Shotgun Project
Another old project of mine is finally coming to fruition. I snagged a Mossberg brand 18.5″ barrel for the Remington 870 (yes, you read that right) and I’m now finally putting together a nice short shotgun.
Way back when, again upwards of 3 years ago, I snagged an ATI brand folding stock for my 870 Express as well as a magazine extension for it. It was my intent to put together a handy little folding shotgun and then get an 18.5″ barrel for it. Well, I never got around to the barrel, and given that my 870 Express has been sporting a 20″ rifled barrel since the arrival of the stock I never had anything worth even firing.
Plus, a magazine extension on an 870 Express is a pain in the ass. Comment on the post if you’re curious as to why and I’ll clarify.
That said, the primary purpose of me putting together a pistol gripped, folding stock, 18.5″ barreled shotgun had one purpose: To prove to myself how damned useless they are.
Unfortunately I’m going to have to make a visit to the local Police Department before I can actually put together the beast that I expect to be utterly useless. I ran the numbers and the bugger will be 29″ long which, in Michigan, means it’s a pistol, which means I have to have it “safety inspected.”
The good news is that in the time between my original plan to put the bastard together and now I’ve acquired an old 870 Wingmaster that I use for trap. With a solid wood stock, good trigger components, and in general 100% better quality than the Express version this would make an excellent candidate for a new House Gun. It was previously disqualified for this because it sported a barrel of 28″.
Also, the magazine extension will work great on this one, provided I can find the damned spring that goes with it. That’ll give me, I think, 7 round of 12 gauge shells to work with, which is a great big step up from the current 9 rounds I keep in my 1894C as a House Gun.