The Remington 870 has almost as many variations and customizable options as the AR-15. And a lot of the tactical developments for the venerable shotgun have come directly from tactical rifles. That’s the case with this excellent adjustable stock from ATI.
The Talon T2 is ATI’s latest offering for the tactical market. This one is for a Winchester SXP, but we’ve got it on the 870, thanks to an easy to install adapter. The stock has six different positions, which allows the length of pull to vary from just over 11 inches, to over 15.
The last ATI stock I reviewed was the original Talon. I’d put it on a Mossberg 500. While the grip effectively cut the jarring impact of recoil, a force that hits hard in the web of your hand when holding a pistol-grip on a 12 gauge, it felt a bit squishy for my taste. I’m not knocking its design. Others love the softer, rounded feel of the rubber finger grooves. But I’ve grown accustomed to the hard (and sometimes punishing) grips of pistols and tactical rifles.
The new iteration of the Talon is perfect. It still has the rubber padding, which ATI calls the Scorpion Recoil Pistol Grip, but cuts down on some of the girth. Instead of the defined finger grooves on the front of the original Talon, the new version has a harder plate that feels much more like an AR grip. The softer rubber is on the back, where the force is directed. The result is a grip that sits in my hand perfectly, and one that still eats up recoil. I can see now that it was the size of the original Talon that felt off to me, not the cushion.
The Talon comes with a cheek rest. If you’re running an optic on top, the cheek rest is a good option. You can throw the gun up to your shoulder and your line of sight will reliably align with the optic. If you’re using the iron sights, the cheek rest may be too much. It can be lowered very low, or removed all together.
Shooting with the Talon
I’m 6’4″. I’ve got a huge wing span, and I sometimes find it very uncomfortable to shoot guns with short stocks. But the Talon, when fully extended, fits perfectly. Jacob, who is shooting in the video above, is about 8 inches shorter than I am. With a simple adjustment, the Talon fits him, too.
That’s obvious, enough, and there aren’t that many of us out there sharing guns. But the collapsible stock makes storage easier, too. You can shrink it down to fit in a bag, or case, or you can stretch it out to catch a barrel rack in the gun safe.
The feeling is hard to quantify, but easy enough to describe. The force from the recoil hits the shoulder. The shooting hand takes some of the force. Holding the pistol grip helps to counteract the muzzle rise.
The result is a faster recovery time. Because there is less felt recoil in the shoulder and less muzzle rise, the gun stays on target. When I’m shooting pump shotguns, I have a brief moment between recoil and the wracking of the slide for the next shot. I can’t even begin to estimate the pause, but it’s there.
But it is noticeably shorter with the Talon stock. Even with high brass buck shot, I’m faster and more accurate with the Talon than I am with the 870’s stock buttstock.
And that’s what it’s about. Comfort, ease of use, speed — all of these influence accuracy and effectiveness.
ATI makes just about everything you’d need for an 870, except the ammo. This gun has pieces and parts from several companies. It has been evolving slowly for several years now, but the stock will stay. With the ATI sling attachment and a good single point sling, the gun becomes even more functional.
The Winchester SXP Talon T2 stock has an MSRP of $119.99. The Adapter sells for $24.99. Well worth it.
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