Picked up a police 870 wingmaster about 30 years ago. Not sure if it has a 18 or 20" barrel. It came with a cylinder bore and I had it tapped for choke tubes. Adding a mag extension gives an 8 shot capacity - which helps it swing better - (have to plug it for dove & ducks). I enjoy carrying an O/U. But after hunting pheasants, quail, dove, ducks, turkeys, and coyotes for many years, if I really want to be proficient at taking game...the 870 "Rooster Booster" is what I use. It is incredibly quick to get on target. It started out with a nice shiny finish. After the finish wore off and got a lot of "field character" I gave it a rattle can paint job.
A short gun is also a lot more effective than you think at a distance with the right choke tubes.

It all depends on what I'm doing. In the field I prefer a shorter barrel. To the extreme I have single shot H&R that I cut the barrel down to 18" and took a couple inches of the stock. It will breakdown and fit in a backpack.Itfits good in a spot in my sxs. Ive killed a deer and a turkey with it.
If i want to shoot fast give me a long barrel. My 3 gun shotgun has 28" barrel and a 30 inch tube. I can run 0.20 splits all on target. I can't do that with my shorter guns.

Stoeger M3K. Poor man's Benelli

nice , I have my eye on that new 940 Jm pro , but I don't see it happening this year.

That 940 looks pretty nice. I don't hear near the reliability complaints that I did with the 930.
My only hesitation is the receiver doesn't look to have enough meat in front of the loading port to allow me to open it up like I like to for quad loading. If you aren't quad loading (or just better at it than me) then the 940 is a pretty slick set up.

I always liked the way a longer barrel points and swings but back in KS i used to hunt quail with a guy who had and antique Petro Beretta with 24 in barrels and just about the time I would get a bead on a quail he would knock it down. A couple times I would switch to a 2nd bird and he dusted it too. I called him everything but a Caucasian

What slugs are you shooting out of it?

I'd like an original stagecoach gun.

Or the one Doc Holiday used.

Barrel arrived

not sure how it shoots , test that Friday.

but it sure carries easy.

I had bought a used 870 with a 20 inch slug barrel smooth bore I/C some years back got it used for a good price , used it some for deer hunting my brother used it on more deer than I did , mainly because his gun was so long and this carried so easily I also have a 24 inch slug barrel on my 500 that shoots slugs very nice so I used it , also a lighter gun

it was just darned handy to carry in the woods , but sort of limited with that I/C fixed choke

a little shipping and a trip to Carlson's choke fixed that it is now threaded for Rem-chokes as I feel it should have been all along.

shot deer a few pheasant and rabbits with it , seems a good proof of concept.

a concern going from long barrel shotguns is how much velocity are you giving up . it varies greatly by load but some were around 70-90fps less on some ammo going from 30 to 20 inches working out the % it is about 5-7% change by reducing 33% of your barrel length.

so it becomes a matter of is a 5-7% reduction in energy a big deal

so far I haven't noticed any difference in effect on game the rabbits I shot were nearly all pass through with #4 and the pheasant didn't seem to notice the shorter gun.

I may see about getting a chronograph at some point

last night I ordered up a 20 inch factory barrel from Mossberg so I will have a 28 and a 20 and it would be interesting to see the difference in 2 factory barrels same make same gun , however with the turkey guns out there and people still taking turkey just fine with 20 inch barrels it probably isn't much of a concern.

ability to swing and get on target don't seem to be an issue.

when you think about it a 26 inch barrel OU is really almost the same length to the bead as a 20 inch barrel pump.

I don't have a hunting dog so when we hunt we are the dog maybe that is why I like the shorter setup , also it is easier in and out of the truck

with no regulation to case in WI any more after Nov 2011 I just get in the truck with my gun , if I am the passenger I hold it if I am the driver it rests between the seats (unloaded action open in a vehicle) we have some spots where we can drive slow down lanes and hop out if we see pheasants in the lane (yes legal here) we get out load and stalk up to them. we do this after we have worn ourselves out pushing fields.

the pattern from the 20 inch rem choked barrel and the 28 inch rem choked barrel are indistinguishable using the same choke in each gun from the few side by side comparisons we have done.

With the 500 the new barrel was within a few dollars of what sending it off would have been and about half what a new gun would be

with the 870 I couldn't even find a 20 inch barrel with choke tubes at the time and I had this one and the patterns stunk so anything was an improvement.

buck shot seems to pattern well from the full choke compared to the i/c the full choke I run puts about the same pattern at 35 yards that the I/C did at 10 yards , I have tested buck out to 50 yards and while there are some pellets not where I would like I always have 2-3 within a couple inches of point of aim. hoping to use it calling coyotes some day.
as do the 4,5,6 for bird and rabbit loads.
I also have a turkey choke and have patterned some loads they look good to 40 yards but I haven't had the opportunity to shoot a turkey with it yet.
for slugs I have a rifled slug choke now and it does seem to make them group better


has anyone else tried going to a shorter barrel than 26-30 ?