Will a new manufacture 870 barrel fit an older 870?

deadsea

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Have a newer 870 Tactical but I'm going to keep that short. Thinking about picking up an action/donor gun for cheap to build a project shotgun.

How old can I go? I see cheap 870s with old fixed chokes for sale all the time but I'm wondering how new it has to be for the barrel to fit? Did they change the barrel design at all between generations?

Any help will be most appreciated.
 
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I have a 870 wingmaster 3" mag I got in 1984 and installed a new barrel last year from an 870 express will shoot up to 3.5" with Rem Choke and had no problems shooting it.
 
Aside from the 3½" guns, the 12ga barrels should fit any of the 12ga frames. A difference is the frame designated for 2¾" ammo has a serial number suffix letter of "V", while the 3" frame has a serial number suffix with the letter "M".
 
All 12ga 870 barrels regardless if 2 3/4, 3 or 3 1/2 will fit on all 12ga 870 receivers
How ever only fire the shell length max the receiver is set up for not the barrel
3 1/2 receivers are different
2 3/4 and 3 are the same other than the ejector & spring
Cheers
 
I have a 870 wingmaster 3" mag I got in 1984 and installed a new barrel last year from an 870 express will shoot up to 3.5" with Rem Choke and had no problems shooting it.

I guess my post was not clear enough. I did say I have a 870 3" mag ( it has the M suffix ). I thought it would be understood ( in a firearm forum) that a 3" shell is the maximum shell that the receiver could shoot.

Should have left the 3.5" out of the post not to muddy the waters for other readers
 
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In general ... barrels are interchangeable between 870s .... however, you can only shoot a shell with the length that the barrel or receiver limits you to ...

And I am aware of at least one exception for interchangeability .... ... there are some 870 Express Tactical out there that have an extended magazine tube ... and "normal" ... 4 round mag tube 870 barrels will not fit on those guns ....

remington870_tactical.jpg
 
In general ... barrels are interchangeable between 870s .... however, you can only shoot a shell with the length that the barrel or receiver limits you to ...

And I am aware of at least one exception for interchangeability .... ... there are some 870 Express Tactical out there that have an extended magazine tube ... and "normal" ... 4 round mag tube 870 barrels will not fit on those guns ....

remington870_tactical.jpg
a special field model 870 has a unique barrel as well and is not interchangeable. i believe they were made in the 1980 period for a few years.
 
I guess my post was not clear enough. I did say I have a 870 3" mag ( it has the M suffix ). I thought it would be understood ( in a firearm forum) that a 3" shell is the maximum shell that the receiver could shoot.

Should have left the 3.5" out of the post not to muddy the waters for other readers

Not from many posts I have read here over the years
Cheers
 
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