Bear Defence shotgun questions (bear with me please)......
- Thread starter Dodosmike
- Start date
https://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/images/90807.jpg. Rem 870, 18.5" in FDE colour.
Leaning towards something like this. ('merican website link). Just cannot find a retailer in Canukistan that has one. Sent a few emails yesterday, just haven't heard back. There is a gun show close to me at the end of the month, maybe ill find something similar there. Missed one on the EE a month or so back, crap.
Not to concerned about chokes, as long is I can get a slug through it.
Light is a must. Tried to do the flashlight thing with a .30/30 a couple years ago, not happening again.
Side sadle or but stock sock, undecided.
Mag follower Im guessing is desired if the tube is extended? to push the extra rounds efficiently?
Thanks for the "ghost sight" info, it appreciated.
Leaning towards something like this. ('merican website link). Just cannot find a retailer in Canukistan that has one. Sent a few emails yesterday, just haven't heard back. There is a gun show close to me at the end of the month, maybe ill find something similar there. Missed one on the EE a month or so back, crap.
Not to concerned about chokes, as long is I can get a slug through it.
Light is a must. Tried to do the flashlight thing with a .30/30 a couple years ago, not happening again.
Side sadle or but stock sock, undecided.
Mag follower Im guessing is desired if the tube is extended? to push the extra rounds efficiently?
Thanks for the "ghost sight" info, it appreciated.
Remington 870 Express. Replace the extractor. Polish the chamber. 18.5" barrel. Wood stock. That's what I use. It's been all over northern Manitoba with me. Wandering around with some tac shotgun is just going to bring attention to yourself and if you actually put it to work, thats what the crown will be using against you. Make sure it looks like a hunting gun. We live in Canada. Looks matter.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
This brings to mind a conversation I had with our CO a year or so ago. When he applied for replacement shotguns, he specified they be fitted with Magpul SGA furniture, the department denied his request for the Magpul furniture on the grounds that it looked too Military!!! You just never know how the appearance of something will cause others to react.
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- Location
- Blaster land, Okanagan BC
Not that the stock follower is garbage on an 870, the upgraded no jam follower S&J make are more robust and reliable in the long run. They will have most of what you’ll need if you decide to upgrade internal bits, they’re a forum sponsor and are great to deal with.
https://sjhardware.com/
https://sjhardware.com/product-category/accessories/shotgun-parts/
https://sjhardware.com/
https://sjhardware.com/product-category/accessories/shotgun-parts/
Seeing as your willing to dish out $700ish US for it why not get this and add your own ghost ring sights and stock if you choose it’s already got the sj follower and stuff polished chamber it’s got a marine coating plus more and not for the cost of a marine so it’s low maintenance If your planning to let it lay around. On sale too under $700 CND
https://gunworx.ca/nickel-remington-870-18-5-hardwood-2-extension/
I dunno if you’ll find it too shiny like some people but it already offers a good protection from elements leave it laying around and what not it’d be fine.
https://gunworx.ca/nickel-remington-870-18-5-synthetic-furniture/
This too without the wood stock and get synthetic
- Location
- Blaster land, Okanagan BC
Here’s two versions of what you’re looking at in the US, the one without the magpul stock has an advantage in my eyes. It has a mag tube extension and not a one piece extended mag tube, the one with the mag extension can accept any 870 barrel as the barrel ring is in the same location. The barrel ring on the extended one piece tube is further forward and is dedicated to that gun, no swapping in shorter or longer barrels if you felt like it down the road. Price difference is big, I bet even if you bought a magpul stock for it you’ll be under the $1100 price of the other.
https://www.reliablegun.com/en/remi...t-ring-sight-rail-rem-choke-tactical-extended
https://www.reliablegun.com/en/remi...xs-fully-adjustable-ghost-ring-sight-rail-rem
https://www.reliablegun.com/en/remi...t-ring-sight-rail-rem-choke-tactical-extended
https://www.reliablegun.com/en/remi...xs-fully-adjustable-ghost-ring-sight-rail-rem
https://gunworx.ca/nickel-remington-870-18-5-hardwood-2-extension/
I dunno if you’ll find it too shiny like some people but it already offers a good protection from elements leave it laying around and what not it’d be fine.
I very much like this......thanks......email sent to them.......
No prob man I hope you get one to be honest I literally just remembered I saw this on their site when I ordered something from them Sunday, at the price too it can leave Room for improvements like to sights and whatnot it’s all up to you.
OK, I'll bite. I used to carry an 870 Marine Magnum around on canoe and sea kayak trips, with the gun kept in a sheath between drying sessions. IMO having big bulky sights would have seriously hindered my speed of withdrawal from said case, or otherwise gotten tangled in clothing or whatever in the tent at night when it was needed. Ghost rings or whatever would also have significantly increased the storage bulk of the thing in what was limited space. A shotgun at bear defensive ranges does not need sights beyond a front bead sight, it is a shotgun and not a rifle.
I always throw this in when I'm talking about carry around water, esp salt water: I read an account of a guy who packed his 870 on a weeks long coastal kayak trip without having to fire it (as is to be expected) and at the end of the trip he thought he'd shoot off some shells just as recreation only to find out that the 'brass' on the shells in the gun had corroded so badly that they gun wouldn't cycle them. It actually doesn't take much brass damage to screw up a modern 870, so it's something to watch out for.
Goudy: Now is it not true that you sprang up on old man Wharton and his two sons with a deadly, six shot revolver in your hand?
Rooster Cogburn: I always try to be ready.
Goudy: Was this revolver loaded and cocked?
Rooster Cogburn: Well, a gun that's unloaded and cocked ain't good for nothin'.
Never one with much of a use for safeties, I like the idea of travelling with 5 in the tube but none in the chamber and the safety always off. Much easier to work the slide in a moment of crisis than to hit a little button, maybe half asleep or with gloves or mittens on, and nothing is going to accidentally chamber a round.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
I agree completely, I have become so dissatisfied with the reliability of safeties that I've all but given up on them. The only sound louder than a click when you expect a bang, is the sound of no sound at all. My rifles and shotguns are always carried with full magazines and empty chambers. In addition to being very fast to get into action, in the case of a tube fed pump shotgun, the empty chamber carry allows a fast "shell select" should the occasion demand a different type of ammo than what is in the magazine; a 600 gr Brenneke is a bit much for that ptarmigan you intend to have for lunch, or perhaps a sudden change in your circumstances demand the use of buckshot to solve the problem, rather than the slugs you have in the magazine.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
When I carried a gun on a more frequent basis, it became my habit to wipe down my ammo at the end of each day, and swap out the ammo loaded in and on my gun every 30 days. This provided me with the ammo I used for practice, and allowed me to practice with the same ammo that I carried in the field. Left without attention, shotgun ammo corrodes badly in a surprisingly short period of time in this environment, and I can only imagine that in warmer climates, where the salinity of the water is higher, like the BC coast, the situation would be exacerbated.
When I carry a gun in a boat, I keep it in a zippered drag bag style soft cordura padded case, the idea being that the gun is protected from pounding in rough conditions, which can occur with a change in tide and is not necessarily weather related. If the day is miserable, wet, and windy, I prefer to stay on the couch, but when this is not possible, I'll wrap the drag bag in plastic. This case has a full length zipper, so the gun is not pulled out from one end, where a front sight post can snag, tear, and pull out the lining. I really wanted to like plastic gun boots, but I gave up on them after the linings were repeatedly damaged when snagged by the front sights on my rifles and shotguns. Note, I changed the style of case I used to protect my gun, I did not change from a good sighting system to an inferior one in an attempt to protect the case. The speed of getting the gun out of the case can be important, but the gun is not necessary for defensive purposes while you are on the water. You don't need to uncase the gun until you make the decision to come ashore; at which time the gun can be uncased and slung as you make your approach to the landing, and therefore is done at a leisurely pace.
Provided you have chosen a gun that's appropriate for use in the defensive role, the two most important elements of that gun are the quality of the trigger and the quality and style of sights which are used to index the muzzle to the part of the target you intend to hit. Often defensive guns are chosen based on price alone, and these low cost guns, like the Winchester Defender and the Maverick 88, frequently have a small bead sight mounted directly on the barrel. The 870 Marine Magnum does not qualify as a cheap defense gun; the bead is properly mounted on a pedestal, which places it at the correct height above the receiver so the gun shoots to point of aim whereas if the bead is mounted directly on the barrel, the gun will shoot high. This requires you put the bead on the target, then depress the muzzle until the bead (or a portion of it) drops just below your line of sight, before you break the shot. While it can be done, its certainly not an intuitive way to shoot, and if it has not become part of your muscle memory, under stress you will inevitably shoot high. If this means you spine the bear rather than hit the head, you're still in good shape, and a subsequent shot will resolve the problem, but if you shoot so high that you miss, or worse hit the bear, but not solidly, you could be in serious trouble. I would always opt for a good set of rifle sights, preferring a post front sight and a large aperture rear. Yes the range is short, but if faced with a head on shot, your target can be in motion, and is deceivingly small in that massive wide head, so a degree of precision is indicated, and a flat top post provides an excellent index of elevation, absent with a bead. The width of the brain and the width of the spine are roughly equal to the width of the snout, and the brain is located behind the eyes but ahead of the ears. You may need to consider the offset between the height of front sight above the muzzle to get hits where you intend on the target, and you will have to shoot to figure out how much. Anyone who has attempted to shoot the head off a grouse with a scoped rifle understands the concept, but to provide a mental image of what I'm talking about, lets consider the front sight on an AR-15. The AR-15 front sight is usually housed in a triangular base which holds the post a couple of inches above the center line of the bore. At close range, you might have to hold an AR 2" low to get hits where you intend on the target, whereas the offset of the shotgun's front rifle sight is minimal and can often be ignored. Its unlikely the offset would be more than a half inch, but this should be confirmed at the range, with the ammo you'll carry in the field.
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^^^ One thing: the account I read by the guy with the corroded ammo, that was an inexperienced gun owner, a transplanted Brit I believe, and he didn't know on his first trip with a gun to check and dry his ammo. All sea kayakers know everything is going to get wet but I'm guessing he was fooled by the word 'brass,' which of course doesn't corrode, or maybe he just didn't know.
And good point about the bead sights, that's 2 things.
And good point about the bead sights, that's 2 things.
- Location
- Brant County, Ontario
Last weekend for bear defense while I was setting out my baits I used 8 and 6 year old boys. Not a chance in hell any animal would come near use with those two pecker heads running through the bush
