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Turning an 870 Wingmaster hunting shotgun into a home defense weapon
- Thread starter cmshoot
- Start date
I have to disagree. I've worked with dozens of youths teaching basic shotgunning, and wingshooting. Any I've worked with some of the best teachers in the country doing the same.
Assuming a right handed shooter, typically a small framed person does not have the arm strength to properly support the shotgun forearm while actually shooting it. They let the gun "droop" which pulls it off the shoulder, which increases felt recoil. This can be observed in shooting exercises and on film. Shortening the stock will exacerbate the problem because it moves the balance point more forward of the trigger.
Putting weight in the stock moves the balance point rearward, and while the gun is heavier, it allows the shooter to control a higher percentage of the weight with the strong/dominant hand, which leads to a "tighter" hold and cheek plant, which reduces actual and felt recoil.
You are correct that doing this will slow the swing some. I don't advocate it for a day of quail hunting. But for shooting from a relatively static position with the adrenaline pumping, the handling characteristics won't be noticeable. There are a lot of dedicated trap guns that weigh in the neighborhood of 12-14 lbs and the shooters do better than o.k. A lot of sporting clays shooters add 2-3 pounds, because while doing so will slow the swing, it reduces recoil and smooths the swing out.
No sir, we are not talking about the same thing.
Trap/skeet/sporting clays/bird hunting IS NOT the same as running a defensive shotgun. The techniques are totally different, which is why I’m a great tactical shotgunner and a subpar skeet shooter.
When wingshooting, you swing that gun and keep it flowing. When using a shotgun as an anti-personnel weapon, the techniques are more in common with a rifle or a carbine.
A heavy gun that keeps on swinging smoothly is an advantage for fast moving, small targets, that you plan on shooting once. It is a severe handicap when trying to engage a human being, with the intent of applying more than one shot, or recognizing that you may have to follow up. It isn’t a sweep; you STOP the gun on target and apply the payload to a specific part of the target, like a carbine or rifle. Wide patterns are a detriment and we’re trying to keep buckshot in 8” or less, or using slugs.
I can’t imagine a worse HOME DEFENSE shotgun for a small-framed female than a long monstrosity that weighs 12lbs!
I don’t build shotguns for trap and skeet, and I don’t teach folks to shoot it, either. I teach folks to engage other folks. I know that subject exceedingly well, and I stay in my lane when talking shotgun skills.
Unless you have found a way to repeal the Newtonian laws of physics, the same principles apply to recoil reduction regardless of what discipline you are attempting.
That’s not what I’m talking about. I am not arguing recoil reduction. I am saying that there are ways to mitigate recoil to an acceptable level without screwing up the characteristics that one needs to run a DEFENSIVE shotgun well.
The techniques are totally different. Don’t apply wingshooting techniques to a person-shooting scenario, and vice versa.
A bird gun isn’t a defensive gun, and neither is a helo-mounted M60. For instance, at common home defense distances you would not lead a moving target; they are too close to require it. Your payload is closing the distance too fast when you’re talking about distances under 10 yards.
All guns have a tiny bit here and there that overlap, but guns that are best suited to a specific task don’t do very well at other tasks. Your trap gun would stink at room clearing, and my 14” Scattergun Tech 870 would be abysmal at trap.
Please start your own post discussing shotguns particular to your interests, and leave this post to tactics and techniques that are particular to defensive shotguns.
This back and forth exercise of mental masturbation is doing nothing but muddying the waters while we each try to impress folks with how smart we think we are
Well I think you're both smart, but I can't help but wonder if there's empirical evidence proving whether adding rear-end weight to a combat shotgun enhances or detracts from its effectiveness for smaller / weaker than average casual gun owners.
I've shot buttstock-weighted highpower rifles, and they didn't feel any "heavier" to hold while aiming in the standing position. They did feel better-balanced.
But of course I wasn't trying to track a moving target, or switch from one target to another as fast as possible.
I've shot buttstock-weighted highpower rifles, and they didn't feel any "heavier" to hold while aiming in the standing position. They did feel better-balanced.
But of course I wasn't trying to track a moving target, or switch from one target to another as fast as possible.
Wing shooting or defensive shooting either one I wouldn’t mind having this machine by my side. Great transformation on the 870 by the way!
