spending money. I've also been holding off partially in the hope that they'll start offering it in the orange color like they do the Mossberg version. The factory followers are perfectly good parts anyway, I have no problem trusting them to work and work reliably, I just like how the S&J followers make it easy to tell by touch when the magazine's empty.

[DaveC]

I use the high visibility S&J follower made out of Delrin plastic material. I like that it feels very different from a shell case head, so by touch I can tell if there are rounds in the tube or not. So far it works really, really good. My 870 Express used the gray plastic follower, which was fine, frankly, but did worry that it might get brittle over time.

No magazine modifications here: Stock 4-shot magazine tube with the crummy "dimples" to hold the magazine spring at the other end. I've learned to live with the 4+1. Again, if I'd had my druthers, I'd have opted for a 20-gauge 7-shooter 870!

[aegusto]

I thought I might give the S&J follower a try, but the shipping cost from Canada was more than the cost of the follower itself.

Shipping is even higher at the Ebay store that sells S&J followers.

I can see paying $15 for one of these, but not $30 or $35.

Is there anywhere in the US to source S&J followers with a more reasonable shipping cost?

[Synchronizor]

Check the normal Ebay auctions, there are usually some S&J followers posted there at near-MSRP, with low or free shipping. I can't find any right at this moment, but if you keep an eye out, some should show up soon enough.

[Craig]

Newbie here also. Recently installed the green, tailed, type 2 and their spring.... Wow what a difference!

[Synchronizor]

What magazine setup are you running, Craig?