870 SBS Iron Sight Radius

[Bertfish]

What I have: police trade in 870. Smooth bore barrel with rifle sights. End of the barrel is pitted.

What I want: first Form 1 SBS

Pictures compare the existing 20" barrel with a 14.5" I got a while back. I'm thinking of chopping the gun to 12" to be flush with a factory magazine cap.

I really like the current rifle sights. Had planned on having a gunsmith simply move the front post rearward when it was chopped. Didn't think about how short that'd make the sight radius though.

The 14.5 has a totally different sight set up which I'm not a huge fan of.

The rear sight on the 20" can only move back around 1.5" before it encounters the bugled portion of the barrel where it meets the receiver. That'd give you about a 9" sight radius at most.

Is that too little sight radius?

If so are there options besides drilling and tapping the receiver for a sight like I've seen on many SBSbefor

 

[erwos]

I hate to say it, but the best thing to do is drill, tap, and put in an Aridus ghost ring setup. It won't be cheap, but it's a one-and-done.

 

[Bertfish]

Interesting that I just found a picture of a factory 11 87 SBS with a 14" barrel where they just moved the front sight like I described. Maybe it's ok if I stick to 14" or so.