Confused about an 870 Super Magnum. Please help

[Carboran]

Hello everyone. I am relatively new to the world of shotguns, so this might be a very basic question. Sorry if it is.

A couple of months ago, I had the opportunity to purchase an 870 super magnum from Remington for a good price, which I did.

I never hunt, but really enjoy pigeon clay shooting, so its 28" barrel was very appealing. I also was planning on buying an 18" barrel for home protection.

So here is where my confusin comes in.

So my 28" barrel said 12 gauge, 2 3/4 inch, 3 inch and 3.5 inch shells.

I bought an 18 inch barrel from Cabellas, which says 2 3/4 inch and 3 inch.

No worries, I thought. I plan on using ONLY 2 3/4 shells

But then my friend was like "Oh, it depends on the receiver. Some receivers can't take short barrels"

I cvalled Cabella's and the tech rep gave me some super convioluted answer, which left me even more confused.

I thought all barrels for 870s were interchangeable!!!!

I guess I can try it, but no range around me allows 18" barrels, and I haven't ahd the time to drive a couple of hours to one that does.

So... my question is. Can I use an 18" barrel on a Remington 870 express suprer magnum, with original 28" barrel, or is it going to explode in my face :wow:

Thanks a lot!!

[garya1961]

I know you can use a 3 and 1/2 inch magnum barrel in a 3 inch receiver. I had a problem and Remington gave me a 3 and 1/2 inch barrel for my 3 inch Express receiver. I called them up and they told me not to worry it would shoot 2 and 3/4 and 3 inch shells with no problem.
I don't see why it wouldn't work the other way around. You could just call Remington and ask though.

[method]

Most, but not all 870 barrels are universal. I believe the one exception is the Special Field guns, which have a shorter magazine and take their own barrels. You'll be good to go.

Hope you got a really good deal, because it's pretty pointless to get a 3.5" gun for clay pigeons.

[JBL13]

I've had an 18" Remington Police barrel on my 870 Super Mag for more than a decade, and it's worked fine.

[SDGlock23]

You'll be fine, I had a 870 Super Mag and bought a Remington 18" barrel to put on it which worked just fine.

[byf43]

A few years ago, I got a tremendous deal on an 870 SuperMag.

The ONLY barrels that won't fit the SuperMag are the barrels for the 870 Special Field.
(The barrel 'ring' is too far back on the SF.)

I wound up selling my SuperMag, after never taking it out of the box.