Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Reminton 870 Express shotguns

Any opinions on the Remington Express shotguns. They sure are'nt the old Wingmaster, but looking for a cheap turkey gun for my son. Thank you

Besides for the cheap ass plastic trigger guard, they are still hard to beat for a "cheap" shotgun.
I'd take an 870 any old day over a Mossberg 500. My second choice would be the Winchester SXP.

The finish sucks but for a hunting gun I think there a great way to go. Hone up the innards and they smooth right out.

If you get one take it totally down and give it a soapy bath, the rough finish holds salts and they have a nasty habit of rusting all the time unless you rid the gun of the salt.

IIRC Cabelas is selling them for 239 on black friday

I bought mine 25+ years ago. I changed out the birch (?) stock for an after market camo one. No complaints here and it has been a killing machine. Got a 20 gauge for my daughter a couple of years ago. No problems there either.

Corrosion X is your friend

Your 25 year old one has a lot fewer plastic parts than a new production one does. I had a youth model in 1993 and a 12 guage from 1997. I always knew they weren't top of the line, but the older ones were lots better than the new production ones. Was at a company event held at the skeet range, a guy brought a new one. All the edges were super sharp around the trigger guard, lots more plastic componentry. Will it work fine? Probably so.

I would ten times rather have a well used Wingmaster than a new Express.

Mine works sometimes.

Still a great design and lots of barrels out there you can pick up cheap; slug barrels, cantilevered, etc. Best thing you can do is shoot it and I mean take it out to the trap or skeet range and run lots of rounds through it. That will smooth things up and/or identify any glitches.

I have an all-purpose Express that has well north of 1000 rounds through it including clay targets and European pheasant shootouts. In addition I polished the chamber, upgraded the extractor to a real steel one, and put a better magazine cartridge follower in it. Never had any function issues whatsoever.

For a cheap turkey gun, you cant do better. Thats what mine is used for. Get a 26" barrel in-lieu of the shorty's commonly seen on turkey guns. They generally pattern better and the muzzle blast will be considerably less; balance is good enough for mixed game, cottontails, etc. The 28" barrels are good for the duck blind only IMO.

I bought one in the mid 80's when I used to do a lot of rabbit and squirrel hunting. I love it. I've never had a problem with it and have shoten thousands of rounds trap shooting. In the late 90's I got a 20 gauge youth model for my kids and still have it. It's perfect for my daughter who is now 28. I would take it over any Mossberg rattle trap.

You do have to keep it clean and well oiled though. A buddy of mine bought one the same time I did and didn't take care of it and now it's a ball of rust. Mine is spotless.

Liberal baths of aerosol Rem-oil do help the "matte" finish from rusting.

Actually Krylon is your friend, cheap camo and actually will smooth up the action a little.

I got one of the first or second year production guns. It's been a good one for me. I soaked it good with Eezox and it's my rainy day gun.

I bought my oldest son one back in the 90's, it's still rust free thanks to Eezox.

I have an 870 20 gauge circa 2000 and have never had a problem with it, mechanically or cosmetically. It is my brush gun so it's seen some abuse and there is some pretty significant wear on the stock. I'm pretty good about keeping my guns clean, but not as anal as some. I think you'd be further ahead buying an older Wingmaster or even an older Express over a new one.

Yep.

The lefty express I used to have, had no plastic parts on it. Except for the camo synthetic stock I put on it. I loved the shotgun, but also had a left hand wingmaster and didn't need the express model anymore. I'll never get rid of the wingmaster...Sorry to hear the new express 870's have that much plastic parts on them. Seems they don't make things to last like they used too. A damn shame...

I'd suggest finding an older wingmaster or an older express and it will probably last a lifetime if you take care of it. It will make a very good shotgun for your son, which ever one you choose:

Express:


Wingmaster:

My stepdad had an old wingmaster - great gun but I recently picked up an 870 magnum express from a pawn shop for just under 200.00 out the door... The breech bolt looked brand new and took it out this last weekend and it cycled 3" shells like a champ.
(its an older model)
Had one little spec of rust on backside of receiver and a few stock blemishes (wood).... well worth the money spent in my opinion.

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