Barrel Lenth

[Rolkin]

I'm planning on buying a Rem 870 soon to be used for hunting and HD...

Home Defense I'd assume you;d want the shortest barrel to get around corners easier, but I would also assume that it would make it harder to hit a moving target further away with a 18.5" barrel

28" seems pretty long
20" seems a bit short

What do you guys think?

[mete]

For a pump a 28" is way too long for anything.For general use 24 " is better.Typical slug guns are about 20".So 20-24" is the choice.

[OutAtTheEdge]

Remington offers the 870 Express in a combo package, with a 28" VR smoothbore barrel w/ Remchoke (Mod. tube only included), and a 20" barrel w/ rifle sights, either fully rifled or smoothbore w/ fixed I.C. choke. The long barrel will handle any bird hunting chores, from doves to turkeys, as well as claybusting sports. If you get the rifled slug barrel, you'll get superior accuracy with sabot slugs on big game, but the smooth I.C. barrel will generally throw acceptable groups w/ Foster-type slugs out to +/- 75 yds., and can double in the HD role, loaded w/ the shotshell of your choice. These Combos are a consumer's dream, as they are regularly whored out of the major chains as hunting season loss-leaders at about dealer cost. With the I.C. slug barrel, you should be able to pick one up for well under $400.

If I was forced to pick just one gun (perish the thought!) for all my shooting needs, this would be it. I'm...

OutAtTheEdge

[Roman Knoll]

Sorry, I posted in wrong thread

[HSMITH]

I've never met a shotgun with a barrel that was too long, 30" on a pump is nice but 32" would be better. I buy the longest barrels I can get.

[Rolkin]

well with a 32" I'd be a bit worried about the 2' of barrel going around the corner before me :) Might knock something over even if he doesn't see the barrel coming :)

I don't think I've ever shot a slug from a shotgun before only shot ... well shot heh

I didn't know if a longer barrel would hold a tighter pattern or like in pistols if it helps the velocity...

But I probably won't be getting anything over 24" though

[patent]

I didn't know if a longer barrel would hold a tighter pattern or like in pistols if it helps the velocity...

I believe the longer barrel mostly helps with aiming at a moving bird. That depends on the shooter, but my trap scores tend to be better with a full length barrel than with my HD 18" barrel. If you can only do one barrel, 24" is probably a nice compromise. Put me down in the two barrel camp though.

For

[bullfrog99]

why not buy an 870 ( or my preference the mossberg 500) with the two barrels. Wal-mart is always advertising specials with a 24-28" vent rib for birds and a 20 to 22 inch rifled sight for slugs or buck. seems perfect for you.

[FirstFreedom]

As the man said, get a combo, with 2 barrels - get one that's 28" +, and one that's 18-20". If you don't get a combo from the get-go, you can get an aftermarket short barrel for the rem870, made by mossberg, for around $70 or $80. Switching is easy - under 1 minute.