Hey all, I very recently picked up an 870 tactical with Magpul furniture for a pretty good deal. The gun is already fitted with a rail section on top of the receiver, and after shooting it a bit I’m wondering if an optic might be for me.
This is a general purpose gun, and serves as a defense shotgun, as well as a hunting gun (not a ton, but some) and a gun to shoot clays with. Anybody running a T1 or H1 on a general purpose shotgun?
I had a t1 for a hot sec on my 870, I liked it but due to the fact I rarely shoot it I took it off. I prefer the ghost ring and big dot in the front…
if you are going to shoot skeet do yourself a favor and get a bird barrel with a bead.
I sort of agree with Guns. If it will be used as an all round gun don’t put an RDS on it. I have a ton of sporting clay experience and want gun that points well. I could have anything I want and recently built this gun for all of round use. 870 model 81115 (21" vent rib barrel),
Magpul stock and fore end, Nordic extension and clamp. It is short enough for home defense and fast enough to hunt or shoot targets with. GH
One of my work’s 870s has a t1 on it. Its ok I guess but it seems to be kinda slow to find the dot. I havent played with it too much though. Personally I dont mind irons or a bead on a shotgun.
That’s sort of what I was worried about. Seems like it would be awesome for defense, but not optimal for everything else because I generally need speed.
I have an RDS (EOTech) on a shotgun but it is only used for HD. The only reason it’s on there is because it was free (won it from Brownells). I’m thinking of taking it off & using it elsewhere. The only other use I can see an RDS on an SG is for turkey hunting & maybe deer hunting. Would never use one for shooting clays. Not saying it’s not possible, just not needed.
Good set of ghost rings is all you need on a do it all shot gun imo. If you were running it as a stand alone cq weapon id say yea aimpoint ftw 
I’ll add… Take the mount off of it… When shooting moving targets with a gun you need to concentrate on the target not the sights! The mount will distract you. Like any other gun… Look at the target the hardest and the front sight in the foreground. If you have the sights in focus and not the target you won’t hit shit much of the time. GH
huh? I was always under the impression you wanted to focus on the front sight, partly because its between the rs and tgt…
I believe the tgt should be blurry with a crisp fs and I generally hit “shit”
I consider myself an “OK” shot & I look at the front sight. All of my buddies that I consider a “great” shot, look at the target with both eyes open. I’m trying to change my ways. There are a lot of great shots out there that do it both ways. If what you do works for you, stick with it. I believe the norm, however, is what GH said: point and shoot.
Although, none of this relates to the OP’s original question…
Maybe at point blank range but if you are looking at the sights with a target 20 yards away your are begging to miss! We are talking about a shotgun not a bulls eye gun. I shot clays for two years with no beads on my rib. Sights on a shotgun are a crutch. If you have to take the time to aim you will miss. A shotgun should be pointed not aimed. GH
A different barrel setup for clays is obviously ideal. I tried the ghost ring the other day and while it was definitely doable, I wasn’t nearly as fast as I’m capable of otherwise.
I basically just wondered if an Aimpoint would be fast in that regard, evidently not… Hmmm… Anybody running a Trijicon RMR or like sight?
Apparently you don’t need sights on a shogun:confused: just point and shoot it will clear a whole room i tell ya… All the manufactures that put them there are clueless
I’m going home to file mine off as i type
If yo want a dot go with a h1 great sight and economical, i just prefer the ghost ring
No one is saying that. For clays or bird hunting, it’s more of a “point & shoot” style. You still have to aim but your looking at the target. RDS for home defense is great. RDS for clays, not so great. Point being… it will be tough to have an “all around” SG with an RDS. You could always take it off before shooting clays. Pick a use & set it up for that.
I am well aware of point shooting also called instinctive shooting and the lack of use for sights. To me your implications were sights are not needed on a shotgun
No, I didn’t mean to imply that. Sorry if it came across that way. I just meant in certain situations like clays or pheasant hunting. A bead would be a better “all around” SG sight than an RDS would be IMO.
I had T1 on my Mossberg 500 for a time but ended up swapping it out for something with a faster, more open reticle for faster sight acquisition. I think currently I am running a Trijicon RMR, but I also run the Eotech XPS, I just found the RMR to be a bit faster to my eye /line of sight.
you could always try a speed bead. http://www.burrisoptics.com/speedbead.html
I had toyed around with this idea but the mounting system on the 870 was supposedly a little hokey. I never got around to trying one so i can offer no real input. Has anyone handled this item?
If the red dot is too small for you to pick up quick enough consider taking a look at the mini red dot sights out there that have 7 MOA dots.
If I wanted an RDS on a shotgun I would put an Eotech on it for FOV.