Remington 870 tactical

     No gun collection is complete without a scattergun.  In the world of tactical shooting, the shotgun has taken a backseat to AR's as the long gun of choice.  Normally when I leave for a day of shooting I have a policy of "No guns left behind," but admittedly I have have a habit of leaving the shotgun at home.  I think the problem is that shooting a shotgun at static targets does not pose that much of a challenge.  Everyone enjoys the satisfaction of breaking a fast moving clay target on the skeet range, but for me it does not translate well to the tactical range.  It is not that watching nine holes appear in the target at once is not fun, or seeing a slug lay down a steel target like it was hit with the fist of an angry god doesn't make my inner gun geek happy.  It is almost too easy to the point I never feel like it is a perishable skill. 

Running drills with clay targets on steel posts

     Over the years Remington has made at least 10 million of these, and with that many out there, the number of aftermarket accessories to chose from is huge.  Because of this one can modify an 870 to fit any need one might have. 

Both pictures show short barrel 870's used by the FBI.  

     Mine is a 2001 model that started with a 26 inch barrel with interchangeable choke tubes.  Since I needed it to fill more of a home defense role, I bought a 18 inch smooth barrel with a fixed 'improved cylinder' bore and rifle sights.  I prefer these sights to most of the 'off the shelf' tactical barrels for the 870 that just use a gray bead sight.

An 870 tactical as it comes from most big box stores.

     Notch and post rifle sights are as fast as a bead, with the added benefit of being able to accurately place slugs on target out to 100 yards.  Since this is a smooth bore, rifled slugs are needed to achieve that accuracy, but there are many varieties available in 12 gauge.  In this video, I demonstrate both the ability to make four aimed shots in one second as well as the accuracy of this shotgun at ranges out to 100 yards.   

Remington 870 tactical video

     Some would say ghost ring sights are the best option for tactical shotgun work, and claim nothing is faster.  With a ghost ring the eye will naturally center the front sight post, which is great, but why block more of the sight picture and light coming to ones eye than necessary?  There are other options such as a red dot optic, but at home defense ranges, normal rifle sights are the best in my opinion. 
     Like most shooters I have a box of gun parts that did not work.  I do what I can to avoid this, but modifications for the 870 take up much of that land of misfit parts.  To save the reader time and money, the modifications that have proven to work are a Magpul MOE forend, an oversized dome safety, hook and loop attached side shell carriers, and a Duracoat finish to give it all weather durability. 

     In the past I had a plus 3 magazine extension but removed it for two reasons.  Between the extension and the added shells, it made the gun front heavy.  Removing that makes the gun lighter and faster to handle.  Secondly, the FBI keeps stats on gunfights and found that in any encounter where a shotgun is involved, the average number of rounds fired is one.  A shotguns effectiveness comes not only from making holes in flesh one could toss a softball through,  but also the sound has become coded in human DNA to induce the kind of fear that causes actual pain in ones groin.  I do not advocate racking a shotgun to scare an intruder away from a tactical standpoint, but few people I know keep a shotgun with a round in the chamber. 

Slugs are deliver over 3000 ft lbs of energy with a .73 caliber, 437 grain projectile moving at 1800 fps.

     In the 20 years I have owned this shotgun, only twice have I experienced a malfunction, and both were with low brass field loads.  These cheaper rounds sometimes use steel instead of brass on the case head that can stick in the chamber after being fired.  The good thing about a pump action is that it can be 'made to work' by hitting the butt into the ground while holding the forend.  This is not recommended as this can do serious damage to the action bars, but in the case of a threat situation it would be an option if time allowed.

     While a new Beretta A400 xtreme plus is high on my list of guns to own, this shotgun with the ability to swap between 18 and 26 inch barrels in seconds, is just at home securing the homeland as it is busting clays.
     In future posts I will go into tactical shotgun drills, women and shotguns, the best loads for home defense, and my take on the current pistol grip short barrel shotgun craze.