Rem 870 Tactical
 

Picked up one of these yesterday, always wanted one. When I made the purchase the guy said "It's a great defensive gun." I replied, "I have a Czech German shepherd for defense, this is his backup." ;)

You thought about having the Barrel worked over by Hans Vang?? Air.177's Competition Gun can knock down Pepper Poppers with #7.5 or #9 Shot while others have trouble with 00 Buck!!! Makes a WORLD of difference!!

Concur.

Of course, Hans also sells the 870s with all the bells and whistles himself.

TR

I'm not into shooting comp guns or pepper poppers. I'm thinking it might be needed for ISIS mooslems and in that case no special chokes or custom gun work will be required........

Besides, if I want to shoot pepper poppers I also own a Remington 1100 Competition Master designed for clubbing pepper poppers like baby seals.......

It just gives a MUCH tighter Shot Column!! The "Pepper Poppers" were meerly a gauge of the difference, not that that was what the "Mod" was about!!!

Kinds negates the reason for purchasing an 18 inch barrel.....;)

Like I said it's a backup..... I expect to be very "close" to the action.:D

Damn good guns. I prefer Mossberg mostly for the safety position and replaceable ejector (not that I know of any one that broke an ejector on the 870).

For social shotgunning, I highly recommend the 00B from Federal with Flite control. Seriously tight patterns past 25 yards. PFC154 is the product for the full power 2 3/4" shells. They have lower recoil offerings for LE and women with designated LE154.

In patterning, I found that the 3" shell (PFC157) with 12 pellets did not hold nearly as tight of a pattern past 15 yards.

All shots with 18.5" Mossberg 590.:

First is the federal flite-control with shots at 10 and 15 yards on the same target. The 15y is shifted left. All pellets and wad went through the same holes.
The other target is of green box Remington 00B at 15 yards and the shot is spread much farther.

The last picture is the PFC157 at 10y. If you want more of a spread, this may be your ticket.

What the Vang does is extend the range of the weapon.

If you are getting a 30" pattern at 30 yards, which is typical, and missing the target with half of your pellets, the Vang can cut that pattern in half and make it possible to engage threats effectively up to 50 yards.

Inside your house, in will not matter, unless you are trying to hit a small target, or avoid a small target, as in a hostage situation.

I heartily recommend it.

http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/...ad.php?t=10131

TR

I would contend that it may be true for most buckshot ammo but not those from Federal with the Flite-Control wad.

This is a 25y shot with the PFC157. The target is 6x10 and the hole through the '9' is from a previous shot. So this is <10" pattern through a 18" cylinder bore.

It would be interesting to see this ammo though a Vang Comp barrel.

I'm unfamiliar with the Vang work. Is he setting the gun up for choke tubes, or is he actually rechoking the original barrel?

I'm a big fan of the new choke tube systems.

Hans Vang describes the modification here: LINK

And patterns are shown and defined here: LINK

In my opinion, Federal has achieved with ammunition design, the kind of pattern that used to be available only through the barrel modifications Hans Vang developed.

Hans does all of the tricks by backboring, lengthening the forcing cone, etc. in a fixed choke barrel.

No choke tubes.

No point in having them in a dedicated defense shotgun optimized for the tightest patterns possible. And with a ported gun, it would be difficult to have removable chokes.

You will find that as with most guns, different loads and brands shoot different patterns, and usually one will be the best/tightest. My experience is that one is usually the most expensive. :D

He can sell you a barrel, or rework yours (or your entire shotgun).


Let me make a $5 suggestion.

Get a box of buck and pattern your shotgun with its best choke at various distances, including the maximum distance you would be able to engage inside and outside your house and count the holes for yourself. If you aren't keeping most of the pellets on the target, you are missing and should change ammo, and / or barrels.

TR

Gotta add my agreement and recommendation for Vang Comp. The work Hans does is very impressive. I was skeptical at first but now I am a believer, worth the money IMO. And that's out of an 18" gun.

Other upgrades that I'd recommend that the shooter can do himself are the Oversized safety, extended magazine tube, Aluminum follower and spring, a Mesa tactical side saddle. Add a light if you feel the need for one.

Unfortunately you will be dissapointed with the finish. Remington has cut corners to lower or keep low its production cost. With regular use to include competition, I'll be very surprised if you don't see rust marks near the chamber in a few months. Also with hunting and exposure to elements, it sucks even worse. Cerakote probably helps. I now put light coat of oil on mine. I should have gone with a friend recommendation on getting a used remington wingmaster and then convert it to "tactical" version.

Concur. I have the LE variant of Federal flite control and similar offering from Hornady. The caveat is of course they are more $$$, but I opted for change of ammo versus Vang mod. YMMV