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Looking at an 870, worried about reloading speed


BoHeck

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I'm looking to get a setup for Heavy Metal and have an opportunity to get an 870 for relatively cheap. Can't find much about reloading it using quad and twin loading styles. I currently shoot a 1301 and load twins. Will I still be able to do this without a problem with the 870's 3" chamber? Or is there a better shotgun that's much better suited. I am aware of the Super Nova but not sure it's worth the premium over the 870.

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I run an 870 only because I had one in the safe. It's very easy to quad on once it is opened up, and trust me there is a lot you can open on one. I did have to sand down the fore end a lot, it would hit my hand and fumble the second set of shells.

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None of the pump guns is perfect. Winchesters can't be opened up much for fast reloads. Super Novas are easy to short stroke. 870's are simply not the quality they once were. At this year's HeMan Nats, half of the heavies were running 870's. I saw one and only one of the 870's make it through my all shotgun stage without malfunctioning. A few guys short stroked they're Novas, but none of them malfunctioned. The 3 Winchesters I saw ran well too.

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None of the pump guns is perfect. Winchesters can't be opened up much for fast reloads. Super Novas are easy to short stroke. 870's are simply not the quality they once were. At this year's HeMan Nats, half of the heavies were running 870's. I saw one and only one of the 870's make it through my all shotgun stage without malfunctioning. A few guys short stroked they're Novas, but none of them malfunctioned. The 3 Winchesters I saw ran well too.

Must have been my 870! I did not have a malfunction during the entire He-Man Nationals match running my trusty old 870. However, If you were including mental malfunctions then...

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I think in some ways our 870 is easier to quad load than my versamax..... (But the port has been opened up quite a bit). I shot it at Heman Nats. Its biggest problem (aside from operator malfunction ?) was ejecting spent slug hulls. Almost had to beat the thing open....

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I think in some ways our 870 is easier to quad load than my versamax..... (But the port has been opened up quite a bit). I shot it at Heman Nats. Its biggest problem (aside from operator malfunction ) was ejecting spent slug hulls. Almost had to beat the thing open....

Try a different brand of slug. My Super Nova does not like Rio shotshells, they act the same as your slugs. Estate or Herter's shotshells are just fine.

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I am sort of late to the party, but I will echo the Nova/Super Nova thing. I grew up shooting 870s hunting, I still have three of them. Mine were made in the 50s and 70s, I had one made recently and it was not near as smooth as the older ones. I have had my butt kicked in 3 gun matches by people using 870s before also.

I shoot a Nova and really like it, it fits me (important, no adjustability in a Nova), I like the trigger guard area of a Nova better than a Super Nova, and the Nova is $100 cheaper. I have used mine since 2010 and put several thousand rounds through it. It is basically stock, I have added a longer fiber front sight, a Nordic tube, stoned the action bars, opened up the loading port a little and drilled a hole in the stock for a sling. If I already had an 870 set up for 3 gun, I would use it, if I were going to have to spend any money at all on outfitting one (other than buying a tube), I would spend the money for a Nova or Super Nova. It will be one of the cheapest investments in Heavy Metal equipment that you can make.

My favorite pump shotgun to shoot is a '97 Winchester, the small round fore end and thin wrist of the almost straight stock feel good and it points well. Mine was built in 1923 and puts a smile on my face every time I pick it up. These days, it only gets used for Turkey shoots (32"full choke), and still puts food on the table.

Hurley

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Any shotgun is ok.

Look at Shotgun World Shoot results: almost everybody in top ten Standard Manual were shooting Supernova or Nova. #5 Artem Mashechkov with half-Nova half-Supernova hybrid, #8 Pavel Orlov, Remington 870. I'm #9 with Winchester 1300. WunderFinns (gold, silver and bronze medals) - all Supernovas.

It's more about shooter than gun.

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