Remington 870's in 16 Gauge - discussion
- Thread starter Claven2
- Start date
madtrapper143
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Steep Rock Lake NWO
Classic Remington.
Darryl
Darryl
Well the gun arrived today and some questions were answered...
For starters, it turns out it is NOT a 26" barrel on an Express, it was actually a complete youth model with factory 23" barrel and 12.5" length of pull. I see this as a huge stroke of good fortune, the shorter barrel is most welcome in terms of weight reduction and I was replacing the stock set anyhow. The butt had some scuffing on it like the gun had been rattling around a lot in a quad boot. It probably was!
I do not think this gun had been cleaned since it was made in the early 2000's. It was absolutely FILTHY inside. It has definitely been shot a fair bit, but everything is still in functional shape. The trigger plate pins were frozen in place with grace and a small amount of surface corrosion. I had to use a punch to get them out for cleaning. I must have pulled half a 35mm film cup (yes, I'm that old) of un-burned powder and carbon residue out of the bolt assembly and receiver. There was a bit of surface corrosion up under the rib, and the bore was coated in carbon and melted plastic wad residue. All that said, the action remained very smooth.
The previous owned had install one of those magnetic fibre optic sights (I'm not a fan) and it looks like they had tried to unscrew the front bead, not realizing express beads do not un-screw (i.e. they are inserted into the rib and then peened in place mechanically). Oh well, despite it being a little chewed-up, it's still there and looks ok in terms of sight picture.
Of course, like all my guns, I had to tear it down to make certain what I was dealing with. Found some interesting stuff.
First of all, this is where they marked the receiver as a 16:
I've checked that it cycles ok (it does), but for some reason Remington installed 28 gauge latches. Odd. I'd have thought they would use 20 gauge latches if they did not do a run of proper 16 gauge units... but then, maybe using the smaller frame28 latches in a larger frame is equivalent to using 16 gauge latches. Dunno. But they work ok and the factory staking is intact, so it shipped this way:
They used a 16-specific ejector assembly, but unlike the vintage ones I have here for reference, this newer ejector has a shoulder on it at the back like a 2,3/4" 12 gauge ejector.
This is interesting - the action bars on the slide are not media blasted like many express units. They look to have been simply blued after being stamped out of stock without either media blasting or polishing. They are actually really smooth and likely contribute to a really smooth action on this gun. Not Wingmaster smooth, but smoother than I am used to on an Express gun. Of course, the gun is equipped with Flexi-tab and the extra notch on the action bars.
I didn't have great lighting, but here it is all cleaned up and wearing adult sized Fleur De Lis wingmaster wood with the white lines removed and a new Pachmayr Decelerator pad:
I think it looks nice, even though I've basically shamelessly copied madtrapper143. Though not intentionally, I didn't know it was a youth model before it arrived. Oh, and I took out that stupid J-lock and put in a regular safety. I can sleep better now.
For starters, it turns out it is NOT a 26" barrel on an Express, it was actually a complete youth model with factory 23" barrel and 12.5" length of pull. I see this as a huge stroke of good fortune, the shorter barrel is most welcome in terms of weight reduction and I was replacing the stock set anyhow. The butt had some scuffing on it like the gun had been rattling around a lot in a quad boot. It probably was!
I do not think this gun had been cleaned since it was made in the early 2000's. It was absolutely FILTHY inside. It has definitely been shot a fair bit, but everything is still in functional shape. The trigger plate pins were frozen in place with grace and a small amount of surface corrosion. I had to use a punch to get them out for cleaning. I must have pulled half a 35mm film cup (yes, I'm that old) of un-burned powder and carbon residue out of the bolt assembly and receiver. There was a bit of surface corrosion up under the rib, and the bore was coated in carbon and melted plastic wad residue. All that said, the action remained very smooth.
The previous owned had install one of those magnetic fibre optic sights (I'm not a fan) and it looks like they had tried to unscrew the front bead, not realizing express beads do not un-screw (i.e. they are inserted into the rib and then peened in place mechanically). Oh well, despite it being a little chewed-up, it's still there and looks ok in terms of sight picture.
Of course, like all my guns, I had to tear it down to make certain what I was dealing with. Found some interesting stuff.
First of all, this is where they marked the receiver as a 16:
I've checked that it cycles ok (it does), but for some reason Remington installed 28 gauge latches. Odd. I'd have thought they would use 20 gauge latches if they did not do a run of proper 16 gauge units... but then, maybe using the smaller frame28 latches in a larger frame is equivalent to using 16 gauge latches. Dunno. But they work ok and the factory staking is intact, so it shipped this way:
They used a 16-specific ejector assembly, but unlike the vintage ones I have here for reference, this newer ejector has a shoulder on it at the back like a 2,3/4" 12 gauge ejector.
This is interesting - the action bars on the slide are not media blasted like many express units. They look to have been simply blued after being stamped out of stock without either media blasting or polishing. They are actually really smooth and likely contribute to a really smooth action on this gun. Not Wingmaster smooth, but smoother than I am used to on an Express gun. Of course, the gun is equipped with Flexi-tab and the extra notch on the action bars.
I didn't have great lighting, but here it is all cleaned up and wearing adult sized Fleur De Lis wingmaster wood with the white lines removed and a new Pachmayr Decelerator pad:
I think it looks nice, even though I've basically shamelessly copied madtrapper143. Though not intentionally, I didn't know it was a youth model before it arrived. Oh, and I took out that stupid J-lock and put in a regular safety. I can sleep better now.
madtrapper143
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Steep Rock Lake NWO
Well that being a youth gun with a 23" barrel turned out to be a nice surprise. Gun looks good. Being well used as you described indicates it has no issues to be concerned with. I am starting to like the "stealth" look of the wood with no white spacers.
Darryl
Darryl
White line isn't really high on my list. Makes me think I should be wearing corduroy and listening to 8 tracks - lol.By the way, do you have any texture or stippling on the top of your rib, or is it just sandblasted? Mine is just blasted. Newer expresses do have a texture machine-applied. A few patterns have been used over the years.
Bye-bye J-lock:
Idea of barrel thickness. Externally, it's a 12 gauge light contour as others have reported.
Humm so the original remington literature was right again on the 26" barrel not offered on a express and 12ga LC barrel dimensions
That is strange
It was luck that you got the shorter barrel in this case and it just suprises me someone selling a gun doesn't know the difference
Sorry to each their own but for me it sucks without the white especially on the 70's/ 80's magahony wood and looks too much like a 90's version IMO which I didnot like vs the older ones
Still a 16ga 870 so one has to love it eventually.
Cheers
That is strange
It was luck that you got the shorter barrel in this case and it just suprises me someone selling a gun doesn't know the difference
Sorry to each their own but for me it sucks without the white especially on the 70's/ 80's magahony wood and looks too much like a 90's version IMO which I didnot like vs the older ones
Still a 16ga 870 so one has to love it eventually
.Cheers
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Humm so the original remington literature was right again on the 26" barrel not offered on a express and 12ga LC barrel dimensions
That is strange
It was luck that you got the shorter barrel in this case and it just suprises me someone selling a gun doesn't know the difference
Sorry to each their own but for me it sucks without the white especially on the 70's/ 80's magahony wood and looks too much like a 90's version IMO which I didnot like vs the older ones
Still a 16ga 870 so one has to love it eventually
Cheers
Everyone has their own tastes. I prefer sans-white line.
The surprising thing is how the seller could not use a measuring tape, but in this case it worked in my favor I think.
I didn't know the wood was mahogany. I had thought it was walnut and mahogany was largely restricted to sub-gauges in the mid-70s.
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madtrapper143
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Steep Rock Lake NWO
Well I just put on my cords and turned up the 8 track to go check on the rib on mine. It is only sand blasted like yours. Just over 80,000 difference in the serial #'s. Mine being the lower number. I t made me happy to read that your gun had been used and likely enjoyed so much by the previous owner (too bad they did not clean it). That is rare for a 16 gauge these days.
Darryl
Darryl
yep why I said to each their own
Looks like mahogany to me from the pic
Cheers
Only going off the top of my head
The mahogany stocks arrived in 1966 on the "20 Ga. Lightweight" 1100s, which were built on the 12 gauge sized receiver, but had mahogany stocks. In 1969 the then new 28 and 410 Model 1100s and 870s arrived with mahogany as well. The LW 20 arrived in 1970 with mahogany
Due to the walnut shortage in 1974 and most field grade 1100s and 870s got mahogany after mid year which continued they say until 79 in some models but we have still seem them supplied well into the early 80's.
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It may well be. I don't have an expert eye at spotting a mahogany grain. Either way, it's a decent looking stock, if relatively Un-figured.
As an aside, even though the seller clearly told me the choke tube in it was a FULL, it is in fact the factory MOD choke. So I ordered a MOD needlessly from Trulock and just had to order a replacement FULL. Oh well. At least I'll have a matching set of extended chokes for this gun.
And for those that care, it's an LW date code, so Feb 2002, which would seem to be rather early for a 16 gauge express.
Now to keep my eye out for a 26" Wingmaster 16 and an Upper Sandusky Ithaca 16...
Or maybe the right 28 Gauge 870...
Now to keep my eye out for a 26" Wingmaster 16 and an Upper Sandusky Ithaca 16...
Or maybe the right 28 Gauge 870...
