My shop isn't much help...

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govmule84

New member
...encouraging me to buy a gun. I'm looking to blow some tax return money. I'd like a few specific things, but the shop doesn't seem to want to help me, and I haven't had time to go gallavanting all over the hillside finding a gun. Plus, the shops all seem to bust my stones here in the city - nobody hunts, and everyone keeps asking me why I want the setup I am asking after...

I've got my eye on a new shotgun. I want a 12 gauge. I do not want a semi-auto (not legal for hunting deer in my WMU, and I do not know how they work all that well.) Pump, single-shot, and bolt are all fine. I would like a one-barrel setup; I could be talked into two barrels if I had to be. But I'd prefer one.

I'm looking for a barrel that is 18-20 inches in length, non-rifled, choked no fuller than a Modified. I would also like that barrel to have rifle sights, so I can use the same gun for bunny, squirrel, deer, and wingy-thingies. I do not want a scope, nor do I need one - the area I am hunting provides for amazingly short shots (there's brush everywhere). I'd prefer wood furniture, but it's not a dealbreaker. I want that short barrel for HD duty, as well as the added ease of hunting with a shorter gun. I understand the difference, have had long-barreled guns, and prefer the shorties.

I wanted (or thought I wanted) a Remington 25015 - a Police Magnum that has nice wood furniture, and a smooth, Improved Cylinder 18" barrel. My dealer says they don't make that anymore?! (I know I can get an Express model, but I have heard they've had some QC issues as of late, and I like some of the features the P. Mag has. I don't mind dropping the extra coin.)I think he's BS'ing me, but whatever... maybe they really don't. But it is on their website.

So...does anyone have any suggestions? I'd really like an H&R topper, to be honest, but they don't have a model like I am after with rifle sights for deer. I don't have a local gunsmith that I trust to do an install for me, unfortunately. I have an old, old Eastern Field 12g. breakopen now that I love! It hunts just dandy, but I got it in poor condition, and it ain't getting much better. It's beat up, but works great. It has some pitting and dents, and the furniture is shot on it, so I don't want to spend much money on it, but if I could find a similar gun with rifle sights (mine does not have them), I'd be in business, probably for cheap! I really like how short and light it is, and the single shot guns tend to leave lots of money left over for ammunition! I'd even take a longer-barreled version, if it had adjustable sights, but I can't find me one...

Does H&R offer some sort of plain-jane Topper with a set of rifle sights on it?

Does someone else make something I haven't thought of?

Thanks!
-L.
 
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Mossy500

New member
Mossberg makes a great pump action 12G shotgun. they have many packages with different barrel lengths. Id recommend the 500A, but the 590 is pretty wicked too. and at the price they cant be beaten. I picked up my 20G for $215 at walmart here in WA, i believe the 12G goes for about the same price here. ad it comes with 3 choke tubes
 
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govmule84

New member
...on their website, it looks like the only shorty-barreled gun I can get has bead sites.

Why is a rifle-sighted, short, unrifled barrel so dang hard to come by?!
 
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Mossy500

New member
oh ya, sorry, i dont know of one with rifle sights.. you may have to get the professionally put on after the fact.
 
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the rifleer

New member
another vote for the mossberg 500. You can get them in combo deals with both a long vent-rib barrel and also 18.5'' barrel for less than $300. its super reliable and very durable and has a great reputation. I have one and love it.

If i didn't have my mossberg i would look into a benelli nova pump. Its also supposed to be a terrific shot gun.
 
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zippy13

New member
How about a traditional police Model 870P with 20-inch rifle sight barrel and wood stock, Order number 24888 -- it's the same gun as the 2-inches shorter 25015 you wanted?
 
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jlv08

New member
Your boxing yourself in with having one barrel to do all the things you want to do and I am going to recommend the Mossberg 500 pump with the two barrel set. you get a bird barrel and either/or rifled or smooth bore for slugs and buck shot.

Changing barrels is as easy as changing shoes.

Remington and NEF also make some nice offerings to fill your needs .

Please understand that these are suggestions and it's you who will make the final call on what you want.:)
 
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dalecooper51

New member
How about a traditional police Model 870P with 20-inch rifle sight barrel and wood stock, Order number 24888 -- it's the same gun as the 2-inches shorter 25015 you wanted?
Click to expand...

I agree with zippy and that was what I used to hunt with for a number of years. One thing with the police gun, at least the one I had, is that it has a heavy trigger pull. If I remember correctly, it is somewhere around 8 lbs. The wingmaster had a much better trigger pull (3lbs I think) and I ended up putting the barrel on the wingmaster.

Lived in Philly for way too many years and had the same experience at most gun shops down there. Take a 45 minute ride up to Montgomery or Bucks county. Lots of nice shops out there.

Take a look at gunbroker. There was a shop up in feasterville and another in Phonexville that were selling experienced looking police trade in guns. Most were just pretty ugly cosmetically, but in good mechanical shape.
 
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CajunBass

New member
My Mossberg/Sears pump came with two barrels. A 28" mod choke for shot, and a smoothbore, 24" rifle sight slug barrel. The slug barrel isn't choked though so it's not much good for shot. I doubt you'd notice much difference with the extra 4" of barrel. Frankly, I don't think I've ever fired the slug barrel, but might have years ago. I use buckshot for deer hunting and the 28" barrel is what I used.

Changing the barrel is about as hard as reloading the gun.

Why is it so hard to find what you say you want? Because there is no real market for it.
 
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Strazznah

New member
Get an older Wingmaster with a long barrel (28-30") on it and buy a 20" smooth, rifle-sighted barrel seperate. These aftermarket barrels are easy to find (Midway, Gunbroker, Cabelas). Then you will have everything you will want/need for around $300 or so
 
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PetahW

New member
How about thinking outside the box ? :p

How about this: In the early 1970's, three of my friends had low-to-no funds, but wanted to hunt deer with their smoothbore scatterguns. :)

Soooo, since I had several sets of Remington 700 "take-off" issue open sights, from rifles that customers scoped & wanted the sights gone - I epoxied them to my friend's barrels. :eek:

They're still going strong. :D

Today, even WallyWorld or Dick's (and certainly Cabela's) carries sets of clamp-on, screw-on, and sweat-on (glue) sights in gold bead & fiber-optic made expressly for smooth & vent-ribbed shorguns. :cool:

.
 
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ActivShootr

New member
NEF makes good single shots. If you want more capacity, go for the 870. You can buy extra barrels for both in just about any configuration you like.
 
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govmule84

New member
I suppose what I am asking for is a barrel that is 18-20", non-rifled, and rifle-sighted...and I don't really care what kind of gun that barrel sits atop, so long as it is manually operated. The Ithaca sounds interesting, but I'm betting my eye teeth that barrel is rifled.

The problem with buying ANY of the Mossberg/870 setups is that I would have to get at minimum, two barrels. (Unless I can find a shop willing to get me a police mag - There's no way they just stopped making those.)


Could someone tell me a bit about these sights that affix to a vent-rib?
 
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zippy13

New member
[SIZE=-2]Could someone tell me a bit about these sights that affix to a vent-rib? [/SIZE]​
There are two basic types: Fixed rear or adjustable rear, and they come in a variety of enhancements (rings, glow dots, etc.). Here's a starting point click for link
 
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