Eotech Shotgun Integrated Forend Light for Remington 870 (New Upgrade for Home Defense Rem 870)

Comments: 2

1. 

   David Carlson

   13.12.2012 at 20:51

   Hello Mr. Vitaly Pedchenko,

   I just installed the EOTech IFL forend on my Remington 870. It looks much, much more like the forend on the Remington “MCS” or “Modular Combat Shotgun” with a front hand-stop than the device in the photo, which must be the version for the Mossberg 500/590 shotguns.

   I’m a long-time reader and “lurker” of the Remington 870 blog–as a Remington 870 owner, but this is my first post. I got a 12-gauge Remington 870 Express synthetic shotgun as a birthday gift over two decades ago. Sometime in the early 1990s. I modified it for home defense use. Initially, I had a six-shell Tac-star side-saddle, and a pistol-grip stock with a youth sized length-of-pull installed. The forend that came on the Remington 870 Express would not work with the side-saddle, and after watching my wife short-stoke pump-action shotguns, I decided to copy the stock furniture of the Mossberg Home Defense .410 and put a vertical fore-grip on the shotgun, thinking this might aid that problem, avoid “pinching” the left hand between the forend and the receiver, and absorbing recoil and controlling the shotgun. I had a really early first-generation weapon light mounted on the left side that could be operated by my thumb or forefinger attached with a simple metal bracket.

   I have taken two defensive shotgun classes with this set up. It was not long that I decided to do away with the six-shot side-saddle, which lost screws during the class from repeated recoil, with a four-shell version. To me, this helps with balance. My 870 shotgun retains the factory-standard 4-shell tube magazine. Mine has the annoying dimples, and I did not trust myself to drill them out with a drill bit and so on. After a while, I decided that the 4+1 capacity was OK for weight and bringing the shotgun up from low-ready, or while using my free hand to operated door knobs or whatever while keeping the shotgun shouldered.

   I just installed the EOTech IFL [www.L-3com.com/EOTech] forend. Some folks may not like the ergonomics, because while it really fills my hand, the shape is lower from the tube magazine than simpler “corn cob” forends that some shotgunners favor. It has deep grooves on the underside, but the texture is not as “pebbly” as one might think. The light is very simple, although racking the slide forcefully with the lockout switch on the “off” position leaves the finger pads “springy” which can be a little disconcerting initially. The light is bright, and it gives much better illumination than the light it replaced. I know there are some brighter lights, but for me as a civilian who lives in a small urban house, it is more than adequate, and I can light up a whole room quite well by pointing at a corner of a room, or through an aperture like a doorway. If I was a law enforcement officer or had to search spaces larger in size than a typical apartment or house, I might want a brighter light. I do like the streamlined “integrated” light to the Surefire version, and also to the unit that it replaced, which stuck out to the left. For those with NFA short shotgun barrels, say “entry” barrels of 14 inches or so, the front hand-stop on the IFL Rem. 870 may be welcome.

   Installation was easy, even for someone like me. I worried I’d have to take it into a gun-smith for help in installation, but the provided tool and battery are really easy to put it all together with. I have not test-fired it yet, and I should post pictures of it for everyone to see, but so far I think it is a useful piece of equipment that improves the handling of my defensive shotgun. If I had to “do it over” I’d probably have opted for a Remington 870 Tactical in 20-gauge with a 7+1 capacity, but for “building my own” out of a shotgun that I already had, and using much, much more common 12-gauge shells with a wider variety of loadings [00 buck, 00 low-recoil buck, No.1 buck, No.4 buck, slugs every now and then] this EOTech aftermarket forend was a very useful upgrade.

   Thanks/спасібо.

   Dave C.

   Reply
   1. 

      Vitaly Pedchenko

      14.12.2012 at 16:12

      Dave, thank you very much for very useful information about Eotech IFL!

      Reply