Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Current model Remington 870 would you buy one

I bought a new 870 Express Combo ( slug barrel/field barrel 12ga) a couple years ago off Gunbroker. When I looked it over it was very poorly fitted, made. It was a real disappointment. I ended up selling it at a loss. I prefer the early make Wingmasters.

It's been hashed out pretty well already, but personally no I would not buy a new 870.
I own and regularly use lots of old ones from the 50's and find these suit me. Much lighter than the new guns, nicer wood, etc.
Probably the ducks etc wouldn't know the difference though..

I bought the 3 1/2 Express in mid 2000s to shoot geese and ducks. It refuses to eject sometimes after third round and sometimes after 10th. Had the chamber polished by Remington repair shop but still fails.
Had a thrower and it was unusable to shoot clays. Have considered putting new barrel on but hard to dump good money after bad.

The shells seize in the chamber after being fired, slide will not open. I haven't fired it in many years.

You can still order a Wingmaster, just add about $500 to the price of an Express.

After posting I started internet researching the problem. Looks like the problem may be the soft oem extractor. I added a valquartsen extractor to an order I have. If it fixes it great but I have my doubts since the oem would pull off the rim of the shell. I still would not recommend an express to anyone, it is not a Wingmaster.

Id suggest you look to shotgun world.com. There is a lot of misinformation in this thread.

Contrary to what you are getting in this post, the current 870s are amongst the best Remington has ever made. They re-tooled a couple years ago and the machining is cleaner and the fit and finish is excellent...a big improvement especially in the express models which are now a darker satin finish that is much less prone to corrosion.

The ONLY weak spot in the current gun is the MIM extractor (which is in the wingmaster as well) is easily remedied should it become a problem...which it likely won't.

The only plastic in the new guns is the trigger group housing (express only, winemaster is still pot metal). This is a nice improvement as it wont break, scratch etc. The internals of the fire control group are the same as always...and as i eluded to don't let the polymer housing scare you away. Its an improvement.

The new guns also have a lifetime warranty.



Not that it matters but I own 11 Remington 870 and 1100 shotguns ranging from the 1950s to current...the current guns are the best of the bunch IMHO

Functionally they are the same...no difference other than external finish contrary to popular belief The issue with your gun is a rough chamber and cheap shells. When used in connection you get guns that wont eject. Common in the era.

The only fix is to PROPERLY polish the chamber. This is NOT an extractor issue. You can fix this for around 5 bucks and 10 minutes assuming you own a drill

Id suggest you look to shotgun world.com. There is a lot of misinformation in this thread.

Contrary to what you are getting in this post, the current 870s are amongst the best Remington has ever made. They re-tooled a couple years ago and the machining is cleaner and the fit and finish is excellent...a big improvement especially in the express models which are now a darker satin finish that is much less prone to corrosion.

Sorry, but after three disappointments, I'm not going to keep buying them every so often to see if they've improved them. Once a company lets things go to Hell, it's a long, slow slog back to regain the trust of customers. Most, having been sold crap, will never return. In the case of what's really for many people a lifetime purchase like a shotgun, once they get a satisfactory replacement, the sales opportunity is gone forever anyway, and that often also applies to other products the company may produce.

They also re-tooled for the Marlin lever guns, but despite pretty good press on the new ones, it appears substantial issues remain, based on anecdotal sources here, anyway. Why should someone spend their money on stuff made by a company, any company, that deliberately cheapened their product to increase profits?

Yep. I bought 2 a 20 inch sureshot turkey model and a waterfowl model for a loaner gun no issues with either

I understand that. I feel that way about Model 700s.

My advice would be not to ask for advice from a web forum. Go to the gun store and examine the shotgun. Visit your gun club and talk to people in person who own one. They have been selling the 870 Express for a while, so it's fairly easy to find someone who owns one. Talk one on one with these people and gather your impressions. I find being able to look at someone's face as being more reliable than an Internets yay or nay.

I own one of the early 870s and have had no problems, but if you were actively looking for one and were worried about whether to buy one, I would chat with people in person. That's just me.

I bought a couple of the Express models over 15 years ago and got 18" ported barrels from Vang Comp and magazine tubes, iron sights and jumbo safety. Put a bunch of JB and Kroil in them and on the slide action bars and ran the action on them off and on for several days until I was sick of running the action, Cleaned them up and they have performed flawlessly with every thing, from bird shot to 2 3/4 LE buck and slugs and 3" magnum buck and Breeneke 3" Black Magic slugs.

I bought a 20 ga. 870 Youth Express a couple of years ago for the grandson and it works just fine. No, they are not as good as the older 870's and if I was looking for a serious bird hunter I would buy an older used one from some one who took care of it.

The 870 was such a wonderful design and I tip my hat to the original designers. It was designed for bird hunters and the fact that thousands of them were "pressed into service" with law enforcement is a testament to their sound design. I spent lots of time with the short barreled 870 as it is what my old department used. I grew up using a Ithaca 37 and an old Mod. 12 Win. and liked them both when I was a kid. When Dad was not around I liked to hold the trigger back and run them like a trombone. Never hit much and often bruised up my middle finger on my firing hand, but it was a hoot!

P.S.

My old deceased accountant long ago was named Frank Cook and him and my friends Dad, old "Perk", were hard core sheep hunters and Frank had the #2 Dall sheep for many years. Him and Perk hit the Wrangell's and/or the peaks in Matanuska Valley mountains about every year starting in the late 40's up until the age caught up with them and Jimmy Carter closed up Perks sheep guiding area in the Wrangell's.

Frank hunted Africa and Mexico long ago and he said the dove hunts in Mexico were the most fun. He gave up on semi autos as he said they required to much cleaning and two barrel guns only fired two times. So his shot gun of choice was a 870 Wingmaster with extended magazine tube that just kept firing. He carried two of them to Mexico and cases of shot gun shells. He said he saw the barrels separate on some very nice and expensive two barrel shot guns. Frank could afford to shoot about any shot gun he wanted, but when he was really slinging lead he wanted the 870!

Great story and I have no qualms believing you.

I and my Son have 3 of the 870s from the 70s - 80s era. They aren’t for sale, just FYI.

I have 2 Win 1300 FTWTs, 20” w/tubes. (maybe 22” ? ) 1 is a NWTF (National Wild Turkey Federation) Model.
They are light......but NOT the quality of the older 870s.

Jerry

I'm always seeing people post pictures of Expresses that have magically rusted, even seen one pic of guns rusting in the IN A STORE RACK! And those were the Police model, too. Maybe they improved them recently, but I'd let other people find out.I think that Express finish has the worst reputation for rusting, ever.

"I was perusing my local Cabela's today when I happened to find 6 870 police magnums marked new, on the rack. These were selling for $699.99, AND were already showing lots of rust. All of them had rust all along the receiver, and on major portions of the barrel."

Are you fairly handy with tools? If so, PM me, and I may be able to help you. And, it's not complicated. Plus, it doesn't sound like we could make it much worse!

I had two that wouldn't eject for $h/t. Both were bought used, and might have been traded in to my LGS because they wouldn't eject. With the first one, folks said "You're not running the action fast enough." They were wrong, and what the issue was had nothing to do with how fast you ran it. I borrowed one from a friend that ran fine. I messed with them and studied them until I figured out what the difference was. When I finally figured it out, and corrected mine, it never bobbled again. Years later, when I bought the second one, when it wouldn't eject . . . Well, then it wasn't my first rodeo. Same issue, same fix. The second is one of my home protection guns. I trust it.

The 870 is one of my four "Guns everyone should own." I still believe that, but Remington has damn sure tested my resolve! It is not so much with the 870 in particular, but the crap they pulled when they acquired Marlin, Bushmaster, and maybe some others. I don't know if Marlin is straightened out yet. As for Bushmaster, the owner got back at the Remington "bespoke suits" when he opened Wyndham Weaponry!

Grammar adjusted.

I've gotten far too much good free info here to ever ask for renummeration for information. I am reluctant only because, until I get more information, I won't know if it is the same problem.

That said, the problem with mine, in both cases, was a carrier that was too high in the rest position. If an 870'is running right, it will "usually" eject nicely even if you run the action as slow as you can. When the action closes, when the bolt stops, the action bars still must move forward a bit more. This motion operates the part of the bolt that rises up and locks into the barrel extension. So, when you retract the bolt about halfway, you will see that you can hold the slide still and push the bolt backwards a bit. In operation, as you draw the bolt back, at some point the mechanism releases the next shell. This shell is under magazine spring force, so when it is released it is "launched." It slides up the carrier, hits the bolt, and knocks it back that fraction of an inch. If things are as they should be the bolt is in the right spot that when it is knocked back the empty is ejected. It is not you running the slide quickly at all. Again, if it is working right, you can run the action at literally a snail's pace. Even then, when that incoming shell releases, it will hit the bolt and kick the empty.

However, if the carrier rides too high, there is not enough room for the incoming loaded shell and the waiting to be ejected hull. The hull heads interfere with each other and the empty doesn't get a clean exit. It is difficult to impossible to run the action fast enough to prevent this. This is because that incoming round is released before you draw the bolt back far enough for that motion to eject the empty (as with the last round in the gun, when there is no incoming loaded round to hit the bolt.)

Some people tell me you can bend the carrier down. That looks problematic to me. I remove the trigger group, and file a bit on the surface that determines where the carrier rests in the "ready" position. It is a cut and try thing. You are trying to drop the tip of the carrier, but you don't want it sticking out way below the bottom of the receiver.

I hope my description makes sense. All that said, I'm not an 870 expert by any means, and I'm not a gunsmith. I am an engineer and I'm pretty good at figuring out how things work. I can only relate was has worked for me in only two cases.

Sounds good Doc but mine doesn't eject worth a damn even when you only load one round so there's no shell underneath to interfere. I don't know what the problem is. Obviously Remington doesn't either and is perfectly content to stick me with a useless lemon. I have a bunch of extra parts here and have repleced the extractor, extractor spring, the entire bolt assembly with one from a Wingmaster and have tinkered with the ejector spring and extractor spring tension, both more and less and still it refuses to eject properly. This is definitely not a rough chamber issue. A rough chamber would cause extraction issues, not ejection issues and extraction is and always has been just fine. I reckon I'll just have to stick with my good, dependable old pumps from Browning, Ithaca and Mossberg for hunting and make a lamp out of this POS 870. One thing's for sure, Remington has seen the last dime of my money they'll ever get. I won't even buy ammo or a calendar that says Remington on it ever again, as I'm sure they could find a way to fugg those up too and not stand behind it.

^^^^^
Blackheart,

You are testing ejecting an empty hull, correct? Seems to me an empty should eject better, but I honestly don't know how much of a difference that should make. Again, I claim no special,870 expertise. My best GUESS is the port is too small, something is up with the ejector "spring finger thing", or something (possibly the ejector), was installed in the wrong place. That would be weird, but I guess it could happen. Or possibly the ejector is mounted in the right place, but too long, too short, or otherwise out of spec.

My only suggestion is to get your hands on one you know works and see if you can find a difference somewhere. Maybe swap in the "good" parts a bit at a time [bolt, (maybe the whole thing), and action bars.] If the "good" parts don't work in the "bad" receiver, and the "bad" parts work in the "good" receiver, then you know it is something about the receiver or ejector (dimensions or locations.) At some point, the people at Remington should see you have done due diligence to figure it out.

In my case, I could see the difference in where the tip of the carrier "rode" relative to the receiver. I don't remember if that was the breakthrough or if I figured it out by running the actions slowly.

Hope this helps.

thank you