Ok since i'm a future college student, my gun projects (a painted stock) have been severly limited, due to expenses. So i was doing some thinking during one of my classes the other day, wondering if i could make an excuse for a gun project in the future that i can use while i'm at college. (Btw, the school i'm going to has an on campus gun storage room) anyways, i was thinking of the oppurtunities to hunt ruffed grouse and snow shoe hare and have selected my guns that i'll be bringing up there. My 870 and my Marlin 981T .22. the woods up there are fairly thick and was thinking a shorter barrel for the 870 would be a good option. As of now, i've talked to the local gunsmith and got a quote from him. he'd shorten a barrel for me and add a screw in choke system for $95. I'm also looking to buy a used, even rusty, barrel for it so i don't have to cut down my good one. is this a good idea or not?

Also i found a good deal on a scope to play around with on my Marlin for the summer. it's a BSA mil-dot 3-9X40. with sun shade. it makes my .22 look like a midget on it, but it should be fun. i'll get pictures on eventually. I know this is way over kill for a .22 but i couldn't resist the deal i got on it.

If you can get a real deal on the 870 barrel, that is a VERY feasible idea, and wise, to boot. Even wiser is if the barrel has enough mass to take the regular Remchoke tubes, probably NOT likely, though.

Long ago and not far from here, I picked up a S&W 3000 pumpgun, (a Howa 870, basically) very nice gun, and more refined than a Remington (Remington ended up copying some features from it) It was new, but unissued police gun, with a 20" barrel, so I had it tubed. Made an early version of the 870 Turkey gun, before Remington did it. It was a handy thing, too.

I will offer no opinion on a BSA scope.

glenn, i was worried about the heftyness of the barrel, being thick enough to take a choke. i don't quite know if i'd want a cylinder barrel though. i could settle for it i guess, but i like the versality of a choke system, without a doubt. i'll have to look into it further. i thought maybe some of the older barrels that didn't have the vent rib on it would be a little thicker than the new ones, but my gunsmith told me that it'd be difficult to put a bead on a smooth barrel with a choke in it.
...and i know about the quality of BSA scopes, they most definately aren't anywhere near the top of the line, or even mid-line quality. I did figure it could handle the punishing blows from the mighty .22 long rifle though. haha. i really liked the cost for a rimfire scope and i liked the mil-dot reticle since lately i've been playing the longer ranges game at a metal spinning plate with the .22. that's what sold me on the idea. i can't afford top of the line stuff, or even the mid line stuff at this point. My .223 wears a Simmons and my .22 used to wear a walmart Tasco cheapo. it's an improvement from that little tube...that's for sure. Don't worry though, i'm aware of the BSA arguments.

Some Simmons are junk, the bubble-packed ones aren't much count, but I have three 44 Mags on my prairie dog rifles, and have no complaints at all. I won't run down a Simmons, those Whitetail Classics selling at Midway are good, too, even if the crosshairs are a bit coarse.

I don't know if the old Poly-Choke company is still in business, but it might pay to google them up and check them out. They had a nice bead already installed on the choke assembly.

Even if you can't get a barrel to accept Remchokes, there are special thin-walled choke tubes made just for this kind of scenario, Colonial is one brand, Briley makes the best thin-walled choke tubes, but they charge more money. You have several options there, so it WILL happen if you can find the coins.

The barrel thickness may be a concern. The gunsmith should know if there is enough metal to rethread it or not ahead of time. I recently had my 11-87 shortened from 26" to 21", best thing I ever did and mine was thick enough to rethread for use with the original tubes. I really like it this way, very handy and fast pointing. You can always pick up another long barrel someday if you ever decide you want one.

i've been thinking it over lately, and thanks to the guys on here. i decided i'd use my smoothbore slug barrel with rifle sights instead. i don't like the sights, but i might just get used to them if i practice with moving and arial targets. i like my simmons but decided to give the BSA a try. simmons is about the top of my price range, and now that i'm trying to save a few the BSA was all the better. it might come back to bite me later, i've been warned about that so it's half expected. it's just something to play around with for awhile anyways. i didn't really like the idea of having to spend money on a set of new chokes as i'd like to stay with my rem chokes. easy enough that way. i'll keep looking around for a thick used barrel though. i guess ya never know what i could find. i'll get pics on here of the .22 looks like after this weekend. the hardware came in the other day at the gun shop so i'll spend some time installing the scope this weekend...any more ideas from people???

Hunter Otto,
You might want to make your way to St. Paul on March 21 & 22 (next weekend). There is an annual gun show at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds in the Coliseum. It's the biggest one of the year. I usually get there on Saturday at 8:00 a.m. and don't get through it all until 1:00 p.m. or so. I found a new Rem. 870 Remchoke barrel there a few years ago. A guy was converting new 870 express shotguns to slug guns and he had a bunch of new takeoff barrels. There's usually all sorts of barrels for sale though. You might find a barrel that works for you. Here's a link to the map of the fairgrounds. You enter on Snelling Avenue. Minnesota State Fairgrounds Map . Let me know if you need directions.

p.s. Looks like your about 50 miles west of the fairgrounds. Here's a link to the directions on MapQuest:
Lester Prairie to MN State Fairgrounds

thanks fellow Minnesotan! i appreciate that. i'll have to see if i can get down there... this weekend is supposed to be pretty nice so i'm gonna try and get some shooting done. haven't sat down on the bench for a good shoot in quite awhile. so i'm a gonna mount my new scope and have at it! will you be going to that gun show?

Yes indeed! It's an annual event for me. I get together with a few buddies. We get up early, put on the steel-toed boots and get in line before the show opens. If you can't find what you want at that show, you probably don't need it.

alright very cool. I'm not sure if i'll be there or not, but i'm kinda hoping to. Is it only in the colleseum building? or does it spread to others?

Just the coliseum. But, if you haven't been there before, it's a huge building. The center of the coliseum is the arena where they have the horse shows during the state fair. That entire arena is filled with display tables. Then the outer ring around the arena (the rest of the building) is filled with tables too. I move through the show pretty quickly and it still takes a good four to five hours to get through it. There are bigger shows in the United States, but this is probably the biggest show in the 5 state area.
If you go, bring a backpack to carry all those little things you never thought you needed, until you found them at the show and then bought them!

thanks for the infomation, i've been to the coliseum before, it would be a huge show! i think that i'm going to be passing this year and maybe get to it next year...:-(