Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Remington 870 20 inch barrel with rifle sights

Hello,I would like some info regarding the Remington 870 20 inch barrel with rifle sights.It is a factory accessory barrel.Advertised as coming with improved cylinder choke.Barrel is smooth and has no improved cylinder choke in it.When I inquired ,was told that the barrel itself comes as improved cylinder, and does not come with a screw on improved cylinder choke.Does this sound correct?.Would really like to know and would appreciate any input,thank you.

check this link

Mike

I bought the same thing. You have to order a Remchoke" barrrel to get the screw-ins. Otherwise, you just get an IC barrel.

BMT

Thank you for the link ,Mike,appreciate that.
BMT thanks,do you use your shotgun with this barrel configuration for shooting rifled slugs?.That was my main concern, if the barrel itself comes as such with improved cylinder, and screw in chokes are not needed or available for such barrels.

Hi, I assume you plan on using that with slugs for deer, as that's Remington's smoothbore slug barrel. I believe it's the same barrel that came on my circa 1987 Remington 870 12 ga. "Special Purpose Deer" model. It's the best smoothbore barrel I've ever used for rifled slugs, (Foster style). Mine prefers 2 & 3/4 inch Winchester slugs and two other Remington owners, one of whom is a good friend of mine, have told me the same thing. I've taken deer with both 2 & 3/4 and 3 inch slugs and the deer can't seem to tell the difference. So the 2 & 3/4 slugs get used now cause they're a bit more accurate in my gun. If that's your case don't let anyone tell you that you MUST use the 3 inchers. The 2 and 3/4 incher is 100% lethal on whitetails at any normal slug range. I now have a fully rifled Remington barrel on my 870 cause where I use it now sometimes may call for me to reach out a bit further so I use the Sabot slug/rifled barrel combo for that purpose. I used my smoothbore barrel when I hunted a thicker woods where the longest shot might be 50 yards. If I were hunting denser woods again I wouldn't hesitate to slap the old smoothbore barrel back onto the 870 and use rifled slugs. Hope this helps; good luck & happy hunting.

Hi 22250 Rem,thank you Sir for the info.That answers a lot of my concerns.I am glad to hear that the 2 and3/4 slugs did well in the barrel.By a strange coincidence I had purchased some Winchester 2 and3/4 slugs.Hope they perform well in this barrel as they did for you.I was concerned that no chokes were sent with the barrel,but after the info from you 3 gentlemen,I realize that the barrel itself comes as with a improved cylinder.So I just have to go and play with it and some rifled slugs.

Both I and my longtime (38 years) hunting partner bought 870's with 28" vent rib modified choke barrels at the beginning of our hunting careers.We then bought the barrel you are talking about.This was before choke tubes were as common as they are today.That combo has turned out to be extremely versatile for both of us.
The 28" modified works great in most situations for pheasants and rabbits in open fields.The slug barrel not only does a very credible job with Foster type slugs,but serves very well for grouse and woodcock with birdshot in tight cover.

P.S. ---- I also forgot to mention that another reason for putting the old smoothbore/rifle sight barrel back on my 870 for use in the denser woods is the price of the Foster style rifled slugs versus the price of the Sabot slugs. As long as I don't need the extra range that the rifled barrel & Sabot slugs gives me why should I pay all the exra $$$? As long I'm accurate up there in the "thick stuff" I'm happy. The old Fosters work just fine as long as it's not a long range (slug-wise) shot.

for what its worth Raj, my Wingmaster with the aftermarket factory 20 inch rifled barrel is very accurate with Brenneke KO slugs. Two inch groups, or less, at 50 yards, and under 4 inchs at 100 yards.

Thanks to all of you.Not only did I get useful info on the barrel,but also info on the slugs that can be used,the game that can be taken ,distances, and accuracy to be expected.This is the type of info that cannot be obtained other than in a place like this.Once again my deepest thanks to each and everyone of you who gave me such valuable information.

Several years ago I purchased several different brands of slugs to try in my 870 with smoothbore 20" barrel.

Tried Federal, Brenneke, Activ, Remington and the 2-3/4 Winchester slugs grouped the best. Several other slug shooters I visit with echo my finding. And usually they'e the cheapest!

Ditto on the Brenneke KO's. They shoot very well from my 20 inch smooth bore rifle sighted barel too. But just about any Brenneke style slug does too. The KO's are dirt cheap - at least they were - I bought a boat load and store in a 50 cal ammo can.

TM

Only problem I've ever had is my particular 20 inch rifle sighted barrel seems to have a hitch in extraction at times. Nothing serious, just a glitch that requires a bit of extra effort on the extraction stroke.

I was tempted to use this barrel as a house gun until this was discovered. I use my ultra reliable 18" cylinder bore for that now.

TM

Mince came with 2 screw in chokes: IC and Rifled.

I shoot Sellier and Bellot Slugs in it (cheap plinking and Home defense).

BMT

Anyone else have the extraction problem as TM45?.Seems Winchester rifled slugs does well in these barrels.May try the S&B slugs(Thanks BMT) if I can find some at good price.

Never had an extraction problem on any of my 3 different 870 barrels. Wonder if it was ammo related,( try some other stuff in it and see if it persists). Or check the extractor & related parts for wear, tear, cleanliness, etc.. Or maybe at some point in time Remington had some quality control issues. Couldn't tell you, but then I'm not a gunsmith but any good 'smith could probably make it right.. I'd guess it's probably something minor that could be fixed easily by somebody that knows more about 'em than me. All I know is that my 870 WORKS when I need it to. I'll admit to not even owning a semi-auto shotgun 'cause I got hooked on the reliability/simplicity factor of pumps as a teenager, (currently own 4: the 870, a High Standard I bought when I was 18, a Mossberg 500, and an old Stevens 820B that I inherited from an uncle). If there are any extraction issues with 870's I'd like to hear about them and find out if there's any warning signs or things to watch out for concerning that. Anybody else hear anything?

I'm pretty sure the problem is with the particular barrel. The other 2 barrels function flawlessly. I think there is a burr in there somewhere I have not seen yet.

I own 2 shotguns - the 870 and an Ithica 37 20 ga with 2 3/4 chamber receiver in like new condition. I'm mostly a rifle and handgun guy. The Beretta Extrema guns are getting my attn these days as I may want to go waterfowling some time.

I also like the Benelli M4 - if only you could easiily get other barrrels for it.

TM

870's have a reputation for reliability and I've never seen one that gave me any reason to doubt that. It probably is some little problem with that particular barrel. At the worst all you'd have to do is spend 2 minutes putting another barrel on it. The Ithaca Mod. 37 was one of those shotguns that I always wanted but never got around to getting. One of my buddies used to love them 'cause IIRC, they are bottom eject, right? And he's left handed. Lefties like that bottom eject feature but I just like 'em cause they have some of the same qualities that I prefer in Women; Good looking, well built, and they Work! ......Grin...

I use that combination for bear protection when working in the bush in central BC. An 870 Express magnum action with an Wingmaster 20" open-sighted barrel. It is quite accurate with WW cheapie 2 3/4" slugs for practice and Brenneke slugs for real. It will shoot into 3" or less at 50 yards, plenty accurate enough for my use. I have no doubt it would be more accurate with finer sights or a scope.

Well, I am keeping this particlular 20 in barrel - mostly because the first time I shot it from the bench it shot everything to the point of aim at 25 yards. I never had to touch the sights because the guy who had it before me did such a good job sighting it it. I can only guess he traded it on a fully rifled barrel or couldn't stand the extraction hitch.

By the way I have tried all kinds of 2 3/4 and 3 inch ammo in it with the same infrequent hitch issue.

I bought this 870 Express many, probably 15 years ago for $200 I believe. It's the most amazingly reliable and versatile gun I've ever owned. I can't stand "walnut finished hardwood" so I put a nice Speedfeed synthetic on it and polished off the black paint on the bolt. At 5 feet you could mistake it for a Special Purpose.

I had this gun out at a large quarry lake last weekend (we have some nuisance deer permits) and on a whim I shot some 3" Fed 000 buck loads into the water - the pattern was 20 inches tight out to at least 30 yards is my guess. I then shot some Breneke KO's at a rock on an island about 150 yards away. Not sure if I hit the rock but it didn't hit water with a dead-on hold. The coolest thing was the sound those slugs made on the way there. They sounded like an artty shell whistling before impact.

The 870 is an incredible, but heavy gun. For a hunting gun the Mossberg is great - due to my dislike for its controls - I would never choose it a s defense gun. The 870's are well thought out controls.

I picked up the Ithica 37 20 after reading Mule Deer's article on light weight older pumps. Mine is a 2 3/4 receiver, 28 inch modified barrel with the red front bead (raybar or ranbar or something like that). I saw plenty of crappy models at gunshows and then a reputable local dealer had pristine gun (mine) on the rack for $300. I looked at the receiver length (2 3/4) and looked at the Modified Barrel and paid and walked out feeling like I had ripped them off.

It has a recoil pad that some amature had installed, but without marring the stock. It's so light if you shoot a round of trap you know it.

TM