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Rem. 870 ?

4310 Views 25 Replies 9 Participants Last post by  jun1or
I currently am shooting a 870 with a rifled barrel with a scope mount using the saddle style mounting system.This is my dedicated deer gun I also use it for turkey, I am thinking of having the receiver drilled and tapped to mount the scope. Would I be better off buying a cantilever barrel?What would you do?
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Too much play in the barrel/receiver "connection" for a drill & tap..That's why they make the cantilever set-ups (which I hate)...The reason why I bought an Ithaca Deerslayer II. It's barrel is solid to the receiver and the receiver is drilled & tapped..
i had mine drill and tapped. works great ! tighter groups !
one thing you have to remember about the saddle style and drill+tap is that every time you take the barrel off, you need to re-tighten to the same torque and you really need to check zero every time you take the gun apart. This is why i love my cantilever barrel for the slugs.
go for the cantilever. I just took my saddle mount off of my 11-87, it wouldn't stay secure properly. I have 4 sluguns with the cantilevers, they have never failed me.
dave, get the cantilever. if you wanna see my setup, let me know and i will bring it by.
Good feedback guys.Which cantilever? Hastings or remington?
don't forget Mossberg. Hastings barrels are nice, and they are MADE to shoot the Hastings Laser Accurate slugs. Consequently, they shoot the remmy buck hammers, lightfields and Hastings slugs about equally. the Hastings are the cheapest of the lot.

My mossberg barrel (yes...they make factory mossberg barrels for the 870) likes the hastings and lightfields too. I've never shot the buck hammers that i can remember. Every barrel will favor a specific bullet/shell combination and you still need to shoot a few of them to find one you like.

Personally, i like my parkerized mossberg barrel. it's very trouble free, and it took a coat of camo paint quite nicely. Seeing as how my slug barrel is deer only, i'm going to work some blaze orange into the camo pattern for it on the barrel only...but that's a whole 'nuther thread LOL
junior what is your setup? gun,barrel etc.
Dave, I have the original 870 super slug that came out in 99. its got the 23" heavy contour barrel from the factory. its a tack driver for sure, but a very expensive barrel to purchase seperately. look for the 20 or 21" can't. barrel. I think there's one for sale on here.
no problem. let me know how you make out
Drill and Tap, Drill and Tap Can't go Wrong, Can't go Wrong!!!!!later
Dave, its your money to spend however you choose, but heres my opinion. if you drill and tap the gun, it becomes very limited in use, unless you remove the scope and then have to re-sight when you put it back on. the cantilever barrel will keep your scope dead on when the barrel is removed so re-sighting isnt needed. ive had mine for over 10 years now and changed barrels millions of times. its NEVER had to be re-sighted after switching back to the scope barrel. if your only looking for a dedicated slug gun, its not as much of an issue. if you want to have a versital gun, get the cantilever barrel.
drill and tap ! I only use mine as a sluggun, so no need to remove it.
my 870 is used for deer and turkey so scope can stay on if used for wetland and small game well then it's trouble imo....later
I had my 11-87 drilled and tapped, but ran into a problem...there was not enough metal on the top strap to get more than 3 or 4 threads for the screws to grab. No matter what I tries (Loc-tite,etc.), the base would come loose after several shots. I gave up and switched to a cantilvered barrel. Maybe there is more metal on the top strap of an 870.

Will
Nice looking setup junior. I think I may go with a cantilever if I can find one at a good price. If not I'm going the drill and tap route. Thanks for the feedback guys.
get a cantilever barrel.

heres mine. its alot easier just to change barrels
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