Super mag - shortest barrel for 3.5" shell

[TJD]

What's the shortest barrel that will fire 3.5" shells?

Thanks in advance

[TJD]

Anyone?

[Synchronizor]

The shortest factory 3.5"-chambered 870 barrel I'm aware of is the 20" bead-sight, Rem Choke, camo-patterned barrel used on the #81062 870 SPS SuperMag Turkey/Predator:

[TJD]

Being new to shotguns the question I have that nobody can answer is why?

Why is is that no 18-18.5" barrels can fire a 3.5" shell ?????

I'm just missing the point. Wouldn't 3.5" have better take down power? I have 3.5" in OO buck with 18 pellets for "Deer" and "Personal defense" is this simply a matter of less recoil and more rounds in the tube?

Thanks!

[Synchronizor]

Using 3.5" super magnum buckshot for social work is like using a .50-cal hunting pistol as a carry gun. Yes, a .50 AE or .500 S&W Mag is going to be very effective, but it's also going to give you massive recoil and limited capacity. It's literally overkill for humans, and it comes with some serious downsides. Something like a .357 Magnum in the same size/type of gun will take down a two-legged predator nearly as well as a .50-cal with a good hit; and if you don't make a good hit, you'll have a more controllable gun and a higher number of shots to help you try again.

To paraphrase a quote from someone else, if your first shot of 9 00B pellets don't work, what you really need isn't some more pellets in that failed shot, but 9 more pellets from a second shot, delivered as quickly and effectively as possible.

[TJD]

I appreciate the response and see your point. So probably for me it's all I'll need, and all I will have as the 870 is the gun I own.

However, there are several Benelli tactical 12ga pump models that are chambered in 3"

[Synchronizor]

If you really want to shoot 3.5" shells with your 870's HD configuration, it's not that difficult to have a barrel cut down or re-chambered. It's just something that Remington hasn't bothered to bring to market.

Remington has made tactical versions of their 3.5" Versa Max & 887 shotguns, but those were ground-up super magnum designs, so it was simple matter to just make them shorter and matte-black. Tactical SuperMags from other companies - like the Benelli SuperNova - came about in the same way; you've got a purpose-built 3.5" action already designed, along with all the tooling for it, so there's no reason not to stick with that same core design for the fighting version.

The much older 870 had to be adapted to handle 3.5" shells, and by doing so, they added more moving parts that can potentially go wrong, and changed certain parts from the standard designs that military & LE armorers had been working with & stocking for decades. Due to that, and the fact that the heavy 3.5" shells are counter-productive for fighting anyway, they've kept their Police & Tactical 870 packages as standard Magnums, and only marketed the SuperMag 870s as hunting guns - albeit hunting guns that can also accept shorter-chambered barrels for other applications.

[filthy phil]

I had a super mag sbs I cut flush with the end cap. That short enough?