[MentalParadox]

Hey there. I bought a remington 870, but it turned out it had a 28" barrel. As buying a new barrel is illegal in my country, I have no choice but to buy magazine extensions to make the mag tube equal in length (or *slightly* shorter) to the barrel. I want them to be equal because I find it aesthetically pleasing. I was wondering, what extension should I buy? It's a 5 (4+1) shot shotgun with a pretty long barrel, so probably more than 5, I guess.

Also, it's a black express synthetic. It'd be nice if the extension was black too.

 

[MentalParadox]

What country are you in, and Welcome to the forum!

Thanks =)

I'm from Belgium. Compared to the States, we have pretty strict gun laws.

 

[MentalParadox]

Oh man, I got it wrong. It's a 26" barrel. So I guess there's no extension that fits the 26" perfectly? What a shame.

I'm still pissed that the guy I bought this gun off ordered the wrong shotgun from Remington. I wanted the 870 express synthetic 7-shot 18" (with the 2-shot extension included). But he "misunderstood" (and denies it) and bought me this impractical behemoth.

 

[MentalParadox]

Cut the barrel back to 18 1/2".

That would be illegal. I'd go to prison for that.

 

[MentalParadox]

Tha sux.. I think id move away from belgium.

I wouldn't.

But let's not turn this into a political debate. I guarantuee you it wouldn't end well.

 

[MentalParadox]

In this post you state that you wanted to order an 18" barrel! So what's the deal? You can buy one, but you can't alter the one you have?

I need to request a new permit for a new gun, or for a new barrel. Legally speaking it's the same thing. And requesting a permit costs 120 bucks and can take up to 6 months. So no, I'm not too keen on that. Also, if I request a new permit; the government will get suspicious of my motives. They could ban me for life just for that.

 

[MentalParadox]

Ehr yeah, thanks. It's just that I don't think my country deserves to be bashed because of ONE law you don't like.

 

[MentalParadox]

I must admit that I did not know Belgian gun laws were so strict, after the events earlier this century I would have thought the gun laws would be modeled after Switzerland. Oh well, learn from history or repeat it.

With regard to your magazine extension tube, would your laws permit you to have a machinist fabricate one to fit your gun? You could have the length you want and out of the material you want (steel or aluminum) with any weight you want to balance the shotgun in your hands.
Just a thought.

Also, could you have the barrel cut in length and threaded for choke tubes? Your behemoth can be a very practical sporting/defense gun with a little careful work.

Yeah, we have had a few psycho's in the past few years that killed a lot of people. Gun laws have been getting worse with every incident, as legal gun owners are targeted (instead of people buying illegal weapons that are usually used in crimes) by our leftist government.

Both options are illegal.

But I think I've come to a decision. I'm gonna bite the bullet and get a permit for a new 18,5" barrel. Then I'll buy the +2 round magazine extension and tadaaa! I got my synthetic 7-shot

Actually, I think that's another question. Can I just replace the barrel with another one? Will it even fit? The man I order these parts is pretty clueless and I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up buying me an incompatible barrel...

 

[MentalParadox]

Almost surprised you can own guns at all at that rate. Yes, you can swap barrels, if you go that route do try for screw in chokes if available. Why the 18.5 barrel?
Seems that you would have to file paperwork before using a gun for defense.... Just curious about your intended use.

"Defense" is illegal. If you even DARE mention "defense", it's entirely likely you will get a ban from owning firearms for life. The only accepted (if you're lucky) uses for guns are sports (at a gun range, and ONLY there) and for hunting (if you can prove you're a professional hunter). You need lots of licenses and permits to prove both. It took me a year just to get a temporary license, which allows me to shoot, but NOT buy a weapon (only in .22).
Currently I have a license to shoot all categories of firearms, but you still need permits for every individual gun (a license and a permit are not the same, legally speaking).

I was under the impression 18,5" was a fairly standard length. The 26" is a nightmare for moving around indoors. It's just too long, and I'm not a very tall person (5' 6"). What would the choke do? My main goal is to get a 18" long barrel and a magazine that fits flush.

This is what I eventually want to get: http://www.remington.com/products/f...-870/model-870-express-synthetic-7-round.aspx

 

[MentalParadox]

I just looked around on the Remington site, and I couldn't find the 18 1/2" barrel. Seems like you can't order that one seperately. And if I can't find it, neither can the painfully incompetent store clerk.

 

[MentalParadox]

Bird hunting? I do no such thing. I don't even have a license for hunting =D

It's real simple. I wanted the 7-shot because:

1) looks nice because the magazine fits flush with the 18 1/2" barrel
2) self defense gun (I *want* it for this purpose, but list "sports" so the government won't give me a hard time). So yeah, I'm after a riot gun.

Because I didn't get the default 7-shot, I am trying to re-create it by installing the 18 1/2" barrel and +2 extension...

 

[MentalParadox]

But I'm not a bird hunter!

Sadly, modifying your weapon like that is illegal.

Oh, look. I'm going to try and return this thing, and then just buy the one I wanted. A mountainload of paperwork, but at least I'll get what I want.

 

[MentalParadox]

And you can also get a laser to add onto the end of your extension that looks like part of the extension so that extension that was 2" too short would look almost perfect.

Alas, lasers are also illegal.

But any long gun used inside is going to be hard to deal with. Sure it won't be as hard but the whole trick to HD is to have your firearm pointed the right direction in the first place. You don't want to be doing a sweep of your house unless you must. Find a safe zone and protect yourself from there. I have a spot where I will be hiding behind several major appliances (freezer, refrigerator, hot water heater, washer and dryer stacked on each other and a block wall with nothing behind it but dirt). There's a spot where I will be able to hide there and point my shotgun out a direction that will be safe to fire it (another block wall on the other side of the house with only dirt behind it). Nothing short of burning down my house is ever going to get me out of my "fort". If they burn you out there's no way to defend against that anyway.

Actually my weapon collection is built up from a survivalist perspective, not strictly home defense. In the latter case, you'd indeed be better off choosing a corner and sticking to it. However, the scenario I'm envisioning is a total collapse of society, due to shortages of basic supplies (food, drinkable water) or natural disasters. In this case, staying on the move and living a nomadic life would require you to be able to move around while armed.

 

[MentalParadox]

And in a situation like that are the authorities really gonna care if you take a hacksaw to your shotgun??

No, but then again society hasn't collapsed yet; and the government regularly and unexpectedly sends g-men to check out if gun owners arsenals are still legally OK. We're all blacklisted by default.

Anyhoo, I just visited the gun shop and picked my Glock 19. Also, I ordered the correct shotgun. I guess I'll just try to sell this other one.