Seeking home defense/tactical 870 outfit advice

[wcoop]

I just picked up an 870 Super Mag today. It's got a 28" barrel and has the standard 4+1 capacity with 2 3/4 shells (I would assume it's less with 3 1/2 in shells).

With the gun nearly as long as I am tall, and heavier than sin, it is rather unwieldy for a home defense/tactical situation. What I am planning for this gun is to have an "HD" outfit that I'll dress her in for when shes leaning on the headboard and not going out looking for pheasants/clays/etc.

My first question is, while I have found many great suggestions for magazine extensions and barrels exclusively, are there any specific brand/style combinations that work best together?

Secondly, my gun only has a bead sight on the end of the 28" barrel and nothing on the receiver. I will have to get a barrel with sights built into it for home defense. Do any companies make barrels that include night sights with their barrels? My google-fu may be rusty, but I have not been able to find any.

Finally, when reading about defensive ammo, volume of the ammo is often never brought up. While I want as much "bang" as possible if (God forbid) my life is on the line, I would like to be able to retain my hearing afterwords. Is there a defensive ammo brand that is quieter yet still performs well?

Thank you for making it through my long winded post, and I appreciate your help.

[Synchronizor]

With the gun nearly as long as I am tall, and heavier than sin, it is rather unwieldy for a home defense/tactical situation. What I am planning for this gun is to have an "HD" outfit that I'll dress her in for when shes leaning on the headboard and not going out looking for pheasants/clays/etc.

My first question is, while I have found many great suggestions for magazine extensions and barrels exclusively, are there any specific brand/style combinations that work best together?

Not really, a magazine extension or cap just snugs up against the barrel guide ring, and all standard 870 barrels have the guide ring in the exact same place, so any extension will function equally well with any compatible barrel.

That said, I do have one tip. If you want to run a single-piece extension without a reinforcing clamp (which makes it slightly less durable, but faster and easier to install and remove), it'll be best to find a barrel with a locking detent in the guide ring. There are ways to secure an extension when using a barrel without a detent, and an extension should stay in place long enough for any realistic HD encounter even without a retention system, but a barrel with a locking detent is the best way to go if you have the option.

It's also worth mentioning that while a short barrel will improve matters, a shotgun - especially a pump shotgun - is still a pretty bulky weapon that's at its best defending a fixed position. If you have a need to move around in confined spaces, opening doors and working light switches, a handgun is a much better way to go.

Secondly, my gun only has a bead sight on the end of the 28" barrel and nothing on the receiver. I will have to get a barrel with sights built into it for home defense. Do any companies make barrels that include night sights with their barrels? My google-fu may be rusty, but I have not been able to find any.

Remington offers 870 barrels with factory-installed night sights. They're Police Magnum barrels, so they can only handle up to 3" shells and the finish won't be a perfect match, but they'll drop onto your SuperMag and function just fine. You can find the prices and part numbers for all their current-production barrels in their parts price list - more information in this thread. There are also a lot of options for aftermarket night sight elements that can be added to a standard barrel.

Are you looking for a barrel with the standard front bead? Or do you want something fancier like rifle sights? I think most of the Police night-sight barrels are rifle sights, so if you want the fast and simple front bead, you may have to buy and install an illuminated bead separately.

Finally, when reading about defensive ammo, volume of the ammo is often never brought up. While I want as much "bang" as possible if (God forbid) my life is on the line, I would like to be able to retain my hearing afterwords. Is there a defensive ammo brand that is quieter yet still performs well?

Guns are loud. If your life's on the line, stop the threat and deal with ringing ears later. I know some folks keep electronic shooting muffs with their HD guns, the type that only attenuate loud sounds (some of the better ones also amplify quiet sounds). This could be an option for you if the idea of pulling the trigger indoors is intimidating enough to throw you off.

To address your question though, defensive buckshot loads are generally loaded with pretty similar payload masses and to pretty similar velocities, so I wouldn't expect much variance in noise levels between brands. Low-recoil buckshot may be a tad quieter, but it'll still be plenty unpleasant in a confined space. Magnum loads are probably going to be louder, but those are generally best left for hunting anyway, since they add little lethality on humans at short ranges, and the additional recoil makes the gun a lot tougher to control.

[SignessSG]

There's some great reviews of various 870 parts on this blog, and some very knowledgeable folks to help out noobies like me. . I'm looking into a +2 mag extension for my Police Magnum as well. I'm sort of leaning toward the Nordic extension based on the reviews; although many others have good results with Wilson Combat/Scattergun Tech, and others. As for barrels, you can download the parts list off the Remington sight. There are several Remington factory barrels with Tritium sights in HD barrel lengths:

F42256 - BBL 12/18 MOD TRITIUM BS PK (FIXED MOD NO CHOKE TUBE)
F242556AS - BBL 12/18.5 MOD RS TRITIUM PARK
F242550 - BBL 12/18.5 IC RS TRITUIUM PK (FIXED IMPROVED)
F401232 - BBL 12/18.5 IC GR PARKO TRITIUM (ghost ring)

Personally, I'm leaning toward the basic parkerized improved cylinder bead sight barrel. It is probably the most common one for a quick HD swap, and readily available from Remington, Brownell's, or Midway. I can always swap in a Tritium front site of my choosing and add a receiver mounted rear tritium ghost ring. The one I'm leaning toward is this one, and it's the most affordable at just over $100. I don't want a rear sight on the barrel, because I'm planning on probably dropping a heat shield on the barrel.

F242243 - BBL 12/18.5 IC PARK BEAD (FIXED I/C NO CHOKE TUBE)

[DaveC]

You've got the best, most thorough advice possible up-post.

Allow me to add that XTS sights make luminous shotgun sights that can go over a bead.
If I recall correctly, Midway was offering a special on 18-1/2" cylinder bore 870 barrels manufactured by Mossberg, which is what I have installed currently on my 870 in "HD" configuration.

Ya know, very many police agencies issued shotguns with a 4+1 capacity... Both my scatterguns are set up that way, one being an old 80s-era Pontiac Michigan police cruiser. So assess your threat level and so on. More ammo is nice, certainly, but it does add weight.

Good luck with your modifications!

[Automag]

Hi, i haven't been on this site much in awhile, but i just bought an 870 Tactical and this is the place i like to come and discuss Rem 870's and customizing them, so i'm back
I myself had 2006 Super Mag that i customized and modified into a real nice HD Shotgun. I had two barrels; an 18.5 bead sight, and a 20" rifle sight. I had no illuminated sights because i was using a weapon light and a red dot sight.By the way it worked with 2 3/4 and 3" 00 Buck w/o any problems at all. Anyway it sounds like you have some leads to get the barrel you need I just wanted to show you a pic of what mine looked like, and yes it was a tad heavy when fully loaded, but not too bad. Good luck with your project.