Hi I just got my new 870 12 Ga., and it's my first shotgun ever. Where I come from there aren´t shooting ranges or other places where I can ask, practice, etc. with other owners, so i'm pretty much on my own. The blog has been very helpful, it helped my deciding which shotgun to buy, I even bought the book at Amazon for my Kindle reader. (Also Synchronizor's yotube videos are really helpful). Now for the newbie question: how do i know if my receiver can use magnum shot? It has an M after the serial number, I think I read somewhere that it means it can, but I wanted to be sure.
Thanks and sorry for troubling you guys!
New owner question
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Synchronizor
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Re: New owner question
Welcome to the forum, and congratulations on your purchase. What model did you buy?
There are two things that limit what shells you can shoot in an 870, the receiver and the barrel. An "M" at the end of the serial number indicates a magnum receiver that can cycle 3" and 2.75" shells, so you're good there. For the barrel, it should be stamped on the side with its chamber size. All standard 870 barrels are interchangeable within the same gauge, so it's possible to install a 12ga barrel with a 2.75" chamber on a 12ga magnum (or SuperMag) receiver. If that's the case, you should only shoot 2.75" or shorter shells.
If this is a brand-new gun with the original barrel, you should be fine, the barrel will almost certainly have a 3" chamber to match the receiver. But if you got it secondhand, the barrel may have been switched at some point. Either way, it's good practice to know exactly what you have.
There are two things that limit what shells you can shoot in an 870, the receiver and the barrel. An "M" at the end of the serial number indicates a magnum receiver that can cycle 3" and 2.75" shells, so you're good there. For the barrel, it should be stamped on the side with its chamber size. All standard 870 barrels are interchangeable within the same gauge, so it's possible to install a 12ga barrel with a 2.75" chamber on a 12ga magnum (or SuperMag) receiver. If that's the case, you should only shoot 2.75" or shorter shells.
If this is a brand-new gun with the original barrel, you should be fine, the barrel will almost certainly have a 3" chamber to match the receiver. But if you got it secondhand, the barrel may have been switched at some point. Either way, it's good practice to know exactly what you have.
Re: New owner question
Thanks a lot! It´s a new 870 express combo, the barrel has a 3" capacity.
Thanks again!
Thanks again!