Hello from Northern Minnesota USA

[Zebra]

I've been lurking on the site for the last 4 months or so. Just registered today. My latest project is a 870 Tactical. I added Magpul SGA stock and forearm, GG&G follower, Wilson oversize safety and a TacStar sidesaddle. The custom paint scheme was done by Boyd at www.hillbilly223.com and came out pretty nice in my opinion. (it's gotta look good right?)

I'm thinking about a +1 magazine extension and one of the Streamlight rail-mounted lights. The gun fits well & shoots well so I'm not planning to add a top rail or any other sights. The only other thing I'm contemplating is whether to have the barrel ported and lengthen the forcing cone.

Is there anything else that I should consider?

[wheres the bears]

The Remington Super Cell butt pad makes it a lot less painful to shoot.

[Zebra62]

Welcome Zebra! Good to see another on the board and he has an Tactical also. How cool is that?

Looks like you are off to a great start. The custom paint looks AWESOME!!

[ponycarman]

Welcome! Excellent looking shotgun! I love the custom coating as well.

[MStarmer]

XS glue on big dot and the supercell pad. Best money I spent was on that pad.

[Zebra]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll have to take a look at the big dot sight for sure. After firing 40 or so rounds through this thing, I'm pretty happy with the recoil and the stock pad that came with the Magpul SGA stock so I'll probably stick with that. I'll run a few more boxes of ammo before I rule it out though.

I've been doing a little research on 1+ magazine extenders, that's the next thing on my list. Then I plan to send the barrel off for porting and forcing cones during my next vacation in October.

This place is great place for research, seems like folks have some pretty good ideas and offer experienced opinions. Glad to be here...

[MStarmer]

The Magpul pad is very good, just waaay too tacky. Trying to mount/dismount the gun it sticks to my clothing, the Supercell pad is slick and smooth.

[Automag]

Welcome Zebra, Great looking shotgun! Very cool paint job on your Magpul furniture.

[Synchronizor]

I second everyone else's recommendations for the SuperCell recoil pad; those things are amazingly comfortable.

The only other thing I'm contemplating is whether to have the barrel ported and lengthen the forcing cone.

I've never seen any convincing proof that a lengthened forcing cone makes a major difference, especially with buckshot loads, which tend to exhibit very individualistic patterning. You can take it or leave it, but I don't think a lengthened forcing cone really gets you much for the money in a defensive or combat shotgun.

The whole concept of porting a shotgun barrel is mostly snake oil in my opinion. Shotguns run at very low pressures and shoot very heavy payloads compared to handguns or rifles. A handful of tiny holes at the very end of the barrel (where pressures are the lowest) won't do much against the massive recoil of a 12ga shotgun. If you like the way it looks enough to spend the money, go for it; but there are plenty of options for low-recoil loads and quality recoil pads if you just want the thing to shoot softer, and those approaches won't limit the accessories you can install on the gun or annoy people next to you at the range.

[Vitaly]

Zebra, welcome to the forum! Custom painted stock and forend look great!