Scout style mount for a vent rib

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

I have been doing some reading about how fast handy and useful scout rifles are for quick target acquisition and yet still provide good accuracy out to 2-3 hundred yards with rifles like 308

but I like millions of north American hunters east of the big muddy am limited to deer hunting with a shot gun only

we have since the early 80s been doing this , i just hunted my 22 hunting season

my kids will all be hunting in the next few years , and i have been thinking what to get for them, I have been looking at the 870 youth in 20 ga it comes with a 21 inch barrel with remchokes

in our hunting party we have 12s and 20s both work well on deer , for years we just shot with the bead on the end of the barrel , this was fine for shots out to 50 yards

a few things have happened our woods has gotten thicker more trees , we only own a small portion of what we hunt some is neighbors who have granted permission some is land put into county trust , some tax programs and some township owned

we have also had some changes to the dates and structure of our hunting season about 7 years ago i was noticing more of the time shot were between 50 and 80 yards than in the past with early seasons , my eyes were also changing about that time and i had my gun drilled and tapped and added a 2x scope made a huge difference for me to make those shots with confidence at 75 yards in a more crowded background and for ground

the thoughts about scout rifles , shotguns and my own success with low power scopes got me thinking we have sights that clamp to the vent rib , why not scope mounts , i was even thinking the vent rib isn't that much different than a scope rail why not low mounts that clamp right to the vent rib and hold a long eye relief scope , red dot or pistol scope about 2-4 inches ahead of the receiver

so while not exactly casting , it is a shotgun question can you think of a good reason such a mount shouldn't be made

I did some searching but didn't find much available for mounts , if i stil had access to a mill i don't think it would take me very long at all to mill a slot in a length of aluminum rail so the rail would fit down on the vent rib , at that point a set of brackets that slip under the vent rib could be drilled and tapped and matching holes drilled in the rail to mount it without harming the gun or holes could be drilled an tapped in the rib fairly easily

I have shot a number of running deer with my 2x scope on a traditional mount , i plan to try a round of trap with it some day I think it would work fine , i might even have a better score

such a mount might be just the thing to get kids better success while keeping to a parents budget slug barrels represent a cost of 1/2 to 2/3 of the gun ,just to get sights a cantilever rifled slug barrel for a 870 20ga is almost as much as the gun

at least for me the biggest part of target acquisition is sorting the foreground from the back ground and seeing the sights and deer at the same time

[Agent1187]

I think your biggest limit is the fact that many shotgun ribs are soldered on, which isn't exactly an exceptionally strong method of attachment. If you were to add a point of leverage, such as in a scope, to the rib - you'd likely twist or otherwise break the connection of the rib to the barrel in very short time.
I hear you on the expensive slug barrels. If you are just looking at a method for cheaply scoping a shotgun, I know 870's have a side saddle scope adapter. If you just added a large 40-50mm low power scope, you wouldn't really sacrifice target acquisition.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

thanks thats what i was looking for , soldered on , if there were some welded it might work on them

I just have a top drill and tap with a conventional scope , my dad has the weaver side mount with a old weaver 1.5x

I like the solid mount of both the standard top rail and the side , I looked at the saddle mounts when i was going to scope my gun I even ordered one it came it was wrong and i sent it back . then i had it professionally drilled and tapped and honestly cost about what the saddle mount cost

i just didn't like having a piece of plastic over the receiver that i couldn't clean behind without removing and that if i removed i could loose zero , and it made it unable to be properly field striped and cleaned after a day of hunting , it is damp and often rains or snows while we are hunting.

I will just continue drilling them , I sure wish Remington would just do that at the factory already , especially with all the red dots and holo sights you thing they would get on that.

[winelover]

Millet use to offer steel rings for vent rib shotgun barrels that had two opposing set screws that attached to the sides of the rail. I don't know if they are still available, but I used them to attach a Armson red dot to the soldered ramp of a Remington smooth bore slug barrel, with some slight modification, in the late 80's. It was my go to gun when I hunted in Michigan's shotgun only area. It is still mounted on that barrel but is now relegated to a home defense role. The zip ties are there solely to hold the flashlight actuator in place. I wouldn't trust a vent rib to hold a heavy full sized scope but I think a light red dot would work. IMHO



Winelover

[725]

Hastings makes (or at least used to make) rifled barrels for 870's. They made both, light barrels with cantelevered (bet I spelled that wrong) rails to mount regular rifle scopes, and heavy barrels with forward mounts to use pistol scopes. Have both and they are the cat's meow. And, yes the forward mounted pistol scope is very fast - both eyes open - and accurate. You need to search for a Hastings.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

thanks thats what i was looking for

i looked at the saddle mounts I just didn't like having a piece of plastic over the receiver that i couldn't clean behind without removing and that if i removed i could loose zero , and it made it unable to be properly field striped and cleaned after a day of hunting , it is damp and often rains or snows while we are hunting.

thanks for the millet and hastings info i searched hastings , wow more than the gun that might be hard to justify.

I have looked at the NEF pump gun that is a copy of the 870 comes drilled and tapped for 179.99 the only thing not to like about that gun is 5 letters CHINA

I stopped at the shop that drilled mine , with mount , rings and drilled and tapped about 60 dollars.
I will just continue drilling them , I sure wish Remington would just do that at the factory already , especially with all the red dots and holo sights you thing they would get on that.

[44magLeo]

Have you considered a good bolt gun like Savages 210? It's a shotgun version of there rifles. Scope mouning is easy.
They shoot very well. Much better for the shots over 50 yards than most any smoothbore.
Can be found for about the same price as a Rem 870.
Leo