Remington shotguns going down hill?

Remington Quality

I can't comment on the older guns, but I have a 20ga Express with the laminate stock that's 2 yrs old. I think the quality is good for the price I paid, although I would like to see 3 chokes included instead of 1. As an aside, I hope that those complaining of the quality of winchester, Browning, Remington etc aren't heading afield carring Norinco, or other cheap knockoff guns, because I believe that is a huge part of the problem. With the number of shooters and sportsman falling as it is, to have that kind of competition for the market that's left really pressures our North American manufacturers to cut corners, to compete. I'm not saying competition is bad, but these are clones of another company's products without paying royalties, or having to develop their own. Sorry to make this so long, but this invasion from the East bothers me, because I would like to continue to work and live in North America.
 
fwm a very good post. I feel the same. Remington, Winchester and Browning (among others) are feeling the pinch of the cheap imported crap and their quality control reflects this. I don't own any Chinese made guns and hope to keep it that way. I did buy a Norinco model 97 Trench gun and was very disapointed with the quality. I knew better and sold it and bought a real model 97. I can't help but wonder what the Chinese invasion will bring next. I just noticed that my Irish Setter upland boots are made in China.....

Darryl
 
I have been a Remigton 870 guy since my dad bought me one in 1978. I just purchased a 870 Express 12 ga 3" with laminate stock. Before I even shot it I polished the chamber with metal polish and fine steel wool. This gun is as relaible as my old 870 is. My nephew purchased the same gun and experienced "jamming" (stuck cartridge in chamber) with aluminum headed Winchester loads. I polished his and it is OK.

I own a 1973 wingmaster and never had a problem feeding and ejecting with the original barrel. But I recently bought a 20" deer barrel (from an Express) and started having ejection problems...guess I'll have to give it a good polishing! What brand of metal polish did you use, Madtrapper?
 
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Remington quality has been on the downhill slide for decades. On top of that, the 870 Express was specifically conceived to be the "creme de la crap" of the Remington shotgun line. Buying an 870 Express is sort of like buying an economy version of the Yugo.
 
A friend of mine had a BPS and that it the reason I will keep my 870, he said that BPS stands for Browning Piece of s**t, I have never seen a shotgun with so many feeding problems.
Then you haven't seen the Marine Magnum that I used to have :D
 
I bought an express super mag about 4 months ago. I've put a couple of cases of target loads through it and a few boxes of different hunting loads.

So far so good. No jams or misfeeds of any kind.

I can't think of one complaint with it.
 
fwm a very good post. I feel the same. Remington, Winchester and Browning (among others) are feeling the pinch of the cheap imported crap and their quality control reflects this. I don't own any Chinese made guns and hope to keep it that way. I did buy a Norinco model 97 Trench gun and was very disapointed with the quality. I knew better and sold it and bought a real model 97. I can't help but wonder what the Chinese invasion will bring next. I just noticed that my Irish Setter upland boots are made in China.....

Darryl

I hear ya buddy!!:)
 
fwm a very good post. I feel the same. Remington, Winchester and Browning (among others) are feeling the pinch of the cheap imported crap and their quality control reflects this. I don't own any Chinese made guns and hope to keep it that way. I did buy a Norinco model 97 Trench gun and was very disapointed with the quality. I knew better and sold it and bought a real model 97. I can't help but wonder what the Chinese invasion will bring next. I just noticed that my Irish Setter upland boots are made in China.....

Darryl

Not much of an invasion, but more of an invitation! This crap may be manufactured in China but this crap is contracted and imported from this side of the ocean.
 
I've never had a problem with any of mine.....I got older wingmasters as well as newer ones....and some express'........as well as 1100's and 1187. I've got 1300's and never a problem there either........but I have seen other people have problems with 870 3.5" supermags trying to cycle "cheap" target loads( 2.75) though......but I can't speculate as to why and I don't plan on ever buying a 3.5" anyways ....2.75's in pretty much everything work fine!!! I know that they are doing their best to keep production costs down due to crap imports and I think they might be cutting corners on surface finish(inside and out).
 
I suspect this situation is only going to get worse. Remington is now selling cheap turkish and russian guns as "new lines". Thankfully, I still have my Ithaca 37.
 
LOL. Is this thread now considered officially highjacked by the Ithaca lovers?

With all due respect, we need to acknowledge that, at one time, Remington produced the fore father to the beloved Ithaca 37... the Remington Model 17. Since dropping that design (and Ithaca picking it up and perfecting it), sadly Remington has taken a slow sink into quality oblivion :p
 
While you guys mentioning Norinco have a point, don't forget that Norinco products are not imported into the US, which is Rem-chest-ing's biggest market by far.
 
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