rem 870 14" - sight/optic dilemma

[martin1981]

Hello there,

Bead on my 14 inch 870 is way too low. No iron sight gonna work for me as the whole thing has been cerakoted already. Red dot seems most reasonable but I really wanna stay away from anything battery powered. I just like to have this shotgun around when camping in woods and wanted it as compact as possible, hence 14" barrel but now I want to play more with it, shoot targets 50+ with slugs and I was thinking of putting a small fixed power scope on it, like Nikon p-tactical 3x32. It would be rather unusual set up but I like that idea.
Anyone with me on this one?
Looking for feedback on this - thanks.

 

[madashell]

....

 

[0faustus0]

For a 14" shotgun I would go with something very low magnification .... like 1x ... basically no magnification.

There are some red dots that have an etched recticle ... so they can still be used if the battery dies.

One example would be the Vortex Spitfire.

 

[Butcherbill]

+2 for trying the xs big dot sight, otherwise mount a short pic rail and mount a red dot. I used a red dot last year on a 12g with a 14” barrel with no front sight and it worked great, I ended up installing a set of rifle sights on the barrel and removing the red dot.

 

[Can-down]

Is it a Remington barrel? Pedestal?
How low is "way to low"?

 

[romurra]

I have a 14” barrel on my 870 with a plain bead (no ramp or mount, bead on the barrel). What is the correct height for a sight for that? Any clues? My google-fu hasn’t come up with an answer yet.

 

[0faustus0]

Ok, I have this setup ..... it as factory bead on a pedestal ... on a factory 14" barrel
(this is a factory 14" barrel without any changes on a 870 Police receiver).

And for me it works out perfectly .... I can shoot this sort of group ... 30 meters ... without a butt stock .... freehand ...

I align the bead with the the groove in the receiver .... and in a manner that I don't see the barrel any more .... I just see the bead on top of the groove of the receiver ....

 

[call2arms]

I am planning to try a leupold prismatic on a shotgun. Has an etched reticle. Unfortunately they are discontinued now

 

[0faustus0]

Otherwise, I have this setup with a Vortex red dot .... 870 Police with a Hastings cantilever straight rifling barrel ...

And I get this sort of group at 50 meters .... with foster slugs ...

But, target acquisition is much much slower ..... :-(

I guess the question is ... what do you really want?

- Maximum accuracy? --> red dot or scope
- Speed of target acquisition? --> bead
- Maximum portability and versatility? --> ?? (I would say a bead sight that works with that gun)

 

[Cameron SS]

Hello there,

Bead on my 14 inch 870 is way too low. No iron sight gonna work for me as the whole thing has been cerakoted already. Red dot seems most reasonable but I really wanna stay away from anything battery powered. I just like to have this shotgun around when camping in woods and wanted it as compact as possible, hence 14" barrel but now I want to play more with it, shoot targets 50+ with slugs and I was thinking of putting a small fixed power scope on it, like Nikon p-tactical 3x32. It would be rather unusual set up but I like that idea.
Anyone with me on this one?
Looking for feedback on this - thanks.

Whats the issue with batteries?

For a 50-100m slug gun I would say 2x is the max power you should go.

I think for the application as a backpacker the wider field of view would be much more important than the marginal improvement in accuracy you get with higher magnification.

Perhaps a 1-4x variable as there are lots of great sights coming out to meet what is basically a short range dynamic shooting application.

The vortex viper pst for example which I just put on my shorty AR. The reticle is there with or without the power turned on, so its still great for good target aquisition even if you need your gun in a hurry and forget to turn it on.

Not cheap by any means but its fairly slim if you avoid those massive canterlever mounts people seem to insist on, and not very heavy either. Anything in that kind of range would serve you well.