I currently have the two shotguns in question. Here is a quick break down of the differences for who ever cares and is willing to listen me. I have owned an 870 tactical in 2012 (junk) and have handled the older 870 police.
Both are made in China.
The stock and forend.
The blue line is awesome. Thick heavy duty plastic. The butt pad screws into metal threads that are set into the plastic. The forend is the same
The ATI is cheap, hollow and thin plastic. I am sure it is fine. I swapped it for magpul. The forend matches the stock quality but it does have a plastic rail for a flashlight which is cool. I swapped it for the stream light forend.
Sights.
The blue line is a bead sight that works as intended.
The ATI had a driftable front post. Mine has a hole in it as if it had or was suppose to have some shiny metal in it but it was gone. It still works and was on sale. The rail on the receiver has a U style notch in it which works as a rear sight. I put a red dot on put the rail sight seemed ok. It is a metal rail that looks cheap.
Accuracy.
The ATI appears to spread more but I only did not do a proper test because it is cold out. The blue line seemed to do better with challenger slugs. Again I did not do a good test of ammo. It is cold out and all shotguns will pattern different from each other. Smooth bore with slugs are not known for be accurate any way
Smoothness/ fit and finish
The ATI is smoother but the blue line is very nice. They are bother better than the newer 870s. Fit and finish is the same between the two. I would rather have these than the 870 I had back in the day. The old 870 police models are similar to these.
Trigger guard/ trigger pack
The blue line is all metal which is cool. The ATI is plastic which is fine. No complaints about the plastic one. The ATI lifter is chrome which is cool. Trigger pull feels the same and are useable. If you blame trigger pull on these, you are the problem
Other points
The ATI has a chromed bolt which is great. The looks of that are up to you. The blue line looks like what you see on an 870. I think the blue line is heavier but not enough to matter. The blue line mag tube is slightly girthy. You will have to gently hammer on a new forend if you want one. My stream light fit. The blue line has a 5 round tube and the ATI has a 4 round tube. Both are dimpled at the end so mag extender will need some effort
I would trust my life to both of them. I think I will be keeping both for the time being.
Both are made in China.
The stock and forend.
The blue line is awesome. Thick heavy duty plastic. The butt pad screws into metal threads that are set into the plastic. The forend is the same
The ATI is cheap, hollow and thin plastic. I am sure it is fine. I swapped it for magpul. The forend matches the stock quality but it does have a plastic rail for a flashlight which is cool. I swapped it for the stream light forend.
Sights.
The blue line is a bead sight that works as intended.
The ATI had a driftable front post. Mine has a hole in it as if it had or was suppose to have some shiny metal in it but it was gone. It still works and was on sale. The rail on the receiver has a U style notch in it which works as a rear sight. I put a red dot on put the rail sight seemed ok. It is a metal rail that looks cheap.
Accuracy.
The ATI appears to spread more but I only did not do a proper test because it is cold out. The blue line seemed to do better with challenger slugs. Again I did not do a good test of ammo. It is cold out and all shotguns will pattern different from each other. Smooth bore with slugs are not known for be accurate any way
Smoothness/ fit and finish
The ATI is smoother but the blue line is very nice. They are bother better than the newer 870s. Fit and finish is the same between the two. I would rather have these than the 870 I had back in the day. The old 870 police models are similar to these.
Trigger guard/ trigger pack
The blue line is all metal which is cool. The ATI is plastic which is fine. No complaints about the plastic one. The ATI lifter is chrome which is cool. Trigger pull feels the same and are useable. If you blame trigger pull on these, you are the problem
Other points
The ATI has a chromed bolt which is great. The looks of that are up to you. The blue line looks like what you see on an 870. I think the blue line is heavier but not enough to matter. The blue line mag tube is slightly girthy. You will have to gently hammer on a new forend if you want one. My stream light fit. The blue line has a 5 round tube and the ATI has a 4 round tube. Both are dimpled at the end so mag extender will need some effort
I would trust my life to both of them. I think I will be keeping both for the time being.
