Negative Aspects of Super Mag?

[Mb1500]

I've got a regular 3" 870 and a super mag, long story short one of them has to go. Are there any drawbacks to the super mag that aren't obvious? Both are recent manufacture, however the regular 870 feels like a more solid action compared to the SM. Whichever one I keep will be my only 12ga and since I'm in my early 20's longevity is a big concern. The gun will be used for general hunting, clay shooting, etc.

[Synchronizor]

A lot of parts got tweaked in the SuperMags, but mechanically, the guns pretty much work the same way. The one noteworthy difference was the addition of the spring-loaded port cover to the rear of the bolt, which closes up that elongated ejection port without the need for a physically longer breech bolt and subsequently longer slide stroke & receiver. This port cover is an extra moving part in the action, and is occasionally the cause of minor problems, especially if a user is mean to it while cleaning the bolt. Speaking of cleaning, the port cover and the extra cuts in the bolt give you more to work on when you're scrubbing the thing out. That said, it's not too complicated a system, and if the cover does get bent or the spring gets messed up, the gun is perfectly capable of functioning without the port cover until new parts arrive, you'll just want to be a bit more careful in dirty environments.

The SuperMag's longer ejector and longer ejection port may also have minor drawbacks when it comes to ejecting shorter 3" and 2.75" shells. There's a longer period of time between when the mouth of the fired shell leaves the chamber, and the rim hits the ejector, during which the shell might try to do its own thing. This is probably only going to be significant when working the action slowly though, if you're running the gun fast and hard the way it likes to be run (remember, the 870 has quite a lot in common with Remington's gas-operated semi-autos), it should do fine.

There's also the fact that many of the SuperMag's major internals are special, so finding replacement parts isn't quite as easy as it is with standard 12ga guns. Still, it's an 870, so it's still pretty well-supported, and most of your normal wear parts like springs or plungers are interchangeable.

I wouldn't say there are any really major drawbacks to the SuperMags, and credit to Remington for keeping them compatible with accessories and barrels for other 12ga models, but there are a couple minor items to think about. It's enough that I generally recommend folks stick with a normal Magnum model unless they specifically see a need for the 3.5" shells.

[Mb1500]

With the majority of the internals being the same, would it be safe to shoot a 3.5" shell in a normal 870 (with a 3.5" chambered barrel, of course). I know it won't eject and the barrel will probably have to come off to remove the shell, but I'm just talking about the safety of firing the round out of the regular 870 receiver.

[Synchronizor]

Maybe. The geometry of the barrel's locking recess and the bit of the locking block that engages it should be the same for both standard 12ga 870s and SuperMags, given that the barrels are interchangeable. Unless there're differences in heat treatment or supporting structures that I'm not aware of, the gun's lock-up will probably be able to handle the moderate increase in pressure. Remington's sure to say not to do it, though, and you can probably kiss your warranty good-bye.

However, that really wouldn't be practical even if the gun was strong enough. Just getting one shot off would be a major pain in the butt. Even relatively short-crimped 3.5" shells don't like to feed in a normal 870 receiver; the carrier jams half-way up, and you have to stick a finger in there to get the shell lined up with the chamber. For shells crimped closer to the SAAMI max crimped length of 3.155", you may need to take the barrel off completely to load the shell. And you'll definitely have to take the barrel off to get the fired hull out, even 3 1/4" hulls are too long to be ejected.

If you want to be able to shoot 3.5" shells, just go with the SuperMag model.