Turning an 870 Police into a hunting, sporting shotgun?

SantaClawz

SantaClawz

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I am thinking about turning my old 870 Police into a clay busting and maybe hunting shotgun, is it worth getting a new barrel, choke tubes and investing in new stock? Or is this a stupid idea? Don't feel like spending tons of $$$$$ for a new fancy shotgun.

I have no hunting experience, and very limited clay busting experience, so I am not even sure if pumps are a good choice to begin with? :confused:

Any advice is welcome. :cheers:
 
Keep your eye open for used parts, wouldn't be particularly costly. Least expensive barrel won't use choke tubes.
 
2 3/4” barrels come up all the time, get one with a vent rib. Unless it’s a folder, you don’t even need a different stock. Once you have the barrel you can take your time and customize according to your specific needs. That’s best. You could spend a pile of money now only to find out once you get going that half of it isn’t what you want or isn’t suitable.
 
SantaClawz said:
I am thinking about turning my old 870 Police into a clay busting and maybe hunting shotgun, is it worth getting a new barrel, choke tubes and investing in new stock? Or is this a stupid idea? Don't feel like spending tons of $$$$$ for a new fancy shotgun.

I have no hunting experience, and very limited clay busting experience, so I am not even sure if pumps are a good choice to begin with? :confused:

Any advice is welcome. :cheers:
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Watch for used barrels in the parts section.
870s are popular. Sometimes its cheaper to buy a used gun than the parts though.
 
I use to shoot skeet (practice nights not a league shoot) with a 870 20” rifled barrel slug gun occasionally. Sure got some funny looks and snickers from the fudds, once I started to breaking between 20-23 no more snickering:p I had a 26 skeet barrel for it but got a citori. As mention if you’re only going to shoot skeet, look for a skeet barrel, probably find a used one for around $150-ish. Good luck.
 
What barrel length would you guys suggest I look for, something that's versatile for both clays and various bird hunting?
 
SantaClawz said:
I am not even sure if pumps are a good choice to begin with? :confused:
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Pumps are an excellent choice to begin with especially if you don’t want to spend a lot of coin. If you want to shoot doubles, it wouldn’t be my first choice with a pump but doable, just be quick at post 4:p
 
I've owned a few of these, still have a couple that I use on a regular basis.

I think the first thing to consider is that the 870 is a modular shotgun, you can swap and switch as you wish. There are a lot of 2 3/4 frames out there, and the ammunition industry has concentrated on ammunition for the 3" version. You can still buy 2 3/4 steel ammunition, selection is somewhat limited.

Your Police, if it is all original appraises a bit higher than a plain 870, I think that you'd want to keep the furniture original. One of the features that is handy on a shotgun is a recoil pad, and proper installation requires shortening the stock.

I was in the same situation years ago, needed a shotgun for geese, and all mine were plain 2 3/4" Wingmasters. So I bought an express, and swapped my Wingmaster parts into it. I did the regular bar alignment and deburring and it has worked well for me. I came across a new Wingmaster barrel and it wears that one when the fully rifled is not on it.

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Not particularly pretty, but it works for me.

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Bella posing with her retrieves.

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My son was feeling the effects of too much COVID isolation and reworked my spare 870.

Nitro
 
Mine has a speedfeed stock with pistol grip, it's an 870P Max model thats why I want to get the new stock for it, something inexpensive, polymer or cheaper wood stocks.
 
If it is a police marked 870, you could probably sell it and buy a Wingmaster with the money. Many people want those police models.
 
I got my 870 replacement barrel from Dlask arms. New take off.

I got a 28" vent barrel from them it included a modified choke tube. I just checked and they have the 28" barrel on sale for $159.99 they also have 26" for $10 bucks more.

I started shooting trap (singles) with the 870 no problem
 
SantaClawz said:
Mine has a speedfeed stock with pistol grip, it's an 870P Max model thats why I want to get the new stock for it, something inexpensive, polymer or cheaper wood stocks.
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Keep your eye open on the ee or places like S&J Hardware and Dlask for take off wood and polymer take off stocks at a reasonable price, Dlask usually has new 26”-28” take off vent rib barrels as well from when they do shorty conversions.

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Looks like it blargon, very close finish.

Wonder if they are good to go on Magnum receivers or Super Magnums only. Mine is an 870 Police Magnum.
 
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Fireguy0991 said:
I got my 870 replacement barrel from Dlask arms. New take off.

I got a 28" vent barrel from them it included a modified choke tube. I just checked and they have the 28" barrel on sale for $159.99 they also have 26" for $10 bucks more.

I started shooting trap (singles) with the 870 no problem
Click to expand...

Are the take offs you got from Dlask compatible with 870 Magnum receivers or Super Magnum only? I noticed on a few used barrels over at EE it says Super Magnum receivers only.
 
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