The Remington 870 Tac14 Marine Magnum get a workout, then goes bird hunting

Brobee

Brobee

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Hi Folks!

Previously I've had a lot of fun exploring the limitations of the Mossberg 590 Shockwave - now for this spring and with some unexpected time away from work, one of my social distancing project has been to head out to the farm to shake out a Remington 870 Tac-14 marine magnum and a police project gun along the same vein. I brought the camera along so I could share, and fate+fortune aligned such that I could apply the project to a big-time bird hunt (conducted legally on private land as per the rules here in Ab).


I get lots of comments asking why I wouldn't use something more appropriate (or prescribing that I should!)....the simple answer is I've been hunting with shotguns for a long time and I enjoy trying to find good ways to explore my limitations with less conventional gear and then trying to hunt within these limitations.

Most folks (my former self included in this camp!) write these shotguns off as useless; and while you won't get any argument from me that a conventional stocked and barrelled gun is easier to become proficient with, I've surprised myself with the discovery of the extent to which these kinds of guns, with focused preparation, can be made useful.

I know and accept they're not for everyone, but speaking for myself I had a TONNE of fun making this one! Thank for watching.

Hope you and your loved ones are all safe, healthy, and happy in these wild times!

Best,

Brobee
 
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Excellent work on making this video Jason, and thanks for the previous videos on such shotguns. Watching your work with various ranges formed a part of my decision to watch for a Tac-14, so when an almost new one came up on the EE from a guy up North, at a fair price, I grabbed it. Got a Holosun gold dot mounted on it now with a sturdy aluminum rail adapter and I can't wait for an opportunity to get it properly zeroed in the field. For future hunting I'll likely be shooting the low recoil 1oz slugs, though to keep initial cost reasonable I'll get it broken in with the much cheaper #7.5 low recoil 1oz, then shift to converted wax versions of those to see what they can do before graduating to the solid lead.

By the way, the sharp edges around the loading gate and ejection port smooth out easily with a couple of files and some fine sandpaper. Makes it much more comfortable to load when I've been practising with dummy rounds. These cheaper 'Express' based Remingtons seem to need a little bit of finishing work to make them feel lived-in.

Looking forward to your shared experiences with the new projectiles! The recoil difference between those and full power loads is so obvious in your wonderful slow motion footage, thanks for that, it's reassuring for a first time shotgun owner, makes me glad I stocked up on similar stuff going around 1,200fps.
 
Brobee, your videos have been an inspiration ... and they continue to be inspiring!

Keep up the great work!

Now I have to find a longer Wingmaster forend (I need to try this now) ... and drill the dimples of my Tac-14 Marine ....
 
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Ok, so I tried the longer forend that Brobee suggested .... and he is absolutely right .... what a difference it makes .... I am not going back.

Short forend:

Tac-14_Marine_lowres.jpg


Longer forend:

Tac14_Marine_Sept_2020_lowres.jpg
 
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However, I realized one thing .... I went off trail scouting yesterday and had the Tac-14 with me .... when you are crawling over and under logs ... balancing along beaver dams ... navigating through briars and chest high weeds .... it is easy to look down the barrel of your loaded gun ... I caught myself a couple of times yesterday ..... :-(

Muzzle control is much more difficult with a short package like that ....
 
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0faustus0 said:
However, I realized one thing .... I went off trail scouting yesterday and had the Tac-14 with me .... when you are crawling over and under logs ... balancing along beaver dams ... navigating through briars and chest high weeds .... it is easy to look down the barrel of your loaded gun ... I caught myself a couple of times yesterday ..... :-(

Muzzle control is much more difficult with a short package like that ....
Click to expand...

+1 to this!

Unless I'm actually stalking (careful and slow movement), actively grouse hunting, or sitting in my place, I carry my 870 Tac14 with the mag tube full but chamber empty.

Re other encouraging comments: thank you!

Best,

Brobee
 
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