Yeah, it's not the most gentle of shotguns. But, it was always intended as "just another addition to the collection / range toy."
I came across the shotgun last fall at a local gunshow, an 870 which came from the factory without a full stock. As many of you know, that is indeed a rarity. So, I couldn't resist. I mean, you can actually shorten an 870 quite a bit more than a Mossberg 500 Cruiser. So, I convinced my buddy, who is a Class 7 FFL / Type 2 SOT to register it on a Form 2 as an AOW and transfer it to me on a Form 4. Since I've done some sales work for him in the past, he didn't charge me any extra for it, other than for the labor of cutting the barrel.
So, I paid $275 for the shotgun, $75 for the barrel cutting, and $5 for the NFA transfer. I've got an 870 AOW for a grand total of $355. You can't touch a commercially available AOW or SBS for that price, with transfer fees included. How could I resist?
This is only one of five 870's that I own. I also own a Police Magnum, with an 18" bbl, Mesa Tactical low-rise stock adapter, M4 stock, and Surefire foreend, a 20 ga. Youth Model, and two 12 ga. Express Magnums, one with a 26" bbl, the other with a 28" bbl. The two Express Magnums are destined for the NFA registry as Short-Barrel Shotguns, though. One will be set-up with a 14" barrel and a Speedfeed III stock. The other will undergo a major transformation, with plenty of gunsmith work, and should end up with a 9" bbl and an appropriately shortened mag tube. It will also get a Mesa Tactical high rise AR stock adapter, M4 stock, a Surefire M69 rail system (cut to fit the short mag tube), a VFG, and an EOTech HWS.