Henry Rifle Forums

One of my first guns was my Remington 870 Magnum with a 28" vent rib barrel and 3" chamber. I originally bought it for pheasant hunting. I am considering a replacement barrel to convert it into a more tactical home defense weapon. I'm thinking 18 to 18 1/2". Just wondering if anyone has done this and if so, what brand would you recommend? Remington, Carlson or Mossberg. Not sure if anyone else makes them. this would be a relatively cheap conversion in the $200.00 range, give or take a few bucks.

Mark, no clue sir, but
for twice that money you could just add this to the arsenal.

https://www.academy.com/p/mossberg-590- ... -114708613

RP

Vaquero wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 26, 2022 12:20 pm

Mark, no clue sir, but
for twice that money you could just add this to the arsenal.

https://www.academy.com/p/mossberg-590- ... -114708613

RP

Yea Randy, I wish, however without the help from my shoulder I might break my wrist.

Mark,
I haven't exactly done what you have, but I have ordered an 870 barrel from Mossberg. It was the 18 and 1/2" cylinder bore. I couldn't tell the difference between Remington vs. Mossberg. I even got a Mossber 18 1/2" cylinder bore barrel for my Mossberg 500 .410. That is a neat set up, but not very useful, at least to me.
I would look around gun shops too. I found a 20 ga. cylinder bore for my 870 as I didn't like looking for sabot rounds. It was not expensive as no one likes the non-rifled barrels anymore. You might find a used one plenty cheap.

daytime dave wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 26, 2022 2:10 pm

Mark,
I haven't exactly done what you have, but I have ordered an 870 barrel from Mossberg. It was the 18 and 1/2" cylinder bore. I couldn't tell the difference between Remington vs. Mossberg. I even got a Mossber 18 1/2" cylinder bore barrel for my Mossberg 500 .410. That is a neat set up, but not very useful, at least to me.
I would look around gun shops too. I found a 20 ga. cylinder bore for my 870 as I didn't like looking for sabot rounds. It was not expensive as no one likes the non-rifled barrels anymore. You might find a used one plenty cheap.

Thanks for your input Dave. I guess my next decision would be whether to get smooth or rifled, but if the smooth are not popular anymore then I guess there is a reason.

Mark, if you want home defense, a smooth bore can shoot buckshot and plain old rifled slugs. People have gone away from the smoothbore for shooting slugs as they feel the new rifled barrels are more accurate with the more expensive sabot rounds.
I shot sabot rounds in my rifled 20 ga barrel and plain jane rifled slugs out of the cylinder bore barrel. I found no appreciable difference when shooting free hand standing at 75 yds. I couldn't find sabots this year for my step son at the stores I go to. He eventually found some, but they are much more expensive.
The cylinder bore 18 1/2" barrel was my go to for grouse hunting in the Adirondacks. A savvy fellow at camp advised that you need all the advantage in the heavy cover the grouse are in there. Not swinging 6 more inches or so of barrel shaved time off getting on target for him and me too after I started using that barrel. I can shoot bird shot, buckshot and slugs from the same barrel. I would think it's good for home defense. I have never tried it, but I'm told you don't get good results shooting buckshot or regular shot from rifled barrels.
I should have stated all of this in my previous post, sorry.

The more I think about it, I think a smooth bore probably makes the most sense for me. I don't really hunt anymore and if I did, I would probably use my Henry. I could shoot rifled slugs or shotshells both with the smooth bore and would certainly be good as a defense weapon. Even if I found myself hunting again with the 12 ga. then I think the rifled slugs would work well enough.
Thoughts?
Oh, I also wonder if my original choke tubes would work in the replacement barrel. ( full, modified and improved ).