New guy has some questions about 870 20

[jordanz7935]

Hey guys im new here but have been reading this forum for awhile.Ive gotten alot of great info.anyways i have a 21" 870 20 ga. this was my first gun as a kid and i have taken many turkeys with the lead rem superfull and #5 winchester or federal lead turkey loads. i havent used the 20 since i got my turkey cannon 5 years ago.mossberg 935 w I.C. 675.midway through turk season last year i bought some fed hvywght #7s(after reading all the good reviews on here) and sent a few downrange thru the rsf.572.  best 40 yrd pattern ive ever seen w a 20 ga.looked like a 120 10 ring pattern. i didnt count 10 ring numbers but it looked as good as my 935 shootin lead 5s.i want to kill bird #1 with it this yr.ive been tweakin the old dub(my nicname for the gun) a little bit this year.deep cleaned it,ordered the patriot sear spring,and gonna have it drilled & tapped because she shoots a little low.have a few ?'s.Should i get a different choke or put the $ towards drill and tap? also, what is the best scope base for the $,im thinkin about the weaver multislot rail for 10$? gonna be puttin a swift 1.5-4.5 ihave layin around on it.any other tips to makin this a better beak buster would be appreciated.

[Sand Man]

Welcome.

I've built 5 of these 21" 870's.  I'd say the best bang for your buck is polishing the barrel.  It's cheap and easy to do yourself.  It made a noticable difference in all 5 of these guns.  I run a Remington Superfull in all 5.  I've put a Wearer 416 base on all 5 as well.  Base plus the cost of a gunsmith to install ran $40 or less on each gun.  I run TSS, but guys are getting great results from the Fed 7's.  You might do a search and see what chokes they are using.  Hope that helps.

[jordanz7935]

Thanks sand man. yea ive been really lookin in to polishin the barrels of both my turkey guns. I cant find any of the stuff i need in my area. looked into it online and best price for everything(jb bore clnr,jb polish,kroil) was $42 shipped from sinclair intl. gonna see if i can talk my buddy into goin halves to offset the cost.definately gonna drill and tap. price to d&t in my area is $17-20 per hole.where r u from? i wish the gunsmiths around here were that cheap.i looked up the weaver 416 and it says its for win 1300's. the one i found is the weaver 48345 says its for 870's.does the 416 have the same hole pattern? just wonderin if theres a benefit in gettin the 416 over the 48345?Yea ive heard that TSS is some awesome patterning stuff. would like to try it but i dont handload and dont know of anyone in my area usin it. yea i think im gonna stick with the rsf choke for this year and get er polished and then see if theres room for improvement. thanks for the advice sandman. youve built 5 of em sounds like your the man to talk to

[gophert]

Welcome.

I've built 5 of these 21" 870's.  I'd say the best bang for your buck is polishing the barrel.  It's cheap and easy to do yourself.  It made a noticable difference in all 5 of these guns.  I run a Remington Superfull in all 5.  I've put a Wearer 416 base on all 5 as well.  Base plus the cost of a gunsmith to install ran $40 or less on each gun.  I run TSS, but guys are getting great results from the Fed 7's.  You might do a search and see what chokes they are using.  Hope that helps.

Del definitely knows these guns well.  I would also echo his suggestion of polishing the barrel.  I run 2  suped-up youth 870 20's and did see an increase with a polished barrel.  I run a Rem superfull in 1 of mine and and Indian Creek .555 in the other.  Both will bust a bird at 40.  Good luck!

Tim

[jordanz7935]

thanks for the great advice guys. brought the 20 to the gunsmith today.gonna have him drill and tap it.Also,with the most forward screw hes gonna go thru the receiver and into the the shank of my fully rifled deer barrel as to pin it in place with a longer, removable screw.i have the 20"fr deer and 21" smoothbore. hopefully itll make it the 20 gauge a deer slayer too.i imagine ill use it more for deer huntin once it gets scoped. hopefully everything goes well.im sure it will he said hes done hundreds of em over the years. will post pictures when i get it back. i cant wait to get it back and sighted in for turkey season.

[Sand Man]

I'm in Fort Worth, TX.  I just went to the local gun store and sat some weaver bases on my gun until I found one flat that fit like I wanted.  I think the 416 had a flat base and matched up to the flat spot on the top of my 870 receiver was the reason I went that route.  I have no pre-drilled holes in my gun, so I wasn't trying to match up weaver base holes to the hole pattern on the receiver.  I knew the gunsmith was going to have to drill and tap new holes, so that wasn't an issue with me.

I had to order all my stuff on line as well.  The JP bore cleaner can be used in your rifles as well as the Kroil. It's all good stuff.  So don't consider it just a one time use type of buy.

Best of luck.