Just got done putting some rifle sights on an 870.  This is a sweet setup for those of you wanting to take your home defense/competition shotgun to a new level.  Pictures to follow.

When will summer end?  Burning up in Nashville right now.  Hard to get in the shop when you are sweating!!

I am working with a customer on what will eventually become the SM-2, a pistol grip 870 that is awesome.  Same high quality components, but a Speedfeed pistol grip.

If you are thinking about adding a pistol grip to your shotgun there area a few things to remember.  The first is that you must have an barrel length of at least 18″ and the overall length of the gun must be 26″.  This last one is a little known fact, but ATF is serious about this one as well.  Make sure you don’t overlook this one.

A true pistol grip will only work on the 870, not the 1100 or the 1187.  The recoil system on the semi-auto shotguns runs through the stock.  The 870 doesn’t have this.  Speedfeed offers several pistol grips on full stocks if you need one, but not a true pistol grip.

I wanted to take a quick moment and talk about the Shotgun Magazine Extension Tube.  We add these to every SM-1 Package that leaves the door, and it is the shotgun accessory we get the most questions about.  The Magazine Extension tube shown above is our preferred tube.  It is from Wilson Combat who as you know, makes some great stuff.  We chose this tube to be part of our shotgun packages several years ago because of its design and ruggedness compared to man of the tubes that are available today.  It isn’t the cheapest tube, and we only make $3 every time we sell one, but we think it is worth it.

The Shotgun Magazine Extension is a necessity if you are in competition, and a very nice luxury for law enforcement and home defense purposes.  One of the things though that can plague many tubes available is a feeding issue.  While they don’t happen often, it does occur and when it does it is maddening.

Generally what happens if you have a feeding problem is that the spring is binding where your Extension screws onto the existing tube.  The best tube is a one piece tube from the factory because it eliminates this problem entirely (btw: the tubes on the Remington Tactical 870′s are not one piece).  The after-market tubes will all deal with this issue from time to time.  I have seen it most often show up while trying to load the shotgun.  I have experienced this several times while building the SM-1.

The remedy can be two fold: First, you can unload the shotgun and try again.  Many times this will alleviate the loading problems.  Second, you can load one or two rounds and run the gun.  Now is the part where we get into my theory and this is always scary!  My theory for most of these problems is the lip the spring has to travel over in the extension.  However, when you put on an extension you are twisting it on, and therefore you are twisting the spring.  I think it is possible that the spring itself binds from the twisting.  I haven’t had an extension that wouldn’t respond to those two simple steps.

With all of the great shotguns that are out there today, why choose to only use the Remington models for the SM-1?  It’s a great question with a few simple answers;

1. Availability-Most people can get their hands on a Remington 870, 1100, or 1187 easily.  They have been around forever, and you can genereally find them used in large quantities at gunshows.
2. Custom Options-While any other shotgun can be modified, the Remington accessories are plentiful, and easy to obtain without breaking the bank.  The Options for the Remington are more often than not well made.  There are lots of accessories that are poorly made, and they reflect that in their performance.
3. Proven Track Record-These guns have seen lots of rounds, and they are great.  It doesn’t hurt that everyone at MCC has used Remington products for years.
4. Price-We have seen 870′s for less than $200, and 1100′s for less than $300.

All that adds up to a great platform for a shotgun.

A few months ago, we were asked to turn an ordinary Remington 1100 into a versatile home defense shotgun.  We liked it so much, and the response was so great we have decided to combine the best features available for the Remington family of shotguns into a package we call the SM-1.  The great part is that we use your existing Remington 870, 1100, or 1187.

This means that you can have a great home defense shotgun for under $500 with every accessory you need.  How do we save you so much?  We don’t you the gun.  So many of our customers have 2 3/4″ shotguns laying around the safe because they have upgraded through the years to the larger loads.  Now you have a use for that gun.  One customer found a Remington 1100 at a gunshow for almost nothing and turned it into a great shotgun.  Clean out your safe or get to the local gunshow and find a deal that works for you.  We supply the parts and do the rest, and you get a great combat, L/E or home defense shotgun.

We have added an entire page to the sight with a full description.