Would you trust your 870 express?

Do you trust your 870 Express?

  • Yes, right out of the box

    Votes: 287 73.4%

  • Yes, after tinkering with it a bit

    Votes: 55 14.1%

  • No, thats why I bought a Police/Wingmaster

    Votes: 49 12.5%
  • Total voters
    391
1300_stainless

1300_stainless

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Location
Nova Scotia, Canada
I would love to have a Police 870, but considering the price and what I personally use the gun for it's not economical. We've all seen the list of differences between the 870 express and police. If I needed my shotgun to protect me/ and to preform my job on a daily bases I can see these added features as necessary. There's no arguing that the police is a more refined firearm.

That said though, I've never had a reliability issue with my 870 express. bought it used, and shot it a lot, fallen on top of it, dropped it etc. No FTF, FTE etc, not even with cheap shells. I've also modified it a bit, added an aftermarket mag follower, replaced the j-lock and soon I will polish the internals a bit.

Anyway here's my question for the other 870 owners, just because I'm curious. Do you trust your 870 express for any situation? Right out of the box, or tinkered with? I personally trust mine for any situation with the simple modifications I've made, but maybe I've been lucky.

UPDATE
I think I should have reworded the first option to "yes, in factory configuration" as opposed to "yes, out of the box" I agree that nothing should be trusted without inspection/testing. But I have no idea how to edit a poll and now that it's started and has results that would kind of screw it up.
 
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I can't speak for the express, but I do have a sportsman 12 (80s version of the express). It's been beaten, caked in mud, abused, etc (carry rifle from tree-planting, mining exploration, and now forestry). Never FTF, FTE, jammed, hiccuped...even with my less than outstanding cleaning / maintenance of it.

I would trust it, and have, any day of the year.
 
I understood that the Express and Police share the same innards and the police just has a few more nice touches such as the tac' stock and tapped holes on the receiver for mounting sights and other accessories. But other than that the guns are the same.
 
If it is a purchase for serious use, and a not "'pimped" or ego driven purchase, why buy anything but the best when it is for personal defence. Not coolest, or most tactical, but best for your purpose.

If you decide a shotgun is your best home defence choice, and know there is a model built to be more reliable, and given more attention in its build, why would you NOT buy it?

I don't think the price difference, and then required tinkering/time is with worth it to NOT get the P edition if it is for a mission critical use. Yes, we non high speed people can have missions... ;)

The goal:

"Get a gun/cartridge combination that goes bang every time you pull the
trigger and which you can shoot quickly and accurately."

Why start behind the curve?
 
I vote, yes after tinkering with it. But in reality, I have not done anything to alter the actual function of the gun. and I did feel confident in it when I first bought it. Having said that. I would have trusted the gun from the box, had I not tinkered with it.

NOW, Heaven forbid that I would ever need one as in life or death, it would be the 870P that would be called out of the safe. Like people, there are many who can be called trust worthy, but there are also specific people for the job.
 
Nope...I don't trust anything, even my Police model until it's been...CASEY-FIED!
Tac-Ord pimped 870P
870Pparts001.jpg
 
I have a police magnum and its no different than any other 870 i have, handling wise. The finnish is the only real significance. All the fancy ass stocks that absorb recoil, tactical lights, rails, door breaching gizmos...etc, don't help in bagging a grouse. They are all the same....and very reliable. I stopped being a silly buggar with kit after i left the military. Bling and function are not the same.
 
I think the best 870 for home defense wood have a wood stock with lots of figure ,a ribbed barrel ,some nice scrimshaw of ducks and hunting dogs and anything else you can think of to make it look like the kind of gun grampa shot grouse with. This is Canada and you do not want your "tactical shottie" to influence the cops ,prosecutor or jury into thinking your a Rambo wannabee. By all means have a shorter ribbed barrel and practice using it.

If you shoot someone in your home not only do you have to be technically innocent but you also have to make the prosecutor think he does not have much chance of winning a case against you. The powers that be are a lot more afraid of the average citizen taking the law into their own hands than crime.
 
right out of the box, Hell no. I have had my express fail 2 times during testing (1 was the gun, 1 was a mod). Each time required a little tinkering. More testing, then we'll see. Also, if doing any mods, make sure you test the function after.
 
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Unsub said:
I think the best 870 for home defense wood have a wood stock with lots of figure ,a ribbed barrel ,some nice scrimshaw of ducks and hunting dogs and anything else you can think of to make it look like the kind of gun grampa shot grouse with. This is Canada and you do not want your "tactical shottie" to influence the cops ,prosecutor or jury into thinking your a Rambo wannabee. By all means have a shorter ribbed barrel and practice using it.

If you shoot someone in your home not only do you have to be technically innocent but you also have to make the prosecutor think he does not have much chance of winning a case against you. The powers that be are a lot more afraid of the average citizen taking the law into their own hands than crime.
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That's a very good point. However I'm not so much talking about the speedfeed stocks and surefire forends as much as I am the internal differences. IE heavier springs, vibration honed receivers etc. A remington police can be had pretty plain jane with an 18" barrel and wooden stocks.
 
Inspect it, work the action, make sure everything slides smoothly, looks right and clicks loudly. Otherwise, you're good to go. Right out of the box my 870 Express is awesome, I love it.
 
Probably 99.9% of the shotguns out there are used by recreational shooters, so if the gun turns out to be something less than absolutely reliable, it's no biggy. Just put up with the hiccup until you get home, then send the gun out for warranty work. But for those who carry a gun for protection a good lineage isn't enough. An 870, or any other firearm that is to be used for the protection of life needs to be proven reliable before it is taken into the field or out on the street. Often guns used in these roles get less than TLC, so a hiccup may occur some time after it is purchased. In such a case, the gun must be taken out of service until such time as it is once again proven reliable. This is not to be taken as a slight against the 870. These are for the most part well designed, well made, reliable guns, but no gun that is to be carried for serious work, should be trusted until proven.
 
coming at this as a duck hunter, the first part of owning a shotgun after cleaning the packing greese, if there is any, is to pattern it. So I suppose at this point you are proving it.

If this poll is about trusting it with your life out of the box then the title should be changed.
I always think of shotguns from a prctiacal hunting point of view. I forget that some of you guys just have them waiting for an intruder and don't pattern them for the distance you want to shoot.

There is a reason why so many 870 express are in the duck blinds. They are reliable.

And yes they get proven. I will trust them outa the box until they prove otherwise.
 
Silverado said:
I don't trust anything right out of the box.

If I prove that it works, then of course.
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+1 Run anything you may ever depend your life on through it. Not 2-3 shells but lots. See how they pattern (Buckshot) or point of impact (Slugs) I've not had a problem with mine but I know that Federal Slugs and Remington slugs have 6" difference in point of impact @ 50m
 
I work for an agency that the 870 is a general issue weapon and is signed out at the start of every shift. After a set of simple condition checks, into the car it goes for the shift and even after all the snow, rain and mud they get exposed to (as well as plain old rough handling) I have never had one fail on me when I need it. And when it is needed it is a life saving tool. The 870 is a solid work horse, I will let my life ride on it.
 
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