To the newest member of the family here at Casa de Analog.
His name is Darth Vader.
(click for big pic)
Vader is a Remington 1187 Special Purpose in 12 Gauge.
When I bought him he looked like this,
I purchased him from a gentleman named Kevin over this here interweb on the firearms auction site, GunBroker.Com. The description was exactly what I was looking for and the price was right. I emailed Kevin some general questions about the shotgun and placed my bid after getting a quick reply.
After winning the auction, I sent my money order and my gunsmith’s FFL and Kevin shipped it out. The gun arrived and I did my inspection and was happy to find that it was exactly, if not better than described. I had thought that the grain of the stocks was just a play of the JPEG, but it actually had two very nice pieces of walnut on it. I felt somewhat bad about taking them off and replacing them with black fiberglass/plastic, but then I realized I would only be taking the chance of damaging them in the future. If you would like them for your 1187 contact me, they are for sale to a good home.
I completed the required paperwork and stupid phone call and took the gun to the range for a functionality test; 2 3/4in light loads, heavy loads and 3in Mags all loaded and ejected with regularity and I took the gun home.
I have bought multiple items off GunBroker and haven’t had a bad experience as of yet. I suggest that all you gunnys at least take a look through and if you see something you like, register. Kevin’s seller name on GunBroker is Buggs and he is out of Kentucky, if you see something from that name, I would say you’ve got a good seller on your hands.
Now onto the aftermarket stuff;
Starting at the top, we have the EOTech Holographic Sight. As was shown in the link in this post, it has a 1MOA dot surrounded by a 65MOA circle. I am finding that this is just about the perfect sighting system for a practical shotgun as the dot serves as an aiming point for slugs and the circle is perfect for shot.
At 50yds, my extra full, vented, screw in choke (from this post) puts its pattern almost exactly inside the circle, 35yds for the ImpMod choke and 20yds for the ImpCyl as was shown on the pattern board at the range yesterday.
And this is my 50yd sight-in target for the EOTech. Done with slugs fired through a rifled RemChoke:
First shot, low and right, the next one was not so far right, then I overadjusted for height and then underadjusted for windage, fifth shot was right on and then the sixth was to make sure the last one wasn’t a fluke.
I’d say that’s “Minute of Goblin”, how about you?
If you decide to get an EOTech, which I highly recommend, spend the extra $30 to $50 and get the AA battery option. Not only does it mean that you can use a battery found at just about any store, it multiplies time of use between battery changes by seven, with the standard N Type batteries lasting around 50 hours and the AA Batteries lasting 350 hours.
Very Kewl!
The EOTech has passed the US Military use and abuse tests which, if I remember right includes either a six or ten foot drop test. So it is safe for both the Ranger Battalion guys AND us civilian klutzes.
Also very kewl!
Holding the EOTech onto the gun is a dual-side attached mount by Leupold with a Weaver rail. It is a see through mount and, while I cannot use the rifle sights on this particular barrel with the mount, I have a second barrel with a vent rib and dual-bead sight set-up on order that will absolutely work. Also, if the EOTech fails while I’m using the rifle sighted barrel, it can be removed with any flathead screwdriver type tool, or even a coin, so there are no worries.
The mount is a ‘Return to Zero’ type due to the fact that it has to be removed to access the trigger group. I used some blue Loc-Tite in the cross-bolt threads to keep the vibrations of use from loosening them. EOTech expressly and very loudly writes in their paperwork that your warranty is null and void if you use anything like Loc-Tite on the unit’s threads, so I just check the attaching bolt before and after I fire the gun.
The 9-Shot Magazine Tube Extension is by Choate. I have been less than impressed with their stuff before, preferring to use actual Remington mag tubes or Wilson Combat’s after market stuff, but no one else I could find makes a more stable extension past an 7-shot, so Choate got my money. It came with the sling swivel bracket that stabilizes the tube to the barrel.
Fit and finish of the parts was good and matched the factory finish on the 1187 almost perfectly. Unfortunately, Choate’s orange ‘High Visibility Follower’ was too large in diameter for the magazine tube and had to be ground down a bit before it was installed.
The walnut stocks I spoke of earlier were replaced by Speed Feed’s M-4 forearm and stock set. As I said just a moment ago, I have been unimpressed with Choate’s stuff so I took a chance with these guys. The rear stock length is probably going to be excessive for some if not most, but fits my long monkey arms perfectly. The pistol grip is wide and rounded and quite comfortable.
About the only drawback I noticed was that the protrusion on the front of the stock that locks into the back of the gun’s receiver is overly long and needed to be trimmed to fit.
The forearm is a bit narrower than the original wood, which is nice, though I could do without the fake checkering as I prefer grip groves like they put on the forearm for the Remington 870, but oh well.
I cannot remember who made the vented, screw-in extra-full choke because I bought a couple of them for my 870’s years ago, but it works like fork; screw it in and it makes a 3ft pattern of 00Buckshot at 50yds.
If you notice on the bolt, I have what retailers are calling the ‘Combat Bolt Handle’ by Choate. This should be standard equipment from the Remington factory on all but the most luxury (read: Pretty) 1100 or 1187’s. The stock bolt handle is smaller in diameter than the tip of my wife’s pinky finger and a bitch to work with the weak hand.
Sadly, Choate decided to forget that not everybody uses cantilevered barrels to mount their optics and the inside of the bolt handle was too wide and would contact the Leupold scope mount. A little dremel work and cold blue took care of the problem, but geez guys, if I wasn’t so careful when working on my guns, I could have gotten hurt.
And that is about it, for Darth Vader. The only additional improvements I have planned are the new barrel I mentioned earlier, cut down to 26in and a PolyChoke installed on it for two click choke changes, a 10 shot extension to ride under it and the “Easy Loader Carrier Release’ from Dave’s Metal Works, which I have, I just haven’t fitted it yet as my files are ‘missing’ from my tool box. Time to talk to the wife about tool etiquette.
I have used the Easy Loader before and it also should be standard factory equipment as well. The stock carrier release button is approximately 3/4 of an inch long and is a complete and total pain in the ass to hit when speed loading, especially if you’re running. The Easy Loader also keeps you from overshooting the magazine tube and hitting the receiver when loading, This piece does hang down about ¼ inch from the bottom of the receiver and can snag on things, but if you’re half-assed careful, it shouldn’t pose a problem.
I am also ordering a replacement for the stock bearing plate that has a built in sling swivel so I can attach a spare three-point sling from Specter I have sitting around from my Bushmaster shorty project.
BTW, the sale of my Bushmaster 20in rifle at that gun show last month paid for the shotgun and all of the accessories, minus the EOTech sight. I think I now have a weapon with better stopping power, better reliability and more functionality even if my range is cut in half. I have other stuff for the longer distances and while nearly everyone has an AR clone, how many folks have one of these?
What was the total cost for that setup?
Minus the EOTech and Leupold mount was around $550-575. Add around $400 of the Holo sight and mount.
A fine, dressy, urban combat shotgun.
That said, some caveats about Darth1187.
An armorer in my old po-lice dept bought one and after dressing it in a combat barrel, stock and sling, brought it to the range on a day that I was qualifying.
We had a little shotgun dance. I was the superior dancer with a Model 870, mostly because his 1187 wouldn’t digest much of the ammo he tried to feed it. It’s gas-operated system was set to operate on high-velocity loads (the old style), but several years ago, our department had moved to the lower recoil loads, and the 1187 wouldn’t eat even one of those and eject it’s hull.
It seems that the adjustment for varying the gas charge that the system uses wouldn’t adjust downwards (or was it upwards) enough to use the lower-vel ammo, so he was stuck using the older rounds. Afterwards, he told me that he could buy new system parts that would make the shotgun operate properly with the newer loads, but to me, that is a huge disadvantage, having to gut the system and change that compression ring (or whatever it is) in the field, if you acquire different ammo.
Shotguns are great, and in fact, my fave armorer, the EllTee, builder of my 1911, advises having several 870’s as one’s ONLY short-range long guns (and an M-14 as the long-range long gun – what’s not to like about THIS advice).
The 1187 seems, on it’s face, to offer the advantage of rapid fire, making it far superior to the 870, but considering it’s restricted appetite, I think that advantage is more than lost.
Oh, and you can get TWO 870s for what one 1187 will set you back. The EllTee’s advice would be to leave one as a hunting gun, to fill the meat commissary in the field, and convert the other to a combat shortie.
Also, curious that your experience with varied ammo was better than the one I witnessed. I wonder if Remington made some improvements, or if perhaps you have a gun that is older, made with more variation in gas pressure/volume allowed?