Scorpio64

If the barrel is over bored to remove the pits there will be no pits to fill. Just build up the bore with chrome and hone and polish it back to original specs. It would be a lot of work and probably very expensive. Not worth doing on an old H&R but on a better gun it may be a perfectly good solution.

This post renewed my interest in restoring an old barrel I have. After reading a few more how-to posts on other forums I got an idea. Probably expensive if done professionally but there may be a workable DIY way to do this if making a home electrolysis set up is possible. . Anyway, what about using chrome? If someone can figure out a way to cheaply chrome line a shotgun barrel, perhaps back bore the bbl, chrome line it and then hone the bore. Might just be crazy enough to work, or maybe just crazy, I dunno.

I had a nearly identical problem with a shotgun barrel a couple years ago. I scrubbed the hell out of it with a brass bore brush and Hoppe's #9, that got rid of all the rust. It was bright and shiny after about 20 minutes of scrubbing. Unfortunately there was a lot of pitting about three inches from the muzzle. A pitted barrel can still be used but it does something to the shot cup and kills patterns.You can try honing the barrel but it wont get rd of the pitting. Basically a pitted barrel is toast according the the three gunsmiths I talked to. I find it hard to believe in this day and age though. There's gotta be something that can fill the pits but even if there is the cost to repair my cheap shotgun barrel would not be justified.

The point I was trying to make has apparently been missed. The comparison is about handling, not weight. That and you dont get upset if a tank gets scratched or dinged but I've seen grown men practically cry when their $5,000 gun got a scratch. Let me be more clear so there is no doubt. A fine O/U will handle like a Ferrari whereas an 870 will handle like a tank.

During my experience with PSA I approached the issue in a calm and logical manner. Sent them a copy of the statutes regarding ammunition. They would not budge, did not even acknowledge the logical (and legal) soundness of the argument, every response was canned. I'll still buy from PSA, just not my favorite vendor anymore.

Ran into a similar situation with Palmetto State Armory last month, except PSA did not bother to contact me, they just held my order for almost two weeks until I finally called to see what's up. They asked me to send a copy of my FID since .22 long RIFLE is apparently handgun ammo. I told PSA to cancel my order. I refused to send a copy of my FID on principle. Cabelas does not require it because there is no legal requirement. So stupid. I can buy all the 5.56 I want from PSA but no .22lr without a FID. F that.

Fit and finish aside, the handling of both the Express and the Wingmaster will be about the same. It a big heavy gun to be swinging around all day shooting clays. I would not buy an 870 express today if it was 1/2 price. Got mine in 89, back then they came with solid hardwood stocks. It's a tank. But that's my point. For hunting, you want a tank. For clays, you want a Ferrari. You may not be unhappy with a Wingmaster, but I can tell you that you will probably be much happier with an O/U.

I know I'll be promptly corrected if this is inaccurate but the 870 Wingmaster is just a pretty 870 Express. I used to shoot skeet and trap with my Express and it was okay. I did it before hunting season to get back in the groove, not so much for fun or competition but it was enjoyable. Then one day I went out with a friend to shoot clays at Assunpink. He let me shoot his Citori Grade O/U. It was a magical experience. Now I'm not saying to run out and buy a $5,000.00 O/U but the difference between the two was like night and day. If you plan on just shooting clays, I strongly recommend an O/U. They are not as expensive as you may think. Some of the under $750 O/U's get great reviews. They are very much worth checking out.

Will there be LASER eyes too?

The 555 is a great IC with a million and one uses. Back when I worked at Bell Labs we used to make TV jammers with them. We had TONS of fun at sports bars.

Five Below has all sorts of LED party crap that can be had dirt cheap. You can also try some of the Dollar stores.

Massad Ayoob speaks very highly of Corbon ammo.

When I arrived there were four empty lanes and several more opened up after the cease fire. There were also two empty handicap lanes that remained empty as no handi's were shooting that day. If anyone has handicap plates or mirror hanger, you are in like flint virtually any time of the day.

Today was the first outing with my AR-15 SPR build. Actually, first time with an AR-15 ever. Took some time to dial in the scope (Sun Optics Shorty Forty AO). I can't say I'm in love with the scope. The focus changes a lot with the zoom and eye relief goes out the window on full 9x power. It's not bad on low power though. After I got it dialed in at 30 yds there were no more excuses. I really have to work on trigger control. While my groupings eventually became pretty good, shot placement was B-A-D, consistently low and to the right. I only got into HP rifles last year, bought myself a Ruger American .243 and the comparatively slow fire rate that goes along with bolt action practically forces self control. Semi-auto is too tempting to go pow pow pow...pow pow....pow pow pow. Next time out I'll have to work on hitting the black at 100yds. I will say that the groupings remained pretty good even after I heated up the barrel (18" stainless Rainier Match .223 Wylde) with multiple the three round bursts. The FF tube became toasty warm, not hot enough to burn my hand but hot enough to be uncomfortable. I think some shooting gloves will go on my shopping list. I shot two kinds of ammo, Lake City XM855 62gr green tips and Igman M855 62gr green tips. LC ammo smells like cat piss. For some reason LC ejects at 5 o'clock and Igman ejects at 3 o'clock. wtf is up with that? Furthermore, I didn't bother to keep track of which ammo I used on which targets so it's impossible to say if one shot better than the other. Lastly, there was a glitch. For some reason the last round out of the mags did not want to chamber. I suspect it has something to do with the AR Stoner 15/20 mags, maybe a problem with the followers but I'll have to research that. Other than that one hopefully minor issue things went well. I let another more experienced shooter in the lane next to me fire off a full magazine and he said the rifle was sweet and pretty much dead on at 50 yds.. I'm not very experienced with shooting rifles, life long shot gunner turned center fire geek just last year, so I apologize for this poorly accounted range report, but, it was my first time out with my new toy and too excited not to share the experience.

Got there today around 2:00, waited about 15 minutes.

Barrel selection is the single most important decision when building a rifle. Determine what your rifles purpose in life is, choose a barrel accordingly and build around that. You can slap together virtually any combination of parts and end up with a working rifle, but will it be the rifle you want? Nothing wrong with a bull barrel but they are generally used on varmint and long distance competition rifles and are typically 18" or longer. As Vlad pointed out, you need to protect the crown as any damage to it, no matter how slight, will severely impact accuracy. Target crowns offer the absolute best for accuracy but you have to baby the crap out of the rifle. Your next best option for simplicity and comfort is a threaded bbl with a recessed target crown and thread protector. You can also get a brake or compensator but I strongly recommend researching these devices as they are extremely loud and you need to weigh the benefits of what they do against the negatives. The least offensive type of active muzzle device is a linear compensator. Levang and Kies seem to be the two most popular linear comps.

Built my SPR on an Anderson lower. Good stuff.

I did my Hunter Ed at Glendola Grange Hall. That was a very long time ago.

I recommend the foam tube.It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling when I put my cheek to it. In the mean time, you could try wrapping the tube with foam sports tape. Any color you like, including zombie green, blaze orange or slimming black.

Look'n good. Was there no foam tube with that one or did you not put it on? Brownell's, Midway and CTD has them. I got mine from Midway.

No, but if 20 people hanged themselves inside hardware stores in one year and the trend was growing you would probably hear about it. Nobody wants this kind of exposure. It's bad for the sport and bad for business.

Some good info here on maintenance and product. I'd like to hear some more stories about running to failure.

Has anyone gone to CMO today for round 2?

OOPS! How did that rifle get in the mud? What is your real life experience with shooting dirty AR's? I'd like to hear some stories about just how tolerant your AR platform rifle is to crud. While the AR may not be as tolerant to dirt and grime as that other rifle, it is not nearly as bad as some may have us believe. What did it take to grind your AR to a halt and what did it take to get it pumping lead again?

To go to one of these events ya have to either like this sort of thing and make a day of it or ya have to be really desperate for something they have (like 22lr ammo). CMO just bought a bowling ally and are moving the whole shebang to the new location. There will be plenty of room there. I wanted to go there this morning (or tomorrow) but family obligations prevented me from joining the madness.