Introduction - my first 870

[TJD]

Greetings,
I just got my first shotgun, and as you can guess it's a Remington 870. All black 870 super magnum with a 26 inch barrel. Bass pro shops had a killer deal on Black Friday weekend

So I have a couple questions, and I'm hoping you guys can point me in the right direction

1.) i'm only familiar with handguns, I have a Glock and a Smith 357. The sales person was explaining a break in procedure to me for the shotgun, and stated that I should put 50 to 100 rounds through it before cleaning. Are there links to existing break and procedures on the site?

2.) I want this going to be kind of a jack of all trades. So like most people I want to put a 18 inch or 18 1/2 inch barrel on the gun. Why is it that with the 18 inch or 18 1/2 inch barrel I can only shoot 3 inch shells?

Thanks in advance for all the help

[Synchronizor]

Welcome to the forum.

1.) i'm only familiar with handguns, I have a Glock and a Smith 357. The sales person was explaining a break in procedure to me for the shotgun, and stated that I should put 50 to 100 rounds through it before cleaning. Are there links to existing break and procedures on the site?

You do want to clean a brand-new 870 before taking it shooting- the barrel especially. The barrel bore & chamber are coated at the factory with a grease that protects it from corrosion during shipping and storage, and if you leave that in, you can get jams. You'll also want to pull out the choke tube and make sure the threads are lubed, and pull your trigger plate assembly to make sure nothing got into it.

After that, get a hundred or two inexpensive but decent-quality target shells (Federal Top Gun or Remington Gun Clubs are both good), and go shoot the snot out of your gun.

2.) I want this going to be kind of a jack of all trades. So like most people I want to put a 18 inch or 18 1/2 inch barrel on the gun. Why is it that with the 18 inch or 18 1/2 inch barrel I can only shoot 3 inch shells?

Because 18.5" barrels are for fighting, and 3.5" super magnum shells are for hunting. You have some options for SuperMag turkey or varmint barrels in the 20" - 23" range, but if you want a proper 18.5" riot barrel, you'll need to either have a longer barrel cut down, or maybe have a shorter barrel re-chambered. I would just stick with the 3" chamber, personally.

[TJD]

Thanks for the help!