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Middle Aged 870 Magnum

I got an 870 from yesteryear. used it to turkey hunt

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I have shot and been issued Remington 870’s that were made I. The 60’s 70’s and 80’s as well as 90’s and 2000. All ran great.
Even have seen the original lifter that didn’t have the U notch in it .supposedly they started putting the U notch in them because it kept rounds from getting stuck.

The 14” shorty bus shotguns were especially neat
 
Too bad they don’t make left handed 870s. I guess it makes port loading easier though.
I had a left handed 870 back in the early 70's, prolly 1971-'73 (iirc). Had to sell it to keep a young household afloat and family fed. It was my second shotgun as a young man of very early 20's. My first was a Mossberg 12ga bolt action. Collected many, many quail, dove, rabbit, and squirrel, to provide many, many suppers for that same young family. Ah, the good ol' days. One and only true left handed gun I ever owned.
 
I have shot long guns left handed and handguns right handed since I was a kid. My only left handed gun is my Krieghoff skeet gun with a stock contoured for a left hander. My left hand is useful for holding a steak knife or a flashlight and inserting magazines but that's about it. The Ithaca 37 and Browning BPS are ambidextrous but I think I speed load an 870 faster because the port is on the right side.
 
Speaking of left handed. I remember when there was a training fad in the late 1990’s early 2000’s where some tried to recommended right hand shooters run left handed OR left handed shooters run a left handed 870’s eight handed because the emergency reload was “faster” with their dominate hand.

Like a lot of training ideas are nothing more than poor Thoughts and conjecture. That was out there and had zero relevance but remember some lug nuts were trying to sell it. It sort of went away quietly as nobody bought that BS!
 
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I have shot long guns left handed and handguns right handed since I was a kid. My only left handed gun is my Krieghoff skeet gun with a stock contoured for a left hander. My left hand is useful for holding a steak knife or a flashlight and inserting magazines but that's about it. The Ithaca 37 and Browning BPS are ambidextrous but I think I speed load an 870 faster because the port is on the right side.
The 870 I mentioned above is the only true 'left handed' gun of any kind I ever owned, and have shot left handed with right handed guns most of my life. I have developed to the point of being able to work a right handed bolt gun almost as fast as most right handers can work their right handed ones. However, I do have certain preferences when possible, such as my Ithaca 37 Featherlight (ejects from the bottom), my mod 94 Winchester (ejects from the top), my Ruger Red Label which only ejects where I want it to, and my Thompson Center Contender with left hand grips. Every other gun I ever owned were true right handed guns and I eventually learned to handle them reasonably well. And like Mr Greener, my left hand holds my steak knife when my right is full of fork with or without bite of steak. It's been often said I am reasonably useful when using my left hand for many things, but I can't scratch my behind with my right!

And BTW, who the hell ever decided that by simply changing the mag release button to the right side of the grip makes a semi-auto a 'left handed' gun? When using any of my semi-autos I invariably switch the gun to my right hand to drop the mag and lose very little time when compared to switching the button to the right side. I'm far more capable when using my dominant hand to do the actual reloading of the mag. And I recognize that I was shooting right handed semi-auto's long before the mag button (and/or safety) change-over was ever thought of.
 
The 870 I mentioned above is the only true 'left handed' gun of any kind I ever owned, and have shot left handed with right handed guns most of my life. I have developed to the point of being able to work a right handed bolt gun almost as fast as most right handers can work their right handed ones. However, I do have certain preferences when possible, such as my Ithaca 37 Featherlight (ejects from the bottom), my mod 94 Winchester (ejects from the top), my Ruger Red Label which only ejects where I want it to, and my Thompson Center Contender with left hand grips. Every other gun I ever owned were true right handed guns and I eventually learned to handle them reasonably well. And like Mr Greener, my left hand holds my steak knife when my right is full of fork with or without bite of steak. It's been often said I am reasonably useful when using my left hand for many things, but I can't scratch my behind with my right!

And BTW, who the hell ever decided that by simply changing the mag release button to the right side of the grip makes a semi-auto a 'left handed' gun? When using any of my semi-autos I invariably switch the gun to my right hand to drop the mag and lose very little time when compared to switching the button to the right side. I'm far more capable when using my dominant hand to do the actual reloading of the mag. And I recognize that I was shooting right handed semi-auto's long before the mag button (and/or safety) change-over was ever thought of.
When I was training armed professionals I changed the safety from right/left and vice versa on many Glocks formy students. Switching hand may not always be an option, especially for the Klutzes. But must people will adapt. Most folks don't give any thought to what to do if their dominant hand is not available so you have to at least walk them through the procedures in training to acquaint them.
 
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