Thinking of threading my 20" 870 barrel

[John A.]

Guys, I'm seriously thinking about threading my 870 barrel to accept different chokes.

The barrel that is on the gun is a 20" with an open choke on it.

I mainly got it just before my Grandson was born in hope to someday give to him. The short barrel would handle well for a teenager or young adult. Or anyone for that matter. Especially hunting in the woods where we live as a brush gun.

And later on, would also work well someday to protect his family.

Until that time, I wouldn't mind using it to hunt with myself to be honest

I don't need a 28, 30, or 32" barrel to hunt with.

I tried to get one of the factory threaded barrels from Remington when they were on sale back in December, but they didn't ever list an 18 or 20" threaded barrel.

I checked the OD of the barrel and it clocked in at .892

I think that's plenty of meat left over to thread.

Oh, while I'm thinking about it, it has a ramped front bead (meprolight night sight) so I don't have to worry about the bead threading interfering with anything or having to move it farther back on the barrel to accommodate the choke threads.

So, since I already have the barrel and have a buddy who owns a reamer and tap, anyone know of a reason why I shouldn't? Thoughts?

[Scorpion8]

Can't think of any reason not to, if it solves the issues that you mention. There are a LOT of lightly used barrels on GB and eBay also, if you want to keep the original one. Or I offered one to a member in this thread (viewtopic.php?f=28&t=2913) that I'd make you a great deal on. It is longer, but the compensator should help younger shooters.

[Synchronizor]

A barrel with screw-in chokes needs more maintenance and is less durable than a fixed-choke barrel. You also may need to periodically check and re-tighten the tube if you're shooting a lot. So, there are those minor trade-offs. Otherwise, interchangeable choke tubes are really nice to have on a multipurpose gun.

[John A.]

I don't mind checking the choke every now and then. I usually do that before I take them hunting or shooting anyway. I have a couple of choke wrenches hanging on the back wall of my safe just for that.

The barrel currently has an open choke (cylinder-whichever you prefer to call it).

Good for slugs and buckshot (defense and deer/bear hunting), bad for small game hunting with smaller shot. Being able to throw a full choke or xtra full choke would make it a much better squirrel or rabbit gun. Or modified for bird hunting.

With the shorter barrel, would work great in my corner of the Appalachian mountains where the hills are steep and rough with a lot of undergrowth.

Having a gun that I can use (or especially my Grandson) for anything is just better all around to me.

This would give him something that he can learn and grow with, and put food on the table and protect his family later all rolled up into one.

[John A.]

Scorpion8, thank you very much for the offer. It is genuinely appreciated.

I think that I'm going to just use the barrel that is on it. I'll only be out some time to ream and thread it, and a few dollars for a choke or two. Matter of fact, I have a 3 choke set saved on my watchlist on ebay still in the wrapper for under $5 if nobody bids on it between now and the auction ends tomorrow morning. I'm just waiting toward the auction end to bid so nobody tries to bid snipe me or the sellers don't try to run the bid up to try to squeeze a few more dollars out of them.

[Synchronizor]

While they're a bit more expensive, what I've come to really like are extended choke tubes. They supposedly pattern a bit better due to a longer conical section or a conical-parallel geometry or something, yadda yadda. What's actually nice about them though is that the extended knurled bit gives you something to grab onto, so you can install and remove them without tools, and without shoving your finger down your shotgun barrel. Also, the extended bit provides a place for the constriction to be clearly marked, and protects the muzzle of the barrel somewhat in case you whack it against something.

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[John A.]

Yes, extended chokes are nice for those reasons.

My O/U has one extended choke (the other choke is flush, but I patterned the gun and this was the best combination). I didn't really concern myself that it looks a little goofy The important thing is it patterns excellent with either barrel

The only people that have complained about it, were the ones that it beats during card shoots while putting the most pellets on the card

My semi auto Charles Daly also has a few extended chokes. The one that is in it right now is the Primos Tight Wad choke. At 25 yards, it'll tear a squirrel in two. I have to restrain myself from pulling the trigger if I think I'm too close. That's a hard thing to teach yourself to do. I really should just get a full choke for it.

[efriedrich]

Mostly I hunt with short Remchoke barrels on my 870's which I purchase from Remington which can be pricey and availability can be hit and miss. I have been wanting to try this myself and look forward to following your progress, please keep us updated. I copied this from Carlson's Choke Tubes website. Looks like your barrel has enough diameter for what ever you want.

MINIMUM OUTSIDE BARREL DIAMETER MEASUREMENTS FOR CHOKE INSTALLATIONS:
12 gauge lead shot and steel shot system .825
12 gauge lead shot system only, no magnum loads or steel .805
20 gauge lead and steel shot system .700
10 gauge lead and steel shot choke system .890

[John A.]

Thanks for adding carlsons chart. That is real helpful.

Inside diameter was .739", which is technically a negative choke rather than cylinder I guess it probably started out as a cylinder choke and throwing a lot of slugs over the last 30 years has just worn it down

And now that I took the time to check the choke size and seeing what it is, reinforces my determination to do this. If I were to use a skeet choke for slugs and buck, may even improve how the gun shoots as it is.

I won an ebay auction for two new in box Invector/Mossberg/HR/NEF chokes in SKEET and XTRA FULL for $7 delivered. That should give me a good start after I finish the project.

[John A.]

Just a little update.

My buddy mailed the reamer and tap threader last Saturday. It may get here tomorrow, but I probably won't be able to work on it for a little while longer. I've had a pretty bad respiratory infection that has been kicking my butt for almost a week now.

The reamer that I am going to use is for the winchoke though, rather than the remchoke. While I know that it's not the correct chokes for a Remington barrel, It won't really matter because either type of chokes will work, but he doesn't have the remchoke tap.

This will give me a better availability for chokes, and cheaper too in the long run so I don't see that as a negative.

The winchoke tap will work with chokes for Winchester, Mossberg, H&R, NEF, and Browning Invector that I know of off the top of my head.

Besides the skeet and extra full choke that I won from ebay, I got digging around through my stuff, I found a bunch of other chokes that I can use in it too. An improved cylinder carlson, HS strut undertaker, kicks gobblin thunder, and Winchester full choke.

I should be able to find a combination that will work alright regardless of what I'm hunting, or how.

This should breathe new life into the old barrel.