Best years of 870 pump?

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Corbinb1313

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Looking to get an 870 pump, from my reading they seem very solid just wondering if there’s any years/models that are better than others ? Thanks
 
I have a late ‘80s vintage Express. The thing is a tank and has never failed to function. As I’ve gotten older, it has seen more service as a loaner gun to family and friends who want to come out but don’t have their own shotgun. That said, it is a heavy beast and so not suitable for long carries by the very young or small statured.
 
Over the last 10 years I bought quite a few 870s brand new ..... around 20 or so (Express, Police, Wingmasters, Special Purpose, etc.). Many had some sort of issue right out of the box ..... brand new ... and most needed some sort of "fix". Nothing major ..... and most of those issues were known issues .... with many YouTube videos available of how to fix/repair those guns.

Last year I bough a new RemArms production Wingmaster, and I was impressed with the fit and finish .... and no issues at all.

The current Wingmasters are really nice!! :)
 
reddog said:
Funny you say that FLH I hate the expresses have had 3 and do not have anymore .For a few bucks more get a wingmaster my exp. with expresses if you shoot a lot they will show there inferiority
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Have an older and a newer express 12g both have been flawless to be honest, the newer one was a 2017 gun. It won’t rust, the chamber was mirror smooth. I polished the action bars and swapped on a laminate stock set and have lightly swapped some parts (oversized safety, Delron follower and mag spring, +2 mag extension but the actual gun has never given me a single problem.

The older one I’m not sure of the year it was made, I picked it up as a complete action/receiver and put it together with a spare stock set and barrel I had in my parts stash. It’s been 100% reliable as well, I’d be hard pressed to part with either or switch to a Wingmaster. Not that I don’t like a WM lol.
 
Again how many rounds do you shoot with them? Four or five boxes a year maybe, if that's all sure even a Turkish can take that. Put 2 cases of three inch a year and watched mine anyway rattle to pieces. The three inch Wingmaster I gave to my son had 10 cases of three inch ,still was solid as the 70's it was built in.Oh and someone mentioned extractors on Express's yup went through a few of those ,thinking it was a steel hardening problem or lack of.
 
FLHTCUI said:
All of them....
The Express need a little tlc in the chamber area.
Just a little polishing and Bob's yer Uncle.
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The Express units, post takeover of Remington by Freedom Group back in '07 needed more work than that to get them sorted out decent.
In my one, I had to run my chamber reamer in 'er followed with lengthening the forcing cone and doing a Flex-Hone treatment to fix that bit along with the bore of the barrel as it was shabby made.

Had to also de-burr and smooth the interior of the receiver & re-contour the ejector spring to keep it from pushing the bolt hard to the port side.
A wee tweek of the trigger got 'er to me liking. I've put around 10k rounds through 'er now on clays and such & it's still working well.

I've always preferred the 870 over all of my shotguns since the 70's as they fit me well and ain't too hard to tweek if needed. So adaptable.
 
Ive several.. started out with my first in 1987, an 870 magnum ! Its been used alot over the years and it cycles so slick… never a problem !
Ive also 2 marine magnums and others
In my mind, the older 870s are The perfect pump action shotgun.. get them with the nice high gloss finish on the stock, nice vent rib, great bluing….. even cycles with authority !
Jeezus.. one time i used a winchester pump.. had a sorta bolt face part that rotated, it never felt like it locked up properly. Whaata piece of junk ..even receiver was made of pot metal and not steel. Yuck
 
I can only speak for an 870 Express, 3.5" chamber, 28" barrel, SuperMag in Mossy Oak. Purchased opening day of BassPro Tsawwassen because 50% of total cost was going back to local. It's a tank, never had an issue. I have added a stainless follower and a Mossy Oak Red Dot mount and cheap red dot cuz I will take what I can get for cheap LoL. Never an issue.
 
Chuckbuster said:
I have a late ‘80s vintage Express. The thing is a tank and has never failed to function. As I’ve gotten older, it has seen more service as a loaner gun to family and friends who want to come out but don’t have their own shotgun. That said, it is a heavy beast and so not suitable for long carries by the very young or small statured.
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Agreed. I have a mid/late 80s Express and it is a great gun. Newer ones, not so likely.

Wingmaster is tough to beat, or if you can find one, a SP or SPS.
 
Not trying to rain on anyone's parade but of all the guys singing the praises of the 870 Express or the newer 870's, how many of you have put thousands of rounds through them?
And I'm not saying they need to go tens or hundreds of thousands of rounds to be a good gun but the old Wingmasters were known to go many thousands of rounds with no trouble. It just seems to me that there are lots of fans out there that shoot a couple of boxes through their guns and call them the best they've ever had... and what they are not saying is that maybe they're the only one they've had.... Just saying.
 
Just picked up a late 70's wingmaster and she a beast, anyone know where you can get an ejector thing mine could use an upgrate still works but aometing not well,
, I've delt with Numrick without problems bit nice to support Canadian dealers.
 
Any 870 that says wing master is the one to buy does not matter from what time span actually contrary to comments the later the production run the better the polishing the honing was at its best at the end of there life .
The best handling ones are the one with the light contour bbl rem chokes these are classics
 
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