why they needed to change from the Mdl 31?????
Compared to an 870, much more expensive to manufacture. Plus the 870 has a couple functional improvements, like no fuss barrel swapping and the ability to add a mag extension.
The Model 31 is one of my favorite guns ever, but you have to acknowledge the postwar period up to the early 60s as Remington's Golden Age. Their catalog is still carried by the guns they introduced in that era. Winchester was doomed the minute the 870 was introduced, it just took them a while to realize it.
