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I have been thinking about converting my old Remington 870 to a home defense shotgun, but then I ran across this shotgun from Savage-Stevens. It's the Stevens 320 Security, and the version I'm interested in has a conventional stock (no pistol grip), 18-1/2" improved cylinder barrel, 5-round mag tube, and ghost-ring sights. These can be found on-line for as low as $200.00! I figured it would cost $350+ to convert my 870 presuming I buy a Carlson's barrel. (Could do it cheaper if I wanted to hack-saw my long vent-ribbed factory barrel.) Anyway, if I buy the Stevens, I can still keep my 870 in non-molested condition.
Biggest downside to the Stevens is that it is made in P.R.C. It's a close copy of the Winchester 1300.
The research I've done so far is that they have had one major issue, seemingly corrected by a redesign of the affected parts, of the action bars breaking off of the tube beneath the fore end that slides on the mag tube. Bad spot welds. As I said, it appears that they've corrected this in the current version with a more robust design using continuous bead welding to attach the action bars.
The only thing I don't like about this gun is the fore end, which is made of plastic, of course, but has long "skirts" on the rear end which cover the receiver when the slide is opened back to the rear of the ejector port. This would make it impossible to add any sort of side saddle ammo loops due to interference with the forend. If I bought one I would keep it stock until the factory warranty ran out, then possibly hacksaw the plastic skirt off of the fore end.
Beyond China-hate, I'd like to know if anyone has heard about any other issues.
Biggest downside to the Stevens is that it is made in P.R.C. It's a close copy of the Winchester 1300.
The research I've done so far is that they have had one major issue, seemingly corrected by a redesign of the affected parts, of the action bars breaking off of the tube beneath the fore end that slides on the mag tube. Bad spot welds. As I said, it appears that they've corrected this in the current version with a more robust design using continuous bead welding to attach the action bars.
The only thing I don't like about this gun is the fore end, which is made of plastic, of course, but has long "skirts" on the rear end which cover the receiver when the slide is opened back to the rear of the ejector port. This would make it impossible to add any sort of side saddle ammo loops due to interference with the forend. If I bought one I would keep it stock until the factory warranty ran out, then possibly hacksaw the plastic skirt off of the fore end.
Beyond China-hate, I'd like to know if anyone has heard about any other issues.