870 Express versus 870 Police...my experience and opinions

mr00jimbo

mr00jimbo

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Okay, so I bought a Remington 870 Express, 18 inch with the extended magazine tube, back in 2006. I gave it away to a family member, and purchased an 870 Police Magnum, 18 inch with walnut and the extended magazine tube.

In many ways, a very similar gun. In other ways different.
People will wonder, why pay over seven hundred dollars for an 870 Police, when you could get an 870 Express for 360-400 or so. I mean, that's quite a difference in price, right?
I mean, the new Police comes with a polymer trigger guard, and heavier springs don't cost that much more, right?

I got the Police today. I have yet to fire it but I don't imagine it's going to be any more accurate than the Express. It does have an R3 recoil pad, so maybe it'll shoot softer. And it's heavier.

But I will give my 0.02.

This Police Magnum is much better quality-wise, than my old 870 Express.

The parkerized finish, once it was oiled up, soaked to a nice, deep looking black. The finish is smooth, the attention to detail inside is great. It feels more tightly fitted together. The wood is a nice pattern walnut. But functionally, I'd imagine it would be quite similar to my old 870 Express.
Looks as if a lot of the extra money went into extra finishing, fitting and a few bucks in higher quality parts, plus a much, much better finish.
Is it worth 300$ more than the Express?

That depends. I love the little quality details of a good firearm and this one makes the gun feel a lot more "high end" than the Express, which feels unrefined in comparison. But I will say, my 870 Express could be counted on to work if I racked it, if I ever faced an angry bear or "zombie". :p

Just my 0.02.
Just a pic
 
I think the 'P' is better, but not $300 better, the exterior finish is the only detail that really separates them that can't easily be brought up to par on the Express.

I know that if I had to do it all over again, I would have bought a used 1985 or older 870, and not bothered with the newer stuff.
 
Just some more pics
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Nice.

The wood makes it look a lot more classy and serious than mine with its synthetic furniture.

Be sure to keep the Parkerizing soaked in oil or you can easily have rust problems in this climate, also dry Parkerizing scratches quite readily.

I've taken the trouble to baked heavy gear grease into mine, it was messy as hell but I don't have to reapply it often and its more protective than oil.
 
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In regards to it rusting if not oiled, that probably depends on how much you use the gun and if it's out in the elements no? I had mine for around 4 years, it was mostly sitting in the safe looking pretty. I never really oiled it much and it would sit dirty after light range use for a few months at a time, and I see no visible rust problems on anywhere outside.

I would also like to add to the regular 870 vs Police comparison. I remember a few years ago when I owned a regular 870, every time I handled it and placed back into safe without cleaning, the fingerprints would start to rust/change color within days, while I can handle the Police version all day long and there are no signs of rust or any kind of discoloration where I touched it.

Personally I think the police model for this alone is worth buying.
 
Couldn't use just get an 870 Express or better yet an old Wingmaster, upgrade all the springs and mechanical parts, and just have your gunsmith use KG Gunkote with a finish better than Parkerizing and still spend less money? (Also have the smith smooth and deburr the parts too). Why yes.. you can. Just depends if you want to spend more time doing that or just buy everything all set up already.
 
That's not a bad idea but I wonder how much it would cost when it's all said and done, and also how much time it would take. Then comes the quality of work, you need a good gunsmith that's going to do the proper job when it comes to gun finish, and not cut corners, otherwise the gun is going to start to rust fast.
I don't know, me personally I prefer to just walk into the store and buy the whole thing, everything set up and ready for use, but that's just me. :)
 
The smith's expertise is a good point. But most of this stuff you can honestly do yourself if you just do some reading and video watching.

Changing out the extractor to a milled one, carrier dog spring, mag tube spring, follower, safety button are things you can do yourself. Changing the ejector is a little tougher but still doable or just get a smith to do it.

Walnut vs Synthetic stocks that's personal preference.

Now doing the KG Gunkote, Armacoat, Duracoat etc is not hard if you prep the gun, heat it up, and know how to apply the product properly. So technically you can bypass a smith at this point too.

Honing and deburring can be done yourself too, although just running lots of rounds through the gun will do this as well! 2 birds with 1 stone here! :)

So i guess you can do it all yourself for cheaper. Best part is you get to personalize your weapon and familiarize yourself with how it works.

P.S. The best finish would be to KG Gunkote on top of the phosphate finish.
 
SantaClawz said:
That's not a bad idea but I wonder how much it would cost when it's all said and done, and also how much time it would take. Then comes the quality of work, you need a good gunsmith that's going to do the proper job when it comes to gun finish, and not cut corners, otherwise the gun is going to start to rust fast.
I don't know, me personally I prefer to just walk into the store and buy the whole thing, everything set up and ready for use, but that's just me. :)
Click to expand...

Re-tasking an old Wingmaster is a good alternative. They have the aluminum trigger housing, if that's important to you, and definitely no need to refinish as the blue on the older guns is excellent quality. Can't compare directly to the P park job, but the Wingmaster duck gun I've used for 20-something years (and I was the second owner) has seen LOTS of water and time outdoors in BC and it shows zero corrosion.

I recently redid a 60s Wingmaster in "Police" pattern for much less than the cost of a new P model. If you add on the cost of a professional Arma-Coat job, it's still significantly less than a new P model. But I love working on guns, so I don't count my time as an expense. I sold it, and I rather wish I hadn't. I hope the new owner is treating her well:

DSC04053.JPG
 
SantaClawz said:
In regards to it rusting if not oiled, that probably depends on how much you use the gun and if it's out in the elements no? I had mine for around 4 years, it was mostly sitting in the safe looking pretty. I never really oiled it much and it would sit dirty after light range use for a few months at a time, and I see no visible rust problems on anywhere outside.

I would also like to add to the regular 870 vs Police comparison. I remember a few years ago when I owned a regular 870, every time I handled it and placed back into safe without cleaning, the fingerprints would start to rust/change color within days, while I can handle the Police version all day long and there are no signs of rust or any kind of discoloration where I touched it.

Personally I think the police model for this alone is worth buying.
Click to expand...

Myself, along with the OP, are in an very corrosion friendly coastal rainforest climate, and things are inclined to rust here that you don't have to worry about elsewhere.

Anyway, as far as finish goes, if I ever have to refinish my 'P' or any other "working" gun, I'm going with nitrocarburizing of some kind and not looking back.
 
I know you could upgrade the springs, or buy an old Wingmaster and do it yourself & save money but like Santaclawz I like things to be perfect out of the box.
 
Thanks for all this advice. I recently purchased a 30 year old Wingmaster that has near perfect bluing in the receiver area after many, many years afield. It's very smooth. I added my fav 12.5" barrel for zombies and a set of factory synthetic furniture because fine walnut is lost on me. I know, I know I don't like walnut or wood so the cheap factory stuff works for me. I was concerned about ####-loss if I did not buy a Police version, but now that I'm reading about the older Wingers, I believe my #### won't fall off now. :D

Will my #### fall off if I don't get an 870Police? Dec 21 zombie invasion is looming! :eek:

Cheers all !

Barney
 
SantaClawz said:
^
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In regards to it rusting if not oiled, that probably depends on how much you use the gun and if it's out in the elements no? I had mine for around 4 years, it was mostly sitting in the safe looking pretty. I never really oiled it much and it would sit dirty after light range use for a few months at a time, and I see no visible rust problems on anywhere outside.

I would also like to add to the regular 870 vs Police comparison. I remember a few years ago when I owned a regular 870, every time I handled it and placed back into safe without cleaning, the fingerprints would start to rust/change color within days, while I can handle the Police version all day long and there are no signs of rust or any kind of discoloration where I touched it.

Personally I think the police model for this alone is worth buying.
Click to expand...

I use minwax floor and furniture paste wax. It goes on like an oil, but dries to a dull sheen wax which risists water and wear.....probably zombie splatter too. And it doesn't transfer or rub off like oil.
 
alpining said:
Re-tasking an old Wingmaster is a good alternative. They have the aluminum trigger housing, if that's important to you, and definitely no need to refinish as the blue on the older guns is excellent quality. Can't compare directly to the P park job, but the Wingmaster duck gun I've used for 20-something years (and I was the second owner) has seen LOTS of water and time outdoors in BC and it shows zero corrosion.

I recently redid a 60s Wingmaster in "Police" pattern for much less than the cost of a new P model. If you add on the cost of a professional Arma-Coat job, it's still significantly less than a new P model. But I love working on guns, so I don't count my time as an expense. I sold it, and I rather wish I hadn't. I hope the new owner is treating her well:

DSC04053.JPG
Click to expand...


How much did you sale it for? I'm looking for a remington 870 and this one in the pic is what exactly I want.
 
I'm the lucky guy that bought the above-pictured vintage Wingmaster from alpining... who is a master craftsman when it comes to gunsmithing IMHO, as well as a true gentleman.

When I unpacked it I was a bit taken by the honey-walnut refinish job on the police furniture... looked better than the EE photos and even better than the browner walnut on my 870P. Inside was a package with the original carrier dog spring, mag spring and follower, original end cap and some other parts which were replaced or upgraded, and I knew I was dealing with a guy who cared about his guns.

I have a bunch of pumps... a newer 870P, Mossberg 590A1, Benelli Supernova and Ithaca M37... and I'm not about to compare them as they are all very strong in subtly different ways, but this old Wingmaster truly is special -- even among those great guns. Maybe it's the age of it, but it's slickity-chik-chik SMOOTH and I haven't had a single hang-up with all sorts of ammo.

There are guns I will sell or trade -- but this one is going to my sons when I'm gone.
Thank you again, alpining. I can truly understand the twinge of seller's remorse on this one! :p
 
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