Front sling mount with extended magazine tube

[Morgan]

Those of you with magazine extentions may want to "bump" check them. My potentially embarrasing story follows:

I've an 870 Police model with rifle sights, which I carry in my car on duty. I had a Tac-Star extention with the front sling mount that goes between the magazine tube and extention tube. The extention was a bit longer than the 18" bbl, made the gun unwieldy and front-heavy, and it was a pain to get in and out of the rack, so I took it off. If the four slugs in the tube and the rest on the sidesaddle can't take care of the problem then I'd probably need an airstrike.

A few weeks later, I found a shorter Choate extention in the junk bin at a local gunshop. It is lighter and doesn't extend past the bbl, and works fine. For $5 I put it on and was happy.

A few days ago, I was unloading it for dryfire practice, and bumped the extention - it popped right off the magazine .

I put it back on, and realized that with the sling mount that fits between the tube and extention there arent enough threads to properly hold the extention. Without that sling mount it's just fine.

I've ordered a extention clamp/sling mount, and I'm very glad I found out about this before it caused a problem on the job (I probably deploy the shotgun two or three times a week).

 

[dfariswheel]

Those type of sling loops were originally designed as a hand stop for the Remington "Witness Protection" shotgun with the 13" barrel. With a barrel that short, there was a danger that your hand could slip forward in front of the muzzle.

Somebody had the bright idea of cutting a slot into the guard, which both lightened it, and provided a sling attachment point.

All this was Ok with the short barrel, since they couldn't use an extension, just the standard magazine cap.

The trouble started when people began using them with an extension, ESPECIALLY an extension without a support bracket.

I've always been wary of extension-equiped guns without the support. The entire thing depends on some awfully thin metal tubing to keep it all together, and that tubing is threaded, which makes it even weaker.

I've seen a few with bent extensions and damaged magazine tube threads.

 

[HS/LD]

See a Win 1300 Defender (comes standard with a one piece 7 round mag) would have solved all these problems.



I'm going now before Dave McC gets here.

Regards,
HS/LD

 

[Fed168]

How about trying the sling attachment from Scattergun? I have one on my 870 and have not had problems.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Morgan, thanks for the headsup. All gadgets added to a "Serious"/WIHTF shotgun MUST be tested before deployment.

An aside, I strongly urge using a clamp bracket style connector to keep the barrel and extension together. Besides the improvement in accuracy, the gain in structural integrity is invaluable.

Dfaris, Amen.

HS, I can forgive youth and inexperience(G). You'll learn....

 

[Morgan]

Dave - I've got a Choate clamp/sling mount on order. Until then, I go slingless.

When you say accuracy improvement, are you talking slugs, buck, or both? Will I need to rezero for slugs?

 

[Dave McCracken]

Clamping the barrel and extension together make the whole thing flex and vibrate as a unit.It stiffens the arrangement, making the harmonics(How it vibrates) more consistent.This translates out as tighter slug groups. The first 870 I tried this on went from close to 4" groups at 50 yards to under three.

Slugs and buck never shoot to the same point. At typical ranges, the difference is often not crucial, but you have to know. My HD 870 is zeroed for the buck I use, my Deer 870(also a "Serious" shotgun) is zeroed for slugs. The other ammo isn't far off, but it should be checked.