Although I'm not sure I like them.....
First, I had to take off my Side-Saddle, and if there's ONE thing they really drilled into us during Tactical Shotgun I & II, it's that you GOTTA keep the thing FED!
Shotguns have a devastating amount of power and speed, but they go through ammo like nobody's business. Even though I wore cargo pants during the drills, and had my pockets stuffed full of shells, there were still times I needed the extra six shells the Side-Saddle provided. And it was a good place to keep slugs so that when we did the "Select-A-Slug" drills, they were right there, separate from the other ammo I had on me.
The rail device I added is a UTG "M87 Shotgun Tactical Mount", and it's made very well. It's notched along the top of the rail, supposedly so you can use your existing front sight, but I think at any distance beyond across-the-room, it would throw your aim point off. I'll try it at the range with the sight removed to see if I'm right.
And it sticks up far enough that I can look under it, and use the flat on top of the receiver, and the front bead sight, just like I'm used to using.
The first sight I put on it was a another UTG product, their SCP-DS3039W Red/Green Dot sight. I'm not sure if this is a "proper" sight for a shotgun, as it seems to have a more restricted field-of-view, but it was a good price, about $50.
The next sight I put on it was an "NcStar D4B 4 Reticle Reflex Sight" that I got on eBay for about $50.
This is more to my liking, as it's more "open", and I think target acquisition would be faster.
The problem as I see it now is that BOTH of these sights stick up really far compared to using the flat on the receiver and the front bead sight, and when I bring the gun to my shoulder and get a good plant on it, I've got to really look up to use them.
I won't know how badly this messes up the way I've been trained to use the gun, and I hope I can relearn sighting it properly, as I think almost anything is better than the "sights" the 870 comes with!
If I don't like / can't adjust to using these, I'll pull them off, drill and tap the top of the receiver, and get some ghost ring sights for it.
And yes, that poor guy *is* rusty! I had no idea it had that much surface rust on it until I looked at the flash pictures.
I'm embarrassed that I let it get that bad. I guess that what happens when I keep it in the bedroom, and the window is open at night.
Guess I'll get to learn about rebluing "Real Soon Now"!
drjim: The sights u r now using will cause u to lift your check off the stock. I shoot a Rem 1100, for deer here in Iowa,(shot guns only), I use a Tasco Pro Point II, with a T-Dot retical. I, have found that I, can maintain a better check weld with an adjustable stock (cheek piece). I shoot running deer with my set-up, it works !
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what I see happening.
ReplyDeleteAnd we KNOW not having a good plant on a shotgun can be painful!
I put a 'youth' stock on it to match my length-of-pull better, but I'll look into getting a different stock like you have.
Do you have a rifled barrel on your 1100? I put a rifled barrel and a Nikon scope on my 1100 a couple of months ago, and turned it into a full-time slug-gun. There's some posts here on it, but since I don't tag things, you'd have to look for it.
I like simple solutions like Tritium front sight for the Remington 870. Holographic sights need batteries and you need time to switch them on. Also, cheap red dot sights can let you down in the most unexpected moment.
ReplyDelete