Tag Archives: 870

Crusader, Weapons

Glocks and AK’s.

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Have to say, the guns I go to the most are Glocks, AK’s, and 870’s.
The 23 in .40, remains my most favored handgun for CCW.  The  model 20, in 10mm is coming in second.  The more I use the Glocks… the more I like them.  Not just an appreciation for the function… but liking them for the way they feel and point, the triggers…  The elegant simplicity of them… I just really like Glocks now.  I don’t know… maybe it’s the crash… but I really dig them and the more I’m around them, the 19 and 23’s stand out as the perfect handguns to me – even more so than the 1911 now.  Yup.  They crossed that line for me.  I like them more than 1911’s.  No they are not the prettiest, but they are still beautiful.  Kinda like the Girl Next Door that you grew up best friends with and there is that moment when you realize “You want that.”   That’s Glock.
My Crusader Kalashnikov is more and more my go to rifle.  I just really feel an attachment to it.  It suits me to a T.  It can hit.  It’s reliable.  Mag changes are getting much faster and everything is “Clicking”.  And I get more satisfaction out of running the Kalash well than running an AR well.
For the 870’s, my adopted Police Tactical is my favorite.  I have my other 870’s and they are cool and all… but something about that old wood furniture.  Nothing says I am going to “Jack You Up” like an old wood stocked gun… You just know you are going to get an old school beating.  The warmth it has when you handle it.  Wood is an under appreciated material to a whole generation of shooters and I find that a sad state.  Poly is fine – but Wood is finer.  Especially nice grained wood with character.  Again, Wood stocked guns have “Soul” that Poly guns just don’t have and never will.  They can’t.  I’ve said that before… And when I pick up that old Police Tactical… You can feel it has a History of Kicking Ass and all that experience is backing you up giving you some extra confidence.  A new 870 Tactical with a plastic stock – it’s like a new Police Rookie with his first pair of Mirrored Cop Shades.  The authority is there… maybe even the skill is there… But not the Character and Experience – that Soul just isn’t there.

These are my Guns of Choice.  What are yours?

Weapons

Magpul’s 870.

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I’m pretty much a fan of Magpul and everything they have been trying to do.  They have made some very good stuff.
Now they have turned their attention to the classic and undying Remington 870 Shotgun.   I’m not sure if I’m on board with it.

At first, I thought it looked cool… But then as I looked at it, I started thinking that the Cadillac CTS-V styling just doesn’t work on the 870. I look at the 870 and feel that it’s more organic and the Magpul stuff is just too synthetic.  The stock looks like its too large and possibly heavy.  Awkward.  I don’t like the grip angle either.  It seems… I don’t know… off.   The MOE treatment is cool up front, but I would have hoped for a more CTR set up at the buttstock instead of what they got going on.

Crusader, Weapons

Can’t leave well enough alone

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The 870 Tactical got stripped… then Cerakoted Gun Metal Grey.

The funny thing about this, was that I did it Saturday night… Sunday morning I woke up late.  So I jumped into the shower, threw on some clothes, ran out to the Crusader Coating Laboratory and grabbed the gun.  Inside, I just slapped all the parts together and we ran out to the Gun Show.  Just before the show starts, I pick up the shotgun again and rack it.  JAM.  WTF?  I look into the action and I see Magazine Spring.  What?  AAahahhh… I forgot the Magazine Follower.  Ran back to Crusader HQ, there’s the follower sitting right on the work bench.   I need a new follower though… I don’t like the cheap plastic one that comes stock in the Remingtons.  Brownells offers a Stainless one that looks pretty good.  I might do that one.

Also, that “Tactical Choke” as Remington calls it.  It’s a breaching choke.  Designed not for shooting – but for Breaching.  I’m going to pop in an Improved Cylinder choke.  Maybe a Modified.  Maybe one of those extended ones.  I like those.

Here’s the deal.  HOW THE HELL DO YOU REALLY IMPROVE SOMETHING THAT IS FREAKING AWESOME AS IT IS?  Crusader is doing it… A killer action job that makes the 870 just stupid slick…. but what else does it really need?  What parts can we put on them (or the Mossberg) that is going to actually give you a tangible benefit that makes the weapon more effective and the user more efficient with it?  There isn’t a lot.  Oh, there’s tons of options for you… catalogs full of stuff.  But what really works?  Not much.  But my mission is to find it.

Weapons

The gunfight is going to happen. Bring it.

32 Comments

You know it’s coming. Grab your long gun and your side arm. I think I had that question four or five times today talking to different people. Not zombies, not monster hunting, but a simple good old fashioned gunfight. What will you bring to the fight? And don’t say “Friends with Guns.” Just you. High Noon.
In all seriousness, if I know a gunfight is going to happen, I’m bringing one of my 870 Tacticals… most likely my old Police Gun. It’s slick as hell, being all Slipstreamed and running as reliable as the Sun Rise. It’s going to be loaded with Federal Premium FC 00 Buck. My pistol is going to be my Glock 23 in .40, loaded up with Winchester PDX1’s.
Why? Because they are SIMPLE and they are RELIABLE. Above all, they are going to deliver my violent will when and where I need it. No bells and whistles and tricks to remember. They are potent enough, with enough firepower on tap to end a hostile encounter – and to win that encounter.
I was thinking about my Crusader tuned AR… Gun’s not a problem. But my optic runs on batteries. Will they fail me? I don’t know. My Shotgun’s sights wont. I was tempted to say my Springer GI – because I can hit with it very well. But I like hollow points and I just don’t know for an absolutely certainty that that old 1911 is going to run my PDX1’s as flawlessly as I require. My Glock does, and I have more in the gun with one mag than my 1911 has with two, and that is an advantage.
I trust my Glock. I trust my 870. I trust them with my life. Hype, popularity, online smack talk… I don’t have time for that. It’s about Trust. Also, if I have to go Mele… I’m bringing a baseball bat, a heavy wooden one. A Louisville Slugger. Just saying.