full choke question

C

Crazyrhino

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stupid question,

just new to bird hunting, I have hunted deer for a long time with a .270. anyway, I have a 1971 12 guage 2-3/4 Remington Wingmaster that is full choke, i have heard that i cannot shoot steel shot because steel cannot compress like lead. in Alberta, migrating waterfowl have to be harvested by steel shot. what would it cost to have my shotgun altered to allow steel shot? cannot afford to buy a new shotgun, any suggestions welcome.
 
15 years ago, I took my Remington 1100 with full Choke into the gunsmith to get it re-threaded to Modified choke to shoot steel shots. Cost was $45 in the old days, not sure the cost now days. Anyway check with your local gunsmith.
 
you would be better off buying a take-off barrel on the EE. you can get a vent rib 3" chambered 28" barrel for ~$150 on the EE that takes Rem-Chokes. this would be your best bet. of course this would most likely be an EXPRESS barrel, so it would be matte - but im sure the ducks wouldnt mind.
IMHO this is better than paying a smith $100 to thread your barrel for chokes, and then having to buy chokes, and still having a 2 3/4" barrel.

it would also let you fire 3" shells, although they would not eject reliably. later on you could change your ejector/ejector spring and have a 3" gun.
 
I've put many a shotgun barrel in my lathe and bored the end of the barrel to open the full choke a bit - as a rule I aim for something a bit more open than Modified - steel shot then is no problem plus lead shot for upland game is even better
Oz
 
My 870 of like vintage had a 30"vent rib. Had it cut back to the next rib support (came to about 25") and had threaded for extended choke tubes. Can't remember the cost but Craig Douglas here in S'toon did the job. BTW an extension mag tube to let the gun hold a full 10 rounds comes out perfect for length. Plug it to 2 & freak out the game wardens :>)
 
The instructions that came with an 870 barrel I just bought say that any 870, 1100, or 11-87 full choked barrel can safely handle steel shot of up to #1 size.

That said, I would recommend having a gunsmith open up the choke to Modified for best results with all steel shot sizes, as well as being suitable for upland game. This should cost less than $100.

There are some things to watch out for with the Express barrels besides not matching the finish of your gun:

-Rough chambers
-Some users have found the finish prone to rusting
-There is no ball detent on the barrel lug, so you will have to use blue (not red!) Loctite to secure the magazine end cap.
 
I'm In the same boat. Just talked to Pud at Bashaw Sports and he will open the barrel up for $45.00-65.00 or will thread and one tube installed for $120.00 .
 
X2 on reaming out the choke on your old barrel. Cost $30 here at Reliable in Vancouver and Shane did a real purdy job. Why throw away a perfectly good barrel when it is so easliy modified? It is now rated as Cylinder for lead and Modified for steel shot. Strange that the shot would make that much of a difference but it shoots real good so I am happy.:)
 
badbrass said:
I'm In the same boat. Just talked to Pud at Bashaw Sports and he will open the barrel up for $45.00-65.00 or will thread and one tube installed for $120.00 .
Click to expand...

$120 for thread and one tube on an old 2 3/4" 30" plain barrel, when you can get a 3" chambered express vent rib 28" with remchoke for $20 more would be silly IMO.

tjhaile said:
There are some things to watch out for with the Express barrels besides not matching the finish of your gun:

-Rough chambers
-Some users have found the finish prone to rusting
-There is no ball detent on the barrel lug, so you will have to use blue (not red!) Loctite to secure the magazine end cap.
Click to expand...

not every express barrel has a rough chamber, it happens - i would not hesitate to buy an express because 1 out of 20 people complain about a rough chamber.

as for the detent, a cheap and efficient solution is to just use a $10 sling plate adapter that has a ball detent built in. this is a far superior sling mount to the crappy 870 front mag cap swivel anyways.
 
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