Removing a bead sight

Discuss all accessories and upgrades available for the Remington 870 shotgun: stocks, forends, barrels, chokes, magazine extensions, followers, safeties, sights etc.
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Bourget117
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Removing a bead sight

Post by Bourget117 » Mon Mar 27, 2017 10:46 pm

Can the 870 bead sight be earlier removed and replaced with a tritium bead? I'm looking to upgrade my marine magnum front sight. I like the xs big dot, but I'm not crazy about the idea of using epoxy to hold it on. What if I want to replace it or remove it?

sodapopsixtysix
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Re: Removing a bead sight

Post by sodapopsixtysix » Wed Mar 29, 2017 9:09 am

Bourget117 wrote:
Mon Mar 27, 2017 10:46 pm
Can the 870 bead sight be earlier removed and replaced with a tritium bead? I'm looking to upgrade my marine magnum front sight. I like the xs big dot, but I'm not crazy about the idea of using epoxy to hold it on. What if I want to replace it or remove it?
I think if you plan on using a tritium front sight your best options will be the ones that are permanently attached. My preference would be the Scattergun Tech ghost-ring setup, then the XS Big Dot. That typically means epoxy or soldering. A bead can easily be threaded in because it's round and doesn't change the sight picture when you finally bottom out the base. Tritium sights are typically oblong or rectangle in shape. You might find one that can be tapped and threaded but keeping it inline with the barrel will probably require so much Loctite you're practically epoxying it in place anyway. You might also find that a "screw in" front sight will be disappointingly small compared to the XS Big Dot.

Bourget117
Active Shotgunner
Posts: 80
Joined: Tue Mar 14, 2017 11:50 pm

Re: Removing a bead sight

Post by Bourget117 » Wed Mar 29, 2017 9:45 am

sodapopsixtysix wrote:
Wed Mar 29, 2017 9:09 am
Bourget117 wrote:
Mon Mar 27, 2017 10:46 pm
Can the 870 bead sight be earlier removed and replaced with a tritium bead? I'm looking to upgrade my marine magnum front sight. I like the xs big dot, but I'm not crazy about the idea of using epoxy to hold it on. What if I want to replace it or remove it?
I think if you plan on using a tritium front sight your best options will be the ones that are permanently attached. My preference would be the Scattergun Tech ghost-ring setup, then the XS Big Dot. That typically means epoxy or soldering. A bead can easily be threaded in because it's round and doesn't change the sight picture when you finally bottom out the base. Tritium sights are typically oblong or rectangle in shape. You might find one that can be tapped and threaded but keeping it inline with the barrel will probably require so much Loctite you're practically epoxying it in place anyway. You might also find that a "screw in" front sight will be disappointingly small compared to the XS Big Dot.
I'd love to put a Big Dot on mine. They are simple and cheap. But I'm not crazy about the idea of using epoxy. I don't want to do any drilling or threading for any tritium sight. It would damage the nickel finish and could cause rust. The Big Dot would solve that problem but what if it ever got damaged or if the sight had to be replaced after the tritium wore out? Again I wouldn't want to damage the nickel plating to remove it. So any type of drilling, threading, soldering or cutting are out of the question.
I do have a very strong adhesive epoxy tape at my work that I may experiment with to try on a Big Dot sight to hold it. It's actuallly strong enough to hold windows into buildings. It could be removed with heat and a little solvent.
If it works I'll post my results here.

sodapopsixtysix
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Re: Removing a bead sight

Post by sodapopsixtysix » Wed Mar 29, 2017 5:10 pm

Check out the tritium on TexasArmor84's Police Marine. You can swap out the bead sight barrel for the rifle sight one (Midway sells them) and add XS Big Dot Dovetail sights. You'll be able to swap sights for different size dots or when they stop glowing, plus you'll have the barrel from what people are calling the Police Marine Magnum (25047). No gunsmithing, glue or other weird stuff.


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Bourget117
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Re: Removing a bead sight

Post by Bourget117 » Thu Mar 30, 2017 12:37 am

sodapopsixtysix wrote:
Wed Mar 29, 2017 5:10 pm
Check out the tritium on TexasArmor84's Police Marine. You can swap out the bead sight barrel for the rifle sight one (Midway sells them) and add XS Big Dot Dovetail sights. You'll be able to swap sights for different size dots or when they stop glowing, plus you'll have the barrel from what people are calling the Police Marine Magnum (25047). No gunsmithing, glue or other weird stuff.


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That's not a bad idea but it's a costly one. $200 for the barrel and over $100 for the sights. Still leaves me with a mim extractor and plastic trigger group. Another $140 for those. Really makes me wish I just went with the police version from the start.

sodapopsixtysix
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Posts: 24
Joined: Sat May 31, 2014 5:40 am

Re: Removing a bead sight

Post by sodapopsixtysix » Thu Mar 30, 2017 1:08 am

It's not too bad if you consider you were going to invest in a tritium sight anyway. There also appears to be a market for the old barrel. If you haven't fired it yet you can probably get close to $170 for it.

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