Take Your Remington 870 to the Next Level With These Accessories
OutdoorHub Reporters 08.08.18
The Remington model 870 pump shotgun is one of the most popular shotguns ever made. Common with law enforcement, military and sport shooters, it is one of the most ubiquitous shotguns in America. Because of this wild popularity, an enormous aftermarket for parts and accessories have sprung up.
It is possible to rebuild your Remington 870 into everything from an upland hunting gun, to a tactical shotgun with removable magazines. Heck, there are even clones made in China that are sold at low prices in discount stores. The Remington 870 is just that popular. But what are the best Remington 870 accessories, and how do you select them?
We decided to pick a popular accessory from several different categories; tactical, target shooting, home defense, and hunting. These four popular accessories represent some of the best, and most common of their type, and are sure to make any Remington 870 stand out from the crowd.
The Best Remington 870 Accessory – Tactical
This TacStar rail mount and side saddle may be one of the best Remington 870 accessories you encounter. Now let’s take a closer look for a moment. There are TONS of tactical accessories for the Remington 870. So many in fact, it would take tens or hundreds of thousands of words to go over the best ones. So when considering what the best one for our purposes was, we decided on maximum utility. Because tactical is as much a type of operation, as well as an aesthetic and a function, we settled on the TacStar mount because it provided a Picatinny rail for mounting a red dot, a six shell side saddle, AND allows for the use of the factory bead sight. This makes it an ideal tactical accessory, as it combines two important and common tactical upgrades, into a single, no gunsmithing required product.
The Best Remington 870 Accessory – Target Shooting
One of the first rules of a sporting shotgun is that it has to fit you well. Typically this has meant custom fitted stocks, which can be very expensive, and make selling the gun harder, unless you find somebody with the same length of pull.
Or you can get an adjustable stock and call it good. Magpul has long been famous for innovative approaches to common problems. Adjustable between 12.3 and 14.3 inches, with a tall, rounded comb, the Magpul Remington 870 stock provides an instant, customized fit to the shooter, while also offering a unique design that makes gun handling easier than ever before. While not as sexy as a classic wooden stock, and certainly not pretty to look at, if you are putting together a target shooting gun, this might just be the best Remington 870 accessory for you to start out with. As an added bonus, this stock only weights 1.5 pounds, making it crazy light too.
The Best Remington 870 Accessory – Home Defense
The main rule for a home defense shotgun is to have a loaded shotgun. Shotguns are great equalizers and have a long and rich history as defensive weapons in American history and culture. Part of that is because of the awesome close quarters firepower they deliver. Another part of that is the fact you don’t need an overly fancy gun to do effective work. However, experts agree on a few things. Shorter barrels are better than longer barrels, and you probably need some sort of weapons light.
Assuming you have an easy handling Remington 870 with an 18” or so barrel (or shorter if you can legally get away with it!), then adding this SureFire dedicated forend makes a lot of sense. Not only is it more comfortable and ergonomic than the stock forend, it features a powerful weapons light that will not only light up the night, but dazzle and blind home intruders, possibly sparing you the need to pull the trigger. This high quality, carefully thought out light has got to be one of the best Remington 870 accessories for home defense.
The Best Remington 870 Accessory – Hunting
Remington 870 shotguns are popular for hunting bird and big game alike. Depending on what kind of barrel and choke tube you are using, you can take anything from larger game to grouse with this gun, which makes choosing the best Remington 870 accessory for hunting hard.
But you figured it was probably going to be choke tubes didn’t you? Short of switching to a longer barrel or a rifled barrel, nothing can transform your hunting shotgun like a choke tube. This three pack of Remington branded choke tubes quickly turns your shotgun into everything from a bird gun, to a slug gun. This pack of choke tubes should handle any common hunting task you might have. Pair with a nice 22 or 26” barrel gun and you’ve got a real winner that will take most anything you might find in the woods.
Conclusion
Asking what the best Remington 870 accessories are, is like asking what the best color is. It is literally impossible to answer, and somebody will always disagree with you. However, there are accessories which stand out above the crowd, or offer high levels of enhanced utility, and those are what we chose to focus on. Equally importantly, adding any one of these accessories to your Remington 870 is a surefire way to quickly expand the utility of your gun. And in the end, that’s what matters.
