Outfitting a Remington 870 Express for home defense

You can buy an 870 security express with an 18" barrel for $350 or less. I'd take that route, and did.

20" barrel and 00 buckshot will get you off to a good start and is all you really need. Anything beyond that is just a matter of preference.

I have to say the same as danp just throw some 00 buck in there and that's all you need. If you want a tactical shotgun then that's a different story. Just google 870 tatical upgrades and you can find anything.

i personally like synthetic stocks, and a 18" barrel for a HD shotgun. assuming your 870 is probably going to have a wood stocks (not bad if you dont mind them), and is probably going to have a pretty long barrel. for just what a short replacement barrel will cost you your half way to a new gun. i would take ryr8828's advice and just buy a new 870 HD model. then sell yours you will end up losing less money and depending on what you get for your express you may not lose any money.

that being said my current "go-to" shotty is a remington 870 desert recon 18", and i love the thing. i will say it is the only gun ive ever owned that i have NEVER thought about selling.

Buckshot and call it even.

I don't hunt at all now, and I'm in need of a decent home defense shotgun

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You already have one...

Yeah,
What`s wrong with it as it is now?
What lenght bbl? What is the choke?
Regards, Pete

Pics, so we can see what you're working with.

Thanks everyone. I think I'd like a shorter barrel, but I guess I don't *need* one. Anything I can do to lessen the recoil?

Also, is 00 Buckshot the best choice for HD? I live in a brick ranch with drywall walls.

No pics at the moment, but it's your standard 870 Express.

Take a look at the Knoxx SpecOps recoil-reducing stock if you want to reduce recoil. I have one on mine and love it. I have seen some people saying it doesn't do anything for the recoil but I think that's crazy talk. Or maybe they accidentally ordered the one without the recoil-reducing springs inside it, which looks identical. Mine made a huge difference.

FotoPhocus said:

Thanks everyone. I think I'd like a shorter barrel, but I guess I don't *need* one. Anything I can do to lessen the recoil?

Also, is 00 Buckshot the best choice for HD? I live in a brick ranch with drywall walls.

No pics at the moment, but it's your standard 870 Express.

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a 18" is much better than a long barrel. putting that long barrel through doorways going through a house just gives the bad guy more to grab on to in defense, and the last thing you want is to fight for a gun against a guy that is obviously nutty because he's in your house. this is why i prefer a pistol for HD your likely going to get shot before you take it away from me.

birdshot is better for HD than buckshot is. what doesnt hit the intended target is stopped much easier by drywall, thats not saying it wont still penetrate. and somebody shot up close with a good tight pattern of birdshot aint getting back up. birdshot is always my first choice for HD, inside 10 yards it will **** stuff up.

Oh no, here it comes. The old birdshot/buckshot HD debate.

300UltraMag said:

birdshot is better for HD than buckshot is.

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I would say OP should check out Box O Truth before you decide buckshot or birdshot.

I have ten cases of birdshot and I'm shopping for a box of buckshot FWIW since reading Box O Truth

The Box O' Truth #3 - The Shotgun Meets the Box O' Truth - Page 1

Birdshot as a HD round is a horrible idea imo. Why you'd want to trust your life to something that can barely penetrate drywall is beyond me, but to each their own.

300UltraMag said:

birdshot is better for HD than buckshot is. what doesnt hit the intended target is stopped much easier by drywall, thats not saying it wont still penetrate. and somebody shot up close with a good tight pattern of birdshot aint getting back up. birdshot is always my first choice for HD, inside 10 yards it will **** stuff up.

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Man, you know your stuff about long-range shooting, but not so much with shotgun shells. Birdshot will leave a very ugly shallow surface wound, but it will not be debilitating. The light birdshot just does not have the inertia to penetrate deeply enough to take out vital organs. Buckshot is definately the way to go when shooting human targets.

If birdshot was better than buckshot, don't you think the military and law-enforcement communities would have caught on to that fact by now? Both still use buckshot and/or slugs in their shotguns.

Fotophocus,

Check out one of the XDtalk sponsors for a short barrel for that 870

GilbertsGuns.com - *(2nd Quarter Specials) - Remington 870 Express 12 Gauge 18" CYL Police Barrel

The only thing I've done to my 870 is mount a light with a pressure pad. I might add a side saddle at some point. It came with an 18.5-inch barrel. That Knoxx reduced-recoil stock looks pretty good, though. :lol:

danp said:

Man, you know your stuff about long-range shooting, but not so much with shotgun shells. Birdshot will leave a very ugly shallow surface wound, but it will not be debilitating. The light birdshot just does not have the inertia to penetrate deeply enough to take out vital organs. Buckshot is definately the way to go when shooting human targets.

If birdshot was better than buckshot, don't you think the military and law-enforcement communities would have caught on to that fact by now? Both still use buckshot and/or slugs in their shotguns.

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the key is the pattern, yes if it patterns out then its not going to penetrate enough, but held in a tight pattern, it will leave way more than a surface wound, patterned tight enough inside 10 yards it CAN penetrate the entire human body. but the key is the pattern.

birdshot is only better than buckshot at very close ranges in circumstances where over penetration, and penetration of walls are critical. if you possibly have to take the fight to the street like military and law enforcement often has to do then its a very poor choice, but inside 10 yards its a great HD round... IF PATTERNED TIGHTLY.

I just got a 18.5 in barrel made my mossberg (for the Rem870) and slapped it on my express with one of those slip on butstock shotgun shell holders. I keep it loaded with some Federal low recoil buckshot. Its not the sexiest shotgun ever made but it works.