Changing Up Barrels on 870

[FLGobstopper]

I have an older 12ga 870 mag turkey gun, original bottomland camo with a 26" VR barrel. Anyway, the camo is pretty jacked up from years and years of hard use from chasing turkeys, ducks and what not. Since I have 2 other 870's with 28" barrels for ducks I'm thinking of making this one a completely dedicated turkey gun.

So before making all these changes I figured I'd ask ya'll who may shoot something similar and get some opinions from guys with experience with shorter barrels. The first change is swapping out the barrel for a 21" VR. Going from a 26" to 21" what can I expect to lose as far as killing range or pattern? For the slight decrease in weight and increase in maneuverability is it worth it?

If I make the switch I'm going to have to change up shells and get rid of a few boxes of Win Supreme Elite Ext Range. I was thinking of going to Hevi mag blend or 7's and trying a few different chokes. The Ext Range shot great out of jellyhead but I think it's time for a switch. Any recommendations on a place to start on choke / shell combo?

[yella yelper]

I went from 28" to 21" and glad I did. So much easier to handle. I do like a 24" as an all around barrel though.

A word of caution. It could be totally unrelated and a fluke. However, I did have problems with mine not ejecting shells. Like the ejector claw thing ripped the lip off the shell and it never budged kind of problem. Had to shove my decoy stake down the muzzle to lunch the hull out. Possibly cost me a bird but we won't get into that.

That was the worst example. The one before, I was able to grab the fore end with both hands and beat it on the ground to get it out but it came.

Again, this could have nothing to do with the barrel but I have a suspicion that it does. I bought the barrel from Remington directly. I measured the problem hulls against known good hulls and they are the same down to the 0.001"

Hope I didn't scare you away, just my experience. Have killed several birds with that setup and it shot better than my Benelli. My opinion is worth exactly what you pay for it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

[turkey buster]

I have the same gun with short barrel. Mine has rifled sights and no rib. It's 20in of turkey killing magic.
I'm shooting a jellyhead and 3in longboard #5's.

[turkey buster]

http://oldgobbler.com/Forum/index.php/topic,51893.0.html

That's the link to my post on it last year. I shot 158 in the 10 @ 40 I believe

[allaboutshooting]

I have an older 12ga 870 mag turkey gun, original bottomland camo with a 26" VR barrel. Anyway, the camo is pretty jacked up from years and years of hard use from chasing turkeys, ducks and what not. Since I have 2 other 870's with 28" barrels for ducks I'm thinking of making this one a completely dedicated turkey gun.

So before making all these changes I figured I'd ask ya'll who may shoot something similar and get some opinions from guys with experience with shorter barrels. The first change is swapping out the barrel for a 21" VR. Going from a 26" to 21" what can I expect to lose as far as killing range or pattern? For the slight decrease in weight and increase in maneuverability is it worth it?

If I make the switch I'm going to have to change up shells and get rid of a few boxes of Win Supreme Elite Ext Range. I was thinking of going to Hevi mag blend or 7's and trying a few different chokes. The Ext Range shot great out of jellyhead but I think it's time for a switch. Any recommendations on a place to start on choke / shell combo?

Going from a 26" to 21" what can I expect to lose as far as killing range or pattern? For the slight decrease in weight and increase in maneuverability is it worth it?

It's been my experience that a 26" barrel is just about perfect. That length allows you to use a variety of chokes and shotshells and get good even patterns. Having said that, I've also had some shorter barrels, 21", 23" etc. that patterned well but it can be a "challenge" at times, especially if you compare patterns with those shorter barrels to the patterns we see here and on other sites to them.

Like many things, there are trade-offs in going to a shorter barrel. If you hunt thick woods or use blinds a shorter barrel may be handier. It will be a bit louder and you may have more muzzle jump. I've never noticed a weight difference, even between 21" and 28" barrels, though there is a slight difference.

As far as chokes, it's really all about the "internal geometry" of the choke tube and not just about the exit diameter. In one brand a .665 may work well and in another, a .643 or .650 may work well. I get excellent results in Rem-Choke guns from the JEB's, the Wright's and the SSX.

Shotshells: Those Winchester XRHD were some excellent loads. The Hevi-13 shells with 2 oz of either #6 or #7 shot are deadly, as are the Magnum Blend shells. I have the new Triple Beard lead loads from Hevi-Shot and hope to take them to the range soon to see how they pattern. The 3" WLB shells with 1 7/8 oz of #6 shot are also very good, so you have a number of choices there.

Properly choked, you should have a 40 yard gun, regardless of barrel length but only the range will tell you that. There's just no substitute for range time.

I hope that helps some and whatever you choose, all my best for the turkey season.

Thanks,
Clark