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Thread: Remington 870 SBS Project
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15 May 2016, 18:28 #1
Remington 870 SBS Project (Updated with Pattern Test)
I submitted a Form 1 on January 27. It was approved this past Thursday, May 12.
Today, I made a trip to my dad's, who has the needed tools to chop my barrel. I had originally planned on having it cut in a lathe by a gunsmith, but the only local one I trust had a recent surgery, which put him out for a while. My dad and I went ahead and cut it today and left it 1/8th inch long (12-5/8") so the Smith can dress it up a bit when he's better. I'll likely get it threaded for chokes at that time as well.
Enough talk, here she is:
The shotgun is a Remington 870 Wingmaster made in the mid 1970's. I bought it off gunbroker and it came with no barrel. The previous owner had also cut the wood stock to 12" LOP, just fine for my intended purpose. The local gunsmith sold me an 28" plain barrel with a fixed full choke. I intend on putting a bead on a front sight base (pedestal) in the near future.
I went ahead and shot it a good bit. Tossing clays in the air by hand, I found I had to point/aim about 18" low to hit. The pedestal/bead should remedy this. I semi-patterned the gun an 7 yards on a 66% silhouette target. With Rio 7-1/2 shot target load, it patterned pretty well. The top photo is the 870 SBS. The second photo below is the same load from a Mossberg 500 with a 18.5" barrel, cylinder bore. Note: Ignore the shots on the yellow flipper. Those are about a week old.
(^ 870 SBS above ^)
(^ Mossberg 18.5 above ^)
As you can see, the SBS wasn't quite as dense of a pattern. I'll put some rounds on butcher paper sometime in the future to test this further. Interestingly enough, it threw a tighter pattern with cheap Suprema 00 buck than the 18.5 Mossberg. This buckshot has no shot-cup and no grex/buffer. It's just 9 pellets on top of a shot card, as basic and simple as it gets. Below are photos of the results, again at 7 yards on a 66% silhouette target.
(^ 870 SBS with Suprema 00 buck above ^)
(^ Mossberg 18.5 Suprema 0p buck above ^)
Seeing as this is a one shot sampling, I can't guarantee this will be typical. In the future, I plan on testing this SBS with other buckshot rounds, including Federal Flite Control and Hornady Versa Tite.
On another note, testing some field loads over the chronograph showed I lost an average of 77 FPS. Three shots of Monarch (Academy Sports brand) #6 dove loads averaged 1251 FPS over my chronograph out of the 18.5" Mossberg. The 12.5" 870 averaged 1174 FPS with the same ammo and the same sample size. When I test the buckshot patterns later, I'll get more data in this regard.
Overall, I'm very pleased with the time and money I've put into this. At this moment, I don't plan on changing anything except a front bead and choke tubes. I may add a simple leather sling. In all likelihood, I'll leave the worn finish as it is. I really like the old school look and believe the worn finish adds character. I think the current look "fits" this old 1970's Wingmaster.Last edited by tappedandtagged; 17 June 2016 at 07:45. Reason: Fixed photos
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15 May 2016, 18:28 #2
Alright, I got to pattern it with several buckshot loads. I also got a big brass bead added on. I've decided against threading it for chokes. Anyway, on to the pattern testing.
I patterned it alongside my 870 Express Tactical, to see if there was a difference between the two barrel lengths. I also ran it over a chronograph and gathered that data.
I tested it with the following loads, all 00 Buckshot:
Federal Vital-Shock with Flite Control Wad
18" barrel=1321 FPS / 12.5" barrel=1256 FPS
Hornady Critial Defense 8 pellet with Versa Tite Wad (same as the Flite Control) No velocity data, chrono didn't read on any of them for some reason
Remington Managed Recoil 8 pellet load
18" barrel=1110 FPS / 12.5" barrel= 1090 FPS (yup, practically the same)
Winchester "Mil Spec"
18" barrel=1347 FPS / 12.5" barrel=1182 FPS
Spartan (sold by Academy, same as Wal Mart Suprema)
18" barrel=1184 FPS / 12.5" barrel=1163 FPS
Estate
18" barrel=1268 FPS / 12.5" barrel=1182 FPS
I noticed the Remington Managed Recoil has very little velocity loss. The recoil was also MUCH milder and the pattern was tight, but yet had a bit more spread than the Flite Control wad rounds (Federal and Hornady). Since my wife may use this in a HD role as well, I now have my bedside shotgun (the 870 Tactical) loaded with these.
I shot these at 7.5 yards (across the room distance) and 15 yards for the Flite Control rounds (across the yard distance). For my purposes, these are the distances I'm most interested in. I may pattern some at longer ranges later. At these yardages, I couldn't tell any discernible difference between the two barrel lengths. I took two shots each time. The circled ones are the first shot, and the others are from the second shot. I also shot the Managed Recoil at 15 yards, but it seems I didn't photograph them for some reason.
Here are the photos of the patterns.Last edited by tappedandtagged; 17 June 2016 at 07:41.
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17 June 2016, 07:42 #3
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17 June 2016, 07:44 #4
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17 June 2016, 08:15 #5
Something about that SBS... is just sick. Anymore pics of the gun?
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17 June 2016, 11:05 #6
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17 June 2016, 11:18 #7
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17 June 2016, 19:12 #8