choosing a shorter 870 barrel for hunting

canadian hunter312

canadian hunter312

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i hunt a lot of rabbits every winter and the 26" vent rib barrel is too long for thick brush, so i'm pondering the idea of a 12-14" barrel on the lower end.

does anyone offer short barrels with remchoke?
what's the shortest you can go on a stock 870 express super mag?
any brands to stay away from?
 
canadian hunter312 said:
i hunt a lot of rabbits every winter and the 26" vent rib barrel is too long for thick brush, so i'm pondering the idea of a 12-14" barrel on the lower end.

does anyone offer short barrels with remchoke?
what's the shortest you can go on a stock 870 express super mag?
any brands to stay away from?
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You will have to check what you can legally put on it for hunting I cannot remember off the top of my head. 18 1/2 rings a bell??
I know my super mag came with a 23" rem choke and I have a 21 and a 18 1/2 12ga 870 rem choke which is the shortest I have run into with rem chokes but haven't looked either. Good luck
 
What I would do is buy a 30"barrel off EE for 100 bucks or less, cut it to 18 inches and have it threaded for a rem choke. That would be the most versatile length and the cheapest way to do it. If you want to go shorter I would go with a dlask 14" and have it threaded ( they have the mostmeat)
 
i believe dlask will thread one of their short barrels for you to take remington chokes as i have a 12 inch threaded barrel and i could not be happier with it .they will fit any standard 870 but i did ream some wood out of the forend as they are a thicker barrel than a stock one .
 
canadian hunter312 said:
i hadn't taken this into consideration. how much louder than an 18-20"? loud enough that it'll find it's way to the EE rather quickly?

i plan on using reduced loads anyways as i'd prefer a compact 20 gauge for rabbits and grouse. one day...:D
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About on par as shooting an M44 Mosin Nagant..........like a small bomb going off hehe.

Personally I love the giant fireballs that come out of my gun shooting high brass slugs or buckshot.

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I own a 14in factory remington and it was back-bored and ported by Casey, i don't see much group difference with my 28in (mod choke) at 25 yard using #7 shotshell... it's not a gun for GOOSE but, OK for small game, that's all i use NOW and don't have to play with choke and it is pretty accurate with slug too !!!
 
canadian hunter312 said:
i hadn't taken this into consideration. how much louder than an 18-20"? loud enough that it'll find it's way to the EE rather quickly?

i plan on using reduced loads anyways as i'd prefer a compact 20 gauge for rabbits and grouse. one day...:D
Click to expand...

That blast is at least 4.5" closer to your ear...my grizzly came with a 12.5, and I bought a 18.5 that it wears almost exclusively because it was that much more unpleasant to shoot indoors at the range (especially for the first timers the next bay over on a full range) in it's short form - mind you this is buck and slugs. Plus, the slightly longer barrel gives a slightly longer sight plane. The only scenario I think I'd switch back to 12.5" is if I was carrying it for wilderness defense or something, and dropping weight was a priority. I wouldn't want to test it without ears in unless I had no choice.
 
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