Sidearms & Scatterguns Remington Shotgun Question

[WB300]

Hiders...

I spend most of my time in the Bolt Action section of the Hide, but now come to the scatter gun crowd for advice. I'm looking for a used 870 and have a few locally to choose from.

If i have a Remington 12 ga receiver that is stamped "Super Magnum", will i be able to shoot 2 3/4", 3", and 3 1/2" as long as i have the appropriate barrel for the shell?

Are all Remington 870 (12 ga) barrels and furniture interchangeable , ie.. Super Magnum receiver with other regular barrels?

Is there a serial number prefix i should stay away from? I will not buy a new one. Or stay away from anything manufactured after a certain year?

Is there any reason NOT to get the Super Magnum receiver?

Thanks in advance.

Will

 

[B y r o n]

What exactly are your plans for the gun? You can try starting here. It's hard to go wrong with an 870.

 

[STROP]

Sounds like a bird gun? If you're not going to use it much and will keep it stick then any 870 will do. I can't answer the question on barrel fit.

The older Wingmasters are slick, quality, durable actions that I prefer but make sure you get interchangeable choke capability.

That said, these days I'd go with a Benelli Nova/Supernova for general use.

If you are looking for a shorter barrel, the 870P (Police) models have a few more durable parts, sight options and non-gloss finishes. Again, there were a lot of slick action Wingmasters converted for police use but most didnt have any meaningful chokes.

In the early late 80s? or early 90s? Remington added a u-shaped cut to the shell lifter to help binding should you experience a double feed or similar malfunction.

 

[Bridges90]

I would just stay away from anything Remington, especially 870s after they had been obtained by the freedom group. Which was 2007. They started going to shit then, get ya an old 90s 870 and you’ll be good as gold

 

[WB300]

Byron that's exactly what I'm talking about. Could i put on a rifled barrel, or ANY 870 barrel?

I have other shotguns, but they are a very nice over/under and semi. I would like the utility of a plain jane beater if i could have a rifled barrel with a scope, short-ish barrel with red dot, longer barrel with chokes...etc. And it seems like the Super Mag receiver could give me those options from 2 3/4" up to 3 1/2".

 

[WB300]

Bridges... Thanks.

 

[Quarter Horse]

There are so many iterations of the 870 that you will need to go to the experts. The P guns use different parts than the express guns. These parts replace express parts like springs, safeties and extractors to increase reliability. They also go/went through an entirely different assembly/inspection process in a segregated part of the plant. Here's a link. http://www.rem870.com/remington-gun-parts/remington-870-parts/

The guys to check with for reliability and function are the trap and three-gun shooters.

If you don't plan on using it as exclusively as a Turkey gun a 3" gun should fulfill any needs you could have. I had several in the 60's and 70's that I shot at Trap and they were great guns. There are a lot of old 3" Wingmasters around that are in superb condition and they usually only sell for two to three hundred more than their brothers that have seen hard use. Unless you want to use it in a high volume sport, it will last you forever.

Brownnell's has about everything you can hang on an 870.

 

[WB300]

Thanks QH

 

[strikeeagle1]

Someone has already asked one of the critical questions in the decision algorithm....what is the role the 870 ? Bird hunting, deer slaying, personal self-defense? And then there is the budget?

Start with barrel lengths and chokes. Anything less than 18" of barrel is BATFE territory, with time and expenditures; you can always add a longer barrel for field use.

You don't need a 3" chamber for self-defense, although the 870P model has the 3" chamber.

IF you are going to use it for self-defense and hard use might consider changing out the trigger package for the Parkerized aluminum Police version rather than polymer version as well as changing the extractor to a milled steel style rather than MIM extractor.

Many criticize the quality control of latest generation of 870's, particularly rough chambers and barrel linings.

You definitely want to have a model with the "Flex-tab" lifter, or install one, to manage any double-feeds for either field use or defensive duty. Without the flex-tab, a double - feed can immediately convert the gun to a club as you have to disassemble the gun to rectify it. Mossbergs have an open bottom and not subject to this concern. The FN police shotguns have a solid lifter, so I modified mine that allows room for the two confined cartridges in a double-feed to managed like the flex tab or the user can insert a finger and correct it as well.

The choice of installing a metal trigger group (870 Police, parkerized aluminum) or polymer package; polymers today are so strong I don't think it matters and arguably the polymer is more resilient to deforming trigger guard impacts than the aluminum style.

With only a single extractor (unlike the Mossberg 500 series) much chit chat about the extractor construction vulnerability to failure, now the std. 870's are MIM parts, not milled steel like the old days; the 870 P model has a steel extractor. The best quality steel extractors are the Volquartsen.

Self-defense setups do not require 3.5" chambers; 2-3/4" are fine as you will most likely be chambering low-recoil buckshot or #4 shot.

Two Rem 870 extremes from field to combat:

My first shotgun as a kid was a break-open single shot 20 gauge Ithaca; after a rookie season of not being dangerous I was allowed to graduate to a 20 ga. 870 Wingmaster; I have several of them in different gauges but I enjoy the nostalgia just picking it up. On the other extreme I started a project with a Wilson Combat Scatterguns Technology 12 ga. 18" 870. It was much to heavy with a full magazine of shells and a large SureFire forend; I converted it to a 14" SBS with modifications listed below.

 

[WB300]

Thanks Strike.

I guess my google-fu failed me. And thanks to everyone for bringing me back to earth. I got too hung up on the "Super Mag" receiver thing. Looks like the 870P is what I'm looking for. I can accessorize from there.

So are current, or recent production 870P's GTG? Or has there quality taken the same dump? Should i be looking for a pre-2007 version?

Thanks again for the help.

Oh, and the purpose of this is to play multi-purpose back-up for my other nicer and more expensive shotguns.

 

[Bridges90]

I would most definitely stay away from anything post 2007. The higher end 870s might be decent but most of the express and such I’ve shot have been absolute junk. I changed out the shitty mim extractor and it still doesn’t extract right. I checked the chamber to make sure it was smooth as Remington is known to leave the chamber quite rough but all seemed smooth. I have no idea what’s wrong with it, all I know is I’m trading it for a mossberg when I get the chance. I would look for a 90s 870 if I were in your shoes

 

[STROP]

If you want to start bone stock there should be a number of used 870Ps available, many little used.

Ask for the date code info:
http://www.rem870.com/gun-manufacture-date/remington-serial-number-lookup/

You might consider scouring ar15.com and the other mass gun sites for already modified shotty. Modding them gets expensive quick and yo u end up wondering why you didn't just buy what you wanted to begin with.

I'd rather have a Stoeger M3K (*cough* fk the Turks) or the non-choke Beretta 18" 1301T has been clearanced as low as $620 lately, even if that 1301T sux on far plate racks.