What is I/C vs Fixed cyl.

[Willibeast*NOTW*]

Looking to buy a new barrel for the 870 and wanted to know the diff between the 2 and see if there is a better choice. Mostly just want to know what they meant. Thanks.

[cmth]

Fixed Cylinder Bore is just a plain straight barrel with no choke. IC is Improved Cylinder and the barrel probably has removable chokes. IC chokes are very slightly constricted at the end of the bore, by about .01 inches. It makes the shot pattern very slightly tighter. Modified chokes are .02 inches, and Full chokes are .035 inches. Each one makes the shot pattern slightly tighter than the one before it.

I recommend always getting a barrel with a choke if you can. It gives you a lot of options that you won't get with an plain barrel. I keep an 18.5" barrel with a Modified choke installed on my defensive shotgun loaded with 00 buck.

[ysr_racer]

I've never heard of "Fixed cyl", do you have a link?

[aippi]

Choke tubes are for small shot and not buckshot and slugs. That is why there are no Rem Choke barrels on any of the 870 Police Models. As a slug comes down the barrel is has to be stabilized before it leaves the barrel. The choke does this and of course this is a lot of pressure pulling on that tube. This is also the case with heavy shot. A choke tube is stainless steel and the barrel is normal steel so that tube is much harder then the threads in the barrel. You don't have to know much about steel to understand that this is not good. So shooting slugs in a choke tube is not a good idea. Yes, for normal use you can shoot slugs. However, if the main purpose of the barrel is for heavy loads and you are a shooter, one day that tube is going down range.

[Willibeast*NOTW*]

Thank you. Very helpful.

[DirtyDave]

Choke tubes are for small shot and not buckshot and slugs. That is why there are no Rem Choke barrels on any of the 870 Police Models. As a slug comes down the barrel is has to be stabilized before it leaves the barrel. The choke does this and of course this is a lot of pressure pulling on that tube. This is also the case with heavy shot. A choke tube is stainless steel and the barrel is normal steel so that tube is much harder then the threads in the barrel. You don't have to know much about steel to understand that this is not good. So shooting slugs in a choke tube is not a good idea. Yes, for normal use you can shoot slugs. However, if the main purpose of the barrel is for heavy loads and you are a shooter, one day that tube is going down range.

Not quite correct. You CAN shoot some slugs out of a choked gun. Most reccommend to not go any tighter than a MOD. A lead slug will squish down and pass through a mod choke. If it was a dedicated slug-gun though, I would use a Rifled slug-barrel or get a Rifled choke tube.
You can shoot Buckshot through ANY choke you want. Many guys use FULL, X-FULL, TKY, and Dead Coyote chokes for shooting buckshot. It gives you a very tight pattern and effective range out to 50-70yds for Predator hunting. A DC choke is about as tight as they get. I think they are -.040 or -.050

[aippi]

What I said in my post is absolutely correct. I Did not say you could not shot slugs through choke tubes. I said you can. Read my post before commenting.

What I said is choke tubes are for small shot. That is why the Standard 870 Police models do not come with choke tubes but with fixed chokes. It takes little knowledge of steel to understand why stainless steel will win over regular steel over time. Most people do not shoot enough slugs or heavy buck shot loads to matter. I do. If you understand what is happening to the walls of that tube and the force pulling that tube against the threads in the barrel you would get it.

Anyone shooting buck shot through X-full and Turkey chokes deserves what ever happens to their weapon.