Well, that's not necessarily true. I'd acquired a vintage Remington Model 10-A at a stupid cheap price because it was a funky old Pedersen-designed takedown shotgun, plus stupid cheap price. (Seriously: I paid for it with singles out of the coffee can I keep change and singles in at the end of the day. I have a hard time passing up a working gun with a two-digit price tag.)
Still, it was a nearly-hundred-year-old shotgun of questionable reliability and a stock that consisted of more crack than wood and which would likely fly to splinters under the recoil of high brass buckshot, since it was largely held together by numerous coats of yellowing varnish.
So, for all intents and purposes, no shotgun.
The other weekend, standing in a practically-denuded gun store with Shootin' Buddy, I saw a brand-spankin' new Remington 870 slug gun, with the improved cyl. smoothbore 20" tube and rifle sights, a setup that screams '80s tacticool in much the same way as a two-tone 1911 with Pachmayrs. This particular SKU is no longer in production, but during rushes like this, the dusty corners of wholesalers' warehouses get cleaned out as beggars can't be choosers. I've had that conversation with a sales rep many a time:
Me: "Hey, Dave, you got any Remington 870 Polices?"It was stupid cheap, like $350 for a new gun right here in the middle of the panic. And the Vice President said I needed a shotgun, and patriotic Americans should listen to their Vice President... Did I mention it was stupid cheap already? Not as stupid cheap as that Model 10 was, but it's getting to the point where anything from a quality name-brand manufacturer that has a three digit price tag and a "3" in the first slot is pretty uncommon.
Dave: "Nope."
Me: "How about those regular Express Home Defense models?"
Dave: "Nope."
Me: "Geez, what about the Whiz-Bang Inc. Tactical Special Editions? They've got a bunch of extra high-dollar crap on them but I reckon I can price at a lower margin and move even them right now..."
Dave: "All out of them, too. I tell you what, other than bird guns, the only 870s I have in the warehouse right now are a few of those discontinued smoothbore slug guns with rifle sights. I can make you a deal on those..."
Me: "I'll take 'em."
Dave: "How many?"
Me: "Have you been reading the papers? How many you got?"
So I did the right thing and took this dangerous gun off the street. I replaced the overlong and heavy plywood buttstock with a Magpul one via Brownells, and I figure to put a Mesa 4-shell side saddle on there and a sling and call it good.
Not that I really needed a gauge but, you know, now I've got something for if I want to dabble more in 3 Gun shooting or take a shotgun class.
Plus, I'm sure Joe Biden is proud of me.
 |
| Two Remingtons, roughly a hundred years apart... |
Haven't had time to visit the merchants of death lately. Even the used shotgun shelves are bare? Always wanted to try a cut down Auto-5...
ReplyDeleteI put a mesa side saddle on my used-to-tactical 870 wingmaster. Much nicer than the tac star I tried before it. Though I'm pretty interested in the elastic shell carriers slapped on the side with velcro. My brother is giving that a trial and hasn't reported back yet.
I think he locked up when carrying the shell holders started veering into "chest rig" territory. He's a wood and steel guy. All the multi-flat-dark-foliage forces some soul searching.
Sigh.
ReplyDeleteWhen a lady of breeding and good taste can't find a decent shotgun, it's time to ask "what has become of this country?"
Tam,
ReplyDeleteTacticool indeed! And I'd happily double your money on that model 10-A!
Really glad you are back.
aczarnowski,
ReplyDeleteBest 870 thread I've seen on the internet in a while is right here.
Lots of guys who use them for a living sharing their experiences in there. Good stuff.
How did you get the Magpul ? Mines still on pre-order.
ReplyDeleteOne can never have too many shotguns.
ReplyDeleteBut, but, but...where's the Mossberg 500 with the door-breacher barrel and pistol grip? If you want to go all '80's style tacticool, you just gotta have one of those.
ReplyDeleteOnly other thing it needs is a quality mag extension.
ReplyDeleteNicely done. I'm still not sold on the Magpul stock (they look goofy...) but everybody says they feel nice. You'll have to let us know!
I'm also interested in how you like the Magpul stock. I have one of those weird recoil reducing Knoxx/Blackhawk ones on mine (hey, it came with it), and while it works, they can be a little fragile in actual use.
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about drinking a bit more Magpul Kool-Aid, only this time in the 870 flavor.
Is that top shotty for lefties? I can't see an ejector port.
ReplyDeletetreefroggy,
ReplyDeleteI dunno, it said "in stock" at Brownells the other day?
Fred, The Raving Prophet,
The Magpul stock is worse than ugly; it's stupid looking. But it handles really well; you can one-hand it while thumbing in rounds weak-handed like a PG stock, but unlike a PG stock, you don't pull the muzzle down off target when you use the "push-pull" technique.
Erin Palette,
The top shotgun ejects out the bottom like the Ithaca 37 or Browning BPS. :)
Bottom eject like an Ithaca 37.
ReplyDeleteScofflaw
WELCOME BACK TO THE WORLD TAMARA!
ReplyDeleteWELCOME HOME HEAL WELL !
"Plus, I'm sure Joe Biden is proud of me."
ReplyDeleteNope, you were not listening to him (that's a good thing, mind you): he said "double barrel shotgun", and advised to go outsid and rain birdshot on the neighbors ..... so the bad guys will get scared and run away. What they'll actually be likely to do is shoot you dead while you stand there with your now empty gun ......
...as i understand it, NY's new law bans the pumpguns, too, as they are "readily convertible" to hold more than 7 with a mag extension..... so you pissed Joe off with the purchase of an "assault weapon".
I am beginning to think that the other side's definition of "assault weapon" means anything that might be useful in a protracted fight....
Good to know, I may have to pick them up for the old Mossberg 590 when they get that stuff released.
ReplyDeleteNo sling on shotgun bring tears to baby Clint Smith!
ReplyDeleteShootin' Buddy
Shootin' Buddy,
ReplyDelete"No sling on shotgun bring tears to baby Clint Smith!"
Unclench! I just haven't decided how I want to sling it.
The other shotgun doesn't have a sling for the same reason the cars in the museum at the Speedway don't have gas in the tanks.
Another vote for a Magpul furniture review. I have a set in my Amazon Wish list just waiting for proper justification.
ReplyDeleteChris
That would still be a good shotgun for deer, even with the tactical mods. Everybody, including me, uses rifled barrels and sabot slugs these days, but most of the time a smooth-bore is just fine. Mine gets the smooth-bore barrel put back on for the rest of the year after hunting season. Pretty much any shotgun set up for defense would be good for deer, and vice versa.
ReplyDeleteTam, next time I come up, I'll bring you a few boxes of Brenneke slugs for your new toy. I still say they're the best slugs out there. I have a case of them sitting in my stash.
ReplyDeleteTam, go to Remington's website and see if it's eligible for a rebate. I think they extended the one I took advantage of last year out to May of this year.
ReplyDeleteI already had a social shotgun (moment of silence for Col. Cooper) but wanted a plain Jane Express Synthetic to replace the one I traded for a CZ 75B a couple years back.
I bought it on election day to make a (mostly ignored) statement. I took it to a turkey shoot a couple weeks later and won a 3 pound pack of bacon.
Got to admit, that 10-A is a sexy beast that glowers with a Steve McQueen (Bullit) "Don't screw with me" attitude via the '70's. I like it. Gives one of my buddy's reparked Winchester M12 (salvaged) a run for it's money.
ReplyDeleteGee, I guess I shouldn't tell you about my M37 featherlight 8-shot riot-guns which I got for $150 each, including the hard factory chrome one. I had to sell the chrome, but I still have the parkerized one, which I will be buried with (or give to my grandson, anyway)
ReplyDeleteThis is where I show my shotgun ignorance and ask, "If it ejects out the bottom, how the heck does it load from the tube? Won't the one get in the way of the other?"
ReplyDeleteNo need to laboriously explain how it works; just send me a webpage, preferably with lots of well-labeled pictures ...
Erin, ejects first, loads second. Or, perhaps, PFM. :)
ReplyDeleteAgain, I am a dumbass. PFM?
ReplyDeleteErin Palette,
ReplyDelete"Again, I am a dumbass. PFM?"
Pure Fricking Magic. ;)
Which it sure seems like; it's awful busy in there. Basically, a shell isn't released from the mag tube onto the lifter until the lifter has bottomed out ejecting the empty shell out of the hole.
I dunno if there's a diagram of it anywhere on the 'tubes, but I'll go look.
I wanna take Louis' shotgun class, I can still do that here.
ReplyDeleteThe guy with the drawers full of gunparts at the indy show as often as not has a couple model 10 stocks, though they are as often maybe in worse condition than yours. Gunstocks inc, where I got the replacement stock for my LeFever, used to have them but they're out of stock. It's a pretty old gun, and it deserves to be loved. the takedown feature is teh awesome too.
ReplyDeleteOg, maybe Tam needs to take up woodworking and turn a new stock from a blank :)
ReplyDelete"Og, maybe Tam needs to take up woodworking and turn a new stock from a blank :)"
ReplyDeleteTam + Power Tools = Bad Idea
I'm pretty good on scars at the moment. I'll let you know if I start running low, though.
I'm not trying to troll a shotgun tacticool hatefest or nuttin', but that photo actually makes me want that Rem 10A ... its got character and I like its lines.
ReplyDeleteNothing wrong with the slug gun, mind you.
I think that, when he urged weak, simple-minded women to get a shotgun to signal a would-be rapist exactly where they are, Uncle Choo-choo meant something like a Browning Citori, not an assault shotgun weapon like what you bought.
ReplyDeleteI see you took out the hi-capacity clip for the photo. Clever...
Robin,
ReplyDelete"I'm not trying to troll a shotgun tacticool hatefest or nuttin', but that photo actually makes me want that Rem 10A ..."
Hey, I liked that 10-A so much that I bought it. :)
Tam, I get the cheap gun weakness too.
ReplyDeleteI have an old I Frame .32 S&W Long with no bluing remaining, cracked hard rubber grips and timing issues I bought back in mid 2011 just because I could get it for $125.
One of these days I'll take the time to refrub it to shooting condition.
So I'm sitting down, going through my Ammo Stash, wondering if I have enough to sell off and retire to Costa Rica yet, and I come across some 20 gauge Slugs and Double Ought. Phone rings, it's my Buddy the Surplus Dealer, and he tells me a guy just walked in needing some Cash, and he had an older Mossie 500 in 20 gauge that looked like crap, but it was Functional.
ReplyDeleteI got it for $100.
PFM!
And guess who just offered me a Box of .38 S+W to feed my WW2 Smith?
I'm playing the Lottery tonight, you betcha!
By the way, Tam, guns are power tools if you think about it.
ReplyDeleteThey just run on gunpowder rather than electricity.
That Magpul buttstock sure makes it look ass-heavy, don't it? Drill the dimples out and put the mag extension on there to balance it out!
ReplyDeleteThe stock is 'overlong'
ReplyDeleteNever thought I'd imagine Dave Grohl and length of pull in the same metaphysical breath. Nice.
Tam, does the phrase "loaded for bear" ever cross your mind when thinking about that new rifled shottie?
ReplyDelete"Tam + Power Tools = Bad Idea"
ReplyDeleteUhh... Tam... Guns are power tools too... the original power tools.
Great shoty thread Tam. Thanks for the link.
ReplyDeletemikee,
ReplyDelete"Tam, does the phrase "loaded for bear" ever cross your mind when thinking about that new rifled shottie?"
It's actually a smoothbore.
Somewhere in the last couple of weeks I seem to have gone right past Magpul Fanboi and turned into Magpul Webpage Stalker. I keep checking (several times a day!) to see if they've announced a ship date for the Mossberg 500 SGA... :-(
ReplyDeleteNow hey, I have one of those 500's with the breacher barrel, but I replaced the PGO with a side folder. Even scared up some breaching shells.
ReplyDelete