870 Chamber question

Phoneguy

Phoneguy

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New Westminster, B.C. Canada
I am a newbie to this so please bear with me if this is stupid.

A buddy has two 870's, on in 2 3/4", the other in 3". He uses the 3" for duck and goose, the other stays in the safe. I might be able to get the 2 3/4 from him, but believe if I am going after goose I should have a 3" chamber. Is it just a matter of getting a different barrel to change the chamber? I have read some other threads in the exchange which have made me wonder. How much is a replacement 3" chambered barrel if this is the case? I would probably want one that would take screw in chokes.

Thanks
James
 
The 3" barrel won't do any good because the reciever is only 2.75 and therefore when you try to load or extract and eject, the longer shell will jam up your shotgun.
You should be able to purchase a 12g shotgun with a 3 or 3.5" chamber for pretty cheap these days?
 
sunray is correct.

There are some HV loads in 2.75 that do just about the same as a 3"

If I were you though, I would go buy yourself a new 870 Express Super Magnum, they can take up to 3.5" shells, are under 500 bucks when all is said and done. And will probably out live you.
Not to mention, there are ton's of mod's you can do to them if your so inclined to do so in the future.
Good luck
PS, the 2 3/4 is not a bad gun, they are slowly getting unpopular. But if you can pick it up for say.. 200 bucks, then go for it.
 
i agree with everyone who gave a vote of confidence to 2 3/4 " chambers.i'm gonna let you in on a little secret phoneguy. when the goose is hit in the center of the pattern at 35 yds. , he's not going to know whether he was done in by a 3" mag.or not. but he will know that who ever pulled the trigger was a pretty decent shooter who had practised a bit. that's really 90 % of the story. at normal ranges it won't really make any difference. over decoys i can't imagine how many ducks i killed with low brass # 7 1/2 trap loads,back when we could use lead ofcourse. if the price is right i'd buy it in a heartbeat.
 
Well I have been hunting with steel since I was old enough in a 2 3/4 and as with everything else if you know how and where the guns shoot you won't have a problem. That and steel has been mandatory longer then the magnums have been around.
Dave
 
dave's right, in my opinion. even in the good ole days of lead ,a 3" magnum was a more effective load at a normal range. the range was never really extended that much more. i hunt with two regulars and they don't have 3" chambers and with 2 3/4 steel at 30-35 yds. doesn't seem to make any difference
 
Both 12magnum and Ishootguns are correct!!!!! Infact a 2.75 shell with BB steel kills geese very effectively....why???.....because steel needs velocity..not volume!!! The smaller volume loads in proper shot size has a higher velocity than the "Magnums". 3 1/2 supermags are a gimmick. However a 870 with a 2 3/4 barrel has the same receiver as a 3"...and the barrels are interchangable....I have a # of 870's in both 2 3/4 and 3" and the receivers are the same.....unless my 870's are different than everyone else(Only the 3 1/2 have longer bolt and ejection hole)
 
I spoke with gunsmith Kerry Higgins at the Saskatoon Gunsmith shoppe some years ago about converting a 2-3/4" Rem 870 into a 3", he explained it was a fairly simple matter of changing something in the ejector or bolt stop, some such. Of course, you would need a different barrel.
Instead, I bought a nice old Win M12 pump with 2-3/4" chamber. Since then I've used it to shoot several truckloads of geese with faststeel 2-3/4" #1's. No complaints. I think that hunters who don't get out much tend to overcompensate by agonizing over detailed gun choices. Just learn to hunt better and get out more! Your standard length chamber will get the job done if you do yours. Just for the hell of it I kept track of all the geese I killed one season 5 years ago. 243 geese, mostly with the load mentioned above and Modified choke. They were Blues & Snows, Lesser Canadas, Ross', Greater Canadas, and Specs, in that order of abundance.
Spend your time scouting, learning to set decoys, some calling, and do lots of off season shooting practise. The best long range magnum in the world is no substitute!
 
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