While we are waiting on the rebirth of Remington I thought a review of one of my age old 870’s was in order. Remingtons were some of my first long guns and I have spent almost 60 years since my first 512 shooting around the farm, running trap lines, taking game, defending the family, clays, and enjoying these work horses of guns.
Another God given beautiful day at the range and starting out with a little frost it turned into a comfortable day of shooting. I thought today in reviewing my 870 I would run it through some of my StreetWise Defense stages from 1979. This one I call Shotgun Surgery. Shooter starts port of arms with nothing in the chamber and one Buckshot load in the magazine. The target is 10 yards with a no shoot close by. At the signal, shooter racks (love that feel and sound) and places a round into the threat. 1 second is added to any buck shot not hitting the down zero circle and a 5 second penalty for anything hitting the non-threat.. I had three runs of 1.46, 1.58 and 2.35. The latter included a 1 sec add for one shot out of the circle. A simple product of me trying to go too fast. Always a trade off for speed.
Now my favorite load for this in buckshot is RIO brand Game Load C20. RIO Ammo - Royal Buck. It contains 9 .28 caliber lead buckshot housed in a sturdy high brass hull covered by a clear window. Now before some of you start pointing fingers that I am buying foreign Buckshot, I have tried hard to get someone in this country to offer it. So until there is a USA made forward thinking maker of this round, maybe in 3 Inch as well, I will have to trust Alfred Nobel (master of dynamite) to my defense buckshot rounds. I may start making them myself one of these days. The same course is set at 25 yards only to be shot with my favorite slugs. Winchester Rifle Slug Hollow Points. X20RSM5 | Winchester Ammunition. These things are rifle accurate and my times were 1.89, 1.48 and 1.92 with all rounds hitting dead center. The wad hitting with good windage but lower than the slug happens more often than not.
From time to time I get questions on why I choose the 20GA usually from the younger crowd. Well, it is like this. Until my late 20’s it was always 12GA. Mainly because, that is what everyone shot and considered it normal. Mastering shot placement came easy for me, so being somewhat of a rebel, I decided to try 20GA. After all, one of my best friends used a 28GA reliably for hunting and pointed out to me that in checking game damage and clays the 12Ga was 20% more energy than you need if you have good shooting skills. Well, I wasn’t about to drop to 28 or 16 GA so I thought 20 might be the best all around universal Gauge. Remington and several other manufacturers dedicated scaled down receivers for the 20 and how sweet they feel than a bulky, clumsy 12GA. For the naysayers that think I am giving up something in defense power, just like my lower round count attitude, there is only one level of dead.
There are a lot of aftermarket items one can get for his Remington 870 if one is into that sort of thing. I prefer to stay as factory stock as I can for simplicity, reliability and the courtroom. Someone has convinced the market that you need tweaked triggers, oversize charging handles, plastic fiber optic sights, massive extractors, magazine extensions and let’s not forget Terminator style shell holders. I know, running factory style guns in today’s market is as rare as finding a computer programmer extrovert.
Many ask at the range where I got the lighter wood for this 870. I call it my Bumble Bee. It simply started life as a 870 Express with brown laminate wood. My pet peeve for gun manufacturers is their abundant use of cheesy chocolate stain ruining the looks of natural wood. I see them spray it all over on laminates, Walnut, Birch and Maple all the time. Well, a little stripping of this chocolate crap and a few coats of clear satin and my day is brightened. If you want to know how light and pretty any of your wood can be, simply look at areas where they don’t spray the stain. Usually under the butt pad, or inside the forearm channel is a good place to see what you are working with.
I am always asked why no extended magazine on my shotguns. Well, first of all, back in the day aftermarket magazine extensions were a hit or miss proposition. They just were not reliable. Todays version is very reliable but still alter the handling and balance of an all purpose shotgun in my humble opinion. If it were to be used as a defense only gun, then maybe but I feel there are better tools available if high capacity may be needed. Having only a four round magazine forces one to practice reloading the machine more often……..and you can’t get too much practice working on that.
This shotgun with it’s 20 inch barrel with rem chokes tips the scales at 6.5LBS and an OAL of 39 inches. The balance ( which is overlooked by some manufacturers) is perfect. A 50/50 result when placing your hand under the receiver just in front of the trigger guard. Perfect and quick to handle. This gun is a great universal tool for shooting all purpose and I can still bust the better part of 25 in Skeet with this thing on a good day.
This 870 Bumble Bee works flawlessly, returned my $249 selling price many times over and is very accurate. I might point out that I tried a rifled barrel for this gun and while it had great iron sights on it, accuracy was not improved for the higher costs of Sabots and such. With a modified choke from a rest I can place 3 slugs into 2 inches at 75 yards with just the bead. The rib on these shotguns are a fantastic design and make them good for upland shooting as well. This gun comes up fast and is comfortable to shoot all day. The parkerized finish is durable enough for me and fights off the elements. Of course at every cleaning I wipe everything down with Birchwood Casey wax. Gun Stock Wax, 3 fl.oz. Bottle - Birchwood Casey.
While Eli Remington would roll over in his grave to see what the people have done to his legacy, I for one have enjoyed Remington products forever and not sure of what the revamped Remington Products will hold. I’ll just keep what has worked for me for 60+ years.
Another God given beautiful day at the range and starting out with a little frost it turned into a comfortable day of shooting. I thought today in reviewing my 870 I would run it through some of my StreetWise Defense stages from 1979. This one I call Shotgun Surgery. Shooter starts port of arms with nothing in the chamber and one Buckshot load in the magazine. The target is 10 yards with a no shoot close by. At the signal, shooter racks (love that feel and sound) and places a round into the threat. 1 second is added to any buck shot not hitting the down zero circle and a 5 second penalty for anything hitting the non-threat.. I had three runs of 1.46, 1.58 and 2.35. The latter included a 1 sec add for one shot out of the circle. A simple product of me trying to go too fast. Always a trade off for speed.
Now my favorite load for this in buckshot is RIO brand Game Load C20. RIO Ammo - Royal Buck. It contains 9 .28 caliber lead buckshot housed in a sturdy high brass hull covered by a clear window. Now before some of you start pointing fingers that I am buying foreign Buckshot, I have tried hard to get someone in this country to offer it. So until there is a USA made forward thinking maker of this round, maybe in 3 Inch as well, I will have to trust Alfred Nobel (master of dynamite) to my defense buckshot rounds. I may start making them myself one of these days. The same course is set at 25 yards only to be shot with my favorite slugs. Winchester Rifle Slug Hollow Points. X20RSM5 | Winchester Ammunition. These things are rifle accurate and my times were 1.89, 1.48 and 1.92 with all rounds hitting dead center. The wad hitting with good windage but lower than the slug happens more often than not.
From time to time I get questions on why I choose the 20GA usually from the younger crowd. Well, it is like this. Until my late 20’s it was always 12GA. Mainly because, that is what everyone shot and considered it normal. Mastering shot placement came easy for me, so being somewhat of a rebel, I decided to try 20GA. After all, one of my best friends used a 28GA reliably for hunting and pointed out to me that in checking game damage and clays the 12Ga was 20% more energy than you need if you have good shooting skills. Well, I wasn’t about to drop to 28 or 16 GA so I thought 20 might be the best all around universal Gauge. Remington and several other manufacturers dedicated scaled down receivers for the 20 and how sweet they feel than a bulky, clumsy 12GA. For the naysayers that think I am giving up something in defense power, just like my lower round count attitude, there is only one level of dead.
There are a lot of aftermarket items one can get for his Remington 870 if one is into that sort of thing. I prefer to stay as factory stock as I can for simplicity, reliability and the courtroom. Someone has convinced the market that you need tweaked triggers, oversize charging handles, plastic fiber optic sights, massive extractors, magazine extensions and let’s not forget Terminator style shell holders. I know, running factory style guns in today’s market is as rare as finding a computer programmer extrovert.
Many ask at the range where I got the lighter wood for this 870. I call it my Bumble Bee. It simply started life as a 870 Express with brown laminate wood. My pet peeve for gun manufacturers is their abundant use of cheesy chocolate stain ruining the looks of natural wood. I see them spray it all over on laminates, Walnut, Birch and Maple all the time. Well, a little stripping of this chocolate crap and a few coats of clear satin and my day is brightened. If you want to know how light and pretty any of your wood can be, simply look at areas where they don’t spray the stain. Usually under the butt pad, or inside the forearm channel is a good place to see what you are working with.
I am always asked why no extended magazine on my shotguns. Well, first of all, back in the day aftermarket magazine extensions were a hit or miss proposition. They just were not reliable. Todays version is very reliable but still alter the handling and balance of an all purpose shotgun in my humble opinion. If it were to be used as a defense only gun, then maybe but I feel there are better tools available if high capacity may be needed. Having only a four round magazine forces one to practice reloading the machine more often……..and you can’t get too much practice working on that.
This shotgun with it’s 20 inch barrel with rem chokes tips the scales at 6.5LBS and an OAL of 39 inches. The balance ( which is overlooked by some manufacturers) is perfect. A 50/50 result when placing your hand under the receiver just in front of the trigger guard. Perfect and quick to handle. This gun is a great universal tool for shooting all purpose and I can still bust the better part of 25 in Skeet with this thing on a good day.
This 870 Bumble Bee works flawlessly, returned my $249 selling price many times over and is very accurate. I might point out that I tried a rifled barrel for this gun and while it had great iron sights on it, accuracy was not improved for the higher costs of Sabots and such. With a modified choke from a rest I can place 3 slugs into 2 inches at 75 yards with just the bead. The rib on these shotguns are a fantastic design and make them good for upland shooting as well. This gun comes up fast and is comfortable to shoot all day. The parkerized finish is durable enough for me and fights off the elements. Of course at every cleaning I wipe everything down with Birchwood Casey wax. Gun Stock Wax, 3 fl.oz. Bottle - Birchwood Casey.
While Eli Remington would roll over in his grave to see what the people have done to his legacy, I for one have enjoyed Remington products forever and not sure of what the revamped Remington Products will hold. I’ll just keep what has worked for me for 60+ years.
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