Shotgun questions

[Lycanthrope]

Yes.


Lycanyesyesyesthrope

[Michele]

I fell in love with that gun on Sunday! Shotguns are epic fun!

I looked around on E-bay and other places about getting the youth stock with matching forend.

The big question! When changing to the "youth" set, will the forend from a youth be smaller than the full size or are all forends the same size? Would it make a big difference if they are? Can you use a youth forend on a full size shotty?

[Tomcat088]

I know absolutely nothing about shotguns, so please be nice!

I bought my son a Remington 870, I think its 28".
He's since moved back to NY so he won't be shooting it much if at all.

Obviously this gun is not friendly for me, being its huge for me to handle. I suppose I could shoot it from the hip if I needed to but, being its mine I would like to be able to use it rather than keep it just for home defense.

Questions:

Can the shotgun be modified (stock) so I can use it?
Can the shotgun be modified (barrel) so I can use it?
Now, if it can be modified to make it more my size, would the "kick" be more severe being the gun will now be smaller?
Should I just sell it or trade it for a more female friendly (smaller) shotgun?

Thanks boys!

Howdy Michelle . You've got some pretty good advice here, although mine will differ from many people's. You do have the option to buy an adjustable stock, something like what you have on an M4, etc. You could buy a Knoxx stock to knock down some of the recoil, and they do work reasonably well. Here's my deal.

Have you ever seen people selling the home defense barrels? Many times they're not all that cheap. I know many times a 20" barrel will cost $150 or more sometimes, and then you throw in a different stock. Well if that's what it costs you, you can actually purchase another shotgun that already has a 20" barrel and that stock for that kind of money and not have to change out anything. The other day I was at Gander mountain and saw a what looked like their "desert recon" shotgun. It had the same Knoxx stock, but it didn't have the "breacher" end on it, and it was $450. Then I saw another that was camo and another that was black, that just had the M4 folding stock and I think they were $400 or so.

If that's the case, there's no point in spending $150 or $200 on a 20" barrel, and then purchasing the knox stock for a good piece of change as well. For almost the same price, or exactly the same price, you might be able to just have 2 seperate shotguns. If you wanted them to be near identical, you'd also have to buy the magazine extension for the extra rounds. I know that's something we hate to do, but when you look at it realistically, that's about what it'll cost. That way you wouldn't have to screw around with changing the barrel, and/or the stock when you wanted to go to the skeet configuration. 28" and even 26" barrel are way too long to try to pull serious home defense duty. 18-20" is where it's at, and with an extended magazine.

I think some others idea here is a good one, that if you wanted to make the shotgun fit better, a youth model stock could work. Either way, you'd be stuck with finding a shorter barrel and that's what will hurt you in price. Youth model stocks would probably fit you quite well. In terms of handling, it might make the shotgun balance a bit awkward. Either way, it would probably REDUCE the felt recoil and point much more naturally because it fit you properly. When a shotgun doesn't fit you properly, you'll fight with it, and it'll never point right and it'll beat you up when you shoot and it's not positioned right.

So my advice is that I'd just look around, because for about the same money, you'll find an HD shotgun for the same price. That's going with an 870 version. If you wanted to go with a mossberg, or a cheaper style of 870 home defense shotgun, you'll find one cheaper than what it would cost you to be changing your shotgun up. That just gets rid of the hassle. It all just depends on what you want to do, but I think you'll end up spending the same amount of money and have just 1 shotgun instead of 2.

[Gunny1969]

Or I can do some wild staining with the wood.

I can go with a youth synthetic and have it colored.


The only thing that concerns me with the synthetic is the weight. I'm thinking the synthetic youth might be a bit light for such a long barreled shotgun.

Can I put weights in the synthetic stock if its a bit too light?

Lycan must be to tired to elaborate with his "yes" answer (don't stay up so late!)

What I've seen done to add weight to a rifle stock is to get a hold of some cast bullets and fill the void where the stock bolt passes through the stock. To keep the bullets from rattling, fill the stock all most full, and for the last 1/2 inch, stuff some spongy foam in after to keep pressure on the bullets. Then put the recoil pad back on so it compresses the spongy material.

[ErSwnn]

Now, if I changed the stock to fit me, would the barrel still be to long? Would the gun be awkward? Unbalanced? Would changing the barrel and stock increase the kick?

Can I shoot trap with a shorter barrel?

Ah, if nothing else, for home defense, I've got 30 round mags full and ready to go for my AR.

In my experience, which is not a whole lot, yes, a shorter barrel works for clays. I have an 870 I bought specifically for trap. But my other shotgun, an old Browning with a 20" barrel is the one I get the best hits with. I have equal time on both with clays.

And speaking of clays, I just bought 38 boxes of 90 count from KMart....for a buck a box. Actually paid for 34, the others had obvious damage and they just gave them to me. That store is not selling clays anymore and wanted them gone, I got lucky and happened to be there. Funny part is I was there to resolve a pain in the ass problem I have but Providence smiled and made my day better again.

[publiuss]

yes to everything, an 870 can be changed in every way imaginable. Just remember, anything you do to make it lighter will make it kick more. I would stay away from pistol grips, they seem to increase felt recoil and you really should learn to shoot a normally configured gun.

[ErSwnn]

I have a question too. Can slugs be shot from a unrifled shotgun? I take an educated (sorta) guess and figure accuracy will be lousy, but can it be done?

[WhiteShadow]

Just get a replacement barrel for it and keep it. 870's are some fine shotguns. I've had mine for almost a decade now. Dont worry about the kick, you'll get used to it. I personally know a couple ladies that weigh around 115lbs give or take a few pounds, and they shoot with me and my buddies pretty regularly. They got used to the kick really fast. I dont see any reason why any woman that doesnt have any injuries and is in good solid health couldnt shoot a 12 gauge just fine.

I say just get a replacement barrel and keep that fine piece of shotgun hardware you have there.

[Michele]

Just get a replacement barrel for it and keep it. 870's are some fine shotguns. I've had mine for almost a decade now. Dont worry about the kick, you'll get used to it. I personally know a couple ladies that weigh around 115lbs give or take a few pounds, and they shoot with me and my buddies pretty regularly. They got used to the kick really fast. I dont see any reason why any woman that doesnt have any injuries and is in good solid health couldnt shoot a 12 gauge just fine.

I say just get a replacement barrel and keep that fine piece of shotgun hardware you have there.

The stock was changed to fit me (big thanks to notenoughguns!). I'm so in love with that gun now! Its the most fun I've ever had with any gun!

With the smaller stock I thought the kick would be horrible. I was wrong. Curiously enough the kick from Colagrrls 20 youth was a bit more severe than the 12.

What I want to do is get a shorter barrel for HD and keep the long barrel for trap. There are so many advantages with the Remmy 870 as far as the parts being interchangeable. The gun is so versatile you can buy parts in Walmart. Just throw them in the cart with the rest of your groceries and you're on your way!

This one's a keeper! A girl can't have too many adult toys!

[notenoughguns]

Who said threads can't come back from the dead?

Well, wonderful notenoughguns (Dan) made me a stock for the 12 gauge!

He measured it according to Colagrrl's Remington 870 20 gauge youth. It seemed to be a great fit and I had absolutely no difficulties using the 12 gauge on Sunday. I've found a new love for shotguns! They are absolutely epic fun!

Being the Remington 870 parts are readily available, I'm going to get an 18 1/2 inch barrel for HD. Although, I have no idea which one to get. I'll keep the barrel that is on there now for trap. Its a 28 inch gun.

I would like to get a/the stock with matching forend to personalize the gun a bit, adding a feminine touch. I'd like to also add a "touch of bling" which can be easily added to wood. I know I'll have to go with wood so it can be cut down to the proper size.

Any advice, thoughts recommendations? Anybody have any pictures of pretty shotguns?

I still have that stock set I showed you that I can cut down and have ready for next weeks group shoot , then you can do anything you want with it , paint or whatever . Let me know .