I purchased a Remington 870 Express Tactical Shotgun several months ago. The shotgun was very accurate using the iron sights and I was shooting excellent groups with slugs at a 100 feet with out any trouble. After zeroing the shotgun I wanted to make some improvements. The default stock on the Remington 870 Tactical Express was pretty awful. The shotgun kicked like a mule and I started to flinch after less than a dozen rounds. I was very happy with a Speed Feed stock that I purchased for my Mossberg 590 over 10 years ago so I decided to get one for my Remington 870 as well. I initially was going to go with the pistol grip Speed Feed III stock but after reading reviews stating that the grip was better suited for larger hands I decided to go with the Speed Feed I stock which holds four shells, two on each side.
In addition to the stock I added a six shell TacStar Sidesaddle shot shell holder and your average run of the mill sling. The only thing missing on the shotgun was a flashlight. I’ve tried the Elzetta Tactical flashlight mount that I used on my Mossberg 590 but it pinched the magazine tube and bound up the spring and prevented proper loading of the shells. I considered one of the Sure Fire fore grips but the battery life on the flash lights is abysmal. The short battery life span plus the price tag on the Sure Fire fore grip, around $400, made me look for another solution. I’m considering several different options but I have not made up my mind just yet.
After I installed the stock and shot shell holder I took the shotgun to the range and put about 50 rounds of slug and 00 buck shot through it. The Speed Feed stock reduced the felt recoil of the shotgun noticeably. The stock 870 was pretty light weight with 6 shells in the magazine tube. After putting on the after market accessories I could keep 16 shells on/in the gun. The additional weight was noticeable but because of the placement the shotgun was still well balanced.
The 870 Tactical came with a factory installed 2 round magazine extension, picatinny rail and an intimidating tactical choke tube. The tactical choke kept coming loose through out my time at the range. I found myself constantly tightening it and checking to see if it was in tight enough. I could put a drop of blue loctite on the threads but for a defense weapon and the occasional trip to the range I’m not going to bother. With my sparse additions I could store the shotgun with 16 rounds at the ready in case of an emergency. I have the shotgun loaded with Winchester 12-gauge Supreme Elite PDX1 shells and in case a home defense situation arose I believe it would more than suffice.
See the pictures below of the groups, the stock shotgun and the shotgun after the accessories were put on.
Stock Remington 870 Tactical Express
Remington 870 Tactical Express with Accessories Left Side
Remington 870 Tactical Express with Accessories Right Side
Remington 870 Tactical 15 Meter / 45 Foot Target
Remington 870 Tactical 33 Meter / 100 Foot Target
