Remington 870 w/14" barrel and factory folding stock

[nfa4u]

[Greg Bell]

That is one sweet shotty. Evil looking...

[gburner]

Schweeeeet...

At which Federal Prison have you made reservations.
I thought that even having pictures of such a creature was a large no no.

[steveno]

as long as you have the proper NFA paperwork there is nothing illegal about it. I don't think that folding stock is very much fun to shoot.

[Greg Bell]

I've got one on my my 870. Lets just say it adds character to buckshot. Still, it is damn handy for home use.

That one looks like it might have a sissy pad?

[Tamara]

Call me a recoil-shy girl, but I have come to absolutely detest the Remington top-folder. Used to be a Mossberg fan, but I thought the Remington top-folder was way cool to look at, and it seemed so "tactical." Shot some every now and again when I was younger and my shotgun skillz were far from 1337. Scored a stock from a friend. Tracked down an 870 to go with it. Removed the Choate pistol-gripped buttstock and replaced it with the top-folder. A few training sessions later, I yanked the top-folder and replaced the Choate. Lesson learned: It was fun to look at such a cool and menacing gun, but shooting it was positively horrible: the stock wiggled, was awkward to deploy, was hard to get a consistent cheekweld on, and tattooed your cheekbone when you did. I came to realize that, since the gun didn't have to be all that compact to fit in my bedroom, the folder was kinda pointless for me.

They have their place when space is at a premium, but they sacrifice a lot of shootability to gain compactness. Choose accordingly...

[steveno]

I had a Choate folding stock on my 870 and while you say it adds charactor , my opinion is that the recoil sucks big time. woodstock and recoil pad from now on

[Danindetroit]

Former Detroit police officer, now detoit firefighter friend of a friend has one, said they are excellent for answering the back door at 3:00 am. Nothing says no thank you, like answering the door buck naked with a mean looking shotgun. It is a funny story, when he tells it. He is about 5 months into his class III licensing approval.

[Greg Bell]

Tamara opines...

Call me a recoil-shy girl, but I have come to absolutely detest the Remington top-folder. Used to be a Mossberg fan, but I thought the Remington top-folder was way cool to look at, and it seemed so "tactical." Shot some every now and again when I was younger and my shotgun skillz were far from 1337. Scored a stock from a friend. Tracked down an 870 to go with it. Removed the Choate pistol-gripped buttstock and replaced it with the top-folder. A few training sessions later, I yanked the top-folder and replaced the Choate. Lesson learned: It was fun to look at such a cool and menacing gun, but shooting it was positively horrible: the stock wiggled, was awkward to deploy, was hard to get a consistent cheekweld on, and tattooed your cheekbone when you did. I came to realize that, since the gun didn't have to be all that compact to fit in my bedroom, the folder was kinda pointless for me.

Stalker!


No wiggle in mine (perhaps you didn't install it correctly?). The way mine is constructed the sharp edges are turned in slightly to avoid any cuts or general concerns about boo-boos. It does get cold though. And it clinks against the gun so the whole Gi-Joe crowd wouldn't like it.

[gordo b.]

When I was young and high and tight: I played with an all chromed one(bumper chrome!) until I could hit 6 bowling pins from about 30 feet as fast as I could pump FROM THE HIP. Yup took a few years and a few thousand rounds but got so I could regularly hit from the hip. Of course I would lose a hit about one in six at varying distances (20-50 feet) with buckshot. Unfold the stock and I NEVER would lose a hit. However I didn't like that piece of steel in the cheek. Sold the chrome one, it was real worn! I made a 'new' one out of an 80's wing master last year. Has a Rem. non 'LE only' stock with a solid pistol grip and a Elastomer pad and a Tritium Big bead on a vent rib 18" barrel with +2 Rem. extension and a Surefire front handle. It rides behind the seat in my motorhome or sometimes in my Jeep.

[AUG]

GI Joe may not like it but mall ninja's all over the USA are foaming at the mouth Greg.

[Greg Bell]

You guys have some mean security guards in your malls!

[Tamara]

No wiggle in mine (perhaps you didn't install it correctly?).

It was installed just fine. The wiggle was in the stock itself, not in the join between buttstock and receiver. It was exacerbated by the non-positive-locking buttplate.

The way mine is constructed the sharp edges are turned in slightly to avoid any cuts or general concerns about boo-boos.

Correct, but the "tattoo" I'm taking about isn't a cut from any sharp edge, but from the hard, radiused steel corner right where you want to get a cheekweld against a flat buttstock. Gave me the choice of no cheekweld or an interesting linear bruise. YMMV, but if I felt compelled to build another folding-stock shotgun, I'd probably go with a Choate side-folder.

[kahr Carrier]

Cool 870 ,my buddy carries the exact same thing ,he is on the HRT of the local PD. We took a couple of them into the local indoor range to shoot some paper and got a few strange looks from the other shooters .But the rangemaster knew us and thought it was hilarious.

[4V50 Gary]

Looks cool enough, but like Tamara says, the recoil is brutal with that stock. I replaced it with a Speedfeed stock that holds 4 rounds. BTW, 14" bbl is OK so long as you pay the NFA tax and live in a state that permits it (and here in Kalifornia, they don't). Personally, I prefer the 20" bbl b/c you can put the extension and get 8 shots. More lead, more fun.

[Greg Bell]

I guess recoil is kind of subjective. It isn't a cream-puff, but the recoil isn't anything particularly noteworthy (to me). Of course, I am a fairly stout guy.

Of course, a full stock with a recoil pad is going to be easier to handle than a steel folding stock. That is the trade off for getting a sturdy yet compact folding stock.

I believe there is a gel-pad available for those who feel the recoil is too much.

[E505]

Call me blind my eyes are a bit old and tired. I am positive that both pictures are of the same gun so what type of finish is that?

Is it just a trick of the light and camera?

I really like the look of the last picture.

[AUG]

Greg I would love to see a recoil master like yourself go through a Louis Awerbuck class with that setup. After the ridicule you would recieve I would laugh my butt off.

[gordo b.]

Roger that! Louis would put you into a common tactical situation and watch while the recoil did damge to your bod! Call it Daddy doles out a surrogate spanking! Bwaahhaaaaaaa.

[Greg Bell]

Greg I would love to see a recoil master like yourself go through a Louis Awerbuck class with that setup. After the ridicule you would recieve I would laugh my butt off.

Hey, I can't help it if you are a sissy! Ouch, a boo boo!


And it isn't like I'm going to care what the giggling recoil-shy girlies in the corner think!

[guntotin_fool]

Tam. I also had a Remington-branded top fold and it wiggled a considerable amount too, I had a friend who is an Aircraft welder fill in the hole for the pop-out latch and then we redrilled the hole to the proper dimension. As I recall, the Remington hole was .03 too big and that was the cause. I wrapped the extension part of the stock with some rubber tape to kill some of the folded rattle and to give my cheek a rest.

Now for a rant, (not directed at tamara but to all) I am not a security professional, I am a contractor who likes to shoot. I worry about my ccw and home defense equipment a LOT, I worry about my hunting and farm guns almost as much. I do NOT worry if a weapon that I hope to never use is going to eat my face up if I go to some mall Ninja wanna be tactical security school. I worry about will that weapon perform as I need it when I need it to. This is not to say school is a bad thing or training is a bad thing. But do not make equipment decisions based on scenarios you see in a training class. I know some of the class out there are good and I have taken a few. I have also taken a couple of classes where I got the distinct impression I was somehow held in disregard because I was not thinking about creating my own volunteer SWAT team.

I have a top-fold 870 stuck on a big magnet plate inside and on top of my closet door. (Imagine steping into closet and then turn around and look up)
In my bedroom if I get out of bed I am two feet from my shotgun. It is always loaded 7 rounds, empty chamber. I have shot this gun enough to know what it does, how it works and where all the bottons are in the dark. I hunt duck and geese with another 870 and I am confident if the SHTF I will do ok. The last training class I went to had several scenarios which went way beyond the scope of any self defense class. Clearing rooms with teams. Lots of shootout at the ok corral type of game playing. Not once was anyone willing to think about "head-peak" around corner and then poke gun around corner and spray a few rounds.

I have read on here (similar threads) about buying different guns for training and for EDC, about how my gun with the checkered front strap or my thumb break holster are somehow ineffective or improper because of the hassle they will cause me at training. Equip for real life, let the training mimic reality do not force reality to mimic training.


NFA4u that is a cool shottie I did not want to pay the $200 tax stamp so mine is another 4 inches longer but I have the swat tube i.e. mag extension

[Greg Bell]

guntotin,

Good lord! You have a mind of your own. Now that just won't do. Seriously, ditch that folder now and get whatever the gun comic books are now pushing! I mean, what if you have to shoot 10,000 rounds through it in 6 minutes when the GIJOE/Red Dawn scenario finally comes true!!

[AUG]

I wished you guys would just admit the only reason for a folding stock on a shotgun is for "gunshow commando" looks. I would hardly make fun of "GIJOE/Red Dawn " types. I mean, come on guys, your the ones with a folding stock on a shotgun.

On a serious note:

guntotinfool,

You really need to get better instructors or pick classes more suited to your needs. Most schools cater to the "mall ninja" types. The good schools don't. Try Loius Awerbuck. He is the best instructor that I have ever seen and knows the difference between training Delta Force members and self defense minded citizens even in the same class.

You may know more than the instructors you have had and may have better ways for your personal situation but I have yet to see or even hear of anyone that knows more about the use of firearms (including tactics, mindset, various platforms, and actual shooting) than Louis Awerbuck.

[Greg Bell]

I wished you guys would just admit the only reason for a folding stock on a shotgun is for "gunshow commando" looks. I would hardly make fun of "GIJOE/Red Dawn " types. I mean, come on guys, your the ones with a folding stock on a shotgun.

Yep, it is a helluva lot more maneuverable inside the house. You can have the firepower of an 18" barreled shotgun at subcarbine length with no special legal hoops to jump through.

Perhaps it would be better if you guys admit that you don't like the stock only because it hurts your shoulder too much (ouchie!). That is fine, but for those who aren't so delicate it makes a shotgun more practical in confined spaces.

[gordo b.]

Once again it took me a couple years of practice, when I was in my peak, and several thousad rounds before I could reliably get 80% hits from hip with a pistol grip at less than 50'.