I couldn't agree more! IMHO the 3 1/2 is more of a marketing strategy to give the shooter an illusion of more killing power. If you can't kill something with a 3" load, you're not likely going to kill it with a 3 1/2" load, so why subject yourself to the punishing recoil of a 3 1/2"?

As for the Rem. 870 Express Mag, I've had one forever! I've shot so many ducks, pheasants and geese with it I can't even begin to guess the numbers. It's been in the mud, bottom of the boat and under water more times than not and it has never failed to perform. I've used it and abused it so much I've worn the finish clean off the stock. It is my meat gun. I've got prettier, much more expensive guns, but none I am as deadly with!

I want to get either the 3" or 3.5". Thats not really my concern. I know the 870 would be good for the game I want to hunt. But guys...

Lefty or righty?

Geez! This is hard. I don't want to make a mistake.

I can and wont argue with you, as you state some solid fact. I am more so going off more pellets down range and recommendations from friends that fanatically waterfowl hunt. I do not waterfowl, sonot an expert.

I'm right handed so I can't help you decide. If I were you I'd find a buddy or someone that is right handed, has a870and just go shoot a box of shells through it and see how it works for you

It's easy.... Ask yourself deep down, what do you plan on doing with the 870 Express. Do you want to keep it totally stock down to the core, or would you eventually trick it up a bit? Like I said, take it from me... I too am a lefty and saw the differences in lefty and righty. You're going to pay more for leftyaccessories.

Simply put:
If you plan on using the 870 Express as is for years and years and years --- Lefty.
If you plan on eventually gettinga rifled slug barrel or a synthetic camo stock or some other type of accessory later on--- Righty.

Butch A.

As far as whether to go with the 3" or 3.5", I've got an express mag and am an avid waterfowl hunter and never have had any use for the 3.5". Lefty or right? I'd go lefty. personally i'm not left handed, but i have two brothers that are and they hate shooting my right handed gun. I agree with the last person. It really depends on what you wanna use it for and how much you wanna spend to trick it out alittle.

Well you have a good point. I do want to mod it up a bit. You say the lefty accessories are much more expensive? Do you know by how much? Because if it's 10-20% more I really dont care. I saw some camo stocks from Remington, those are not for both LH & RH? How difficult is it to findLefty accesssories?

Do the normal slug barrels not fit on LH MODELS?

The RH and LH barrels each have an extended flange that fits inside the chamber, and are not interchangable.

The LH barrels are very hard to find. They do make them though, but either not fully rifled, or they make them in thewingmaster (shiny blued finish) model, which are even more. But for an Express model (matte finish) some might not make one. Then again,I have seen one on the internetand it was like $269 for the barrel. While a normal RH rifled slug barrel is $189. Check out Brownells.com or Hastingsbarrels.com and/or other shotgun, firearms, websites for parts.

I had a lefty 870 once, and traded it back in for a proper RH model (even thought I shoot it lefty). I couldn't get any aftermarket accessories for the original LH model I had. Shooting the RH model is no biggie... The ejecting shell doesn't biff me or cause concern either.

Good luck!

Butch A.

P.S. The main reason I dumped the LH Remington 870 was because of the lefty safety. See, I grew up shooting right firearms lefty, and just grew accustomed to the (backwards -to me) cross bolt safeties. My Marlin 30-30 is righty and I don't have a problem in the world with it. But with the original LH 870, I would occasionally goof up with the safety, thinking it is safe, when in reality it is not! [&:] No, no, no, I didn't have any accidental discharges or anything like that, but I would get all goofed up with the righty Marlin 30-30's safety versus a true lefty 870's lefty safety. Long story short....

Shooting a righty gun lefty
Golden rule --- If the cross bolt safety is pointing AWAY from me, it's ready to fire.

I would suggesst spending the extra money and getting a Browning BPS since they load and eject from the bottom. They are pretty much ambidextrious. Plus they are a nicer gun in my opinion.

If you are planning on shooting multiple shots I don't think you are going to like shooting a right handed gun left handed, be it a pump or an auto. Now if you were only going to shoot a single shot at a time it probably wouldn't matter much, but then you might as well save yourself some money and just get a single shot.

As far as a 3 inch or 3 1/2 inch, I had the same problem until I shot a buddies remington special purpose turkey gun with 3 1/2 inch mag turkey loads. After shooting it a few times and doing a little research I decided it was not something I needed or desired. Then again, I don't goose hunt, I was thinking purely a turkey gun for southern Michigan.

And I will add that the 3 1/2 has the potential to reach out farther. The 3.5 will shoot more shot at the same velocity, thus having the same distance, but maybe a more dense pattern. You would have to pattern the gun to know this for sure. I have heard the 3.5's actually don't pattern as well so the extra shot is wasted. That being said, the 3.5 can also shoot the SAME amount of shot as a 3 inch shell but at a higher velocity which would get you some extra range. Probably not enough to make a difference though.

I went with a 3 inch mag mossberg 500 with a ported barrel ( youth model, I'm little). I have since sold that gun and will be using an A-5 stalker light that only shoots 2 3/4 inch shells for turkey. With some of the newer high speed pheasant and turkey loads I think it will work plenty fine for what I want. And it is a much better gun in my opinion.

Let us know what you decide on.

Paul

Do you shoot multiple shots or single shots? Do the shells fly close to your face?