[Butt Ugly Chuck]

I've been out of bird hunting for too long! My soon-to-be 12 year old and I took hunter safety together last spring and I'm thinking of popping for a Rem 20 guage 870 for him for Christmas.

My boy's left-eye dominant like I am (genetics!). Rem makes their 12 guage 870 in lefty model, but not the 20 . Anybody ever convert the safety on a Rem 870 to left hand? Midway sells this conversion kit. How simple is the install? Happy with it?

I know you're supposed to keep both eyes open but = smiley for left handed shooters!

Butt

[wob]

The only thing to consider is if anyone else ever uses that gun, they would not be aware that the safety positions were reversed.

['74 UA FJ]

I would just have him get used to the regular safety. He'll be using right-handed stuff for years to come. It's not that big of a deal.

[CruiserStuff]

Is your heart set on the 870? When I started hunting, my dad bought me a Winchester 120 pump in a youth model. It came with a proportionally shorter stock and a magazine plug to make it a single shot (sections of the plug can be cut off when he's ready for multiple shots). It was a 20 guage with a 3" chamber and the 3 choke tubes. It even came with a certificate to get the full-sized adult stock for free when I outgrew the youth size. I shot everything from dove to ducks with it - great, reliable gun. I still hunt dove and quail with it today, 24 years later (yikes). And...about the lefty thing...the safety can be flipped around to the other side (I'm pretty sure...I'll take a look at it if you're interested). Lemme know...

[Butt Ugly Chuck]

Originally Posted by wob

The only thing to consider is if anyone else ever uses that gun, they would not be aware that the safety positions were reversed.

Originally Posted by '74 UA FJ

I would just have him get used to the regular safety. He'll be using right-handed stuff for years to come. It's not that big of a deal.

Thanks for chiming in. It'll be a gun only he (and occasionally I) will use. We're both right-handed, but left eye dominant so shoot left handed. I hunted with a righty Winchester Model 12 for years so I know one can "just get used to it". But overcoming that is challenge enough for a new shooter so I'm just searching for ways to make it feel as natural for him as possible. If this is an easy and inexpensive fix I figure "why not?". If he ever needs to sell it years down the road or has a righty-shooting kid to pass it on to, then presumably it can be converted back?

Originally Posted by CruiserStuff

Is your heart set on the 870? When I started hunting, my dad bought me a Winchester 120 pump in a youth model. It came with a proportionally shorter stock and a magazine plug to make it a single shot (sections of the plug can be cut off when he's ready for multiple shots). It was a 20 guage with a 3" chamber and the 3 choke tubes. It even came with a certificate to get the full-sized adult stock for free when I outgrew the youth size. I shot everything from dove to ducks with it - great, reliable gun. I still hunt dove and quail with it today, 24 years later (yikes). And...about the lefty thing...the safety can be flipped around to the other side (I'm pretty sure...I'll take a look at it if you're interested). Lemme know...

Thanks. I'm pretty sure the Winchester 120 is out of production though. I'm attracted to the 870 for several reasons: it seems you can't find a more universal pump shotgun out there and parts are readily available; they're relatively inexpensive; an additional $30 rebate from Remington's current promotion; and I can get them less than retail through a friend. The 870 is available in a youth model too, though I'm looking to have the stock of an adult model custom fit so when he grows into needing the stock replaced, he'll have a full size gun with 28" barrel. If I had the bones, I'd probably look at the Browning BPS, but I don't - maybe when he's ready for a 12 guage.

Thanks for input guys! Anyone out there tried the safety conversion?

Butt

[Butt Ugly Chuck]

Well, it turned out great! When I picked the gub up at my buddy's shop, his smith was there so I asked him to install it. I was going to watch, but got distracted by the taxidermy hanging on the walls. I had my eyes up for maybe two minutes and the smithy says "All done".

Anyway, very happy with the way it turned out and excited to take my boy shooting/hunting!


Butt

[mminter1973]

It proboly would not hurt to reinforce that most guns he will use in his life the safety will be opposite to the gun you bought him. Just for safety sake.

[Brian in Oregon]

I am right handed, but left eye dominant. I could not hit the ocean from a rowboat with both eyes open. So I shot a shotgun poorly for decades with my left eye closed. And couldn't hit anything at all left handed.

A trapshooter suggested I try a Uni-Dot. This is a fiberoptic rod in a tube that sits on top of the rib. The reason for the tube is that the end of the rod is recessed back in it. If you shoot right handed, your right eye can see it, but the tube blocks the rod from your left eye. Now you can keep both eyes open for 3D vision. It is very important that you do not look directly at the bright dot. You must focus on the target and, with peripheral vision, bring the dot to the target. This is how it should be done with a regular bead anyway.

It took me two months to get used to it, but then I ran my first 25 and 50 straight in trap.

The specific model I'm using is the P210, which has a 2mm dot. I think the 3mm & 4mm dots are too big for any kiind of precise shooting, and they are no brighter than the 2mm rod. The P210 has interchangable rods (red and green, but at one time yellow). Even if you don't care about different colors it's easier to replace a rod should you somehow break it. All of my ribbed shotgun barrels have Uni-Dots on them. I have 10 of the P210 and one P200 model. Mine are the adhesive model but these are also made in a snap-on style. I would not have shelled out that kind of money for that many if they didn't work. I also took up trapshooting and sporting clays, now that I can actually hit the clays, as well as upland bird hunting.

Uni-Dot®

http://www.uni-dot.com/pdf/Unidot.pdf (catalog with prices, which have actually gone down over the years)

[jkl72-40]

FWIW Mossbergs dont need that change the safety is on the top so either handed doesnt matter