Forcing cones

[lunde]

I recently observed, during cleaning, that my new Remington 870 Police shotgun has a lengthened forcing cone. Is this common with Remingtons? Or, is it specific to their Police shotguns?

My Mossberg 590A1 originally had a short/abrupt forcing cone, but the Vang Comp modifications lengthened it. My Benellis (M1 Tactical, M1 Practical, and Nova) have short/abrupt ones as well. The Ithaca Model 37 Homeland Defense shotgun that I paid for just today will have a lengthened forcing cone as standard, per the Ithaca website.

[9mmMike]

Both of my recent 870 purchases did not have the forcing cone done. These were not brand new though so perhaps Remington has gotten wise?
That would be, well, different. ;)

[lunde]

I just bought a Remington 11-87 Police shotgun, and when it arrives, I will check its barrel. My Remington 870 Police was new-in-box, which means that the forcing cone was lengthened from the factory.

[Dave McC]

First I heard about it, Ken. Please keep us posted.

The old short cone is a leftover from BP days, modern ammo and powder gains nothing from a short cone, and pellet deformation is worsened. Inertia is the only reason I can think of as to why more makers haven't switched.

And yes,a longer cone shortens the pressure spike and lowers recoil,but IMO,it's not noticeable. Combined with overbores, ports, etc, it can add up. The big advantage to a long cone is better patterns, all else equal.

[K80Geoff]

How do you know it is lengthened, did you measure it? Would be interesting for all of us to compare length in our 870s.

Some Manufacturers use shorter cones, others longer. European guns generally have shorter cones.

[lunde]

K80Geoff, it is clearly lengthened. My Mossberg 590A1 had a short/abrupt forcing cone before it was modified by Hans Vang. My three Benellis also have a short/abrupt forcing cone. The 870P clearly has a lengthened forcing cone. While it is difficult to measure, I would guess that it is about two inches.

When I dug through the archives of this forum, I found (sometimes vague) references to lengthened forcing cones being standard in Remington "Police" shotguns.

[Dave McC]

Thanks, Ken. Does this mean Big Green is waking up? One can hope....

[K80Geoff]

I just checked all four of my 870 barrels. All appear to have long forcing cones. Interesting thing is that they are very difficult to see when looking down the barrel.

On my K80 and K20 barrels you can easily see the forcing cone as the finish is different and the cone area reflects light differently. On the Remington barrels the cone is difficult to see clearly. My barrels are of different vintages and lengths and all appear to have long cones.

Perhaps Remington has been using longer cones for a long time?

[Dave McC]

Geoff, my TB is 1988 vintage if I read the codes right, and has a short cone. I wonder when they switched. Gotta get down to Bass Pro shop and take one apart.

[K80Geoff]

Afer checking this matter out more thoroughly (Getting a better borelight and comparing the barrels to my K guns) I have determined that I was mistaken that the forcing cones were elongated. All the bbls for my 870s except for the LW28" Wingmaster barrels have short forcing cones. The wingmaster LW barrel has longer cones but still not in the league of the K guns.

OK time for an eye exam here:o

The old Fox "B" in the safe has really short cones:eek:

[lunde]

I picked up my new Remington 11-87 Police shotgun on Tuesday of this week, and its barrel's forcing cone is lengthened just like the one in my 870 Police.